Relocation route of National Changsha Temporary University

From mid-February 1938 to April 28 of the same year, Changsha Provisional University moved from Changsha to Kunming. There are three main routes for teachers and students to move into Kunming.

Teachers and students of Changsha Temporary University walked to Yunnan, Hong Kong and Vietnam.

Take a boat via Guangzhou and Hong Kong to Haiphong City, Vietnam, and then take a train to Kunming. Important professors who took this route include Chen Yinke and others. Professor Chen's wife was left in Hong Kong under the care of Xu Dishan because of a heart disease. Most teachers, family members and some female students chose this route.

Guangxi-Vietnam Route

The Guangxi government once invited Changsha Lin teachers and students to move to Guilin and other places to run schools. The Standing Committee of the National University adopted the suggestion of Professor Qin Zan, chairman of the Department of Economics of Peking University, and decided to move to Yunnan, which is safer.

In order to explain to the Guangxi government why the school did not move to Guangxi, the school sent Professor Chen Daisun to explain to Guangxi. There were more than ten people traveling with him, including Zhu Ziqing, Feng Youlan, Qian Mu, Tang Yongtong, He Lin, etc., with Zhu Ziqing as the leader. They took a bus from Changsha through Guilin and Liuzhou to Nanning, then passed Zhennanguan to Hanoi, Vietnam, and finally arrived at Kunming along the Yunnan-Vietnam Railway.

Male students with better economic conditions and a few female students also chose this path. They took a train from Changsha to Guilin, and then transferred to a bus from Guilin to Vietnam via Liuzhou and Nanning. Finally, we also followed the Yunnan-Vietnam Railway to Kunming.

Hunan, Guizhou and Yunnan Tour Group

This is the most difficult migration route. Teachers and students began to move on February 19, 1938, totaling 336 people. Among them, important professors include Wen Yiduo, Huang Yuxian, Yuan Fuli, Li Jitong, Zeng Zhaoluan, Wu Zhengyi, etc. Teachers and students walked through Xiangxi, Hunan, entered Guizhou, and finally arrived in Kunming, Yunnan. There are many bandits in western Hunan and the roads are unsafe. Zhang Zhizhong arranged for the writer Shen Congwen, who was born in western Hunan, to negotiate with all parties in western Hunan. In the end, the bandits did not embarrass the teachers and students.

On April 28, teachers and students arrived in Kunming after an arduous journey. The total migration distance is about 3,000 miles, which may be the longest large-scale migration of students. Teachers and students made this relocation a teaching task and actively promoted the fight against Japan and national salvation during the journey. At the same time, they did not forget to learn and practice along the way.