3 Education in Yishan
At the end of July 1938, with Jiujiang occupied by Japanese troops, Zhejiang University could not continue in Taihe. After field investigation, President Chu Kochen decided to move the university to Yishan, Guangxi.
From 1938 to 1939, Zhejiang University grew somewhat in scale. Its Normal College was established in August 1938, while its College of Liberal Arts and Sciences was divided into two colleges in the summer of 1939.
The picture shows a distant view of the school buildings (taken in the 1930s).
On arrival in Yishan, the students and teachers found the living condition harsh. Particularly, due to the local climate and environment, they had to face the threat from malaria and more than 200 of them were infected. The picture shows the diary of President Chu about the epidemic then (January 24, 1939).
After Zhejiang University moved to Yishan, it took the former reformatory school as its Office of General Services, Confucian Temple and Huguang Guild Hall as its auditorium and classrooms. Thatched huts were built at Biaoying outside the east gate to serve as temporary classrooms and dormitories for students. A panoramic view of Yishan's Confucian Temple.
The picture shows Zhejiang University's classrooms at Biaoying (taken in the spring of 1939).
On February 5, 1939, 18 Japanese bombers attacked the school buildings of Zhejiang University at Biaoying, leading to huge damages. Destroyed were an auditorium, 14 new classrooms, 8 dormitory rooms, more than 10 rooms of offices, reading rooms and kitchens and a piano carried all along from Hangzhou. It was still fortunate since no one died in the raid. School synod made the decision to allocate funds to relieve the distress and to take one tenth of the monthly salary of the teaching and administrative staff, with their consent, as donation to afflicted students. The picture shows the devastated school buildings (taken on February 5, 1939).
The picture shows the map of the raid in the zone according to the University's investigation. As many as 118 bombs were dropped to Biaoying where Zhejiang University was located.
During the migration, a large number of insect specimens were collected for teaching and scientific research. The picture shows the insect specimens collected in Yishan, Guangxi in 1939.
Group photo of teachers and graduates of Department of Biology (taken in 1939 with Tan Jiazhen 4thfrom left, Cai Bao 5thfrom left, Zhang Mengwen 7thfrom left, Bei Shizhang 8thfrom left in the front row).
Group photo of students and teachers in Yishan (taken in 1940).