 The National Broadcasting Company and its affiliated independent stations present the Pacific Story. This is the story of the Pacific, the drama of the millions of people who live around this greatest sea, where the United States is now committed to a long-term policy of securing the peace. This is the background story of the events in the Pacific and their meaning to us and to the generations to come. Tonight's Pacific Story comes to you with drama of the past and present and commentary by Justice William Orville Douglas, member of the Supreme Court. The Chinese Giant Awakens. Everybody must be there. Scholars from the city are coming to talk to us. Meeting will be held tomorrow at the Temple Theatre of our village. Everybody must be there. Scholars from the city are coming to our village. All these men look. It is said they are scholars. Scholars would not come to our poor village. I do not understand it, Wang. Why would they come to this huddle of mud huts? It is said that yesterday they came and talked with the elder, and the elder called the village council. What can they want? The elder is going to speak for years. I have called you, the people of the village, together for a very important purpose. It concerns the prestige of this village. Here on the platform with me have come to our miserable village to educate us. Educate us? Wang, that one getting up to talk now is not a scholar. No, it is Zhao. He lives right here in the village. How many of you here have eyes? Raise your hand. Raise your hand, Wang. Yes, everybody is raising his hand. Even your son, you fail over there. Yes. Can you see me? Yes, I can see you. How many of you can see what I am holding up here in my hand? It is a book. Now, how many of you can read this book? Yes, you have eyes, but you cannot read. You are as bad as blind. There are doctors here who can cure your blindness. These men have studied in Chinese schools and in Western schools. If you were really blind, how long would it take to cure you? But these scholars know how to cure your blindness in four months. You do not need to pay any money. You only spend one hour a day. Four months. They are fooling us. Those who are willing to come to school, raise your hand. No one is raising his hand. Your son is raising his hand. Look, my son. He is only 13 years old. He is pulling his hand down again. No, do not be scared, Wang, you fail. Raise your hand again. You are the first one. That is good. Now, how many of the rest of you are willing to come to school? No, you do not know how to read. Raise your hand. That is it. Fire. Raise your hand now, Wang. Look, all the others raising their hand. No, education is not for us. I am only a poor farmer. What can my son, you fail, be thinking of? Mr. Yan says that one day all the people of Sanam will know how to read and write. Many have thought the same thing, my son. But education is not for us. Mr. Yan says that if we study... Some people are scholars and some are not. Most of the scholars are from families of scholars. But we are not scholars. We are farmers. We are workers. But Mr. Yan says... Mr. Yan, Mr. Yan, Mr. Yan. It would be wrong, Wang, to keep your faith from learning. He must earn his living by working in the fields. Wang, the old day is done. The Chinese giant is wakening. Oh, giant? The people of China. There are more Chinese than any other people on earth. In learning, no nation has excelled China. But until now, learning has been the privilege of the few. You are one of the few. Therefore, you are the elder of our village. The great masters were not educated, but now Dr. Yan has... Is he the one here now? One of the scholars? Yes. You say talks of him... Mr. Yan is the heart of the movement for educating all the people of our country. He is from a family of scholars. Yet, he knew very little of the workers until he went to France during the First World War. He went to France? Yes. 200,000 Chinese were sent to France. Coolies, farmers, toilets, and James Yan went to work among them. Many of our people are becoming homesick, Yan. They only had some means of communication with their people back in China. They have never read a word or written a word in their lives. That is it. They have never had any schooling, so they are ignorant. Or not ignorant, illiterate. Well... Actually, they are intelligent. They understand all that is going on around them. But in a true sense, they are cut off from knowledge. Yes. If there were only some way to teach them... It is impossible, Yan. How could they ever learn the thousands of characters of the Chinese alphabet? They are like lost children. About all we can do is keep on reading the news from home to them. I wonder... Oh, here comes one of them. Oh, yes. Mr. Yan... Please, could you help me? Well, if I can, certainly I will. My family in Hounan, you know about them? No, I'm afraid I do not. I worry. No letters. Oh, I see. Can anyone in your family write? No. Can you write? No. You help me? You want me to write a letter for you? Oh, yes. Please. Say my wife, if she and