 This is the story of the Pacific and its people, of the peaceful sea and the lands and lives it touches, and their meaning to us and to the generations to come. The Pacific Story, presented by the National Broadcasting Company and dedicated to a full understanding of the vast Pacific Basin. This broadcast series comes to you as another public service, with drama of the past and present and commentary by Dr. Leigh Rae Lyman-Wilbert, traveler and scholar of the Pacific, President Emeritus and Chancellor of Stanford University. China's Exiled Universities Years now, Japan has sought to exterminate education in China. To the Japanese and educated Chinese is a nail in the eye, a dangerous irritation and obstruction which must be removed. To China, an educated youth is a priceless pearl in the palm of the nation. And him, the Japanese, have resolved to destroy. On the night of July 28, 1937, three weeks after the incident at the Marco Polo Bridge, Dean Huang, a beautiful Nankai University at Tianjin, and the last two students remaining in the Nankai province were hurriedly packing books and papers. Will we take these books, too, Dean Huang? We will take everything we can carry. It is incredible that we must go. We must hurry. Here is the chief of notes. Observations on chemical experiments. Take them, Lo, and Wang. Yes, sir. Take your thesis on the problems of North China. You will finish it sometime. When we come back? You may not come back for a long time. The Japanese know that the university students have opposed them for years. Yes, they know that the Chinese intellectuals have frustrated their hopes of seizing Chinese rights and territory, and they will take vengeance. Here, Wang, take this monograph. Oh, yes, sir. Can this almanac? Take it. As soon as light comes, the Japanese will be here. Oh, Don will be here in five hours. We have known this would happen for so long, yet it isn't real. Every one of us has left the university. We are the last. Hurry, Wang, and Lo. We must not fall into Japanese hands. I have everything ready, see? You cannot carry all that, Lo. We must travel on foot. I can carry, Dean Wang. Let me take some of those books. No, I am younger, and you have more than you can carry. Yes, let me take some, Dean Wang. No, no. What we carry away is all we shall have of Nankai University. We shall have all it means, Dean Wang. Oh, yes. All it means. All it means. With these books, we shall start again somewhere else. Let us leave at once. In the dark of the early morning, the detachment of the Chinese 29th Route Army stole silently upon the Japanese military garrison outside the gates of Nankai. A Japanese sentry discovered them. Throughout the night, the battle raged. The Japanese garrison suffered heavily. At dawn, the sky trembled with squadrons of heavy bombers. Look, Dean Wang, here they come. Bombers. Three waves of them. We got out just in time. They're heading directly for the university. It is like an empty abandoned house now. But it is a symbol of Chinese resistance to the Japanese. There go their first bombs. Oh, look. The flames shooting up. The pieces of walls and roofs flying in every direction. They came directly from the airfield to the university. They're not paying any attention to the 29th Route Army at all. Just bombing the campus. The university is more dangerous to them than soldiers. Comes another wave. Yes. There's still another wave behind that. They're going to blow up every last building on the campus, Dean Wang. If they can, they will leave nothing standing. From rooftop miles away, members of the British Confession watch the destruction through binoculars. When the bombers had completed their work, the Japanese employed another tactic. Look at that sky. It's red from the fire. Terrible. Anything still standing over there in the campus? I can see the library dome. But why? What is it? Here. Here. Look. Take the binoculars. Yes. See that Japanese artillery? What are they doing? They seem to be moving. They fire a cell wolf shell into the library. Then they pick up in March 100 yards toward the campus, and then they... There goes another cell, though. Oh, Heaven's direct hit. Demolished the library. Every share is a direct hit. They've been practicing this operation for years. There they go again. Just crossing the campus, aren't they? Yes. And now they're picking up and marching another 100 yards. At this rate, not a sliver is going to be left standing. The Japanese artillerymen marched and fired. Marched and fired throughout the day. At dusk, they reached the gates of what had been Nankai University. Quietly over the desolated campus that night. And next morning... Stand clear! Stand clear! Cut the next line! Americans are not permitted in this vicinity. Well, as a correspondent, I had to come out here and see what all the shooting was about. You must leave at once. You've done a good job on the university here. Just about blown it off the map. We have not yet eradicated the last vestiges of anti-Japanese from Nankai. You haven't. The university was empty. It was, eh? It will make no difference. We have a complete roster of the enrollment at Nankai. Sooner or later, we shall track down every one of them. None will escape. The destruction of Nankai became a symbol of the Japanese policy in Japan, in China. The Japanese moved methodically against every feat of higher education they could reach. Beijing National University, Tsinghua University, Chek Yang University, scores of others. The university buildings were destroyed or pressed into the service of Japan. John Hay Memorial Library at Tsinghua University was turned into a hospital for the Japanese. Theodore Roosevelt Memorial Gymnasium was turned into a stable for Japanese cavalry. As the Japanese closed in, the Chinese uprooted their universities and moved them inland. When the Japanese landed at Canton, the Chinese of Sun Yat Sen University loaded junks to move the university