Dashan, this foreign boy who wears a Tang costume and greets the New Year, do you remember?
His real name is Mark Rowswell and he was born in Ottawa, Canada. In 1984, he was admitted to the Department of East Asian Studies at the University of Toronto, where he developed a strong interest in Chinese and Chinese languages and cultures. After graduation, he received a full scholarship and was selected as a member of the Sino-Canadian Exchange Scholar Exchange Program to study Chinese and Chinese language and literature at Peking University.
By chance, Dashan participated in the 1989 ** TV New Year's Day party, and played a Chinese young man named "Xu Dashan" in the sketch "Night Return". This character is a blonde and blue-eyed foreign face, wearing a military coat and a Lei Feng hat, which has left a deep impression in the hearts of countless audiences.
At the New Year's Day party of the following year, Dashan appeared again, standing side by side with cross talk actors Jiang Kun and Tang Jiezhong, performing cross talk together. At this time, he has become Jiang Kun's apprentice and the first foreign successor in the cross talk world. Jiang Kun commented: "The apprentice Dashan has an average appearance, with colored eyes and coiled hair. Speaking Chinese, putting on a coat, learning to act in cross talk, and making jokes. ”
In 1998, Dashan finally appeared on the stage of the Spring Festival Gala. Since then, he has participated in the Spring Festival Gala four times, becoming the foreigner with the most appearances in the history of the Spring Festival Gala. However, starting in 2011, he gradually faded out of the eyes of television audiences.
What was he doing after that?
Dashan proved his deep love for China with his actions. He strives to make the art of Chinese humor better spread to the world.
In 2017, he participated in the Melbourne International Comedy Festival with the talk show "Dashan Kan Dashan", which became the only Chinese program that year. As a representative of Canadians performing Chinese comedy, Dashan shared many untold stories in the program, witnessed China's reform and opening up from a unique perspective, and showed his more than 30 years of comedy life spent in cultural exchanges between China and the West.
Today, Dashan's career has gone beyond the stage and set foot in many fields such as culture, education, commerce and trade, and public welfare. He actively gave full play to his advantages and became a bridge for cultural exchanges between China and the West, and an all-round envoy of friendship between China and foreign countries.
As an ambassador of Chinese culture, Dashan travels between Canada and China. He has used culture as a link to build a bridge of friendship and made the diplomatic relations between China and Canada more friendly and developing.
Although he was a foreigner, Dashan formed a deep friendship with the Chinese people. As the people once commented on him: "Although he is a foreigner, he is not an outsider." ”
The story of Dashan tells us that culture knows no borders, and friendship knows no state. He proved to the world the importance of cultural exchanges between China and the West with his actions, and also proved that a foreigner can become a member of the hearts of Chinese. Let us pay tribute to Dashan, learn Xi from him, and jointly promote cultural exchanges between China and foreign countries, so as to create a more friendly and harmonious world.