children have food to eat, say if she were in the theater... It was there in France that James Yan came to respect the common people of China. He had been born into a family of scholars, so he never really knew much about the Coolies. But as he worked among the 200,000 in France, he began to understand them. He began to see how great their need for education was. So he went to work to simplify the Chinese language. He worked out a simplified alphabet of a thousand characters, and with these he taught the illiterate to read a simple book or newspaper. And this was the beginning. My father, I have been made a guiding student. A guiding student? Yes. There are ten of us in Mr. Yan's class. And what do you do? I help the teacher. Who chose you? The others in the class. And father? Yes. I want to start a school home here. I cannot understand it long. A boy 13 years old. Your son has been honored. You think? Yes. He is one of the brightest in the class. He helps teach the others. But starting a school here in my miserable house, he will teach what he learned to those who cannot go to the school. Even older people. Even you. No. Or perhaps you will go to the school with me one hour each day. No. Mr. Yan and the other scholars have been here to our village to help us, Wang. What does he know of us? He is a scholar. He knows much. When he came back from France, Mr. Yan and some of his friends decided to spend their lives to help us. The fundamental thing is to teach as many possible to read and write. But where will we start? Not here in this beautiful city of Beijing, certainly. No. There are not many who are illiterate here. We must go where the millions are. They are scattered all over China. That is where we must go. How could we overcome their resistance to learning? Talk to them about building a railroad to their country they object. Talk to them about public health. They say they do not understand. But talk to them about learning to read books. They will understand that. Where will we start, Yan? We will find a place where there is a... At last, Wang, they found a place to start. A village in the county of Tingxian on the Great Plains of North China. And Mr. Yan and his friends went there to that muddy and dusty village. What is this? Who are these strangers? They are teachers. Teachers? Yes. They are trying to sign up everyone between the ages of 12 and 25 to teach them to read and write. Some of them are real scholars. The one named Yan and some of the others. I will go back to my farm. What good is this to us? That is what I shall owe. What good is this to us? Perhaps Mr. Yan and his friends can help us as they help the people of Tingxian. 60 of them went to Tingxian. They left their work in universities and in the government to teach the people. Mr. Yan won the respect of all who listen to him. It is not enough to learn to read and write, my people. To have democracy, we must have knowledge. And we must develop our skills. We must not only prepare for life, we must remake our lives. They worked for six years in Tingxian, Wang. And the word of the good they did in Tingxian spread far over the land. Dr. Yan and those who worked with him lived in the simple houses of the farmers. They became part of the life of the village. When the people saw for themselves what the schools could do, Dr. Yan and his associates were able to persuade them to start people's schools of their own. Today, in the 472 villages in the county of Tingxian, there is a people's school at every village. And all of them are supported by the people themselves. Excuse me gentlemen, there's someone at the door. Come in. This communique has just come in a very early hour. Thank you. Gentlemen, Japanese troops last night made a surprise attack upon our garrison at the Marco Polo bridge outside of Peking. Then came the war. By that time, the schools at Fred's from Tingxian to many other places. Are there any questions? What happened to all the schools then, you face? When the Japanese came, the scholars and the teachers and many, many of the students moved inland. That is right, you face. Three quarters of the faculties and the students moved inland. Go on now, you face. You are the teacher and these people have come here to your house to learn from you. Yes. Everyone had to work or fight during the war, but the teachers went right on teaching and the students went right on learning. Oh, where did they go to school, my son? In old buildings, in caves, in the fields, anywhere. They make desks of mud bricks and they even studied at night by the light of oil lamps. And when there was no oil, they studied by the light of the moon. That is right, you face. Perhaps your father has another question. They kept on learning? Yes, they kept on learning, my father. Actually, Mr. Wang, with each passing year, there were more students learning all over China and more teachers teaching them. Farmers, like us? Farmers, yes, and coolies and soldiers. Would you like to ask another question, my father? No. Well, you face, you are doing very well. I must