up the Pearl River to Lo Ting. Where is the tugboat? This is Dr. Tio Wei Ying, Dean of Sun Yat Sen University. The tugboat was to have been here an hour ago. We are getting the last boxers aboard now. Are all 480 cases accounted for change? Yes, all of them, Dr. Tio. Every minute is precious. The Japanese may get here before the tugboat. Yes. Look at the sky over Canton. Smoke a mile high. In these boxes are all we have of Sun Yat Sen University. Books and laboratory equipment. Here comes the Japanese plane. Get down! The boat! Get out of the boat! They have discovered us. We must move at once, Chen. But Dr. Tio, we have no tugboat. Where is the boat captain? Look, there he is there. No sound. He'll call me. We must move at once. Where is the tugboat? We must have a tugboat to pull the jumps. We will use oars and bamboo poles. We will help. All of us. We must start moving up the river at once. Get your men aboard. I do not know if we can get the men aboard. We will start at once. Chen? Yes, Dr. Tio. Get the students aboard. We're going to fail. Everybody! Everybody! Down, everybody! Down! Everybody aboard. Cut those lines. Chop them off. He comes in the plane. Push off. Grab those oars. Man those poles. The lady's jumps were labored up the Pearl River to lyle you. Here, two steamboats were leaves. They transport the 480 cases and the students with them to Lo Chang. Clean. They're coming back again. Get down. Down, everybody! They're packing everything on the river. Captain! They really lost their time. We will take shelter under the first cover we can find for the boat. Yes, Dr. Tio. From now on, we must sail only at night in the dark. Clean. Here they come again. As the Chinese sailed further up the river, the Japanese advanced behind them. From Lo Ting, Dr. Tiao and the students took to 480 cases the great distance to Lung Chao in Guangxi Province. Hundreds more Chinese students, learning of the flight of the university, joined the main party to lend their help. The cargo increased to 1,000 pieces weighing more than 80 tons as they started Overland with trucks. This is no road, here along the railway? It is the only way into Kunming. It is the best route for the truck, even if it is rough. The trucks will break down and then there will be a target for the bombers when daylight comes. If the trucks can hold out to Kunming, we must keep going. Hear that? Bombers, bombers up there in the park. Look, they're dropping flares. They're lighting up the countryside, light as day. You gotta stop, get out of the truck, get out of the run, get out. Now hurry, Dr. Tiao, hurry. They have discovered a whole line of trucks. Get down, fuck! Through bombing and over almost impassable roads, the trucks arrived safely at Kunming. Beyond Kunming and short of Chiang Chiang, the road ended. And the books and instruments were loaded on the backs of donkeys, horses and oxen. As the equipment near Chiang Chiang, the students of Sun Yat-sen University had been left behind at Canton, began to flock in. 300 of us have come by way of Guangxi. 800 of us have come by way of Hong Kong and Haifeng. 200 of us have marched through Hunan province. And more and more students are flocking in from old directions, Dr. Tiao. Thank you, Chen. More than half the students of Sun Yat-sen University are now here at Chiang Chiang. We have had a fourth interval of four and a half months. But now we shall resume regular classroom work at once. Throughout the interior of Free China, the exiled universities re-established themselves. Peking University, Tsinghua and Mankai joined to establish Southwest Associated University at Kunming. Here and in the score of other places, the indomitable Chinese professors and students carry on. Look at this, Dr. Chung. What is it? Oil. Oil that we extracted from the wild castor bean. The castor bean is abundant here in Yunnan, Dr. Chung. Yes. If we could extract enough of it, we could use it as a substitute for the imported mineral oil. We could extract more, if we... I know. I know. If we had laboratory equipment instead of pots and kettles and meat grinders. But we must keep trying. We are making some progress. Think of Wang Chenlin. A student from Mankai? Yes. All the voluminous notes he had been gathering for a history of China's northern problems were destroyed when Mankai University was destroyed. Yet he is starting again. All laboratories make shift. But every day we are improving it. After all, we have a great deal. I have a desk made of mud bricks. Our lecture halls are only matsheds. But in them, we can study as well as in a palace. We need no luxuries, Dr. Chung. You who stand this now deserve all that will someday be yours. Your long gowns are patched. And your cloth uniforms are threadbare. There are only sandals on your feet. No stockings. I've seen you shiver. And fool, there is so little of it. What have you had tonight? Tonight, salted cabbage and soy bean sauce. Yes, salted cabbage and soy bean sauce. We have not had meat for months. No, there is none. We must get back to work in the laboratory. If we only had oil lamps, we could work at night. But even an oil lamp is too expensive for us. Almost eight o'clock, then lights must be out. It is a moonlight night. Perhaps we shall be able to see a little while longer. That is the way the ancient scholars of China studied. By the light of the sun and by the light of the moon. What is that? What? Airplanes. Yes, bombers. They've come way out here. Get everyone into shelters. Everyone into shelters. Airways, airways, bombers, bombers. Our laboratory has been completely destroyed, Dr. Chung. And nearly all the books and bookshelves of our library. We must start again. Japan redoubled her efforts to crush education in China. But with each blow, the Chinese determined the more to resist. China wisely saw that the first step of the invader to enslave a conquered people is to destroy its culture and civilization. And