Chapter of Youth·Learning to Serve the Country丨Understanding the Southwest Associated University in the Pursuit: Beacon Fire String Song Lives Up to the Times
It is a university that has only existed for eight years, but has made a mark in the history of Chinese education. It is the National Southwest Associated University, which was established in Yunnan during the period of the All-out Anti-Japanese War. At the time of the national crisis, the educational essence of all China gathered here after many twists and turns, forming a gathering of elites. Finally, it blossomed and bore fruit here, and the seeds were sown. The talents cultivated played an important role in various historical periods of revolution, construction and reform. Recently, reporters from China Economic Network followed the media tour of the online themed event of "Youth Chapter·Learning to Serve the Country" and visited the Bisezhai Yunnan-Vietnam Railway Historical and Cultural Park, the Memorial Hall of the Mengzi Branch of Southwest Associated University, and the former site and museum of Southwest Associated University to trace the historical footprints of their ancestors and appreciate the spiritual power of "fortitude and perseverance".
Moving Three Thousand Miles Westward, the Long March of Education
"North China is so big that there is no room for a peaceful desk." This is the most realistic portrayal of those turbulent years. On July 7, 1937, the Marco Polo Bridge Incident broke out, and Japanese imperialism launched a full-scale war of aggression against China. In order to preserve the context of China's higher education, National Peking University, National Tsinghua University and the private Nankai University were forced to move south and jointly formed the National Changsha Temporary University in Changsha. Classes officially began on November 1 of that year. This day was later designated as the anniversary of Southwest Associated University. At the end of 1937, Nanjing fell and the situation continued to deteriorate, so the school moved westward again. In April 1938, teachers and students from three groups arrived in Kunming, and Changsha University was renamed "National Southwest Associated University". Since then, Southwest Associated University has had a difficult but glorious history of running schools in Yunnan for eight years. It was not until 1946 that the University's teachers and students returned to the north one after another, and the school ceased operations on July 31 of that year.
The former site and museum of Southwest Associated University are located on the campus of today's Yunnan Normal University. In the Museum of Southwest Associated University, black and white photos and cultural relics quietly tell the history of the school's westward migration. It is understood that among the three groups of teachers and students, one went along the Guangdong-Hankou Railway to Guangzhou, took a boat to Vietnam's Haiphong via Hong Kong, and then took the Yunnan-Vietnam Railway to Kunming; the other group took a bus along the Hunan-Guangxi Highway through Guilin, Liuzhou, and Nanning, passed Zhennanguan (today's Friendship Pass) to Hanoi, Vietnam, and then took the Yunnan-Vietnam Railway to Mongolia. from Kunming; more than 200 teachers and students formed the "Hunan, Guizhou, and Yunnan Tour Group". Led by scholars such as Wen Yiduo and Zeng Zhaoluan, they walked across the three provinces of Hunan, Guizhou, and Yunnan. It lasted 68 days and traveled more than 1,600 kilometers before arriving in Kunming, embarking on the "Long March in the History of Education."
According to reports, when the "Hunan, Guizhou and Yunnan Tour Group" started trekking, everyone's feet would have more than a dozen blisters by the end of the day. At night, they could only use a needle to pop the blood blisters and move on the next day. But in such a difficult environment, the enthusiasm for scientific exploration has never extinguished. Wu Zhengyi, who graduated from Tsinghua University and stayed at the school to teach, collected specimens every day during his walks and recorded the vegetation along the way, treating the escape route as a classroom for scientific investigation.
Teachers and students have traveled thousands of miles to come to Kunming, and this is not the end of the entire trip. Because Kunming lacked formal school buildings at that time, the School of Liberal Arts and the School of Law and Business had to move to Mengzi again. Mengzi City, located in today's Honghe Prefecture, Yunnan Province, has been open to trade since the late Qing Dynasty. The Yunnan-Vietnam Railway passes through the territory and intersects with the Gebishi Railway, the earliest and longest privately built railway in modern China, at Bisezhai Station. This small town prospered because of the Gejiu tin mine and was connected by the railway. In the early summer of 1938, teachers and students from the two colleges of Southwest Associated University arrived at Bisezhai Station by railway, then traveled to the South Lake of Mengzi to build the Mengzi branch of Southwest Associated University. "This station has also witnessed that tragic history and embodies the unyielding national spirit." Zhou Ying, manager of the Bisezhai Yunnan-Vietnam Railway Historical and Cultural Park Visitor Center, said, "Many people come here for study and tourism. Whether it is the deeds of Chinese people building the railway themselves or the story of teachers and students joining forces to study and serve the country, it will resonate with everyone."
It is understood that during the period when Mengzi University was in operation, teachers and students of the United Union actively carried out anti-Japanese and national salvation propaganda activities, and a number of cultural masters left a deep historical imprint. Qian Mu began to write the "Outline of National History" here, and Wen Yiduo, Chen Yinke, Zhu Ziqing, and Feng Youlan gave lectures here. Teachers and students established the Nanhu Poetry Club and opened night schools for the public, sowing the seeds of reading beside Nanhu Lake. During the war, students studied hard for the country and the nation, which was their motivation and motivation to study. One semester later, teachers and students from the two colleges of the United Nations University moved back to Kunming.
