Chapter 80 patriotic

During the Anti-Japanese War, Qian Mu taught general history of China at Southwest Associated University.In class, he often combines history and reality to give lectures to inspire students' patriotism, and every seat in class is full.Not long after moving to Southwest Associated University at that time, everyone was depressed because of the current situation. During the history class, Qian Mu often contacted Chinese history and said with confidence that unity and light are the mainstream of Chinese history, and division and darkness are temporary. Against the current of Chinese history, victory will surely come, which greatly encourages teachers and students.

During the most difficult period of the Anti-Japanese War, his colleague Chen Mengjia suggested that he write an "Outline of National History" based on the lecture notes to inspire the national spirit.Scholars have only pens to serve the country. Qian Mu immediately accepted the suggestion and decided to write a new "Outline of National History" to do his part for the whole people's war of resistance.He locked himself in Yanquan Temple in Yiliang County, 70 kilometers away from Kunming, and worked hard every day. It took him a year to roughly complete the manuscript, which was published in 1940. "National History Outline Introduction" pointed out, "Only by referring to the past can we know the present, and only by having a true understanding of reality can we make real improvements to the present." It is necessary to make the citizens have a deep understanding of the past history of the country.” “The most important task of this new general history is to let the people know clearly what our ancestors think about the country, especially before disseminating the true state of the country’s history to the people. The responsibility that the nation has fulfilled, and the thought of it spontaneously arises, and the sincerity of striving to cherish and protect it."

In 1935, Japan plotted "North China Autonomy". In October, feeling patriotism and national righteousness, Qian Mu, Yao Congwu, Gu Jiegang, Qian Xuantong, Hu Shi, Meng Sen and more than 100 university professors launched an anti-Japanese activity, jointly Oppose Japan's interference in internal affairs, and urge the Kuomintang government to make an early plan to resist Japan.In view of Qian Mu's anti-Japanese attitude and academic influence, in the autumn of 1942, Chiang Kai-shek summoned Qian Mu twice in Chengdu and invited him to lecture on Chinese history and Neo-Confucianism in Chongqing.Once Chiang Kai-shek saw a speech by Qian Mu in the newspaper and appreciated it very much. He called and wrote to ask him to meet him again, but Qian Mu excused him because the distance was too far.Later, when we met, he even persuaded Chiang face-to-face to retire after the victory of the War of Resistance for the benefit of all the people of the country.

In October 1944, at the request of relevant departments, Qian Mu wrote a special article "Precedents of Youth Joining the Army in Chinese History", calling on young people to join the army, which had a positive impact on young students. In the autumn of 1950, "New Asia College" was established in Hong Kong, with Qian Mu as the dean. The name "New Asia", according to Qian Mu, hopes to promote "New Asia" to strive for a brighter future for the Chinese in Hong Kong.The children of Qian Mu pointed out that Qian Mu saw that the Chinese people living in Hong Kong lost their spiritual support, and hoped that by running a school in the century-old colonial land, they could advocate Chinese culture and let the exiles not forget to be Chinese.

Qian Mu has a consistent understanding of the country and traditional culture. Even in his later years, he still advocates that the country should be unified. In February 1986, at the age of ninety-two, he published the article "Looking at the Situation in the New Year of Bingyin", arguing that "peaceful reunification is the way out for the country" and that "historical tradition and national character of cultural spirit are the foundation of China's reunification." . Qian Mu believes that the integrity and lasting unity of the Chinese state is an inherent Chinese tradition; dynastic change is only a reorganization of the domestic government, not the conquest of the Chinese by the Chinese.Therefore, China's goal of peaceful reunification in the future is in line with the national character of historical and traditional culture; different political opinions must be under the framework of the same country, and China should be led by the Chinese.

In order to meet the needs of a large number of middle school students studying Chinese in Hong Kong, the Hong Kong government decided to merge three colleges supported by Americans, Chung Chi College, New Asia College, and United College, in addition to the University of Hong Kong, which mainly provides education for British students, to give birth to a new university.At that time, the name of the school became a problem again, and the school name was controversial. Some people advocated "Kowloon University", while others thought that "Sun Yat-sen University" was better. Qian Mu suggested that in Hong Kong, a special region, "Chinese" should be used as the name of the new university. , has a certain symbolic meaning, and conforms to the background of English literal translation at the time of preparation, and the name is finally finalized.Also because Qian Mu insisted on the national standpoint and tried his best to fight for it from the British government, the first president of Chinese University was appointed by Li Zhuomin, a Chinese.