China fought back. Like a massive resurgent wave, the new educational movement rolled against the enemy. In the face of the Japanese onslaught, plans were set afoot for the education of the young, the illiterate, to carry on the education of the students in the exiled universities, and to teach reading and writing to the guerrillas. I am the manager of a traveling theatrical unit. Our troupe is made up of university students. We travel through the back country. And through entertainment, spread knowledge wherever we go. We enlighten the interior population about the national situation in order to support the war from the rear. And at the same time, we gain contact with the real majority of China. The farmers, the students act, sing, and lecture. And then I am the director of a unit to promote social education. On trucks, we carry schools, libraries, and first aid facilities from the cities to the rural districts. In this way, we are able to bring knowledge to the people in the outlying regions and to promote closer cooperation toward national unity and toward the winning of the war. Wherever we go, we work to educate the people to the real region. Knowledge is power. And education is carried not only to the outlying regions, but also to the thousands of guerrilla troops which are operating behind the enemy lines. To be able to read is to be able to fight the Japanese more effectively. This is a guerrilla leader talking to his men. You have all seen the pictures that have been passed out among you. What is this picture? Well, it is a picture of a guerrilla, like we are. That is right. But what are all those marks around the head? Those are question marks. Question marks? Yes. They show that there are many questions in the head of the guerrilla. He is confused. What is he confused about? You see those words at the bottom of the picture? I don't know what they mean. They say, suppose you were entrusted with an important mission and suddenly a secret order came to you. What would you do? I could not read it. That is why all of us must know how to read. I know how to fight. I don't want to know how to read. You should know the characters. I know no characters, but I know how to fight the Japanese. And that is enough for me. Where direct encouragement failed, more subtle methods were used. After several days, the guerrilla who said he knew no characters made an interesting discovery. Look, I do not understand this. What? This. It is written on everything belonging to me. What does it say? It says, I know no characters. The words impressed themselves on the guerrilla and he learned them. On his bayonet, each morning, he found the simple character, thought, and soon this word and its meaning were memorized. Then gradually, I have written my name and my number on everything I own. When meetings were called, the two words, meeting called, were displayed where all the guerrillas could see them. Soon they learned to recognize these words and know their meaning. Drawings illustrated the meanings of other characters. And when the guerrillas were on the march, Captain, what is that character written on the back of the marcher in front of me? It is the same as the character written on your back, so the man behind you can see it. What does it mean? It means, goong-ho, work together. On every front, education is being used in China as a weapon against the invader. On every front is the determination to frustrate the enemy's ruthless plan of crushing Chinese civilization. Despite Japan's effort to destroy culture in China, today there is a higher rate of literacy in China than ever before. Before the war, China had 108 institutions of higher learning. Today, China has 138. The number of university students in China has increased from 48,000 before the war to 60,000 today. With each passing day, education and culture are becoming more secure in free China, and the exiled student expresses his determination by saying, We would like to go back to our homes, but we shall not go back unless we can fly our national flag, and unless our cities can be so fortified that they can never again be invaded, as they were in 1937. This army has defended the nation on the battlefield, so the exiled universities and the thousands of students have courageously carried on and expanded free China's educational system. With the Chinese government and the people behind them, education is blazing the way to a still greater free China. And here to tell the meaning behind this is Dr. Ray Lyman Wilbur, friend and authority on the Pacific, and President Emeritus and Chancellor of Stanford University, Dr. Wilbur. When I visited his campus some years ago, the first president of Nankai University told me how the idea of building university had come to him. He said that he was a sailor in the small Chinese navy, and that in the battle when the whole fleet was sunk, he swam ashore and, looking back, saw the flag of his own ship just disappearing under the water. Something stirred inside of him. I suppose it was what we call loyalty to country, and he determined there and then that he would do something for his people. He began in a very modest way to hold student meetings in the homes of some wealthy friends, gradually obtained support from influential and prosperous Chinese. He built buildings on what we would call a shoestring, brought the students into their own problems of housing, cooking, and maintenance, developed friends abroad and obtained the funds for books, laboratories, and laboratory equipment. I have never seen devotion greater than that shown by the members of the Nankai faculty, nor have I ever met more enthusiastic and serious students. On that same trip, it is my privilege to see something too of university peeping and also to be inspired by Tsinghua University and by what had been accomplished through our return to China of the Boxer Indemnity Fund for the purposes of scholarship and higher