On the afternoon of May 14, a square named after Li Jieren was officially opened to the public in Montpellier, France, reinforcing the China-France friendship and Chengdu-Montpellier exchanges. Mayor of Montpellier Michaël Delafosse and Acting Consul General of China in Marseille Shi Yuli attended the naming ceremony, which received local media coverage.

 

Mayor Michaël Delafosse and Acting Consul General Shi Yuli pose with the French edition of Ripples Across Stagnant Water.

 

In June 1981, Chengdu and Montpellier established friendship city relations, which marks the first pair of friendship cities between China and France, as well as the first partnership Chengdu established for its “international circle of friends”. In October 2024, Mayor of Montpellier Michaël Delafosse led a large delegation to Chengdu to reaffirm the long-standing friendship between the two cities and jointly commemorate the 60th anniversary of diplomatic relations between China and France with Chengdu. During the visit, Mayor Michaël Delafosse and his delegation toured former residence of Li Jieren, where they highly commended Mr. Li Jieren’s significant contributions to cultural exchanges between the two countries and expressed their commitment to proactively introducing Li Jieren’s stories and achievements to local communities in Montpellier.

 

Mayor Michaël Delafosse remarked, “Mr. Li Jieren was a pivotal envoy of China-France friendship. His translations of Flaubert, Maupassant, and other French literary masters into Chinese significantly contributed to cultural exchanges between China and France as a bridge connecting peoples of the two countries. Therefore, I would like to extend my highest respect to Mr. Li Jieren.”

 

At the beginning of this year, the city government of Montpellier decided to name a square after Li Jieren. Situated in Antigone District, Montpellier near Émile Zola Media Library and the library of the University of Montpellier, the square honors a pioneer in literary exchanges between China and France, and exemplifies the enduring friendship between Chengdu and Montpellier.

 

The inauguration of the square coincided with Montpellier’s “Comédie du livre”. Régis Penalva, the director of the event, read excerpts from Mr. Li Jieren’s masterpiece, Ripples Across Stagnant Water, during the inauguration ceremony.

 

 

Li Jieren, born in Chengdu, Sichuan in 1891, pursued studies in France in 1919 and studied at the University of Montpellier from 1922 to 1924. As a prominent writer of modern Chinese literature, Li Jieren was acclaimed by Guo Moruo as “China’s Zola”. Set during the transition from the late Qing Dynasty to the early Republic of China, his trilogy—Ripples Across Stagnant Water, Before the Storm, and The Great Wave—incorporates Chengdu’s dialect and Sichuan’s cultural essence to depict sweeping social transformations. These works pioneered China’s “Roman-fleuve” (saga novel) genre and earned acclaim from literary giants such as Mao Dun. In translation, Li Jieren also achieved remarkable feats; his rendition of Madame Bovary and other French classics forged a vital bridge for cultural dialogue between China and France.

 

Li Jieren and his passport

 

Through literature, Li Jieren built an enduring cultural rainbow bridge between the Seine and the Jinjiang River, establishing a timeless monument to mutual learning between Chinese and French civilizations. The inauguration of Li Jieren Square in Montpellier now extends this legacy through urban narrative, celebrating the 44-year friendship between Chengdu and Montpellier.

 

Edited by Zhang Yuanlin

Source:Chengdu Discovery