The Chronicle of Walking on the Yunnan-Vietnam Line —— The National SouthWest Associated University

it will be dark when we fly to Kunming.

I hurried to the hotel to check in, and it was completely dark. Fortunately, we lived by the Cuihu Lake, and our group started the warm-up of this trip with the leader fisherman and teacher Man Shu.

The destination is now Cuihu Park. Cuihu was originally a part of Dianchi Lake and was once called Caihaizi. However, I was deeply impressed to see the pump house of Kunming Waterworks. The green lake in the moonlight is very quiet, and the colorful lights around it bring excitement different from that in the daytime. Through the door glass of the pump room, we saw the raven electric pump, and our hearts were filled with emotion. After 11 years, the machine was quite intact.

Under the bright street lights, Manshu tells us that long before the opening of the Yunnan-Vietnam Railway, the progressive national entrepreneurs in Kunming won the government's approval to build a hydropower station and ordered generator sets from Siemens of Germany. In the year when the railway was opened to traffic, the machines arrived, and with the concerted efforts of technical experts, construction engineers and installation workers, it was completed on Shilong Dam in the western suburbs of Kunming in less than two years. In 1912, Kunming lit up the light bulb.

After COVID-19, you can't just enter the university campus. Passing the main entrance of Yunnan University, Man Shu mentioned the topic that can't be avoided in this trip-The National SouthWest Associated University. Unfortunately, I couldn't go to Yunnan Normal University to see the memorial hall of the General Assembly.

During the whole trip, I saw that there were only two places related to the teaching building in The National SouthWest Associated University, namely, the former site of Mengzi Branch and the College of Liberal Arts and Girls' Dormitory in Honghe Prefecture, but what kept churning in my mind was the special history of moving to schools that really affected the whole higher education in China nearly 9 years ago.

in the late Qing dynasty, the country opened. The fiasco of the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895 made the first group of people of insight studying abroad in China deeply aware of the backwardness and ignorance of our feudal empire. Therefore, saving the country by science and rejuvenating the country by culture became the main theme at that time. The only fundamental way to change is to start with education.

Cai Yuanpei, a native of Shaoxing, was a leading figure at that time. He actively advocated the policy of free thinking and inclusiveness, and became the helm of Peking University. After the Revolution of 1911, the first batch of excellent candidates in China obtained the qualification of studying abroad at public expense (overseas students in boxer indemnity). Many people chose to study advanced science and engineering and mechanical specialties in the West, and engaged in the teaching of higher education after returning to China with their degrees, volunteering to train a new generation of practical talents for the backward motherland. Mei Yiqi, the first batch of G-class international students, taught in Tsinghua after returning to China, and served as the president of Tsinghua University in 1931. His speech at that time still reverberates in my ears. He said that the so-called great scholar is not a building, but a master. He emphasized that there are only two key points in university education, one is to study academics, and the other is to cultivate talents.

In the more than twenty years after the Revolution of 1911, although there was a scuffle between warlords, the spirit of learning western science and striving for strength through self-reliance was first established in the hearts of those masters. As soon as the suffering Chinese nation overthrew the feudal monarchy and did not get out of poverty, the Japanese invaders stepped into the northeast. With the national strength at that time, it could not compete with the powerful Japan. Shortly after the Lugouqiao Incident in 1937, the Japanese aggressors bombed Tianjin Nankai University, and Tsinghua and Peking University were also in danger. In order to preserve the hard-won academic seeds and a desk for students, with the support of the government of the Republic of China, the three best institutions of higher learning in Pingjin decided to move south.

The traffic in those days was far worse than today. It's a long journey to complete this trip. For example, a group of professors and scholars, such as Liang Sicheng and his wife, took a large number of manuscripts and other materials with their families, and finally arrived in Changsha by land and water from Beijing to Tianjin, Qingdao, Jinan and Zhengzhou. I can't help but think of all the hardships described by Qian Zhongshu in Fortress Besieged, and even if it is miserable, I can only smile bitterly.

Those who arrive in Changsha, Hunan Province first will form the National Changsha Temporary University to resume their studies. Science, engineering and other subjects are in the city, while literature, history and philosophy rent a Bible school on the mountain, and there are a large number of books, experimental instruments, archaeological relics and valuable manuscripts and materials transported. What hardships and dangers those masters have experienced and their lives are constantly turning around, which our future generations cannot imagine.

At the same time, the soldiers of the national army fought to the death and fought fiercely. However, with the continuous fall of the country and cities, the Japanese aggressors' planes bombarded the south and the mainland more arrogantly, and Changsha was not spared. So Changsha Temporary University had to consider moving to the more remote southwest again, and Kunming was the final choice.

To Kunming, a large number of students and professors set off in three waves. The selected routes are: Guangdong-Han railway train to Guangzhou, via Hong Kong, then by boat to Haiphong, and finally by Yunnan-Vietnam railway to Kunming; Mr. Zhu Ziqing and Mr. Feng Youlan led the bus through Guilin, Liuzhou and Nanning, Guangxi, from Youyiguan to Hanoi, and then transferred to the train on the Yunnan-Vietnam line to Kunming. There is also the "Hunan-Guizhou-Yunnan Tour Group" led by Mr. Wen Yiduo, who walked more than 1, kilometers over mountains and mountains, and after many hardships, it took more than a month to reach Kunming. The Yunnan-Vietnam Railway played an important role in the journey here.