education. At the time of my visit, higher education was on the march in China. Jimmy Yan was developing enthusiastically what is generally known as the Chinese Mass Education Movement, a program for a thousand character language and the advance of literacy among the agricultural population. I saw the difference, too, between the Chinese brand of higher education based on freedom and the higher education that was under the auspices of the invader as I had observed it in Korea under Japanese domination. Undoubtedly, it was this bright outlook for the future of China that its most promising young men and women were willing to go through hardship and years of university training that hastened the attack of Japan upon China and directed a definite part of this attack to the destruction of all Chinese institutions of higher education. There have been a great many definitions given of a university. Fundamentally, it is a place where the older and experienced scholars come in systematic contact with those beginners in higher education who are willing and capable of becoming research workers, scholars, and members of the professions. It offers the most information of the past and prepares for the future. Universities and charities do not go well together. The autocratic conquer of a country knows by instinct that its greatest enemy is the university and all that it stands for. This narration shows clearly how Japan has tried to destroy higher education in China and how the Chinese leaders in spite of the most terrible difficulties have determined to retain the essentials of higher education in the training of selected young men and women. Through centuries of experience, the Chinese know that trained men and women are required in government if government is to provide justice and order. The constant drive for a widely extended mass education together with the support and development of higher education means more than the raising of vast armies in securing the future of China. There was a time when the university required for the most part only books and scholars. Now a great deal of mechanical equipment, microscope, spectroscopes, telescopes, test tubes, beakers, chemicals, and physical apparatus not only must be available but must be used by the students in their day to day work. It is this equipment that has made it so difficult for the Chinese to move their universities and colleges. But they have mastered the difficulties and moved. Equipment can be used 24 hours in a day. It can pass from one student to another. While we and our great universities in the United States have buildings and equipment almost beyond comparison, the important thing is that the professor, simple equipment and the student come in contact with each other and with the library. As in so many other things, the bombings and all of the vicissitudes of war that Chinese by necessity have squeezed out from the university all non-essentials and have plunged those things that are important. Certainly all of us in the United States who cancel freely obtained advanced education and have seen now our universities and colleges training soldiers and sailors and concentrated and continuous courses for war service must recognize just what this move for advanced education means in China and how important it is for us to help it out. Our future as a nation in the Pacific and that really means our future is wrapped up without a China. The United States and China must work together both to win the war and to organize the economic and social forces of the Pacific after the fighting is over. For years, some of us have been working with the Chinese in the Institute of Pacific Relations. This has taught us the great intellectual and moral qualities of the Chinese scholars. It has also given us the greatest confidence in the Chinese people. War has compelled them to push all except vital things out of their day-to-day living just as they have plunged a higher education and have migrated with their universities which means their students and scholars and equipment, so are they meeting all of the problems that confront the great peaceful people when struggling against the violence of a sagacious and unscrupulous invader. We of America must do everything that we can to help the Chinese advance their educational program for through that advance will come much of our own progress and that of the other peoples of the Pacific. Thank you Dr. Wilbur. At the same time over most of these stations, the National Broadcasting Company will present another program on the Pacific with drama of the past and present and dedicated to a fuller understanding of the vast Pacific Basin. A reprint of tonight's Pacific Story program is available at the cost of ten cents send ten cents in stamps or coin to the University of California Press, Berkeley, California. The address again, the University of California Press, Berkeley, California directed by Arnold Markworth. The musical score is composed and conducted by Thomas Paluso, your narrator, Gain Whitman. This program has been presented as a public service by the National Broadcasting Company and the Independent Radio Stations associated with the NBC network. American radio listeners are the best informed people on earth. They are interested in the history, future and peoples of those countries which are now the battle fronts of a war for freedom. The National Broadcasting Company and the Independent Radio Stations associated with the network use their entire facilities to keep America informed. New developments in the world events, historical background, expert examination of current and future problems are available to radio listeners day and night. NBC is on top of the news. Radio listeners everywhere know that American radio brings them the truest information and the widest choice of programs. This is the American system developed through free enterprise. This is the National Broadcasting Company.