On the fifth day of isolation and treatment at Pudong Hospital, dancer Zhou Jie died of illness, and finally realized her long-cherished wish of "returning to her roots, returning to her hometown, and returning to the motherland".
A writer familiar with her said: "Zhou Jie must return to Shanghai before leaving." She is not blind in America, because to her it is a foreign, rootless place. ”
Before her death, with deep affection for the motherland, Zhou Jie devoted herself to the promotion of Chinese national dance overseas, transforming her personal dance achievements into the inheritance and dissemination of Chinese dance. Through hard work and hard work, for decades, it has demonstrated the charm of Chinese dance art and Chinese culture to the American people and mainstream society in the United States, and conveyed Chinese stories and Chinese voices to the world in a unique way.
Ms. Zhou Jie received the Remy Film Achievement Award at the 52nd Houston International Film Festival (infographic)
As a good friend of Zhou Jie's life, Lu Sheng told the Morning News reporter that because of her efforts and contributions to Sino-US exchanges, Zhou Jie was highly praised by the consul general of the Chinese Consulate General in Houston; she was received by former US President George H.W. Bush Sr. and former US Secretary of State Dr. Kissinger, calling her a "cultural ambassador"; and was fully affirmed by the Overseas Chinese Affairs Office of the State Council. Al Green, a famous U.S. Congressman, presented her with the "Outstanding Contribution Award" for Sino-US cultural exchanges, calling her the "Yellow Rose of Texas"; the Center for Asian and American Studies at the University of Houston presented her with the "Lifetime Achievement Award" for Sino-US cultural exchanges; then Houston Mayor Lee Brown designated November 20 as Zhou Jie Dance School Day, calling her "Houston Image Ambassador". Zhou Jie has been highly praised by celebrities such as the famous Hollywood director Stone and the modern dance master KenNinghan, and is known as an outstanding ambassador of Cultural and Artistic Exchanges between China and the United States. Many Chinese in the United States regard Zhou Jie as a representative of Chinese culture, pinning on the dream of Chinese inheritance and infiltration.
In recent years, Zhou Jie has been plagued by diseases. She lives in Houston, USA, and has been battling the disease with optimism. Miss S, a close friend of Zhou Jie's in Houston, describes Zhou Jie's last days:
Her illness began to recur in July, when doctors in the United States thought she would only live another week at most. But with the belief that she wanted to return to Shanghai, she always insisted on fighting the disease. Maybe it was the long-term dancing relationship she had when she was younger, and the (physical) muscles were a little stronger than the average person. But in fact, at this time, she has been consumed by the disease into an empty shelf, skin and bones, and her weight is only more than 60 pounds.
Due to the epidemic, the hospital in Houston did not allow family members and relatives and friends to visit, friends thought of many ways, plus Miss S also has a certain influence in Houston, so the hospital eventually allowed her to visit. When Miss S went to see her, Zhou Jie clutched her hand and did not let go, and she burst into tears. She accompanied Zhou Jie in the hospital for two days and one night. At the end of September, with the help of friends, Zhou Jie finally decided to charter a flight back to Shanghai. On September 26, after a long flight and a transfer refueling, the plane finally landed safely in Shanghai and was immediately taken to Pudong Hospital, where zhou Jie died of illness on the evening of October 1.
The picture shows Zhou Jie leading the dance in the 90s photography Dan Wei
Zhou Jie always said, "Whether children speak Chinese or not, when they dance, they are all messengers of Chinese culture." Beauty is universal to the whole world. ”
One writer said: "I have been to every continent in the world and deeply realized that those beautiful places have nothing to do with me, and we can only find a sense of existence when we reach this land that can accommodate us." Finally, Zhou Jie returned to Shanghai, perhaps because she was relieved in her heart, or perhaps because she did not want to be entangled with the disease that had been entangled for many years, she left and returned to her hometown.
Some readers left a message after reading yesterday's report in this newspaper, "Since then, there has been one more most beautiful dancer in heaven." ”
The Morning News reporter interviewed mr. Wei Xinhong, the publisher and writer, today, and asked him to introduce zhou jie's charter flight back to China before his death and the zhou jie in his eyes. Wei Xinhong and Zhou Jie have known each other for more than thirty years and have visited Zhou Jie in Houston twice. A few hours before our interview, Wei Xinhong had a cross-ocean phone conversation with Zhou Jie's former friend, Miss S.
Morning Post: Was Zhou Jie critically ill before she decided to charter a plane to return to China?
