John Israel Lianda | Military History Books sku-29646490

John Israel's Lianda: A Chinese University in War and Revolution is a hardcover title in Military History Books, sku-29646490. In the summer of 1937, Japanese troops occupied the campuses of Beida and Qinghua in Beijing and destroyed Nankai in Tianjin.

Led by men educated in the West and committed to modern liberal education, the three universities moved to Changsha, 900 miles southwest of Beijing, and joined forces. After Nanjing fell in mid-December, many students left to fight the Japanese, who soon began bombing Changsha.

In February 1938, the 800 remaining students and faculty traveled a thousand miles to Kunming and formed the National Southwest Associated University, known as Lianda. Despite makeshift quarters, sporadic bombing and shortages of food, books and clothing, they continued teaching and studying. Many prominent Chinese intellectuals taught or studied there over the next eight years.

The book follows their lives and work through the war, privation and political divisions. The community entered the war loyal to Chiang Kai-shek's government but, by 1946, had become critical of the ruling Guomindang. Within three years, most members, back at their Beijing and Tianjin campuses, were prepared to accept Communist rule.

Faculty and students had sought to preserve liberal education, political autonomy and academic freedom in universities modeled largely on American institutions. The constituent universities eventually came under Communist control. By 1952, the Lianda ideal had given way to a politicized, technocratic model borrowed from the Soviet Union.