1.Dr. Sun Yat-sen ordered preparations for the founding of the National Guangdong University
On February 4, 1924, Dr. Sun Yat-sen, in his capacity as the Grand Marshal of the Army and Navy of the Republic of China, issued an order to merge the National Advanced Normal University, Guangdong School of Law, and Guangdong School of Agriculture to become the National Guangdong University. Meanwhile, Zou Lu was appointed to head the Preparatory Committee of the National Guangdong University.
Photo 1: In the spring of 1924, Dr. Sun Yat-sen worked at the Generalissimo Mansion in Guangzhou
Photo 2: National Advanced Normal University
Photo 3: Guangdong School of Law
Photo 4: Guangdong School of Agriculture
2.Preparatory Committee of the National Guangdong University
On February 21, 1924, Zou Lu officially took office as the Chairman of the Preparatory Committee of the National Guangdong University. The University epitomized the first Kuomintang-Communist cooperation, and the Preparatory Committee altogether engaged 35 members, including Liao Zhongkai, Hu Hanmin, Wang Jingwei, Li Dazhao, T. K. Cheng, Xu Gantang, Liang Long, Wu Chaoshu, Deng Zhiyi, Ma Junwu, He Chunfan, Sun Fo, Chen Yaozu, Hsu Chung-ching, Huang Changgu, Jiang Menglin, Shi Ying, Hu Shih, Kuo Ping-Wen, Wu Zhihui, Li Shizeng, Guan Enzhu, Wang Xinggong, Wang Shijie, Zhou Gengsheng, Pi Zongshi, Yi Peiji, Yang Shukan, Chen Shuren, Xiong Xiling, Fan Yuanlian, Ku Meng-yu, H. C. Zen, Yang Xingfo, and Hu Dunfu. These members comprised prominent figures from the Kuomintang, the Communist Party, and academic and educational circles. In total, the committee convened 29 meetings and passed 88 resolutions.
Photo 1: Official seal of “Chairman of the Preparatory Committee of the National Guangdong University” bestowed by the Army and Navy Marshal stronghold of the Republic of China
Photo 2: Notice of the 1st Preparatory Meeting on March 3, 1924 (from Guangdong Provincial Archives)
Photos 3 and 4: Part of the list of members of the Preparatory Committee (from Guangdong Provincial Archives)
3.Measures for Merging the National Advanced Normal University, Guangdong School of Law, and Guangdong School of Agriculture
On April 11, 1924, the Preparatory Committee of the National Guangdong University drafted the Interim Measures for the Chairman to Head Three Colleges and issued letters to inform the heads of the Colleges of Education, Agriculture, Law, and their affiliated departments. On June 3, Zou Lu submitted the Measures for Merging the National Advanced Normal University, Guangdong School of Law, and Guangdong School of Agriculture to Become the National Guangdong University. On June 6, the Order No. 558 of the Grand Marshal approved its implementation.
Photo 1: Interim Measures for the Chairman to Head Three Colleges (from Guangdong Provincial Archives)
Photo 2: Measures for Merging the National Advanced Normal University, Guangdong School of Law, and Guangdong School of Agriculture to Become the National Guangdong University
4.The Overseas Department of the National Guangdong University requested funds
In May 1924, hearing the upcoming establishment of the National Guangdong University, students from the Overseas Department of the National Guangdong University in Guangzhou wrote to congratulate Chairman Zou Lu and asked for the management and further planning of the funds reserved for the Overseas Department. The Overseas Department of the National Guangdong University was founded in 1921, affiliated with the Sino-French Institute in Lyon, France.
Photo: On May 29, 1924, The Republican Daily News Canton reported “The Overseas Department of the National Guangdong University Requests Funds”
5.Zou Lu served as the President of the National Guangdong University
On June 9, 1924, Dr. Sun Yat-sen, the Grand Marshal of the Army and Navy of the Republic of China, appointed Zou Lu as the President of the National Guangdong University.
Photo 1: Zou Lu, President of the National Guangdong University
Photo 2: Official seal of the National Guangdong University
6.The President’s inaugural ceremony and the graduation ceremony at the National Guangdong University
On June 21, 1924, Zou Lu took the post of the President of the National Guangdong University. His inaugural ceremony and the graduation ceremony of the three departments were held on that same day. Hu Hanmin, on behalf of Dr. Sun Yat-sen, delivered a speech at the graduation ceremony.
Photo 1: On June 23, 1924, The Republican Daily News Canton reported “Graduation Ceremony at the National Guangdong University”
Photo 2: Graduation address by Dr. Sun Yat-sen
7.National Guangdong University enrolled the first batch of students
On June 10, 1924, the National Guangdong University started the registration for the examination of preparatory classes. It planned on a total enrollment of 520 students, including 120 in the College of Arts, 100 each in the College of Science, Engineering, and Agriculture, and 100 in the School of Law.
Photo 1: On June 9, 1924, The Republican Daily News Canton reported “National Guangdong University Entrusts Provincial Departments of Education to Start Student Enrollment”
Photo 2: The 13th Entrance Examination Paper for the National Guangdong University
Photo 3: Registration and admission statistics by province
8.Statutes of the National Guangdong University
From July 15 to 25, 1924, the National Guangdong University convened a preparatory meeting to formulate the Statutes of the National Guangdong University, the Special Accounting Statutes of the National Guangdong University, and the preparatory and undergraduate courses for each college and department. On September 1, the Order No. 983 of the Grand Marshal approved the proposals.
Photo 1: Letter from Zou Lu to the committee members outside the province, in which he invited them to the preparatory meeting in Guangzhou (from Guangdong Provincial Archives)
Photo 2: Statutes of the National Guangdong University (excerpt)
Photo 3: Order No. 983 of the Grand Marshal
9.Founding ceremony of the National Guangdong University
On November 11, 1924, the founding ceremony of the National Guangdong University was held at the College of Arts and Science (the former National Advanced Normal University). From November 11 to 13, celebrations of various kinds lasted three days on end, with “a bumper of visitors continuing crowding in” and the number mounting to twenty to thirty thousand. Occupied with preparations for heading north, Dr. Sun Yat-sen was not present in person at the University (he had left Guangzhou on November 13). Still, he inscribed “Study Extensively; Enquire Accurately; Reflect Carefully; Discriminate Clearly; Practise Earnestly” as the motto marking the founding of the University, which was presented to the University by Hu Hanmin on his behalf.
Photo 1: Invitee list of the founding ceremony (excerpt) (from Guangdong Provincial Archives)
Photo 2: Campus of the National Guangdong University during the founding ceremony, with a banner on the school gate that reads “Founding Ceremony of the National Guangdong University”
Photo 3: Aerial View of the NGU
10.Marxism Research Association
At the end of 1924, the Marxism Research Association was set up at the University, following which Hu Hanmin, Hsu Chung-ching, Xie Yingzhou, Huang Dianyuan, and other scholars were invited to make speeches. On May 5, 1926, organizations such as the Communist Youth League’s Guangdong Provincial Committee, the All-China Federation of Trade Unions, the Guangdong Peasants’ Association, and the Guangdong Women’s Liberation Society gathered in the University’s assembly hall for a meeting in memory of Karl Marx, where Guo Moruo, Chen Qixiu, Peng Shuzhi and other invitees gave talks on Marx’s life story and theories.
