Abstract During the War of Resistance against Japan, I was studying at the National Chekiang University. To mention National Chekiang for many seems to bring to mind the beautiful Western Lake, its lovely hills and clear waters, a paradise tapestry of fishing and rice-growing villages. However, during the terrible War of Resistance, as we moved from place to place, National Chekiang matured, becoming not only one among the best known universities in China so that the eminence of her reputation was known far and wide, but even today when her name is mentioned, people all nod their heads and recall that especially during those years of the War of Resistance, to the accompaniment of cannon fire and bursting bombs National Chekiang was brilliant in many ways.
Across a Thousand Mountains and Ten Thousand Rivers into Kweichow Province
During the War of Resistance against Japan, I was studying at the National Chekiang University. To mention National Chekiang for many seems to bring to mind the beautiful Western Lake, its lovely hills and clear waters, a paradise tapestry of fishing and rice-growing villages. However, during the terrible War of Resistance, as we moved from place to place, National Chekiang matured, becoming not only one among the best known universities in China so that the eminence of her reputation was known far and wide, but even today when her name is mentioned, people all nod their heads and recall that especially during those years of the War of Resistance, to the accompaniment of cannon fire and bursting bombe National Chekiang was brilliant in many ways. When he visited China the English scholar Joseph Needham observed the painstaking Spirit and conditions of study, and once said that this was the Cambridge of China, The predecessors of the National Chekiang University were the Search for Truth Institute [Ch’iu-shih shu-yüan 求是書院 and the Chekiang Higher Academy [Che-chiang Kao-teng hsieh-tan 浙江高等學堂]. The Institute was founded in the year 1897, and after a number of later changes, in 1927, that is the 16th year of the Republic, it became the National Chekiang University, with three schools of sciences and arts, engineering, and agriculture, comprising a total of nineteen departments. In 1937, the military actions of the Resistance brought many kinds of hardship for National Chekiang, among them five migrations, one bombing, a great fire, but from the midst of a thousand disasters and hardships, the school grew to maturity, prospered and became firmly established, till it became a lighthouse in the storm, shining its beacon in all directions across the troubled seas. In the winter of 1937, the city of Hangchow was invaded by the Japanese, and the students of National Chekiang rose up to join the Resistance, many of them joining with the army. Later as the storm intensified, National Chekiang was ordered to move west. The first-year students went to Hsi-t’ien-mu- shan西天目山 [about 75 km west of Hangchow] and the others went to Chien-te 建德[about 100 km southwest from Hangchow]. A few months later in a major migration, the university moved from Chien-te to Chi-an 吉安 in Kiangsi Province [about 200 km south-southwest of Nanch’ang on the Kan Riverl, little expecting that within a matter of days the situation would become so tense that we would be forced to move from Chi-an to T’ai-ho 泰和[about 30 km up the Kan River from Chi-anl. At T’ai-ho the situation was stable and peaceful for a while, but before very long we were again forced to move farther west again, to Yi-shan 宜山 in Kwangsi Province [some 180 km southwest of of Kueilin]. At Yi-shan the school increased in size, adding eral departments, at the Same time setting up an eastern branch the university at Lung-ch’üan 龍泉 in Chekiang Isome 250 km south- southwest of Hangchow]. At this point we thought that we were out of trouble and that we could breathe a sigh of relief. Who would have guessed that Yi-shan was an area in which both the land and the people were impoverished, so much so that many of our fellow students were not able to find adequate nourishment, and some of the women students because of 2 lack of iodine even developed goiter. The hardships became sO Severe that among the students a phrase circulated that Yi-shan [“suitable mountain”] was “suitable for mountains and suitable for rivers, but not Suitable for man.” Later, for Some unknown reason, we attracted the attention of the Japanese, who targeted 2 large-scale bombing raid against the main campus of National Chekiang. Fortunately, although the school suffered heavy losses, no one was killed, neither students nor faculty. On the contrary, one of the students who had been suffering from severe mental or emotional shock, because he had been closed inside a room unable to flee at the sound of the alarm, regained full consciousness following the reverberating concussions of the explosions. Everyone dubbed this great bombing raid a “glorious cleansing.” After more than a year at Yi-shan we moved once more, first sending the first-year students to Ch’ing -yen 青岩 in Kueichow Province 「30 km south of Kueiyang city], while the main part of the university, and the schools of the arts, engineering, and the nor ral school moved to Tsun-yi遵義 [also in Kueichow, some 120 km north of Kueiyangl, while tie agriculture and science schools and the attached middle school went to Mei-t’an湄潭 [60 km east of Tsun-yi]. A year later the first-year students also move to Yung-hsing-ckh’ang 永兴场 far from Mei-t’an 「20 km northeast of Mei-t’an], and after this we did not move again. In all, beginning in 1937, until a year after the conclusion of the War of Resistance, the university underwent five or six major moves. Not until 1946 did we make the great return to Hangchow, one after the other. I am afraid that National Chekiang University must be accounted the university that made the most moves and suffered the greatest hardships during the War of Resistance.