Scholarship Answer Sheet and Congrong Monument
On the campus of Yunnan Normal University, the reporter walked into the original classroom of Southwest Associated University. Dozens of simple wooden chairs were neatly placed, restoring the scene at that time. Because there is an armrest shaped like a ham on the right side of the chair, it was called the "ham chair" by teachers and students at the time. Students could write notes directly on the armrest while sitting down. This small armrest reflects the dedication of teachers and students to knowledge under difficult conditions.
Physicist Yang Zhenning once recalled that the classrooms at the United Nations University were houses with iron roofs, and when it rained, there was a constant tinkling sound. However, in the face of such "interference", the gentlemen of the General Assembly showed a different kind of calmness - Professor Chen Daisun of the Department of Economics was teaching a class once when a heavy rainstorm drowned out the sound of the lecture. He simply wrote on the blackboard "Suspension of classes to enjoy the rain" and led the students to sit quietly and listen to the rain amidst the roar of the iron roof, maintaining his composure in difficult times. In addition to the difficult conditions, there is another test. During the Japanese air raid on Kunming, "running the alarm" became a daily routine for teachers and students at the United Nations. When the alarm sounded, everyone rushed to the air-raid shelter in the back mountain to take shelter, sometimes staying there for hours.
A reporter from China Economic Network learned that Southwest Associated University has been running schools in Yunnan for eight years, and more than 8,000 teachers and students have studied here and served the country. Among them, Wu Dayou, the "Father of Chinese Physics", built a primitive spectrometer using a wooden frame and a prism in a converted laboratory from a house with mud walls and mud floors in Gangtou Village, carried out some experiments and research, and guided Yang Zhenning to complete the classical mechanics paper "Discussing the Vibration of Polyatomic Molecules Using Group Theory." This undergraduate thesis became the starting point for Yang Zhenning's future research on the principle of symmetry.
Studying under the flames of war was the youthful chapter of that generation; serving the country through learning was the answer they wrote throughout their lives. The harsh and rough environment is exactly where talents come from. Many years later, the university handed over a heavy answer: 2 alumni won the Nobel Prize in Physics, 8 alumni became winners of the "Two Bombs and One Satellite Meritorious Medal", 5 alumni became winners of the country's highest science and technology award, 175 alumni were elected academicians, and cultivated a large number of outstanding talents. Deng Jiaxian, Zhu Guangya, Pan Jiluan... all well-known names have become immortal legends in their respective fields.
There are also a group of people in the United Nations General Assembly who have chosen another path to serve their country. On the north side of the Southwest Associated University building, the "Monument with the Names of Students of National Southwest Associated University who have served in the military since the Anti-Japanese War" is engraved with the names of 834 students from the National Southwest Associated University who have served in the military since the Anti-Japanese War. According to the history of Southwest Associated University, during the Anti-Japanese War, there were more than 1,100 students from Southwest Associated University registered at the school to join the army, accounting for about 14% of the total number of students. Some of them joined the Flying Tigers as translators, some went to Myanmar with the expeditionary force to fight, and some never came back. "Many of the Southwest Associated University students who joined the army sacrificed their lives, which is particularly touching." Xiao Lichun, secretary of the Youth League branch of Qinglong Town Central School in Jianshui County, Honghe Prefecture and chief counselor of the Young Pioneers, told reporters.
Difficulties yet optimism, the fire will be passed down
While studying in Mongolia, Wen Yiduo once wrote in a letter at home: "The environment in Mongolia is not bad, and the books can be used... I am only optimistic about the future of the country. The temporary setbacks ahead are not enough to make me depressed." Despite the difficult times, countless people at the United Nations General Assembly have always Their ideals, efforts and contributions are closely linked to the destiny of the country and the future of the nation, and condense into the spirit of the General Assembly of "fortitude and perseverance". These four words also continue to inspire those who come after to forge ahead.
"When the nation is in danger, we should straighten our spine; when the nation is rejuvenating, we should become the pillar." Wang Qi, a full-time commentator at the Southwest Associated University Museum, views the significance of the spirit of the United Nations General Assembly to today. "I hope that when everyone leaves the exhibition hall, they will not just remember a legend, but they can compare themselves and think about the relationship between personal ideals and the destiny of the country."
Yuan Ziyu has been working at the Memorial Hall of Southwest Associated University Mengzi Branch for 14 years. She admitted that her initial understanding of this job was just to explain, but as she communicated with different visitors and got in-depth contact with this period of history, she began to take the initiative to research the history of Southwest Associated University. Today, she likes to communicate with visitors like friends and tell more visitors about the people and events of the Southwest Associated University in the past.
"At the Memorial Hall of Southwest Associated University Mengzi Branch, I seem to see the scenes of teachers and students who walked from Changsha to Kunming, endured hardships but never gave up, and persisted in studying during the war. Now we can sit safely in the classroom to read and study, but at that time they didn't even have a quiet desk." said Liang Jinjie, a first-year student at the Honghe Prefecture Experimental School of the High School Affiliated to Minzu University of China.
"I usually tell the students the story of Southwest Associated University, so that the children can remember that period of history, cherish today's life, study hard, become a new generation of the times with a sense of history, responsibility and high aspirations, and serve the motherland when they grow up," Xiao Lichun said.
