Chapter 370 Reunion
From 1937 to 1945, China organized three large-scale school relocations. The first was after the July 7 Incident, when the Japanese invaders destroyed 91 Chinese colleges and universities and forced 25 schools to close. The Nationalist government selected Wuhan, Xi'an and other places to establish temporary universities and relocated 75 colleges and universities.
The second time was after the outbreak of the Pacific War. The universities originally in the British and American concessions and in Hong Kong were either forced to close or move back to the southwestern provinces. At the same time, the universities originally remaining in Zhejiang, Jiangxi, Fujian, Guangdong, Hunan and other places moved further westward, totaling 20 universities. This is the origin of the famous spirit of westward migration.
During this period, Zhejiang University was divided into three parts. Under the leadership of President Zhu Kezhen, the first part moved to Yuqian and Jiande in Zhejiang, the second part moved to Ji'an and Taihe in Jiangxi, the third part moved to Yishan in Guangxi, and finally to Zunyi and Meitan in Guizhou, where it operated for nearly seven years. At the same time, a Longquan branch was established in Zhejiang. The westward migration covered more than 2,600 kilometers, covering seven provinces including Zhejiang, Jiangxi, Hunan, Guangxi, Guangdong, Guizhou, and Fujian.
The third time, due to the defeat in the Battle of Henan, Hunan and Guangxi, colleges and universities in western Hunan, northern Guangdong, Jiangxi, Fujian and other places were forced to move westward again to Sichuan and Guizhou, a total of 26 colleges and universities. Fortunately, victory came quickly this time and not too much time was wasted.
Due to lack of preparation, the number of teachers and students was greatly reduced during the migration process. According to incomplete statistics, the number generally decreased by 50%. The loss of teaching equipment was innumerable. It was a major setback in the history of the development of higher education in China.
But there are also advantages. As Zhang Xingjiu said before, the distribution of higher education in the Republic of China was very unbalanced. The majority of universities were located in provinces with more active coastal economies, while there were very few schools in inland provinces, and the teaching staff could not be compared with those in coastal provinces.
These three university migrations greatly improved the education level of these inland provinces and left precious sparks for the local areas. After the victory of the Anti-Japanese War, when these schools returned to their original places, they also left behind some teachers and students, as well as school buildings, teaching equipment, books and materials. The local areas then used these resources to develop local higher education.
What Zhang Xingjiu needs to do now is to arrange in advance the locations to receive teachers and students from many schools in the north and coastal areas, so that when things change in the future, they don’t have to rethink where to migrate to.
At the same time, starting a school in advance can also let the local government and people know what work needs to be done to accept a university, so that when these teachers and students come in the future, they will not be at a loss as to what to do.
With these preparations, the impact of the war on the development of domestic higher education can be reduced to a certain extent. Even if the loss rate of teachers and students during the migration process can only be reduced from 50% to 45%, Zhang Xingjiu's work will not be in vain.
These teachers and students are like sparks. When we start building our motherland in the future, they will turn into torches, illuminating the horizons of more students and contributing to national construction.
The journey was very arduous. Wherever Zhang Xingjiu arrived, he had to survey the school site, communicate and coordinate with the local government for funds and materials, and often had to go out in person to raise funds. All these took up a lot of his time, so much so that he didn't even have time to attend this Solvay Conference.
Fortunately, the most important Solvay Conference was the first and the fifth one where Einstein and Bohr quarreled. It would not be a pity to miss this one. After the war is over, you can still attend the Solvay Conference in 1948.
After leaving Xi'an, he arrived in Chongqing via Baoji, Hanzhong and Bazhong. In fact, it might be closer via Ankang or Dazhou, but Baoji and Hanzhong are more suitable for school accommodation than Ankang, so Zhang Xingjiu chose this route.
He also stayed in Baoji and Hanzhong for some time, leaving some people there to set up schools and build school buildings, making preparations in advance.
After arriving in Chongqing, Zhang Xingjiu also made some preparations, but not as much as in Xi'an. In the future, this place will become a secondary capital, and the Japanese planes will come to bomb at any time, so it is not very suitable as a key migration location.
Chengdu is closer to the rear and not as eye-catching as Chongqing. It is also very rich in resources and can house many universities. When the National Sichuan University was being planned and built, Zhang Xingjiu also handled a lot of things and had some connections here, so when he arrived in Chengdu, he was warmly welcomed by the local education and academic circles. With their help, all the preparatory work went much more smoothly.
The last key city was Kunming, where Southwest Associated University later set its address. Famous universities such as National Peking University, National Tsinghua University, and Private Nankai University first came to Changsha and then went to Kunming, and did not return to their hometowns until the second year after the victory of the War of Resistance Against Japan.
Southwest Associated University stayed in this city for eight years and produced two Nobel Prize winners, five winners of the "National Highest Science and Technology Award", eight "Two Bombs and One Satellite" heroes, and countless academicians of the two academies.
Because Kunming is located in the rear area and the climate is relatively suitable, teaching work will not be delayed due to excessively hot or cold weather. Therefore, Zhang Xingjiu plans to make this city his permanent residence after the outbreak of the Anti-Japanese War and train more talents in Kunming.
Dong Ze, who went to Shanghai to seek help from Zhang Xingjiu, has served as the president of Donglu University for eight years. During these eight years, thanks to his efforts, Yunnan's higher education has achieved remarkable results from its inception to development.
Now, Donglu University has been changed to a provincial university. On the grounds that Donglu was Tang Jiyao's personal name, the provincial Donglu University was renamed the provincial Yunnan University. Dong Ze also resigned from the position of president and served as a consultant to the government, which was just right for him to help Zhang Xingjiu with various preparatory work.
With local senior educators like him, Zhang Xingjiu's burden was lightened a lot. He not only selected several suitable places outside Kunming City, but also went to Dali and other places to select school sites in advance so that more migrating teachers and students could be accommodated in the future.
On the way back, Zhang Xingjiu made a detour to Guizhou. Guizhou will also accommodate some students. Although there are not as many as Xi'an, Chongqing and Kunming, Zhejiang University alone cannot be underestimated, so some arrangements have to be made here in advance.
However, the situation in Guizhou is quite turbulent now, and Zhang Xingjiu was unable to accomplish much work after coming here. He simply looked at the address and chatted with local educators, and then had to leave.
There is no railway in Guizhou at present, and the Guizhou-Guangxi Railway will not be built until 1939. There are not many roads either. Zhang Xingjiu can only choose to take the water route to enter the Yangtze River, and then go downstream along the Yangtze River back to Shanghai.
The ship docked in a small town that day. Zhang Xingjiu came to an inn to have a meal and rest. While he was eating, several people dressed as merchants came in at the door. Zhang Xingjiu recognized the leader at a glance.
(End of this chapter)
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