The Total Lack of Food, Clothing, Housing, and Transportation
To speak of the food, clothing, housing, and transportation for the students of National Chekiang during the War of Resistance is a joke. Even today, I often think that it was really a miracle that we did not starve to death, or freeze to death, or die from illness Or disease. As for clothing, forget about styles or fabrics; if we had anything to wrap around our bodies it was considered highly fortunate. Most of the male students usually wore & plain shirt and trousers, and 计 he could wrap an old cotton quilt around his body i winter he would attract sidelong glances. Most popular among the women was a straight dress of blue cotton, long and wide, covering them totally like a water pail. However, it was somewhat easier for the girls because they could sew and mend, so such phenomena as “raising a sleeve and seeing an elbow” having a hole in the sleeve of your clothes your elbow showed through] or “empty in front and torn in back” (when the front and back of cloth shoes and socks were worn through) were quite rare. But for some the circumstances were quite fascinating. After wearing a pair of socks, mending them and mending them again, they would finally reach the point where there was no way to mend them again, and then they would cut off the bottoms of the socks and sew a piece of cloth for new bottoms which would last for a while longer. For those who were not so good at sewing there was still another method, which was to pull your socks forward and just fold them over SO that there were no longer “holes in front and empty in back.” But this way your socks or stockings got shorter and shorter until finally your ankle was nO longer covered and you had to throw them out. In those days, not only the girls could handle needle and thread, there were even some of the boys who could sew, and no one laughed at them for being strange. As for eating, the girls again had it somewhat easier. At Tsun-yi, the women students volunteered to Supervise the meals, while at Mei-t’an and Yung-hsing the men and women students cooperated together. tt seemed that the only thing of which there was ever enough was rice; vegetables and meats were frightfully scarce and there were never enough. Those who ate more than the others ended up eating rice alone. The women students’ eating manner was comparatively better. They were polite and generally understood in their hearts the portion of food due to each, holding to the rules such as “Like a dragonfly sipping water,” and “eating six to one.” They managed to consume somewhat equally the vegetables and meats. “Like a dragonfly sipping water” meant that when the vegetables and meats arrived you must not take one big mouthful after the other, that it was only proper to eat like a dragonfly sipping water. For example, when the fermented bean curd was served, you must only take a little bit with the tips of your chopsticks. “Eating six to one,” meant that you should take six mouthfuls of rice before one of vegetables and meats, and the six mouthfuls of rice must be divided into two sizes of helpings, one large mouthful and five small, only after which could you take a bite of vegetables and meats. In this way sometimes there would even be a little bit of soup or broth left over, which as soon as the girls at that table had left, would always be stolen clean by the boys. As for a table of eight male students, how those two small plates of vegetables and meats were distributed was a situation beyond the imagination. It was said that once one of the male students really could not endure it any longer, and at breakiast while eating soybeans sauteed in oil he finally had the nerve to start “eating one to one thus provoking the anger of another of the students at the table who deliberately took the plate of soybeans and placed it in front of him, at which the two started to fight so fiercely it was practically a war . One male fellow student once told me that other than the corpse of a dead man or of a fly, he would eat anything, that when he saw a side of pork in the food market he wanted to gO raw, so pitiful was his situation: From this we can see what times. take a bite out of it the conditions of the “people’s livelihood” were during those National Chekiang had three locations in northern Kueichow, and except for a few new dormitories at Mei-t’an, the school buildings at Tsun-yi and Yung-hsing for the most part were borrowed temples and shrines and houses of impoverished families of former high position, the conditions of which were absurd. As for classrooms and laboratories, some classrooms were made of boards the backs of which contained the angry faces and round eyes of the images of fierce gods, while in others there were two pillars as if there were a volleyball
court in the r00m. In Mei-t’ an two of the classrooms were next to the street, and across the street lived some poor ilies. One day just as we were about to start class, two women fam- from across the street started to shout and curse at each other. At the time the weather was hot so the doors and windows were wide open, so their shouting made it impossible for us to start class, whereupon our teacher, Mr. Liu, who was about to start lecturing, yelled over at them to stop fighting; but they were at the peak of their shouting and going at it with a11 their might, and what did they care whether you held class or not? They paid no attention. After a while the fighting had still not stopped, so Mr . Liu stuck his head out of the window and shouted loudly at them, “Hey, you two had better stop fighting, if you don’t I 11 call the military police to take you in.” muzzles of their At these words, the two women stopped fighting, turned the guns out their windows, and with a deafening roar shook their fists and stamped their feet cursing Mr. Liu, startling him so much that he hurriedly drew his head back in and slammed the window shut. By this point we could not help breaking out into laughter, and I immediately took out a piece next to me saying: of paper and dashed off a note that T gave to the student sitting Mr . Liu’s shouts aren’t worth a penny.”