go on to the next house and see how the guarding student is getting along there. Wang is learning from his son, you face, from his son. Is Wang a good student? Very attentive, but he will not come to school like the older one. The younger generation is upon him, Charles. Yes, it is the younger ones who will make the new China. That is right, Charles. In Qingtian, there were 400,000 people, one-tenth of all the people of China. Of these 80,000 young people learned to read and write, then they saw that their future was in their own lap. Dr. Yan has shown us the way. He has taught us to read and write. But what we become is up to us. Therefore, we have met here to organize the Fellow Scholar Association. A new world has been opened to us. We who never dreamed of reading and writing can now read and write. The objectives of the Fellow Scholar Association will be first to continue to learn to read and study about this land of ours and our people and the world in which we live. And our second objective will be to make better this place we live and to serve our people and our community. They remembered the words of Dr. Yan. Literacy alone is not enough. Literacy is not education. It is only a tool for education. Now, the minds of you young people have been liberating. Therefore, you want more. You need more. And this is good. As you learned your first letters and your first principles, you realized that there can be happiness and cooperation. You know, the old Chinese saying is under heaven there is but one family. You who are being educated must realize this. Then you will no longer think of yourselves as isolated units, but as part of the great world. Where is your father, you think? He is out in the field. Does he not attend your school any longer? As much as I, I can teach him nothing. Then he has stopped. I do not know, Mr. Lo. But he talks of things that are unfamiliar to me. He asks me questions about our great ancestors and about their deeds. And I'm only beginning to learn about these. Something is happening to your father, you think? There is his ox lobe. See it, way out there in the field. Yes, but where is Wang? Let us go out and see if we can find him, Charles. He is sitting there in the shade of the tree. Yes, is that a book in his hands? Yes, careful now. Do not startle him. Hello, Wang. Are you all right, Wang? I am very well. We were anxious about you. We have not seen you for days. I am studying the manual. Ah, that is good. It has opened my eyes. Wang, we need you in the school, in the class I am in. Yes, we do, Wang. I am only a farmer. You are a good farmer. The other farmers respect you. We need your knowledge. We are going to start a newspaper for farmers with information and news that will help all the farmers here in our valley. I have just learned to read and write. I too, Wang. But you have been learning about farming all your life. We want you to help us on this and we will help you learn more. Will you come to my house tomorrow? Yes, I will come. And Chao and I will help you with your manual. I have been thinking, perhaps it would be best for me to go to school with you, Wang. What do you think, Chao? Yes, perhaps it would. Perhaps it would. Wang getting along in his class, Dr. Yan. His teacher tells me that he is making excellent progress. He is so eager to learn that he becomes impatient. Now he sees that almost the whole population here has become a student population. That it is the fashion to learn. And he does not want to be left out. No, particularly when he has such a bright sun. He is very proud of you, Fei. They are coming to the opening of the new library together. Wang over there with you, Fei. Look how bright his face is. I know how he feels. We were together the day Dr. Yan and his scholars came. The day that you asked us to raise our hands. I remember. He would not raise his hand. But think how much has happened since then. We can read and write and we are beginning to learn something about our history and our people. And Wang there has been elected a leading farmer and he is a member of the fellow scholar association. What has happened to him and you Fei and to you, though, has happened to millions all over our country. Oh, look, the village elder is over there talking with Wang and you Fei now. Yes. An old-fashioned scholar talking to a new one. The day of scholars of my kind is passing. You and your son, you Fei, are the new scholars of China. Thank you. We are hardly scholars. You who are being educated in this great movement will become greater than we for you will become part of the great world. I have always wished that I could read and write. Father, they are going to start. Yes. The speaker came here all the way from the capital. He is from the government. Hi, people. We are gathered here in your village to dedicate this modest little building at the people's library. You have made great progress here in your village as part of the great mass educational movement all over our country. From the very first beginnings that were made in Dingxin County in 