Training the Heavens

Chapter 370 Reunion

From 1937 to 1945, China organized three large-scale school relocations. The first was after the July 91 Incident, when the Japanese destroyed 25 Chinese universities and forced 75 schools to close. The Nationalist government selected Wuhan, Xi'an and other places to establish temporary universities and relocated 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 down 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 branch was moved to Yuqian and Jiande in Zhejiang, the second to Ji'an and Taihe in Jiangxi, the third 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, and the westward migration covered more than 2600 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 was achieved 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%, and the loss of teaching equipment was innumerable. It was a major setback in the history of China's higher education development.

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 colleges and universities were located in economically active coastal provinces, while inland provinces had very few schools and their teaching staff could not compare with those in the coastal areas.

These three university migrations greatly improved the education level of these inland provinces and left valuable sparks for the local area. After the victory of the Anti-Japanese War, these schools returned to their original places, leaving behind some teachers and students, as well as school buildings, teaching equipment, books and materials. The local area then used these resources to develop local higher education.

What Zhang Xingjiu needs to do now is to arrange in advance the locations for receiving teachers and students from many schools in the north and along the coast, so that if things change in the future, they will not have to rethink where to migrate.

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 is only 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 hard. Every time Zhang Xingjiu arrived at a place, 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 one and the fifth one where Einstein and Bohr quarreled. It would not be too regretful 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 to go through Ankang or Dazhou, but Baoji and Hanzhong are more suitable for locating schools than Ankang, so Zhang Xingjiu chose this route.

He also spent some time in Baoji and Hanzhong, leaving some people there to organize schools and build school buildings, making advance preparations. After arriving in Chongqing, Zhang Xingjiu also made some preparations, but not as many as in Xi'an. In the future, this place would become the secondary capital, and the Japanese planes would come over to bomb it at any time, making it 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 accommodate many universities. When the National Sichuan University was being planned and established, Zhang Xingjiu also handled a lot of things and had some connections here, so after 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 Peking University, Tsinghua University, and Nankai University first came to Changsha and then to Kunming, and did not return to their hometowns until the second year after the victory of the Anti-Japanese War.

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 has a relatively suitable climate, 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 had gone to Shanghai to seek help from Zhang Xingjiu, had served as the president of Donglu University for eight years. During these eight years, thanks to his efforts, Yunnan's higher education has developed from its inception to development and achieved remarkable results.

Now, Donglu University has been changed to a provincial university. On the grounds that Donglu was Tang Jiyao's personal name, the name of Donglu University was changed to 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 a local senior educator 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 return journey, Zhang Xingjiu took 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 must 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, chatted with local educators, and then had to leave.

There is no railway in Guizhou now, 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. Zhang Xingjiu recognized the leader at a glance.

(End of this chapter)