Lianda
Subtitle: a Chinese university in war and revolution
By: John Israel.
Publisher: Stanford University Press
Published: 1998
Place of publication: Stanford, Calif
Language: eng
Number of pages: 459
Subjects: Xi nan lian he da xue (Kunming Shi, China); Sino-Japanese Conflict, 1937-1945 -- Education and the conflict.; Politics and education -- China -- History -- 20th century.; China -- Politics and government -- 1945-1949.
Description: In the summer of 1937, Japanese troops occupied the campuses of Beijing's preeminent universities, Beida and Qinghua, and reduced Nankai, in Tianjin, to rubble. These were China's leading institutions of higher learning, run by men educated in the West and committed to modern liberal education. The three universities first moved to Changsha, 900 miles southwest of Beijing, where they joined forces. But with the fall of Nanjing in mid-December, many students left to fight the Japanese, who soon began bombing Changsha. In February 1938, the 800 remaining student and faculty made the thousand-mile trek to Kunming, in China's remote, mountainous southwest, where they formed the National Southwest Associated University (Lianda). In makeshift quarters, subject to sporadic bombing by the Japanese and shortages of food, books, and clothing, students and professors did their best to conduct a modern university. In the next eight years, many of China's most prominent intellectuals taught or studied at Lianda. This book is the story of their lives and work under extraordinary conditions.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. 439-448) and index.