Tan Yun-Shan was a Chinese scholar and founder of Santiniketan's Cheena Bhavana, the oldest centre of Chinese studies in South Asia. He devoted his life to the cause of Sino-Indian cultural friendship.
Early life
Tan Yun-Shan was born in Chaling County, Hunan province, China on 10 October 1898. He was the youngest child of a Confucian scholar and teacher. He had his early education at home. He lost both his parents early in life. He first went to the county level school and then to the district school. He studied the Confucian classics, ancient and modern Chinese philosophy and literature, the Four Dynastic Histories and select ancient and modern books of poetry and novels. He graduated from Hunan Teachers College at Changsha and then went for post-graduate and advanced studies in both Chinese and western systems. He also had an introduction to Buddhist studies. During this period, he started writing and publishing in newspapers and magazines. He participated in some of the political activities of Mao Zedong.
China was then in deep political turmoil, and as Tan was not a politically oriented person, he decided to leave China and go to Malaya. He taught in various institutions in Singapore, pioneered Chinese literature and wrote in local newspapers. He spent some months in Johore. In 1927, he met Rabindranath Tagore in Singapore, who invited him to join the teaching staff at Santiniketan.
Santiniketan
Setting up Cheena Bhavana
Tan arrived at Santiniketan in 1928 and joined Visva Bharati as Professor of Chinese Studies. He started Chinese classes with just five students. He himself started learning Sanskrit. He also held discussions with the intellectual fraternity at Santiniketan. He soon realised that his work required a separate hall/ building but Visva Bharati, then a private institution, was short of funds. Tan decided to move around to collect money for the purpose and he took on odd jobs to support himself. He went to Singapore and Rangoon. He accompanied the special envoy of China in his mission to Tibet. The envoy died on the way and so Tan carried his papers and handed them over to the 13th Dalai Lama in Lhasa. He was given a message for Mahatma Gandhi, which he delivered at Sabarmati Ashram, Ahmedabad. He visited the Buddhist pilgrimage centres and after a short stay at Santiniketan, went to China.
Back to China in 1931, he was successful in garnering support for his ideas. The China chapter of the Sino-Indian Cultural Society was established at Nanjing, the capital, and returned to India to establish the India chapter of the society. He went back to China and returned to Santiniketan in 1936 with adequate funds (Rs. 50,000) for his cherished China Hall and 100,000 books (collected with the support of the Sino-Indian Cultural Society). Tagore was thrilled and allotted land in the heart of Santiniketan for construction of Cheena Bhavana. The hall was designed in collaboration with Surendranath Kar and Tan supervised its construction. The building was completed in record time. Nandalal Bose, Benode Behari Mukherjee and others from Kala Bhavana adorned the hall with frescoes and reliefs. Tan planted trees all around the building. On 14 April 1937, Cheena Bhavana, the first institute of its kind in India, was formally inaugurated by Indira Gandhi. Tan was appointed its first director. However, in view of Visva Bharati's grim financial situation Tan refused to take a salary, but the Chinese government provided him an honorarium. Mahatma Gandhi, in his message to Tagore said: "May the Chinese Hall be a symbol of living contact between China and India". Jugal Kishore Birla donated Rs. 5,000 to start research activities. Fund collection continued.
Dedicated life
With the onset of the Second Sino-Japanese War Tan focussed on the suffering of the Chinese people. Xu Beihong, a leading artist, came to Santiniketan and spent an year as visiting professor of Chinese fine arts. In 1939, at the initiative of Tan, the Sino-Indian Cultural Society organised Jawaharlal Nehru’s visit to China. Tan kept on organising visits of various delegations, important personalities, scholars and students from China to visit Santiniketan, particularly Cheena Bhavana. The Chinese government also responded to Tan's request for a donation. In 1944, Tan collected more donations to add a storey to the Cheena Bhavana. Financial support from the Chinese government continued in various forms. In 1950, the Sino-Indian Cultural Society of China sent a special donation of Rs. 500,000 to Visva Bharati for the construction of a new central library.