Race the Rising Sun: A Chinese University's Exodus during the Second World War

by Chiao-Min Hsieh, Jean Kan Hsieh

Overview

This book is about Zhejiang University, one of the oldest and most prestigious universities in China, which was forced to evacuate from the Hangzhou when the Japanese arrived in 1937 and began torturing civilians, raping women, bombing towns, burning farms, and destroying factories, homes, schools, and libraries. The faculty, staff, and students fled to a succession of towns where they sought refuge from the war and set up temporary classrooms to continue with their educational mission.

This exodus lasted eight years and spanned over a thousand miles. They faced constant fear and worry due to malnutrition, disease, abject poverty, and enemy air strikes. But with the resilience and spirit of its faculty and students, the University survived to help revitalize a devastated nation.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780761841487
Publisher:	Hamilton Books
Publication date:	05/16/2009
Pages:	214
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 8.90(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

Chiao-Min Hsieh graduated from the Department of History and Geography of Zhejiang University in 1941, and now is Professor Emeritus of Geography at the University of Pittsburgh. He has been awarded the Fulbright Research Professor three times and has been a senior fellow at the National Endowment for the Humanities. Jean Kan Hsieh graduated from the Department of History and Geography at Zhejiang University in 1944 and was a Professor of Cartography in the Department of Geography at both the National Taiwan University and the Chinese Cultural University in Taiwan. She received her Master's degree in Geography from Syracuse University and lectured at Trinity College in Washington D.C.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1: Racing Ahead, The Time Before the War
Chapter 2: The Japanese Invasion
Chapter 3: The Desperate Migration of Zhejiang University
Chapter 4: After the War
Chapter 5: Conclusion
Chapter 6: A Sample of Oustanding Faculty Members during the War of Resistance

Editorial Reviews

This book offers a fine specimen of non-fiction that runs the gamut: it is very appealing and readable as a personal memoir, it is enthralling and memorable as a historical tract, and it is intriguing and informative as an institutional archival piece. The stage of history is here fitted out with life-or-death moments, war-torn landscapes and characters with unique, touching and believable human traits...

Xinman Liu

During China's Anti-Japanese War between 1937 and 1945, the arduous movement of government, universities, and other institutions from coastal areas to safer inland redoubts is a tale not only of hardship but also of courage, devotion, fortitude, and patriotism. In this book, Chiao-min Hsieh and Jean Kan Hsieh, as participants in this great trek, have successfully given voice to many fellow students and professors as well as folks encountered on their travels...This is a compelling story told with clarity, honesty, and insight, as well as occasional humor.

Ronald G. Knapp

As Zhejiang University students, my classmate Chiao-min and I spent our college years with an extraordinary group of professors and classmates with whom we bonded as we received an education made all the more extraordinary by those difficult times. Along with our wives, fellow students on the journey at the tie, we witnessed the ravages of war while traveling to the interior of China. Yet we were filled youthful ambition, steadfast in our resolve to continue our studies, and our energy and enthusiasm never flagged. This account by Jean and Chiao-min captures those years vividly and demonstrates why we, along with alumni worldwide, continue to regard Zhejiang University with great loyalty and admiration.

Ying Shi-lin

This book offers a fine specimen of non-fiction that runs the gamut: it is very appealing and readable as a personal memoir, it is enthralling and memorable as a historical tract, and it is intriguing and informative as an institutional archival piece. The stage of history is here fitted out with life-or-death moments, war-torn landscapes and characters with unique, touching and believable human traits...--Xinman Liu, Assistant Professor of Chinese Literature, University of Pittsburgh

During China's Anti-Japanese War between 1937 and 1945, the arduous movement of government, universities, and other institutions from coastal areas to safer inland redoubts is a tale not only of hardship but also of courage, devotion, fortitude, and patriotism. In this book, Chiao-min Hsieh and Jean Kan Hsieh, as participants in this great trek, have successfully given voice to many fellow students and professors as well as folks encountered on their travels...This is a compelling story told with clarity, honesty, and insight, as well as occasional humor.--Ronald G. Knapp, SUNY Distinguished Professor Emeritus

As Zhejiang University students, my classmate Chiao-min and I spent our college years with an extraordinary group of professors and classmates with whom we bonded as we received an education made all the more extraordinary by those difficult times. Along with our wives, fellow students on the journey at the tie, we witnessed the ravages of war while traveling to the interior of China. Yet we were filled youthful ambition, steadfast in our resolve to continue our studies, and our energy and enthusiasm never flagged. This account by Jean and Chiao-min captures those years vividly and demonstrates why we, along with alumni worldwide, continue to regard Zhejiang University with great loyalty and admiration.--Ying Shi-lin, Former Chancellor of Zhejiang University

From the Publisher