This princess is so "iron"!, 50 Visits to China by Sirindhorn | Thailand | Princess

At that time,

I have decided to travel all over China

Author: Zheng Aotian

"The friendship between China and Thailand extends for thousands of years. Picking flowers as gifts makes our country even more enchanting." This is a famous passage from the poem "Picking Peach Blossoms" by Thai Princess Sirindhorn.

As a "China expert", Princess Sirindhorn is currently on her 50th visit to China. Her itinerary from Beijing to Guangdong is fully booked. For decades, she has been able to speak fluent Chinese and has sparked a Chinese fever in Thailand, constantly writing new chapters in the friendship between Thailand and China.

Draw the poetry of Li Bai

"My mother once told me that Chinese people seek knowledge through reading, and understanding Chinese can lead to more knowledge, just as my mother said." Princess Sirindhorn recalled her initial "connection" with Chinese.

In 1955, Princess Sirindhorn was born in the Palace of Law in Bangkok, Thailand. She was the second daughter of King Rama IX of Thailand. Her father, Rama IX, reigned for over 70 years and was the longest reigning monarch in Thai history. He was revered by Thai people as the "King of Thailand".

Princess Sirindhorn studied at the age of 3 and loved reading, especially literature. At the age of 12, she began writing poetry and prose, and won the first place in the national examination that year. In 1972, she was admitted to the prestigious Chulalongkorn University with the fourth highest score in the country and studied in the Department of Language and Literature.

Princess Sirindhorn can be considered a language genius, proficient in English, French, Khmer, and other languages. She studied Old Sanskrit and Pali at university. When she graduated in 1977, she won the first gold medal in the department's exams for four consecutive years.

·Princess Sirindhorn during her studies at Chulalongkorn University.

In 1975, China and Thailand established diplomatic relations. In 1980, with the support of her mother Siriki, Princess Sirindhorn, who had originally wanted to learn German, decided to learn Chinese. At this time, Princess Sirindhorn was 26 years old and shouldered many state affairs. But she still insists on learning Chinese at least one morning a week. Once, she returned from a trip to Switzerland and it was already 5am when she returned to Bangkok. After a short break, she still went to Chinese class on time at 9 am.

"Chinese can guide people to the territory of one of the most knowledgeable countries on Earth, and the more you learn, the more you can experience its breadth and depth." Princess Sirindhorn said during the process of learning Chinese. She also gave herself a Chinese nickname "Xiaoyu".

Her Chinese proficiency is getting higher and higher. One winter, she visited Harbin and the translator translated ice carved lanterns into colorful ones. She immediately recognized the mistake and discussed the subtle differences with the translator.

Because of Chinese, she fell in love with ancient Chinese poetry and painting. "Chinese painting is silent poetry, while Chinese poetry is intangible painting." Her Chinese teacher Wang Ye recalled that when learning ancient Chinese poetry, Princess Sirindhorn often used a pencil to draw a picture in class.

·In 1994, Princess Sirindhorn painted with a brush at the Palace Museum.

Princess Sirindhorn loves "Spring Dawn" very much, thinking that it "reads like it's in the morning, everything is refreshing." Once a Thai folk band asked her to give lyrics to the classical song "Picking Peach Blossoms." Princess Sirindhorn took out her own translation of "Spring Dawn" and followed the rhythm of "Spring Dawn" to create the last three poems as lyrics for "Picking Peach Blossoms.". "Picking Peach Blossoms" has become a preserved piece in the Taichung China exchange activities. She also has musical talent and can play Chinese folk instruments such as erhu and guzheng.

Princess Sirindhorn said that the poetry of each nation is the essence of the nation's thoughts, feelings and wisdom, and also an international language with interlinked hearts. Since 1982, she has translated over 100 ancient Chinese poems and published a collection of 34 selected poems in 1998, named "Zhuoyu Poetry". This is the first Chinese classical poetry translation published in Thailand.

·The Jade Cutting Poetry by Princess Sirindhorn.

