While on a video call with my family, I was playing a short Russian sentence at a low volume. To my surprise, my youngest brother-in-law heard it and asked if I was learning Russian. I asked him if he knew Russian, curious about his familiarity with the language.
It turned out that, during the early 1960s, he had lived with his aunt and uncle in Northeast China, where his aunt taught Russian. At that time, Russian was the most commonly taught foreign language in China. Can you imagine that now?
This emphasis on Russian language was due to two main factors. First, China was completely isolated by a U.S.-led blockade that included severe sanctions—far more restrictive than what we see today on Russia. There were no cultural, educational, economic, or diplomatic ties with West European countries, and, of course, no internet.
France broke the trend in 1964, becoming the first major Western power to establish full diplomatic relations with China at the ambassadorial level, under President Charles de Gaulle. The U.S. followed suit 15 years later, and other Western powers gradually did the same.
Second, following the founding of the PRC, China developed a close political, cultural, and economic relationship with the Soviet Union. The Russian Embassy in Beijing was said to be one of the largest embassies in the world. During this period, there were numerous Russian experts and projects throughout China, creating a strong demand for the Russian language. The Chinese government prioritized Russian language education to facilitate collaboration in fields like education, science, technology, and economics.
However, this focus on Russian shifted after the Sino-Soviet split in the early 1960s, which culminated in the Sino-Russian border clashes in 1969. English slowly gained prominence, especially after China joined the United Nations as a permanent Security Council member in 1971.
But the transition to English wasn’t immediate. In the 1970s, when I first started learning English, the abridged versions of English classics that I read were actually written, published in Russia and imported from there.
A Chinese saying goes, "三十年河东，三十年河西" (Sānshí nián hé dōng, sānshí nián hé xī) means "Thirty years on the east bank of the river, thirty years on the west bank." This saying emphasizes that circumstances can change drastically over time and the cyclical nature of power. It reflects how language priorities in China shifted from Russian to English over the decades, mirroring broader political and cultural transformations.
A shift in linguistic focus mirrors China's changing alliances and global position. While English dominates today, the echoes of Russian remind us of a time when China's circumstances were very different. As the saying goes, “Thirty years on the east bank, thirty years on the west”—a reminder that nothing is fixed, and the world and its priorities are always evolving.
This piece is dedicated to the generation of my children, so they can understand the past we lived through.