1931 by Dr. James Yen and his staff, until today, 47 million Chinese have learned to read and write. You people are part of this great number and you have every reason to be proud. It is the hope of Dr. Yen and all of us of the government in this great movement to wipe illiteracy from the face of our land within the next few years. The books in this library have been written in the conversational language so that all of you can read them. Father. Yes. There's Mr. Chow over there. Could I go over and talk with him? Yes. Yes, go. Thank you. Fine boy you have there, Wong. Yes. Intelligent resourceful. Yes. Oh, I wanted to ask you this, Wong. Do you think I will ever be able to keep up with him? The Chinese giant is awakening. China today is undertaking the largest educational project on the face of the earth. To tell you the significance of this movement, the national broadcasting company presents Justice William Orville Douglas, member of the Supreme Court. The next voice you hear will be that of Justice Douglas. One moment, please. The Chinese mass education program has great significance for all of us. It is planting the seeds of democracy in the cities and villages of Asia. In China alone there are 450 million people. They have been our gallant allies and the Great War just ended. They can assert a tremendous influence in fashioning a durable peace. They can take the lead in championing the democratic cause in Asia. The educational program which Dr. Jane Jian started in China some 20 years ago is now being sponsored by the national government. It is about to be inaugurated in every province in China. Tonight, Jimmy Yan is en route across the Pacific for that purpose. He has dedicated his life to the improvement of the lot of the common man in China. Freedom and opportunity are the great values of western civilization. It is Jimmy Yan's ambition that China's millions may also share that great heritage. His program starts with the elimination of illiteracy, but it does not end there. He has a great public health program designed to eliminate the plagues which have been a great scourge to China. Poverty too has been a great scourge and his program brings to China the means of raising the standard of living of the common people. China is primarily an agricultural nation. The mass education program introduces scientific methods of agriculture, soil conservation, crop rotation, fertilization, stock breeding and the like. Well over it sponsors credit and marketing cooperatives so that the farmers rather than middlemen may be the beneficiaries of the increased production. The program is also designed to prepare the Chinese for the exercise of the franchise so that they may become active participants in government. Government of the people, by the people and for the people is the aim. People's education, people's health, people's livelihood, people's government. These constitute the Chinese mass education program. This program is one of the most challenging in the world today. Peace cannot be enduring in a world half slave and half free. The path to freedom however is not an easy one. It can be won only by the people themselves. That means they must be given the opportunity to help themselves. We cannot export democracy like we export automobiles and kerosene lamps. But we can export knowledge. We can export ideas for improving the lot of the common men in China and elsewhere. With the keys of knowledge they themselves can unlock the doors that lead to freedom and opportunity. When freedom and opportunity are won by self-help they are enduring. China has not been a democratic nation in the political sense. But China has for centuries been genuinely democratic in the social or cultural sense. Under the heavens there is but one family is the ancient Chinese philosophy. The soil in China is prepared for the seeds of political democracy. Political democracy can thrive there. But that goal cannot be attained until a land of illiterate peasants is transformed into a nation of scientific farmers, modern mechanics, and informed citizens. Such a China will not only stabilize peace in Asia. It will contribute substantially to our own security and prosperity. It will provide 450 million Chinese allies for freedom loving people throughout the world. It is all important to us that through this mass education program democracy wins out on the continent of Asia. Thank you, Justice William Orville Douglas. You have been listening to the Pacific Story presented by the national broadcasting company and its affiliated independent stations to clarify events in the Pacific and to make understandable the crosscurrents of life in the Pacific Basin. For a reprint of this Pacific Story program send 10 cents in stamps or coin to University of California Press, Berkeley, California. The Pacific Story is written and directed by Arnold Marquess. The original musical score was composed and conducted by Thomas Paluso. Your narrator, Gain Whitman. This program came to you from Hollywood. This is NBC, the national broadcasting company.