In 2000, Princess Sirindhorn studied Chinese at Peking University and obtained an honorary doctoral degree. In 2005, on the occasion of her 50th birthday, Peking University established the "Princess Sirindhorn Science and Technology Cultural Exchange Center" as a base for exchange and cooperation between the university and Chulalongkorn University in Thailand. Seeing her two alma maters collaborating, she happily said, "The cooperation between the two schools will definitely have a bright future for development."

"We know each other far and near, and ten thousand miles are our neighbors' victories."

For decades, Princess Sirindhorn has introduced the beauty of China to Thailand and left behind many touching stories in China.

At the ceremony, Princess Sirindhorn quoted a line from Zhang Jiuling's poem, "We know each other far or near, and ten thousand miles are our neighbors," describing the profound friendship between the people of Thailand and China.

In 1981, Princess Sirindhorn made her first visit to China, becoming the first member of the Thai royal family to visit China. She recalled, "When I first set foot in the kingdom of dragons, I was attracted by her vast and profound culture, moved by her beautiful mountains and rivers. I wanted to know about her past and future, and I wanted to understand all of her features. That was when I decided to travel all over China." In just 8 days, she visited Beijing, Shaanxi, Sichuan, Yunnan, and Hong Kong. Not long after returning to China, she published her travelogue "Visiting the Land of Dragons".

·Princess Sirindhorn's travelogue "Visiting the Land of Dragons".

In 1990, Princess Sirindhorn visited China for the second time, in addition to Beijing, she also went to Gansu and Xinjiang to explore the Silk Road. In 1992, she visited China for the third time. I visited China every year from 1994 to 2019. The COVID-19 epidemic temporarily interrupted this tradition. In 2022, she participated in the opening ceremony of the Beijing Winter Olympics and continued to write the story of her visit to China.

Princess Sirindhorn wrote a lot about her visit to China. From Snow in the Clouds in Northeast China to Princess Sirindhorn's Journey to Heaven, which recorded her trip to Xizang, to Return to Great China, which tells about the return of Hong Kong. She recorded the development and changes in China in her eyes with keen observation and elegant writing.

After the Wenchuan earthquake in 2008, Princess Sirindhorn wrote a handwritten letter to mourn the victims. She first generously donated in her personal name, and then urgently donated a batch of disaster relief materials worth millions to the earthquake stricken areas through the Thai Red Cross. On April 4th of the following year, she came to Beichuan to mourn the victims at the disaster site. After learning that the Xianfeng Road Primary School in Mianyang City, located in the disaster area, was damaged by the disaster, she immediately decided to personally donate 11 million yuan to help rebuild the school.

One year later, the new teaching building of Xianfeng Road Primary School was completed. To commemorate the friendship of Princess Sirindhorn, the school was renamed Mianyang Xianfeng Road Sirindhorn Princess Primary School. Princess Sirindhorn, who was invited to attend the completion ceremony, said in Chinese, "Last year was still in ruins at this time. Today, I saw solid and beautiful school buildings, enthusiastic and dedicated teachers, and innocent and lovely children. I feel very pleased."

In 2011, Princess Sirindhorn came to the school for the second time to give books to students and announced that the school would form a sister school with her alma mater, Girada School.

On the occasion of the 10th anniversary of the Wenchuan earthquake in 2018, Princess Sirindhorn returned to the school. To give her a feeling of returning home, the entire school and students worked together to create a Thai style flower pavilion. Princess Sirindhorn said in Chinese, "Confucius said, 'Learn and practice at the right time, that's not a bad thing.' I hope you love learning, love life, and constantly improve."

·In 2009, Princess Sirindhorn inscribed for Pioneer Princess Sirindhorn Elementary School.

At the scene, Chinese and Thai students also sang the Thai song "Beautiful Princess" in unison. Behind this song, it shows the Thai people's respect for Princess Sirindhorn.

Princess Tianfo is also a technology enthusiast

In Thailand, Princess Sirindhorn is revered as the "Heavenly Buddha Princess".