“Women Wang curses the street and disrupts the school, but Downloaded When she read my two lines, she immediately covered her mouth with her hand but still could not help bursting out laughing. The dormitories were also fun. In order to save had upper and lower bunks, with wooden plank beds, and plank Space, all desks, but we managed to get along. The most annoying thing at that time was that at night the airplanes, cannons, and tanks would come to disturb us. The airplanes were the mosquitoes, the cannons were the fleas, and the tanks were the bedbugs. Among these, the mosquitoes were the easiest to deal with since a mosquito net could stop their devastating invasion. The most annoying were the bedbugs which could hide anywhere and you could never get rid of them. The most common way of kill- ing the bedbugs was to carry the bed planks outside to sun, Or else to Soak them with boiling water. Then you could get Some peace for a few days, but after a little while when you lifted up your bedding, there on the bedboards would again be a number of wriggling, crawling, stinking bedbugs. One year Mr. Fei Kung 龍型 became dean of students and he had three important injunctions, one of which was to kill bedbugs with boiling water, from which you can see that although bedbugs are small they can do a lot of harm, SO much so that they had already come to the attention of the school authorities. Fleas are also very annoying. These guys are very alert and quick, unlike the stu- pid crawling bedbugs, and are thus very hard to catch. In the middle of the night after you are fast asleep, you feel an itch on your leg; immediately you sit up in bed, but there is already nothing to see. I had a friend who had a real talent for catching fleas. She could hold the oil lantern in her left hand and swat at a flea with her right. She would swat the led with her palm, pull her hand back, and when she lifted it up between her thumb and her middle finger there was always a flea. In one night ghe could catch ten or more and would frequently catch them for uS. Later we all called her “Lady Flea,” at which she got mad, washed her hands of this task and would not heip us any more. As for transportation, the female students had the most dif-
fieulty. Tsun-yi was divided between the new city and the old
city. The women’s dormitory was in the old city, while the classrooms and library were in the new city, and a part of the laboratory was outside the city. Running back and forth day was practically impossible unless every the hundred meter dash. The most difficult thing to cope with you were really good at was the fact that the classrooms on Ho-chia Street had no women’s toilet, and in the middle of the winter, to get up in the morning, put three bowls of thin rice gruel into your belly and impossible for anyone. then try to sit through three classes in succession was virtually Getting around in Mei-t’an seemed even more difficult. The dining room was next to the men’s dormitory, and when you walked out from the women’s dor mitory for a meal, you had to CrOsS & small mountain slope traversed by a narrow winding
trail, then thread your way past the men’s dormitory before arriving at the dining hall. This whole stretch was a muddy unkept path which after successive rains became slippery and treacherous. One careless misstep and you found yourself on your back, both legs pointing skyward, or else both and muddy and you were buried in the mud. In either case your clothes got wet your hands had no choice but return to the dormitory. There were always a few of the male students totally lacking in sympathy and any sense of decency, who, when the weather got like that, would stand at the windows watching from a safe vantage point, and when one of the women students happened to put on a particularly colorful performance by falling into the mud, would clap and shout, raising a ruckus in the dormitory, as a way of response. At that point you would neither cry nor curse them. laugh, but would really want to storm into their dormitory and All in all, during the War of Resistance, the food, clothing, shelter, and transportation for the students of National Chekiang were really miserable, but somehow everyone managed, which was probably due simply to the victory of mind over matter! “You’ re All a Bunch of Country Hicks.” One time when I was at a friend’s house for a dinner party, one friend who had come out of a Christian school said: of country hicks! “ “Boy, you National Chekiang students are really all a bunch At that time, I simply laughed and replied: “You’re absolutely right. Did you know that I was Once com- mander of the country hick brigade ?” In speaking of the students of National Chekiang, you really Can Say that we possessed the essence of “rusticity,” of which we were quite proud. Under those conditions, a student with a so-called foreign air had a hard time maintaining his position. I remember that there was one student named John x who was from Shanghai. Two students from my hometown despised hiim him they would say: and made a special point of picking on him. Whenever they saw “Say, John X, how come your hair is black?” “Hey, John X, here’s a bottle of blue color ink, why don’t you take it and dye your eyes with 计?”
