The ambassador of Spain to China, president of the Beijing Foreign Studies University, diplomatic envoys of Latin American and Caribbean countries to China as well as teachers and students of the Beijing Foreign Studies University were present at the awarding ceremony held on the university’s campus on November 6.

The Royal Order of the Catholic Queen Isabel was established by the royal family on March 14, 1815, which was designed to reward exceptional civil achievements made by Spanish and non-Spanish nationals. It was also an award for those contributing to reinforcing ties of friendship and cooperation between the Spanish nation and the international community. On October 20, 2000, the Spanish King Juan Carlos ordered the conferment of the Royal Order to Professor Dong, saying that Dong fully deserves the honor for his hard work and outstanding achievements.

Professor Dong was born in Beijing in 1937. He was enrolled in the Beijing Foreign Studies University to study Spanish in 1956. Upon graduation, he was employed by the university as a faculty member in 1960. Since then on, he has made great success in teaching and researching Spanish language and culture. During the 1980s, he wrote and edited six textbooks of Spanish language. Last year saw a great harvest of Dong, when more books written by him were published. These works include Modern Spanish, which fall into six volumes, two academic books in Spanish studies, Spanish Literature, and Sentence Structure of Spanish. These textbooks have been adopted by colleges and universities across the country.

That Dong is keen on the study of Spanish literature has resulted in a number of translated works by him. Translating the marvelous works of Servantes into Chinese has become his life work and great fun. These translated masterpieces include Servantes’ novels, poems and dramas. Dong is the first person to translate Don Quijote from Spanish into Chinese, enabling millions of Chinese to know Don Quijote and Sancho and their fantastic stories.

While addressing the ceremony, Prince Felipe stressed that, as one of the four most popular languages in the world, Spanish will play an important role in the coming information age. He also spoke highly of the Chinese intellectuals for their hard work in studying Spanish culture.

“They deserve reverence for their tremendous contribution to Spain and Iberian America,” the Prince said.

“What you’ve done is irreplaceable and should be acknowledged by all Spanish speakers, writers and movie workers. Today is the best occasion to express our appreciation of your painstaking work and tremendous and selfless contribution in spreading Spanish in this country with a vast territory,” he added.

According to Professor Dong, Servantes forecasted about 400 years ago that China would have a school to study Castellano. “At present, a dozen of universities in China are providing courses studying Spanish, and each year, several hundred of young Chinese are enrolled to learn Spanish and study Spanish culture. In the meantime, hundreds of graduates in Spanish are working with various political, economic and cultural institutions for the promotion of bilateral relations between China and Spain,” said Dong at the ceremony.

Prince Felipe also donated books to the Beijing Foreign Studies University on behalf of the Spanish Ministry of Culture, Education and Sport and the Department of International Cooperation under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

(CIIC 11/08/2000)