1.Gao Jianfu was engaged to teach painting
In 1933, Gao Jianfu, one of the founders of the Lingnan School of painting and a well-known Chinese painter, was engaged as a professor at the National Sun Yat-sen University (NSYSU). In March 1934, Gao Jianfu started to teach painting at NSYSU, and students from all colleges signed up enthusiastically, with a total of 240 students enrolled to study painting.
Photo 1: Professor Gao Jianfu
Photo 2: Rooster’s Call Awakens the World by Gao Jianfu published in The Eastern Miscellany (Vol. 32, No. 20, 1935).
Photo 3: Himalayas by Gao Jianfu in 1933
2.The Institute of Educational Research formulated a nation-centered curriculum and introduced an experimental class in primary school
On February 5, 1934, the experimental class of the primary school set up by the Institute of Educational Research of NSYSU was officially opened. The experimental class was the Institute’s practice of implementing the nation-centered curriculum. The primary school adopted the new curriculum and new textbooks, with instructional content focusing on the Chinese nation, rooted in local culture and people while aiming towards harmony and peace around the world. Cui Zaiyang and Fang Dunyi of the Institute published “An Attempt to Fundamentally Transform China’s Primary School Curriculum” (also known as “Essay on the Nation-centered Curriculum in Primary Schools”) based on this experimental curriculum.
Photo 1: “An Attempt to Fundamentally Transform China’s Primary School Curriculum” by Cui Zaiyang and Fang Dunyi
Photo 2: The nation-centered primary school textbook compiled by the Institute of Educational Research of NSYSU (used in the first term of the third grade and entitled “The Founding History of Our Nation”)
3.NSYSU established the College of Engineering and the College of Science
In August 1934, the College of Engineering was established, composed of the departments of Civil Engineering and Chemical Engineering, which formerly belonged to the College of Science and Engineering of NSYSU, and two newly-added departments, namely Mechanical Engineering and Electrical Engineering. Xiao Guanying was appointed to be the dean and Fang Tangdi (also the Head of the Department of Civil Engineering), Kang Xinyuan (also the Head of the Department of Chemistry and the Department of Chemical Engineering), Li Yichun, Luo Xiongcai, Li Dunhua, Gu Wenjie, and Xu Xuexie were appointed to be its professors. The former College of Science and Engineering was renamed the College of Science, with He Yanxuan as the dean. Professors and associate professors were appointed in the following academic year, including Zhu Zhiyi, Cai Chengyun, Li Qishan, Sun Dangyue, and Wu Shangshi.
Photo 1: “The Establishment of the College of Engineering of National Sun Yat-sen University and Views on Higher Industrial Education” published by Xiao Guanying in Monthly of Three Principles of People, Vol. 1, No. 4, 1933
Photo 2: Xiao Guanying, Dean of the College of Engineering
Photo 3: He Yanxuan, Dean of the College of Science
Photo 4: Classrooms of Electrical and Mechanical Engineering in the College of Engineering in the New Shipai campus
Photo 5: Classrooms of Chemistry in the College of Science in the New Shipai campus
4.Professor Yang Chengzhi attended the International Congress of Anthropological and Ethnological Sciences
From July 30 to August 4, 1934, Professor Yang Chengzhi of NSYSU was invited to London to attend the First International Conference of Anthropological and Ethnological Sciences, where he read his paper in French entitled “Ecritures et Classiques Des Lolos”. After the conference, the paper was translated into English and published in the Man, which was hosted by the Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland.
Photo 1: Group photo of the International Congress of Anthropological and Ethnological Sciences in 1934
Photo 2: Yang Chengzhi with the independent lolos during his investigation in Yunnan (“Report on the Yunnan ethnicities’ survey” in 1930)
5.The Six Martyrs of “the General League of Left-Wing Arts” in Guangzhou
In April 1933, the Guangzhou Branch of the General League of Left-Wing Arts was founded in Guangzhou as a revolutionary mass organization under the leadership of the Communist Party of China. In January 1934, six key members of the General League of Left-Wing Arts in Guangzhou, namely Wen Shengang, Tan Guobiao, Ling Boji, Lai Yinfang, Zheng Tingxiu, and He Rentang, were arrested by the Kuomintang. In August of the same year, they were killed in Huanghuagang (the ‘Yello Flower Mound”), known as the “Six Martyrs of the General League of Left-Wing Arts” in Guangzhou. Among them, Ling Boji, Lai Yinfang, and He Rentang were students at NSYSU, while Tan Guobiao and Zheng Tingxiu were graduates of the Department of Economics and the affliated middle school of NSYSU respectively.
Photo 1-6: (top row, from the left) Wen Shenggang, Tan Guobiao, Ling Boji, (bottom row, from the left) Lai Yinfang, Zheng Tingxiu, and He Rentang
Photo 7: Statue of the six martyrs of “the General League of Left-Wing Arts” in Guangzhou
6.Completion of the new campus in Shipai
Shipai was personally chosen by Dr. Sun Yat-sen as the new campus location for the National Guangdong University. The new campus was planned to be built in three phases through the planning and financing by the presidents such as Dai Jitao and Zou Lu, and the first phase was completed in the autumn of 1934. On November 11, 1934, in order to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the founding of NSYSU and the completion of the new Shipai campus, the College of Agriculture, College of Engineering, and College of Law took the lead to move into the new campus and a grand celebration was held. In 1935, the second phase of the Shipai campus was completed. On November 11 that year, NSYSU celebrated its 11th anniversary and the inauguration of the College of Arts and the College of Law in the Shipai campus.
Photo 1: The 10th anniversary of the founding of NSYSU and the completion of the Shipai campus
Photo 2: The stone engraved with President Zou Lu’s handwritten motto next to the cypresses personally planted by Dr. Sun Yat-sen
Photo 3: Stone tablet engraved with President Zou Lu’s handwritten adage “Driving a cart in rags to blaze a trail in a jungle”
Photo 4: Plan map of the Shipai campus, NSYSU
7.The Department of Sociology established the Institute of Social Studies
In December 1934, the Department of Sociology established the Institute of Social Studies to conduct scientific research on the society and to train academic talents in this field. In 1935, the institute launched the journal Social Studies Quarterly.
Photo 1: “The establishment of the Institute of Social Studies at National Sun Yat-sen University” and its regulations reported by The Republican Daily News Canton, December 6, 1934
Photo 2: “The publication of Social Studies Quarterly” reported by The National Sun Yat-sen University Daily, June 27, 1935
Photo 3: Cover of the first issue of the first volume of Social Studies Quarterly
Photo 4: Catalogue of Social Studies Quarterly, Volume 1, Issue 1
