“My father loved China and the people of China. That is why, despite his great success in the Olympic Games in Paris in 1924, and straight after his graduation at the University of Edinburgh, he returned to China,” mentioned Patricia Liddell Russell, daughter of Eric Liddell.
by Xinhua writers Zheng Bofei, Jin Jing
EDINBURGH, Sept. 9 (Xinhua) — Tucked into the quiet residential streets of Morningside, the Eric Liddell Community stands alongside a crossroads locals name Holy Corner. The former church, a effective instance of Victorian structure that blends seamlessly with its environment, is now a group care heart and charity.
Today, it homes exhibitions, information and memorabilia of the Olympic gold medalist and former prisoner of struggle through the Chinese People’s War of Resistance towards Japanese Aggression.
To most Scots, the identify “Eric Liddell” wants no introduction. Known because the “Flying Scotsman,” his story has turn into a part of nationwide legend. Yet few notice that the Olympic champion who as soon as shocked the world later spent a lot of his life in China, the place he taught and preached, however lastly died in a Japanese internment camp.
A MIRACLE
At the 1924 Paris Olympics, Eric Liddell captured gold within the males’s 400 meters in 47.6 seconds, setting a brand new Olympic and world document. Upon returning to Edinburgh, Liddell was honored as a hero by colleges, church buildings and sports activities golf equipment throughout Scotland. In 1981, the Oscar-winning movie Chariots of Fire additional cemented his standing as an icon. A century later, he stays considered one of Scotland’s most admired sports activities figures, topping the general public vote when inducted into the Scottish Sports Hall of Fame in 2002.
After the Paris Olympics, Liddell made a alternative that once more shocked many: he returned to Tianjin, the northern Chinese metropolis of his delivery. Born in 1902 to Scottish missionary mother and father, he had spent his early years in China earlier than returning to Britain.
In Tianjin, he taught at an Anglo-Chinese school and left a visual legacy in sports activities by serving to to design and promote the Minyuan Stadium. Modeled after London’s Stamford Bridge, the stadium grew to become considered one of Asia’s most superior sporting venues then, internet hosting worldwide competitions and serving as a coaching floor the place Liddell himself received a number of medals.
STANDING FIRM
When Japan launched a full-scale invasion of China in 1937, Liddell didn’t depart. Instead, he moved to Hebei Province, the place he taught villagers amid the turmoil.
By 1941, with conflicts mounting, he made the painful resolution to ship his pregnant spouse, Florence Mackenzie, and their two younger daughters to security in Canada. He himself selected to remain.
His niece, Sue Caton, recollects a little-known story informed by Florence. Liddell had smuggled cash by checkpoints by hiding it inside a hollowed-out baguette, which he carried casually as his lunch. This easy however efficient trick enabled him to ship very important funds to Chinese households in hardship.
In 1943, Liddell was interned by Japanese forces in Weihsien (now Weifang City in Shandong Province) together with almost 2,000 different Western civilians. There, he grew to become affectionately generally known as “Uncle Eric.”
Putting his chemistry diploma to sensible use, he taught science courses utilizing scraps of paper, organized video games, and repaired sports activities gear — even utilizing strips of mattress linen to repair damaged hockey sticks for the youngsters.
Today, the Eric Liddell Community in Edinburgh shows a outstanding relic from that interval: a handwritten chemistry pocket book compiled by Liddell within the camp. Its neat, cautious handwriting belies the tough situations during which it was created.
Camp survivors remembered him as optimistic and humble. He helped the aged, shared his meals, and even gave away his prized trainers to these in better want.
“Tragically, Eric did not live to see the liberation of the camp. He died just months before the camp was freed,” mentioned Caroline Clark, program supervisor of the Eric Liddell 100 centenary mission. “But the hope and courage he left behind helped many others endure to the end.”
Liddell died of a mind tumor in 1945 on the age of 43. In 1988, a granite memorial carved from stone in his native Isle of Mull was unveiled at his grave in Weifang, inscribed with phrases: “They shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run and not be weary.”
SHARED LEGACY
Sue Caton recalled her personal go to to China, the place she noticed the memorial in Weifang firsthand. She additionally hosted a delegation from Weifang in Edinburgh that introduced an exhibition about Liddell and the Weihsien camp.
“We built a genuine friendship,” she mentioned.
His life and achievements have been additionally showcased at a centenary exhibition on the Tianjin Sports Museum. In a written message, his daughter Patricia Liddell Russell mentioned: “Eric was born in China, worked in China, and died in China. He spent more years of his life in China than in Scotland. Those who knew him at any stage of his life never had a bad word to say about him. To the children in the camp, he was not Mr. Liddell but Uncle Eric.”
“My father loved China and the people of China. That is why, despite his great success in the Olympic Games in Paris in 1924, and straight after his graduation at the University of Edinburgh, he returned to China,” Patricia mentioned.
Today, the Eric Liddell Community in Edinburgh stays lively, providing look after dementia individuals whereas additionally working Chinese cultural actions similar to calligraphy, Tai Chi, and conventional Chinese portray courses.