Poor John x. He took a lot of insults. T Actually I knew him quite weil. He was a kind person and a conscientious scholar. Unfortunately he had a foreign name, and thus was always in- sulted by others. Perhaps this was a consequence of the atmosphere of those times, especially of my generation which was born in worry and grew up in war, Our heads full of nationalism that created 2 kind of atmosphere at National Chekiang. For example, if someone should be in a happy mood thinking about something foreign and seeing you in the morning should call out a cheery “Good Morning” [in Englishl, that person would be likely to be greeted with eyes askance, and, IAi! Eat Chinese rice. Why the foreign farts ?” In this way, anyone with a “foreign air ” was attacked. But National Chekiang was not the Boxers. What National Chekiang students would not tolerate was “reverence for all things foreign, ” or: “obsequiousness to foreigners.” On the contrary, the new learning absorbed at National Chekiang was not less than that at any school. Many of our textbooks were in English. Among the courses I took, there were two in which the practice books and experiment books were entirely in En- $ glish. In the biology department there were two Indian students who could not pronounce Chinese, and sometimes one of the stu- dents would speak to them in English, and if he could not under- stand them, someone else would try, and at times like this no one would dare ridicule someone for foreign farts. National Chekiang also had one Jewish women teacher who taught Ger- man, and when she took her little dog out for 2 walk along the river, no one ever said anything about her blond hair and blue eyes, and everyone greeted her with smiles. When you say something is “local” or Irustic’ I am afraid that is only relative, not absolute. During the War of Resis- tance I expect most of the national universities were like that. However, National Chekiang had its own quota. To say that National Chekiang did not stress English is not necessarily true, but it did place special emphasis On our own native born, native grown Chinese language. The Geography and History Department had a student who put out announce- ments or communications only in four or six character coup- lets, which everyone really appreciated. One of the female students received two invitation cards to parties; one was written with a fountain pen, giving the date and address, while the other was written in for mal characters with a brush, at the very end of which was written, “respectfully await the pleasure of your arrival.” This student declined the former invitation, her reason being, “‘Anyone who writes such awfully distorted characters must be like that himself. Who would want to spend tiime with them?’ This of course was preiudiced, but it alsol displayed a charming “rustic” quality. The ” rustic’ quality of the women students at National Chekiang had already become a custom. No matter how wealthy a family she came from, no matter how important her father was, once she entered the gates of National Chekiang, she put On a plain blue Chinese dress and became another person from head to toe. A number of the girls had trunks fulled with beau- tiful dresses and high heeled shoes, but most of the time they never wore them, until sometimes, in the evening when there Downloaded by [University was nothing to do, someone would suggest: “‘Let’s get dressed up.” At that a few good friends would laugh and giggle, put on red lipstick and new dresses, and have fun within the confines of their room. Once when quite a few of us women students were just pass- ing time in the dormitory, discussing the problems of life, one question asked was: “What kind of a person would you like to marry?” Among all the students, not one said, “I would like to marry someone with money or position,” Or “I want to marry 2 foreigner .” When 计 came my turn, I said,”T want to marry someone who is like a knight of old, who can ride a horse and shoot a bow.” They all stared and laughed wildly, replying, “Quick, gO find yourself a nomadic herds man!w (Heaven knows, my husband, now, cannot even pull a bow, and he jumps when he sees a snake. Returning to the male students, they were charmingly “‘rus – tic. You do not have to gO any further than to ask how many of them, at that time, could dance? How many could tie a tie? How many of them would dare cock their heads and whistle? How many could use a knife and fork? But none of them cared. They would reply that these are insignificant. Who wouid deny that this group of people were “‘country hicks”? Strolling Along the River’s Edge, Waiting for Someone in the Lobby Of the three locations of National Chekiang University in northern Kueichow, that at Mei-t’an had the most beautiful scenery. There the mountains were bright and the water clear, a landscape fitting for man. This was especially true in the vicinity of the Mei River Bridge where the landscape was ex- quisite, the Kiangnan of northern Kueichow. Most of the school buildings, the dormitories and dining rooms, except for those which were in older buildings, were newly built two-story build- ings. In particular, the women’s dormitory, which was built On the side of the mountain, surrounded by a bamboo fence, had a certain charm. The town of Mei-t’an was very small; it was neither a mar- ket center nor a vital communications line. Ordinarily it was very quiet and peaceful, SO the students had nowhere to go, and besides reading, the only form of recreation was walking. Ev- ery evening after dinner, in groups of three or five, one of boys, another of girls, they would stroll down to the bankg of the Mei River. This was an ideal time for everyone to run into each other. Some of the male students were usually unwilling to stand around outside the fence of the girls’ dormitory, not wanting to run the risk of being given a hard time, so they took advantage of these walks to look the girls over and get ac- quainted. Usually, when we went out for a walk, once we reached the Mei River Bridge, we would run into a certain fellow student, nod and exchange greetings, continue walking down to the bend in the river, run into that fellow student again, and again nod and exchange a greeting, and who would believe it, by the time we had walked around and were circling back toward the dormitory, we would run into that same fellow student yet again, and nod and exchange greetings for the third time. To meet thus three times in one evening, and to nod to each other each time, the kind of friendship that was mutually understood without