Joël Bellassen: Sinology on the French Fast Track

Since that was just after the May 1968 events in France had ended, and China’s “cultural revolution” had commenced, many people thought his choice was related to politics. But he denies this. “My classmates and I never participated in any political events. The politics and those unusual times were not our motivation to learn the language.” 

What most inspired Joël Bellassen was the distinctive differences between Chinese and European languages. Within the very first several classes, Chinese became a magnet pulling him along. 

Joël Bellassen has always enjoyed adventure and learning different things. He has never followed the mainstream. After learning Chinese, he had been frequently asked the question by friends and family why he chose to learn this language. He felt proud for being special and gaining such attention. For him Chinese learning has never been a problem, but rather posed a challenge full of inspiration.

Joël Bellassen, Inspector-General for Chinese Language Teaching at France’s Ministry of Education.

A Trip to the “Moon”

Joël Bellassen’s MA dissertation was on Chinese idioms. He explained and made notes on 1,000 of them. For him, these idioms are linguistic devices encapsulating charm, culture and philosophy. 

His study originated in having to review some Chinese idioms assigned by a teacher for their winter vacation. They were asked to gain a good understanding and make sentences with them. He decided to research the idiom, Zuò jǐng guān tiān (literally means [a frog] sitting in a well, gazing at the sky) for he had been confused about the meaning of the idiom. When Joël returned to Paris, he went to a metro exit with a little note stating the proverb’s literal meaning in French. He interviewed French passersby and solicited their views on its figural connotation. They all showed great interest on learning it was an ancient Chinese expression. They would think the meaning over and respond. Joël discovered that most of their guesses involved a frog living leisurely deep in a well and enjoying the view overhead, or meditating in comfort. They believed this idiom praised the frog’s enjoyment of a tranquil life, acquiring philosophical insights – totally different from the Chinese meaning (of a narrow or limited worldview). From this, Joël Bellassen surmised that mutual understanding between the two different cultures might not be so easy.