Wei Xinhong: Regarding Zhou Jie's charter flight back to China, it was actually discussed once in the first half of this year. At that time, she was also facing a similar critical situation, and everyone began to consider the feasibility of chartering flights, but because charter flights are more complicated, because in the United States to charter such an aircraft with an ambulance nature, there needs to be an application process; in addition to pilots, she also has to have doctors and nurses to follow the aircraft throughout the process to ensure life safety; in addition, the flight route is more than 10,000 kilometers, and this small plane has to be refueled in the middle of the way, and it must choose refueling points; in addition, if it enters China, it must also apply with the civil aviation authorities. The whole application process is quite complicated. Therefore, in the first half of this year, they had planned this matter, that is, they had done some transactional exploration and made some contacts with charter companies.
Morning News: Why did you give up the charter program later?
Wei Xinhong: It didn't work out because some people at that time advised her to stay in the United States for treatment, and they thought that houston's medical conditions were good, it was one of the six major medical invention centers in the United States, and there was a cancer rescue center and a life-end care center, which I had visited before. Then, some people feel that such good medical conditions in the United States are definitely beyond China's reach, so Zhou Jie may be better in the United States to do this treatment. In fact, according to my opinion, Zhou Jie might not have been so if she had decided to charter a plane to return to China earlier, and she should have returned to China in the first half of this year or even last year when her own physical condition was relatively good.
Our hospital in Shanghai, in the treatment of advanced cancer patients is not low, medical equipment and scientific research conditions are good, if Zhou Jie can come back earlier, may be able to avoid a lot of painful processes, but this is not to say.
So this time, she relapsed again in July, after the recurrence, the situation was very bad, the body was very weak, then Miss S, once went to the hospital to visit, and accompanied her there for a day or two days and a night, she told me, in the course of this two days and a night, they did some more in-depth conversations, because Zhou Jie was more anxious at that time. In this process, some of Zhou Jie's close friends, Chen Ye, Liu Xiaoqing and others, they also discussed the charter flight together.
Because of the movie "Burning the Yuanmingyuan", Liu Xiaoqing, Chen Ye and Zhou Jie met and became friends
Morning News: So did the charter flight go smoothly?
Wei Xinhong: So in the end, they finally contacted the charter company in this emergency, and finally rented a small jet business jet with an ambulance function to fly to China at the end of September. According to the plan, the plane arrived in Guam to stop, because the small plane had to refuel, but after arriving in Guam, the plane broke down, and the spare parts were missing, and there was no spare parts supply in Guam. Then, they had to wait for the parts to be transported to Guam from the United States, so they stayed in Guam for two more days, and for these two days, Zhou Jie continued to insist, in fact, she later relied entirely on her own spirit.
Two days later, the plane was repaired, and it flew back to China, eventually landing at the Shanghai airport. Domestic relatives to help her contact is Pudong Hospital, directly sent to the hospital, to the hospital people have been relatively weak, because after landing in Shanghai, she may feel relieved, "I finally returned to my hometown", this heart after a loose, it is estimated that her physical strength has also reached the limit, roughly such a process.
Morning Post: Regarding the charter fee, there are many rumors on the Internet at present, so how much is the cost of this charter flight?
Wei Xinhong: As far as I know, the total cost of the charter flight is about 270,000 US dollars.
The picture shows Zhou Jie in the studio of Shanghai TV Magazine photographed Dan Wei
Morning News: You and Zhou Jie have known each other for more than thirty years, what is the difference between Zhou Jie and other women engaged in artistic work in your eyes?
Wei Xinhong: Zhou Jie is different from many women in the literary and art circles I know - she is very intelligent and decisive in doing things. Zhou Jie did not have a high educational background, she entered the dance school at a very young age, so her later cultural knowledge and personal cultivation were slowly supplemented in this process of life growth, but she had her own personality, as a female artist, she was very thoughtful and ambitious.
Combining all aspects of her situation, I even think that she did not have to go abroad at that time. She herself said that going to the United States was not necessarily the most appropriate for her, that she was not a person who coveted pleasure and wanted a life of luxury, and I never heard her talk about these thoughts. She feels that her life should be reflected, valuable, and should form a synchronous relationship with society. So maybe she was an artist who wasn't born at the right time.
Morning News: Some netizens said that Zhou Jie has become a US citizen?
Wei Xinhong: She did not become a U.S. citizen and is still a Chinese citizen.
Morning Post: What do you think made her finally choose to return to China?
Wei Xinhong: If she dies in the United States, she will not be able to see, she must be very eager to return to her homeland, so she will have amazing perseverance until she returns to Shanghai. But to fly back from a charter flight from the United States, not to mention the critically ill, even ordinary patients can't eat, and have to stay in the harsh environment of Guam for two days, you can imagine what kind of experience it is, but she still persevered. When she set foot on her homeland on September 26, her body could no longer support her, and at that moment (on the evening of October 1), she left us, I think, which is her most precious life to tell her feelings and desire for her motherland.
Source: Thoughtful