being spoken, had a lingering charm. The great majority of both the male and female students at National Chekiang had such sentiments. I have heard it said that some of the boys who were more shy would use this opportunity to indulge their fantasy, by making the stroll along the Mei River Some seven Or eight times in an evening. I don’t know whether i is true Or not. The atmosphere at Mei-t’an was comparatively open, which was not true at Tsun-yi. The girls dormitory On Willow Lane had double doors and a deep courtyard, SO you could not enter directly from the street. When a male student came to visit, he first had to relay his request to Old Chao, after which Old Chao would go to the back of the courtyard and yell out: “Miss so-and-so. You have a guest.” The windows of the guest room directly faced the dormitory behind, SO a lot of people soon knew who it was that had come to visit this time, and he simply had to stiffen his neck until the reply came back down, which sometimes was the voice of someone calling down: “‘So-and -so isn’t in.” Horrors! Hopes dashed, the dejected victim could only lower his head and walk out. gave For a period of time, the office of dean of students apparently the male students 2 hard time by making those who came to visit sign their full names on something like a register, then state whom they were visiting, after which Old Chao would take the slip of paper to gO look for the person, and thus the dean’s office would apparently be infor med and there would be a record. At this point, some of the boys, waiting until Old Chao had disappeared into the rear building to find the girl be-
ing called, would then reach down on the table and tear off the file stub they had signed, thinking that after they had talked and left, there would be no entry in the register and no trace of their having visited. Little did they know that Old Chao was a clever old fox, and that after they had left, he would quietly fill in the two names again. I heard that later, it was too much bother for Old Chao, and this system was simply eliminated. 8 Such phenomena as these occurred reaily because there were too few women students, and since that which is scarce becomes highly valued, of course they could become arrogant. There was a female student who because she had had small- Dox when little, unfortunately one eye had lost its Sight and her whole face was pockmarked. I do not know who it was who cleverly gave her the nickname, “the sky studded with stars, and one round bright moon. (This nickna me was indeed a work of superb skill: One could say it contained the qualities of truth, expressivity, and refinement.) While she was at National Chekiang, she received a love letter, and once someone asked her for a rendezvous under the moon. Many years later sone- One brought this up, stating with a Sigh: “The male students at National Chekiang were really n0 good. Even such a ‘surplus product’ as “the sky studded with stars, and one round bright moon, was wanted by Someone’+’ 上 In fact it was not a case of being no good, but simply that the demand was much greater than the supply, so that the value of the women students was increased by some ten-fold. Some of the girls were really lacking in virtue. When they received a letter from one of the boys, i they were unhappy for any reason, they would send it back unopened. Others would parade their reiections in public, and some would even add comments in red ink, all of which was really unbearable. One of the boys who considered himself highly talented was good at writing love letters. He thought he had read a lot of foreign things, and to show off filled the page with quotes from Tolstoi, Maupassant, ete. Unfortunately for him he had mis- calculated his recipient. When this girl received his letter, she picked up her pen and wrote the following comment: A whole page covered with Maupassant, how sad. You have not read all the Four Books and the Five Clas – sics, the “classic’ of Kropotkin is empty madness. Foreign things are difficult to appreciate, better to read Lao Tzu and Chuang Tzu in your leisure. No matter how great foreign authors are, if you forget your roots and ancestors, you go astray. would have been better than this. This tease was really embarrassing and excessive, but demonstrated the general situation of the times.
Shortly after entering Seek Truth from Facts, Work for the Nation National Chekiang University, the first time I heard the university president, Cha k’o-chen 竺可桢, give us a talk, I, along with many of the other students, could not really understand what he was talking about. He spoke rapidly and hurriedly with a kind of patter like a hundred birds returning to nest, so that my only impression was that on the stage he continuously lifted his heels off the floor, and he seemed to be always repeating something that sounded like: “Zots’azay, zots’azay, we’t Chaychang, sezh’e true .. .” At the time, it was really a mystery. Only much later, after a year and a halt, did 1 realize that “zots’ azay” was President Chu’s Shao-hsing dialect pronunciation of “that is to say, which he must have used some thirty to sixty times each time he lectured to us. ” Sezh’e true” was also a phrase that never left his lips, a basic doctrine of National Chekiang, “seek truth from facts. In this way, after four years at National Chekiang, there was not a student into whose mind the instruction ”seek truth from facts”” was not deeply engraved, who was not im- pressed with the principle that in all things One must seek the truth, deal with concrete matters, and be earnest and down-to- earth in work, throughout life. For those who say that the students of National Chekiang were rustic, this can be traced to the success of the transforming spirit of “‘seek truth.” During the War of Resistance, no rich dandy who was stingy in making a contribution to his eountry, Or nO fair young lady who could not keep up with her studies, ever made it at National Chekiang. During my first year, saw one male student, a good talker, and quite dashing, who frequently wore a brown leather jacket (at the whole school I probably saw only one or two), black leather shoes, who strutted 2bout all day carrying books lack and forth. By my second year I seldom ran into him. By the year we graduated his leather jacket was old and worn, his head was lowered, and you never saw him in public. It was said that every school term he failed one or two classes and had to make them up. As for our classes, hard work always came first at National Chekiang. The professors were very pressing about our work, serious in teaching, and strict in giving grades. All these were seldom found elsewhere. A great many students were weeded Out between the first and second years. In fact, under the physical conditions of those times, many students could not even afford paper and pens, and the demand for perseverence 。 