4. THE JOURNEY TO THE WEST
1. Historical context
Yan Dehui’s artistic trajectory coincided with a pivotal moment in China’s cultural history. Aware that only technical progress could lift the country out of its economic backwardness, Minister of Education Cai Yuanpei (1868–1940) initiated during the 1920s the ‘Work-Study’ Movement, which enabled over 2,000 Chinese students to receive training in France.
The cultural sphere was similarly affected, and numerous artists were encouraged to study Western art in order to usher China into the modern era. At the time, Paris stood as an unquestioned cultural beacon, drawing artists from across the globe. Yan was among the last to be authorized by China to study in the City of Light. He left Japanese-occupied Shanghai in February 1938, unaware that a year later, war would catch up with him in Europe.
2. On the liner Président Doumer, the long voyage to France
Authorization to leave the country
On the way to France, on the deck of President Doumer
Thus, on February 18, 1938, Yan and a group of compatriots embarked on the passenger ship President Doumer which, after a month’s journey, reached the French coast on March 17, 1938. The crossing had finally passed swiftly, with most of his time devoted to studying French. Only a few stopovers – at the Saigon Museum, in Djibouti, on the Suez Canal – provided him some distraction.
Saigon Museum
Yan wrote on the back of this photo:”Saigon, February 23, 1938. – I left Shanghai where it was cold and it took less than a week to get to Saigon. The trees are green and the flowers are blooming. You have to wear summer clothes. The park in Saigon is very large. We are in front of the museum located in a corner of the park.”
Port Said, statue of Ferdinand de Lesseps
Yan wrote on the back of this photo: “Statue of Ferdinand de Lesseps in front of Port Said, March 12, 1938
The Suez Canal, one of the few major engineering projects in the world, was designed by a former French diplomat named Ferdinand de Lesseps. I visited it during a stopover and took this photo to express my respect and keep the memory.”
Liner Président Doumer – Yan wrote on the back of the photo “1938, liner I took to arrive in France“
Arrived in Marseille on 17 March 1938
Landing in Marseille, the usual entry point for all arrivals from China, before taking the train to Paris, arriving at Gare de Lyon. In March 1938, Yan experienced his first Parisian residence: a modest attic room at 123 Boulevard Saint-Michel, close to the Sorbonne and at the very heart of the Latin Quarter.