Today, we look back on the history of The National SouthWest Associated University 9 years ago and sincerely think it is a miracle in the history of modern education. Never before, never after. Not to mention that students and school workers were killed in the dangers of continuous migration under fire. Even in such an environment, normal teaching has never been interrupted. This can't help but make the younger generation respect us.

Professors have been wandering all the way, and to make matters worse, they have lost valuable academic materials. Mr. Chen Yinque, a historian, suffered from a serious eye disease, but lost valuable books during his migration. He was saddened but helpless. Jin Yuelin also accidentally lost the manuscript while avoiding an air raid; Liu Wendian's four boxes of manuscripts were also lost in Hongkong. Lin Huiyin suffered from illness and insisted on sorting out architectural manuscripts in a simple bed; The two daughters of archaeologist Li Ji died of illness in the environment of lack of medical care and medicine in the flower season ... < P > However, even in the bonfire years of anti-Japanese war, the national spirit of these teachers and students was greatly inspired, and the teachers insisted on teaching, and the students did not stop learning because of gunfire. These seeds of academic research slowly took root in the southwest border areas under such difficult conditions. It is a miracle that The National SouthWest Associated University has trained a batch of outstanding talents here. Thanks to three great heroes who moved to the school and managed the school affairs, they are Mr. Jiang Menglin (Peking University), Mr. Mei Yiqi (Tsinghua University) and Mr. Zhang Boling (Nankai University).

They were the presidents of the three former universities. They never wanted to work for the Japanese invaders in the occupied areas during the war. They overcame great difficulties and solved problems such as school buildings, courses, recruitment, graduation, academic research, writing books and teachers' and students' lives, so that their teaching was uninterrupted during the migration and changes. Overcome the soaring prices, the shortage of materials, the economic distress, and often avoid the air raid warning to avoid being hit by bombs ...

When we were at Bise Village Station, when we walked along the South Lake (Mengzi) in the dim night, when we walked to the former site of the Mengzi branch of the General Assembly, we couldn't help but think of the young students and professors who had walked here to write poems, miss their hometown and worry about the nation. At that time, the Yunnan-Vietnam Railway carried them countless round trips. Teachers and students of the school were forced to temporarily borrow villages and temples in Yiliang and other places to attend classes because they wanted to avoid the attack of artillery fire. There are also Xuyong Campus in Sichuan, and Lizhuang in Chestnut's Depression ... which have suffered from being displaced from place to place.

The professors who were almost displaced in the war did not change their minds. After the outbreak of the Pacific War, Britain, the United States, China and the Soviet Union, the allies of the world anti-fascist war, declared war on Japan. The Chinese Expeditionary Force fought against the Japanese army on the Yunnan-Burma line. At that time, students from The National SouthWest Associated University joined the army, mainly communication soldiers stationed in various places, responsible for the translation and communication of various telegrams and military instructions. Xu Yuanchong, a young student, was one of them, and a pair of sons and daughters of Mr. Mei Yiqi joined the army respectively to translate for the Flying Tigers. Many young people died when they were evacuated from savage valley, and the young teacher Cha Liangzheng experienced this life and death. He only wanted to express everything in his heart with poetry.

After the victory of the Anti-Japanese War, Mr. Zhang, Mr. Mei and Mr. Jiang began to prepare for the return to school. It can be said that The National SouthWest Associated University, which lasted for more than eight years, was a glorious moment in the history of modern education in China. Despite the misery of the country's destruction and the fall of mountains and rivers, it was full of talented people. The time of the General Assembly in Yunnan also brought the local students the idea of being eager to learn, worrying about the country, knowing the world and seeking progress. The teachers and students of the General Assembly established primary schools, middle schools, girls' schools and teachers' colleges in Kunming, laying a good foundation for free learning and training talents. When they left Kunming, many local young people, especially vocational school students who had listened to teachers and students, were very reluctant to leave.

In today's changing world, students' desks can be put down gracefully everywhere in China. Some conditions are extremely good, but the masters are long gone, along with their thoughts, charm, ethics and feelings.

when I saw the photos taken by my friends on the herringbone bridge of Yunnan-Vietnam railway, my heart surged. I think that the master professors or students of the United Nations General Assembly once traveled to and from this railway with full knowledge and the will to serve the motherland, hoping to defeat the Japanese aggressors by spreading knowledge, democracy and science and strengthening the motherland. And firmly believe that one day it will succeed.

The National SouthWest Associated University's history, some materials and precious cultural relics are preserved in Yunnan University, Yunnan Normal University and Peking University respectively. If we are lucky enough to see them, we should sincerely appreciate the precious spiritual wealth left by our predecessors and silently urge ourselves to take a step closer to their ideals.