was really great. In the evening, each student had an oil lamp and three wicks, by which he could read deep into the night. 五 KarsreArunl Aq papeorunod It is often said that “filial sons come from poor families.” I would say that “times of hardship make great men.” Today, have not quite a few hardworking persons of superior diligence both at home and abroad come out of National Chekiang? While we were at school, we did not know whether our level of achievement was high or low. Only after graduation did we make comparisons with others, the results of which made us feel proud. For example, of those who received government fellowships to study abroad, if a comparison were made on the basis of the total numbers of students in the school and in each department, National Chekiang would take first or second place. For those who studied abroad the students of National Chekiang had a real advantage over those from other schools. Nor have those graduates of Chekiang National who have taken up academic or technical professions at home fallen behind. It cannot necessarily be said that the students of National Chekiang University only buried their heads in their books. During the eight years of the War of Resistance, both teachers and students of Chekiang National gave their money and energies, their sweat and blood, for who knows how many things worth Our praise and tears: Not counting those who joined the years army directly, such activities as fund raising sales for the army and others took place almost every year. During those the students had practically nothing of value except their own bodies, but whenever there was a fund raising sale, every- one donated without fail. In my fourth year, one time a fellow student came again to me for a donation to the fund raising sale. The only things I still had were one precious inkstone handed down from my ancestors and two sticks of ink. That inkstone was small and light and very finely engraved. It had been given • to my great grandfather lby the emperor upon passing the chin- shih degree. This heirloom had followed me over a thousand Downloaded by IUniversity 五 mountains and across ten thousand rivers to Kueichow, but T had nothing else, so I had no choice but to restrain my feelings and donate this inkstone. Unfortunately, those running the sale, not knowing its value, put a low price on it, and it was bought by another girl student. Even today I stilltell my children proudly, “During the Second World War, I too made a contribution:M At Yi-shan, one comic, very interesting little drama occurred. At that time a group of students followed the army onto a battle- field, heedless of life or death. Later the Japanese attacked, forcing this group to scatter, and they had no choice but to flee back to the school. After 2 count was made, they found that one student named Tai was missing. Later some were sent back to the battlefield to look for him. Among the disarray of corpses they found one youth wearing a yellow uniform (the school uniform of National Chekiang). The corpse was already decayed beyond recognition, but everyone judged that Tai had already become a martyr, and many held their heads and wept. We had a memorial service for him and everyone came to mourn a fellow student’s loss. Who could have guessed that more than a year later someone said that he thought he had seen Tai on the street. Later someone else said he had seen him too. At this everyone hastened to report that the ghost of fellow student Tai had appeared, until finally we discovered that it was indeed Tai himself, in person. He had not died. Originally, after being captured by the Japanese, he had been sent to Shanghai, and later had secretly returned behina the lines, and thus returned to National Chekiang to resume his studies. Only then was this comic-tragedy finally concluded. This too was a small entre’acte of the efforts of the students of National Chekiang for their country. In 1944, in response to the call of that time for “one hun- dred thousand youth to join the army,” several hundred stu- dents from National Chekiang replied, though later, because triotic wish. there were too many, Some were not able to fulfill their pa – Nothing was more moving than our support for the army that year. At that time, the Japanese army had maneuvered an in- vasion of southern Kueichow. The area around Kuei-yang was very tense, and the Central Government sent a large detach- ment of troops south. When they passed through Tsun-yi, the students of National Chekiang organized their greatest welcome 上 of enthusiastic support, which boosted the morale of the sol- Downloaded diers greatly, who then went bravely forward and attacked the Japanese troops so courageously that the Japanese were forced to retreat; thus a foundation for the later victory was established. That really was a very moving event. When carload after carload of military cars carrying a large number of battle troops passed through the Tsun-yi bus station, the National Chekiang students went crazy, Surging like a great flood to the side of the buses, fighting to give support to the soldiers, shak- ing their hands, offering flowers and gifts, singing and shouting. That sight shook the heart of every soldier. You only needed to see the warm tears i their eyes, and hear their words as they grasped the hands of the students: “We shall definitely beat down those Japanese devils'” Once in a heavy downpour of rain, 2 lot of soldiers under the car awning were getting soaked, and when those students who had umbrellas noticed this they pushed forward and gave the soldiers their umbrellas, paying no heed to the fact that they themselves were standing in the rain. At this the soldiers shouted out “Defeat Japanese imperialism.” and on everyone’s faces, who knows how many tears mingled with the raindrops. After ward one of the high ranking officers said that this had provided a big boost to the morale of the soldiers, and the Japanese could not be underestimated. merit of the National Chekiang students for the defeat of the Finally the War of Resistance was won: For these eight years, we endured hardship and suffering. From this National Chekiang emerged strong and mature, and that spirit of “seek truth from facts” would remain forever with us.
