------Part Three: A University in the Town of Lizhuang

Source: CCTV.com

08-01-2006 10:22

In 1937, the Japanese launched their full-scale invasion of China. Three years later, in the summer of 1940, a student at Tongji University was killed in a Japanese air raid on the city of Kunming. As a result, the decision was taken to relocate the university. The new site would be Lizhuang, an old town on the upper reaches of the Yangtze River in Sichuan Province. Being a relatively remote place, Lizhuang offered a peaceful environment away from the fighting. And the university had a rare opportunity to develop.

Tongji University spent six years in Lizhuang. During that time many of its faculty members, like Tong Dizhou, were able to continue their research. The university was even awarded 12 national awards for its research projects. Among them was one won by Professor Tang Zhe and his colleagues at the medical college, which would have direct a benefit for the local people.

Tongji University is today a key national university with many thousands of students. In 2007, it will celebrate its centenary. As we look back on the history of the university, one of its proudest periods must surely be the war-time. Back then, its staff and students demonstrated remarkable determination to study and become stronger, as their way of contributing to the nation's salvation.

 

Editor:Wang