Chapter 1336 Clan Soul (First update, please subscribe)

"Although I am wearing Western clothes, my heart is still Chinese. My ancestors have already branded everything about me with Chinese characteristics. The Yangtze River, the Great Wall, Huangshan Mountain, and the Yellow River are all very important to me..."

Beautiful melodies echoed throughout the campus. Students who were competing on the playground could not help but close their eyes and listen to the music coming from the radio. Listening to the melody in their ears, the misty clouds of Huangshan Mountain, the waves of the Yangtze River, the grandeur of the Yellow River and the majesty of the Great Wall seemed to emerge in the students' minds. Perhaps they had never returned to China, but through the Chinese language, geography and history books in Chinese schools, the imprint of China had long been imprinted in their souls.

Whenever they see the homeland of China in the cinema or in the movies, even if they are from Guangdong or Fujian, and even if their parents have never seen the Yangtze River, the Great Wall, Huangshan Mountain, or the Yellow River, it does not prevent them from being excited and yearning for it.

China is the homeland deep in the souls of all Chinese people around the world, no matter where they are or what they are like.

The Ninth Chinese School is the most common Chinese school in Havana.

“Culture is the soul of a nation, and Chinese schools are the cultural bastions of the Chinese people!”

Like all overseas Chinese schools, there is a slogan written on its wall. This sentence was written by the emperor himself and written in all Chinese schools to remind people of the importance of Chinese schools.

Everyone thought that this sentence came from Emperor Shengde, but no one knew that this was also "plagiarized" by Emperor Zhu Da. It was written by a Malayan Chinese, Mr. Lim Lian Geok, who fought for the status of Chinese education and the rights of the Chinese people until his death. Because he was committed to protecting Chinese education, he was deprived of his citizenship by the Malays and forced to live in seclusion for 20 years.

It was under such circumstances that he issued a cry: "Our culture is the soul of our nation, and our educational institutions are the cultural fortress of our nation... Chinese secondary schools are the fortress of Chinese culture. Subsidies can be taken away, but independent secondary schools cannot be abandoned."

What kind of oppression made him cry out like this? Without culture, everything is gone, which is the so-called "banana man". In fact, this is "becoming a barbarian", abandoning China's cultural heritage, how can we call ourselves Chinese?

It is also due to his efforts that Chinese education in Malaya has become the only region outside the mainland, Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan that retains a complete Chinese education system. The Chinese schools operated with donations from Malaysian Chinese allow every Chinese child to enter and learn Chinese. They can speak Chinese and retain Chinese culture completely.

All this is entirely due to the struggle and efforts of Lim Lian Geok and many Malay Chinese. It is also because of this that Mr. Lim Lian Geok is honored by the Malayan Chinese as the "soul of the tribe". What is this "soul of the tribe"? It is the persistence in the inheritance of Chinese civilization.

Culture is the soul of a nation!

It is for this reason that after his status was slightly improved, Emperor Zhu established the Overseas Chinese Education Department in the Ministry of Education, invested a large amount of funds in overseas Chinese education, and set up hundreds of Chinese schools in the United States, Cuba, Mexico, Peru and other places in Southeast Asia. What he wanted to defend was the spiritual fortress of this nation.

Just like now, although the school has been closed for holiday, students still return to school one after another, because the Spring Festival is approaching, and the school holds a "Spring Festival Calligraphy Competition". The competition is not only about calligraphy, but more importantly, writing Spring Festival couplets.

Not only do they write, but they also have to compose couplets. Like previous years, when the students were writing the couplets, there were many people standing around the playground. They were both parents of the students and many ordinary people. After the competition, a fundraising event was often held. The funds raised were for the operation of the school and, of course, to allow all overseas Chinese children to receive Chinese education.

As in the past, this time of year is the busiest time in Chinese schools. Not only do students hold calligraphy competitions there, but there are also charity stalls organized by students around the playground, selling handicrafts made by the students.

After arriving at the Chinese school, Li Chengcai went to the charity stall on purpose. Like in previous years, he picked out those small gadgets at the stall. After walking around there, he had a lot of small things in his hands. Just when he was about to leave, two boys came towards him, bowed to him and said.

"Sir, would you like a corsage?"

The chest sticker is a very simple red paper corsage with the two words "Clan Soul" written inside.

"Give me one."

Although a corsage only cost ten cents, Li Chengcai put a peso into the charity box when he took out the money.

"Thank you for your support for Chinese education!"

As the student bowed again to express his gratitude, Li Chengcai smiled and took out a flyer with the words "Support Chinese Education!" written in bold black letters.

“Our culture is the soul of our nation, and our educational institutions are the cultural fortress of our nation!”

After that, it was a letter to people from all walks of life. In fact, Li Chengcai could remember the contents of the flyer by heart. After all, he graduated from this school and he had printed this flyer before and posted it in stores every week. But every time he saw it, he would feel an irrepressible excitement in his heart.

"My fellow countrymen..."

Just here, the principal's voice came over the radio.

"…The Chinese School Board is a joint educational institution formed by 11 Chinese communities in Havana. It is responsible for running 39 independent Chinese schools in Havana. These 39 schools provide Chinese children with the opportunity to receive Chinese education. They also bear the responsibility of cultivating talents in the Chinese community and inheriting and promoting Chinese culture…"

While the principal was speaking, Li Chengcai recited this passage silently.

"Since 1870, when the Emperor visited Cuba, the Chinese in Cuba were liberated from slavery and Chinese education was developed here. Although the Imperial Ministry of Education subsidizes Chinese schools every year, Chinese communities and people from all walks of life who are enthusiastic about education have generously funded them, allowing Chinese schools to develop to the scale they are today..."

During the principal's speech and thank-you speech, people once again donated generously and took out their money and came to the donation counter to register. Every donation to the Chinese school will be made public, and the annual accounts will also be made public and subject to supervision.

It is this kind of openness that makes all of them believe that every penny they donate will be used for the education of Chinese children. Of course, it is not just used for the education of Chinese children. The school will set aside 10% of the number of students admitted each year for independent enrollment and admit students of other ethnic groups through examinations. This also enables thousands of outstanding students from other ethnic groups to receive secondary education every year, of course, secondary education in Chinese schools.

Li Chengcai, a European-Indian mixed-race, benefited from this. He not only received secondary education, but was even admitted to university. With a scholarship, he was able to go to the empire to study at university.

At this time, returning to his alma mater again, Li Chengcai felt happy and everything he saw was full of memories.

My classroom is right there.

Just then, he heard someone shouting.

"Success!"

Turning around, Li Chengcai saw a familiar person - Li Weizhi, his middle school classmate.

"Wei Zhi, why are you here..."

Before he could finish his words, Li Chengcai saw the school badge on his old classmate's chest and was surprised.

"Yeah, you are a teacher at the Chinese school now."

This kind of school badge can only be worn by the school's teachers. It makes sense that they are not only middle school classmates, but also classmates who went to study in the empire at the same time.

It's just that my old classmate studied at a normal school. After graduating from the normal school, he became a middle school teacher, which is obviously a normal thing.

"Haha, I never thought you would return to your alma mater."

Looking at his old classmates, Li Chengcai said with a smile.

"How about it, old classmate, do you have time? Let's get together."

I have set up a book club: 739209015. Everyone is welcome to join and discuss and deduce the plot together.

(End of this chapter)