我是1945年在淳安考入母校的。考场设在淳安县中礼堂。在考试过程中,课桌缝里的臭虫肆虐,一场考下来,手臂上又多了许多红疙瘩。负责招生工作的是龙泉分校农经系韩老师,口试时,他问起我认识谢蔚东否,这大概是从我的姓氏和家庭住址上想起的。我在日寇投降前流亡到皖南屯溪,又由屯溪来到淳安,举目无亲,饱尝颠沛流离之苦,现在竟碰见姨兄的故交,心里感到一阵温暖。 入学考试过后,我没有回屯溪的“教育部东南战区陷区青年招训所”,就待在淳安。白天到图书馆看书报,晚上仍睡在县中礼堂的主席台上,借用居民家的炉灶烧饭。当时食盐甚缺,居民普遍用红辣椒调味,我也如法炮制起来。不久,由《民族日报》上得悉被录取,我卖掉离家前借作旅费的一点首饰,买了船票,沿新安江顺下,进入富春江。 一天,船经七里浪,天色已晩。黑暗中,数百米外,一条船正面而来,船未点灯。此段江而盗匪经常出现,不宜夜航,我乘坐的木船为了赶到桐庐过夜,疏于考虑,这次可能碰上了。幸好乘客中有一名军人,经船家要求,军人喝令尾随船停泊,并鸣枪示警,该船不加理会,军人遂以卡宾枪连续对空射击。该船始慑而停下点灯。我们的木船得以安抵桐庐。 船到富阳,又遇一惊。富阳有小火轮直驶杭州。为了赶时,一些木船争相系于小火轮后,一时即达十来条。我们的木船与另一船争起来了,为的是争作最后一只拖船(小火轮仅能再增挂一条木船了)。两船的军人乘客义不容辞,各持武器助阵,火并在即。我十分害怕,将成异乡鬼矣!后以两船均不挂了结这场冲突。 木船继续前进,看到美军飞机低飞在富春江面上,杭州快到了。在夕阳余晖下,木船停靠在南星桥码头。 毫不夸张,我是抗战胜利后第一个进入大学路校本部的学生,接待我的教师告诉我,校舍尚在修缮,不能接收学生。当他得知我的特殊情况后,同意我与一徐姓工友同住在绿洋房(以后命名“阳明馆”)一房间内,以桌为床。为了节省,三餐只能到马路边饭摊吃一碗稠稠的玉米糊。我打听邮局地址,徐姓工友说在“贵阳扣”。我一路问去,原来是“官巷口” ,我也就学会了一句杭州话。 报到后,我住入绿洋房西侧修缮一新的宿舍,同室同学有夏式良(电机)、徐道朋和吴奇虎(均为化工)。夏君勤奋好学,给我留下深刻印象。他毕业后,分配至张家口通讯工程学校。1953年,我写给他的信被退回了,从此就失去了联系。他是很爱书的,他托我保管的书籍,我离校时存放在孙希任同学家里,不知他以后取回否,这些都是后话了。 学校曾为日寇后营,我们报到后,尚留有少数解除武装的日军,大概是移交工作还未结束。他们可以自由走动,甚至跑到我们宿舍走廊来看看。 食堂是绿洋房前左侧的日式木房。开始几天,米饭常不够吃。聪明的同学第一碗只装半碗米饭,吃完后尚可再添一满碗;如果第一碗装满,吃完就无饭可加了。 吃饭气氛是比较热烈的。有一次,大家正在吃饭时,训导处的董老师来了,他讲的话不多,至今我仅记得他引用的一句名言:Man eats to live, not lives to eatₒ 11月8日举行“国立浙江大学杭州开学典礼”,竺校长亲临主持,参加典礼的还有教育部长朱家骅。典礼在绿洋房三楼大教室内举行,参加的本校同学仅为龙泉分校招收的一年级新生100多人。会后在大楼前摄影留念。 工学院各系合并上课,教室在绿洋房三楼。教师除龙泉分校冋来的毛路真(微积分)、胡不归(国文)和黄老师(化学)夕卜,学校还由上海聘请许国保(物理、画法几何)和徐崇庆(英语),这两位老师均系资深教授,可以看出竺校长是十分重视一年级新生教育的。 徐老师选用《英语短篇小说选》为教材,讲课颇富风趣,常插入一些轶事和生活经验,如:他说:*Sign your name on-* “要求我们写上名字时,就提到他在美国留学时,邻座的一美国同学上课总在练习签名,引起他的好奇,原来这位同学刻意要把名字签得漂亮,想去当领导。他也介绍美国大学高年级学生有时欺侮新生,将新生的头按在自来水龙头下冲洗,叫喊”Wash your fresh”。徐老师教我们走楼梯脚不要走外八字,而要微微侧身,两脚平行,既快又安全。最令我难忘的是徐老师保存了一件孙中山先生穿过的大衣的故事。徐老师留学是在满清时期.孙先生尚滞留美国。一年冬天,留学牛得悉孙先生无大衣御寒.遂集资买大衣送先牛。先住表示,他应该帮助留学生,岂能接受的学生帮助,绝不肯接受赠衣。留学生改变办法,将大衣借给先生过冬,先生始收下。严冬一过,立即归还。这件大衣一直保存在徐老师家中。 国文教材是胡老师选的古文,发讲义。我记得有选自《诗经》的“关关雎鸠”、 “静女其姝”「将仲子兮”等,还有选自《桃花扇》的“哀江南”,现在我还能吟咏其中的“眼看他起朱楼,眼看他宴宾客,眼看他楼塌了……” 微积分、画法几何、物理和化学均采用原文教材。我只买过一本微积分,至今仍保存.其他各科就靠记笔记了。老师督促甚严,上黑板做题是家常便饭。同学们也都认真学习,没有混日子的。