In 2015, Princess Sirindhorn celebrated her 60th birthday. A Thai writer wrote in his article "Why Do We Love Princess Tianfo": "Her life seems to come from a children's bedside story: a fairy tale like princess who doesn't like formalities and often follows her heart. Thai people are really lucky to have such a princess like her."

In Thailand, people can find roads, schools, flowers, and birds named after Princess Sirindhorn. In 2016, Thai and Japanese paleontologists even named a newly discovered dinosaur "Sirindhorn Dragon" as a tribute to her for supporting paleontological research for many years.

·Shilin Tong smiled at the flowers.

For many years, Princess Sirindhorn has been known for her friendliness to the people. She often accompanied her father to inspect various places when she was young. As a member of the royal family, she rarely stays in the palace and spends the vast majority of her time comforting, visiting, and understanding the people. From the subway in the capital Bangkok to the peaceful rural roads, people can see the figure of Princess Sirindhorn.

·Princess Sirindhorn, who interacts with Thai people together with her father Rama IX.

When going out, Princess Sirindhorn often chooses to wear light and simple clothes, but there are three things she must bring: a notebook that records people's emotions, a digital camera, and a simple purple backpack.

·Princess Sirindhorn participated in the event with a purple backpack on her back.

In 2004, the Indian Ocean tsunami broke out, resulting in over 8000 deaths or missing people in Thailand, including Prince Johnson, the nephew of Princess Sirindhorn. The tourist destination of Phuket has become a heavily affected area.

Faced with such a natural disaster, Princess Sirindhorn endured her grief and immediately went to the headquarters of the Thai Red Cross to organize various sectors to provide disaster relief materials and medical services to the affected areas. She also rushed to the disaster area to comfort the people. Encouraged by her, Thai people actively donate blood and materials to the disaster victims.

Thai media have stated that every Thai person can tell their favorite "princess story". Once, Princess Sirindhorn's convoy encountered an ambulance and she immediately made the convoy pull over to clear the way for the ambulance.

Once, Princess Sirindhorn inspected the school and encountered a girl walking through the rain. The princess quickly hugged the girl by her side and escorted her all the way to the teaching building.

·Princess Sirindhorn hugged the girl and walked towards the teaching building in the rain.

At the same time, Princess Sirindhorn is also the Vice Chairman of the Thai Red Cross, participating in the improvement of Thailand's medical and social assistance system. She also established orphanages and special education centers for orphans and disabled children in Thailand, opening a window to their future.

After learning of the significant achievements in poverty reduction in China, Princess Sirindhorn also made poverty alleviation research a focus of her visit to China. She visited Guizhou and Shanxi in 2017 and 2018 to learn about China's poverty alleviation policies.

Princess Sirindhorn is still a technology enthusiast. She will conduct an investigation at the Jiangmen Neutrino Laboratory in Guangdong before June 3rd during her visit to China. She boarded the rail car and enthusiastically descended to the 700 meter underground experimental hall, visiting for two hours. She held a purple notebook in her hand and asked questions while looking.

·On June 3rd, Princess Sirindhorn conducted an on-site inspection of the Jiangmen Neutrino Laboratory.

In this laboratory, there is a magnetic shielding system being installed, which was completed in collaboration with Chinese and Thai researchers. Princess Sirindhorn listened attentively to the on-site explanation. The person who explained the liquid flash quality testing equipment to her was Dr. Tai Muyang, a Thai national from the Institute of High Energy Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences. Princess Sirindhorn happily started a family life with this "fellow villager".

Princess Sirindhorn said, "Neutrinos are so small, but they can see a big world," and happily wrote the four Chinese characters "see the big from the small".

"Friendship is as deep as the sea, with a distant future ahead; the beautiful purple and red sun, the spring garden is full of beauty." This is a song from "Picking Peach Blossoms" and also a reflection of Princess Sirindhorn's wish to promote friendship between Thailand and China.