The Seminar on Centennial Russian Legal Translation & Celebration of Prof. Huang Daoxiu's Eightieth Birthday was held by the College and the School of Foreign Studies of CUPL on Xueyuanlu Campus on 27 March, 2021.
Prof. Huang Daoxiu and her friends and student representatives from all walks of life were invited to attend the meeting. The meeting was moderated by Prof. Li Guoqiang, Chair of the Council of the School of Foreign Studies.
Li Guoqiang first introduced the background of this academic activity, and affectionately delivered the opening remarks. Based on his personal experience of exchanges with Prof. Huang Daoxiu, he spoke highly of her achievements in the field of Russian legal translation and called her the "First Chinese-Russian Legal Translator". According to Li, Prof. Huang Daoxiu has been writing for decades, even though she has produced more than 10 million words of translation, she is still indifferent to fame and fortune. She is not only an academic pioneer, but also a guide to students and friends on the road of life development. In 2011, she was presented with a bloom moment in her life, when she was awarded the Medal of Friendship by the then Russian Dmitry Medvedev, in recognition of her outstanding contribution to the promotion of exchanges between the legal circles of China and Russia. The Prime Minister of the Russian Federation at the time, Putin, and the Russian Orthodox Church chief attended the ceremonial award of medals. This year coincided with the 10th anniversary of Prof. Huang Daoxiu being awarded the Medal of Friendship in Russia. Li Guoqiang hoped that young people can learn from the demeanor and spirit of Huang Daoxiu and other senior masters in their respective jobs, realizing the value of life.
Afterwards, Prof. Zhang Qing, Dean of the School of Foreign Studies, and Prof. Xie Libin, Deputy Dean of the College, delivered speeches respectively.
Zhang Qing praised Huang Daoxiu for her profound knowledge, dedication and pragmatism. He said that she has made significant contributions to the development of the University and the cultivation of talents, and that she is the pride of the university's external faculty and the role model for all its teachers and students to follow.
Xie Libin pointed out that Prof. Huang Daoxiu taught for sixty years and she is still fighting in the road of Russian legal translation as a scholar and teacher. On behalf of the College of Comparative Law, Xie paid high tribute to Prof. Huang and suggested that the two schools should further develop collaboration in teaching and scientific research under the guidance of Prof. Huang and continue to innovate and produce more good academic results in the field of Russian law-related research.
Amid applause and flowers, Prof. Huang said, "I was destined to be a Russian teacher. I'm proud to be a Russian teacher."
From learning Russian in 1952 to teaching it at the Beijing College of Political Science and Law (the forerunner of the China University of Political Science and Law) in 1962, Huang Daoxiu spent her life with the language. She told the story of her youth in literature research, language teaching and law study, sharing her insight into the times, fate and life. Her experience of studying law in the Kazan Federal University enabled her to complete the transition from a Russian teacher to a legal expert. In the eyes of the world, she is a Russian teacher and an expert in law. In answer to the question “Who am I?” She said modestly, “I am destined to be a Russian teacher. I am proud to be a Russian teacher.
"I have never forgotten my country," said Huang Daoxiu.
She gave a brief account of the changes from modern Soviet law to Russian law, especially the translation of Russian law in China. In China, Russian legal translation began in the early 20th century, but since the founding of the Chinese Communist Party in 1921, Soviet legal translation meant more than just language translation. Without the Soviet law and its translation, there would be no legal construction in China in the new era. The 1980s and 1990s was a time of great change and the need to bring the latest Russian jurisprudence to China was urgent. Facing the serious situation of the talent fault of Russian legal translation, Huang Daoxiu took up the important task of the times, focusing on the country's legal cause and the exchange of legal culture.
In the 1980s, she translated and published the Soviet Administrative Law. In the 1990s, she translated and published the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, the Criminal Enforcement Code of the Russian Federation and the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. After 2000, despite her retirement, she continued to be a special professor of criminal law at CUPL, translating and publishing more than a dozen Russian codes and important departmental laws. She also translated important laws such as the Criminal Law of the People's Republic of China into Russian and compiled such teaching materials as the compilation of the law of Chinese and Russian lawyers (bilingual) and the course of Russian criminal procedure. In the year 2020, she translated and published five independent works, more than 1.83 million words, including the Fast, Fair, Merciful and Equal Courts -- Commemorating the 150th Anniversary of the Russian Judicial Reform, the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, the Civil Procedure Code of the Russian Federation and the Criminal Procedure Code of the Russian Federation.
"I don't want to miss a moment of my life," Huang continued.
Prof. Huang Daoxiu has taught for 60 years, translated for 40 years and translated more than 1500 million words. Self-discipline and diligence are Huang Daoxiu's decades of consistent spiritual quality. She recalled her own experience of reading and writing since she was three years old, when she remembered her childhood hometown, and wrote more than 100,000 words of unfinished memoirs and hometown annals, she wept uncontrollably. She recounted her transformation into an "amphibious" teacher, teaching Russian while insisting on learning law from her colleagues at CUPL. During the Cultural Revolution, when her apprenticeship in law was interrupted, she began to study law on her own and to translate legal works from the former Soviet Union. During her Kazan Federal University studies, she attended lectures during the day and read law books late into the night in order to make full use of the hard-won learning opportunities and valuable learning resources.
At the end of the speech, Prof. Huang Daoxiu said affectionately: "among all the poems describing scenery and relationship, I only love two sentences -- even if wet apricot blossom rain preaches into my clothing, the wind goes with willow does not make my face cold," she said: "my students are my spring breeze and I will always be young because of you, my students and my friends."
In the following free discussion session, Prof. Wang Zhihua from the College, Editor-in-Chief of the Rule of Law Daily Chen Hongwei, Director of the Institute of Russian language and literature of CUPL Cong fengling and other representatives at the meeting all gave speeches, or shared their understanding of Huang, their feelings of being Huang’s student, and their opinions on the latest revision of the relevant legal system in China and Russia.
The seminar ended in a relaxed and warm atmosphere
