On Thursday, August 22, 2024, the "Eric Liddell and Weifang" special exhibition opened its doors at the Eric Liddell Centre in Edinburgh, the United Kingdom.
Supported by the Chinese Consulate General in Edinburgh, Shandong Provincial Government, Weifang Municipal Government, and the Confucius Institute at Heriot-Watt University, this event was inaugurated in a ceremony presided over by John MacMillan, CEO of the Eric Liddell Centre.
This exhibition, a collaborative effort between the UK's Eric Liddell Centre and the Weihsien Internment Camp Museum from Liddell's adopted hometown in China, coincides with two significant milestones: the 100th anniversary of Liddell's gold medal win at the 1924 Paris Olympics and the return of the Games to the French capital this year.
Born in Tianjin in China in 1902 with his parents as missionaries in the country, Eric Liddell (known in Chinese as Li Airui), the famous British athlete who won the 400-meter gold medal at the 1924 Paris Olympic Games came to China for missionary work. Showcasing his sports talent from an early age, he became a professional sprinter. Selected to represent Great Britain at the Paris 1924 Olympics in France, Liddell abandoned the men's 100m preliminary round and the 4x100 meters relay which were held on Sunday afternoon, as he insisted on attending the Sunday service. Eric won the bronze medal in the next 200-meter dash and set a world record in the 400-meter race that his teammate set but he was not good at. He became the first Jew to win an Olympic gold medal in the 400 meters. He died at the age of 43 in Weihsien Camp Prison Camp (the Courtyard of the Happy Way) in 1945, a few months before the end of World War II.
Notably, the Weihsien Internment Camp authentically documents the atrocities of Japanese militarism and witnesses the righteous struggle of Chinese people and imprisoned Western expatriates united against Japanese fascism during World War II, showcasing the spirit of internationalism and humanitarianism.
Divided into four laps—a preface, followed by "Extraordinary Experience," "Indomitable Spirit," and "Centennial Commemoration"—this exhibition will run its course from August 22 to September 5.
Looking ahead, it is reported that the Weifang Municipal Bureau of Culture and Tourism will engage in a relay of cultural exchange and cooperation with public cultural institutions such as museums in Edinburgh, London, and other locations in the UK. These efforts aim to gather additional archives and artifacts related to the Weihsien Internment Camp and to organize future commemorative events, furthering the understanding of this significant historical period.
It is worth mentioning that on July 23, the Tianjin Sports Museum unveiled a permanent exhibition to commemorate the 100th anniversary of Eric Liddell winning a gold medal at the 1924 Paris Summer Olympic Games under the theme of “Eric Liddell, the Olympic Champion, Dedicated Himself to Tianjin.”
Catriona Radcliffe, head of the Scottish Government Office in China, visited Tianjin to witness the unveiling of the permanent exhibition. Radcliffe remarked, “His compassion, integrity, and passion are the values that we can hold dear today and close to us, whether in China or Scotland... It helps us remember that the connection between the people in China and the people in Scotland is so important. The China-Scotland connection and those values ring true wherever you are in China, in Scotland, or wherever in the world.”
- Translated by Hermas Wang, Poppy Chan
