Documentary revives small Sichuan town's wartime legacy

Lizhuang, a small town in Southwest China's Sichuan province, once served as a shelter for Chinese scholars during the country's war against Japanese occupation more than 80 years ago.

This little-known history has been revisited in the documentary Kangri Fenghuo Zhong De Lizhuang (Lizhuang in the Flames of the War of Resistance), a six-episode series recently aired on China Central Television's CCTV-9.

During the Chinese People's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression (1931-45), many scholars moved to Kunming, Yunnan province, following the establishment and relocation of several colleges. These included the renowned National Southwest Associated University — formed by merging Peking, Tsinghua, and Nankai Universities — and Tongji University, which relocated after its Shanghai campus was severely damaged by Japanese bombing.

However, after Kunming — then a key communications hub in southwestern China — came under heavy Japanese bombardment, around 12,000 scholars relocated to Lizhuang in the early 1940s. The town subsequently became a wartime base for more than 10 academic institutions, including Tongji University, the National Central Museum (the first government-funded museum in modern China), and the Society for the Study of Chinese Architecture, led by the celebrated architectural couple Liang Sicheng and Lin Huiyin.

Chen Jin, chief consultant of the documentary, revealed that the project interviewed many people who were part of that history, taking the 100-year-old Feng Keyan, who entered Tongji University in 1943, as an example.

"The relocation of academic institutions during wartime reflect Chinese people's respect for culture and knowledge during a harsh time, a legacy worthy of being acknowledged and cherished today," said Chen.

Yu Hong, the documentary's chief producer, recounted visiting Tongji University seven times and combing through volumes of archives, which revealed that more than 2,400 teachers and students were based in Lizhuang during those years.

"At a time of national crisis, a group of scholars, teachers and students, deeply devoted to their homeland, found refuge and purpose in Lizhuang. These stories from the war-torn years deeply moved everyone on our production team," said Yu.