初等微分积分及微分方程式以美国数学家奥斯古德 (William Fogg Osgood, 1964—1943) 《微积分导论》 (Introduction to the Calculus) 为教科书之一[43], 抗战西迁后仍采用此书[52]。高等微积分长期以奥斯古德《高等微积分》 (Advanced Calculus) 为教科书[43,52]。复变数函数论曾以美国数学家汤森 (Edgar Jerome Townsend, 1864—1955) 《单复变函数》 (Functions of a Complex Variable) 为教科书, 抗战西迁后还使用过英国数学家蒂奇马什 (Edward Charles Titchmarsh, 1899—1963) 《函数论》 (The Theory of Functions) [52]。实变数函数论曾以英国数学家霍布森 (Ernest William Hobson, 1856—1933) 《实变函数论与傅里叶级数论》 (The Theory of Function of a Real Variable and the Theory of Fourier’s Series) 、奥地利数学家哈恩 (Hans Hahn, 1879—1934) 《实变函数论》 (Theorie der Reellen Funktionen) 为主要参考书。微分几何学的教科书, 使用美国数学家艾森哈特 (Luther Pfahler Eisenhart, 1876—1965) 《曲线和平面微分几何》 (A Treatise on the Differential Geometry of Curves and Surfaces) , 参考书为德国数学家布拉施克 (Wilhelm Blaschke, 1885—1962) 《微分几何讲座》 (Vorlesungenüber Differentialgeometrie) 。综合几何学、座标几何学曾分别以意大利数学家克雷莫纳 (Luigi Cremona) 《射影几何原理》 (Elements of Projective Geometry) 、伍兹 (Frederick Shenstone Woods, 1864—1950) 《高等几何:解析几何高等方法引论》 (Higher Geometry:An Introduction to Advanced Methods in Analytic Geometry) 为教科书。代数学曾以美国数学家博歇 (Maxime Bôcher, 1867—1918) 《高等代数学引论》 (Introduction to Higher Algebra) 为教科书[43]。奥斯古德《微积分导论》、汤森《单复变函数》、哈恩《实变函数论》、伍兹《高等几何:解析几何高等方法引论》、博歇《高等代数学引论》等近年仍再版。
曾炯在浙大数学系讲授抽象代数 (1) 、群论[53—55], 所用教材内容多出自荷兰数学家范德瓦尔登 (B.L.Van der Waerden, 1903—1996) 、瑞士数学家斯派泽 (A.Speiser) 德文著作。如该系毕业生熊全治回忆说, 曾炯“所教之抽象代数及群论两门课, 内容丰富, 大都是根据B.L.Van der Waerden及A.Speiser所著之两本德文教本”[53]。范德瓦尔登著有《近世代数学》 (Moderne Algebra) 。此书据曾炯导师诺特、奥地利数学家阿廷 (E.Artin, 1898—1962) 讲稿, 以德文撰成, 分上下两册, 初版于1930至1931年分别出版后, 流行甚广, 对近世代数学的传播与发展起到巨大推动作用[56]。斯派泽著有《有限群理论》 (Die Theorie Der Gruppen Von Endlicher Ordnung) , 是关于群论的名著。熊全治所言“两本德文教本”当指这两种著作。
在浙大数学系培养下, 特别是受陈建功和苏步青指导, 该系一些毕业生留系任教后也发表了论文。如在苏步青指导下, 方德植毕业两年即于1935年在《东北数学杂志》发表“定挠曲线的一个特性” (A Characteristic Property of Curves of Constant Torsion) 。此文通过由曲线上点P的三个相邻副法线决定的二次曲面, 给出空间定挠曲线的特性[90]。1936年他又在该刊发表“关于一些空间特殊曲线的注记” (A Note on Some Special Curves in Space) , 对一些空间特殊曲线进行了研究[91]。