1.Reform of the academic system led by Zou Lu
In January 1933, the Southwest Education Reform Committee led by Zou Lu, the President of National Sun Yat-sen University (NSYSU), passed the outline of the reform of the academic system, putting forward the abolition of the summer and winter vacation system, the shortening of the length of study, and the focus on realistic education as well as compilations of textbooks.
2.Construction of nurseries, forests and farms
In March 1933, NSYSU opened the Second Model Forestry and Nursery near the former site of the Ancient Banyan Temple inthe West Lake area, Huiyang County, covering an area of 1,200 mu (80 hectares). The First Model Forestry was opened in 1928 at Baiyun Mountain, with an area of more than 20,000 mu (133 hectares). Meanwhile, NSYSU gradually closed down the first farm in Dongshan district and dedicated itself to the construction of the second farm in Shipai, which covered an area of more than 10,000 mu (666 hectares).
Photo 1: Baiyun Mountain in the early stage of the Republic of China
Photo 2: West Lake, Huizhou in the 1930s
3.NSYSU and “the Guangzhou Branch of the General League of Left-Wing Arts”
In April 1933, with the consent of the League of Left-Wing Writers in Shanghai and developed from the reading clubs of NSYSU and other universities, the Guangzhou Branch of the General League of Left-Wing Arts was established. He Ganzhi (also called Tan Xiufeng) was elected as the secretary, Wen Shengang as the director in charge of publicity, Tan Guobiao as the organizer, and Li Fanfu, Lian Guan, Jiang Mu, Lou Qi, Du Ai, and Zhang Zhixin as the members. It established several subordinate bodies such as the Left-Wing Writers’ Association, the Social Science Union, and the Guangzhou Branch of the League of Chinese Left-Wing Dramatists, and founded more than a hundred left-wing literary magazines, such as the New Line, Literature and Art of Guangzhou, General Art, Uranus, and Chinese Poems.c
Photo: Leaders and key members of the Guangzhou Branch of the General League of Left-Wing Arts, including Professors He Sijing, Zheng Tingxiu, and Tan Guobia
4.Research Institute of Arts
In May 1933, in order to “develop aesthetic sensibilities, cultivate temperament, improve social life, and carry forward the ethos of the Chinese nation”, NSYSU established the Research Institute of Arts.
5.Recruitment of students for the Institute of History and Language
From August to September 1933, the Institute of History and Language of NSYSU, renamed from the Institute of History and Philology, admitted new students, including Zhu Jieqin and Chen Guozhi, and hired Chen Yinque, Zhang Xinglong, and Deng Zhicheng as honorary tutors.
Photo 1: Chen Yinque
Photo 2: Zhang Xinglong
Photo 3: Deng Zhicheng
6.Groundbreaking ceremony of the new Shipai campus
On November 11, 1933, NSYSU celebrated the 9th anniversary of its establishment along with the birth of Premier Sun Yat-sen and held a groundbreaking ceremony for the new Shipai campus, and unveiled the bronze statue of the Premier.
Photo 1: Sketch map of the new Shipai campus of NSYSU
Photo 2: Photo given by Zou Lu to Umeya Shokichi of the statue of Dr. Sun Yat-sen dedicated at NSYSU
Photo 3: Panoramic view of the new Shipai campus in 1933
Photo 4: Foundation stone tablet in the Shipai Campus of NSYSU
