LETTERS ABOUT GINLING COLLEGE, NANKING, CHINA
SEPTEMBER 26, 1937 - OCTOBER 15, 1937
FROM THE GINLING UNIT AT HUA CHUNG UNIVERSITY IN WUCHANG
Letter to President Wu from Dr. Chen Pin-dji, Ginling B.A. 1928, University of Michigan Ph.D., Department of Biology. September 30, 1937
Your letters were received with appreciation because I know how difficult it is for you to work and write during air raids. We know that you are worrying about us because of air raids here. I am glad to tell you now we are all safe, every Ginling, girl, even some of them who have their home quite near the bombed place.
I have arranged the work with Dr. Chen, the head of the department of Biology of Hua Chung. I teach one course of Biology in Hua Chung, Parasitology, as he had asked, and at the same time Dr. Liu, the professor in Botany, helps two of our girls in their theses. So besides the 4 credits of Parasitology I am now taking care of only three theses, much lighter work than my original plan. Please don't think that we work hard, in comparing what you are doing now at Nanking, ours seems nothing.
I don't think I will spend much money for the theses work. Wu Mei-ling is looking for parasites from eggs. Each day she opens dozens of eggs, but she sells them as soon as she opens them. Each of us in the house has one or two eggs for breakfast guaranteed fresh and free from parasites! So you see we have made a good business here. Wen Hwang-chan is working on the parasites in fish. I don't think she can make any profit from that, because no fish would be in good shape after her thorough search, and I don't think the girls would like to have fish every day. Anyway we will be very careful about spending our money.
Miss Chou Li-dhu (Sociology professor) arrived yesterday. She and Miss Dzo-Yu-lin (Sociology Assistant) are going to move to our hotel tomorrow. Our bed room is a real bed room because it is now actually full of beds. We have six beds in it besides a small desk and a chair which is for common use. We are happy and never feel lonely or housesick! Wu Mou-i, Ginling 1926, will come this Saturday and spend the weekend with us. Mou-i likes our crowded place which is sometimes quite noisy, especially at the meal time when the girls' laughing voices and steps can be heard everywhere.
We have a living room in the house which is also used as dining room and study room. The girls have no table nor chairs in their room, only beds, so they can only work in the dining room. We faculty have not enough desks, but we manage it quite all right. I think I am the most fortunate one to have an office in Hua Chung University which Dr. Chen is so kind as to provide for me. I had got used to our quarters here in the hostel and felt lost when I stayed alone in my office this afternoon!
The girls are busy making dresses for the wounded soldiers. We faculty make our contribution by buying the material; the girls theirs by giving time to make them.
The student body at Hua Chung recently had a welcome party for all refugee students. This evening the Education and Psychology department has a welcome party for refugee students and faculty.
It rains most of the time in these few days. It is quite cold, too. When the weather becomes colder, we said we are going to send you a picture of us and let you see how round and big we are going to be when we put our heavy dresses on.
No air raid comes since last time. Please do not worry for us.
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Letter to President Wu from Miss Liu En-lan, Ginling B.A. 1925; Clark University M.A., Department of Geography. October 2, 1937. We opened the geography work yesterday so I am writing to report progress. Nobody was expecting me at Hua Chung. I called at once upon Dr. Hsiung and asked him to introduce me to President Hwang. I explained to him that we are expecting to have geography majors here, and what I have in mind to do. He told me that registration had stopped and that I should write a formal request for an extension for geography students. That I did and it was accepted by the Senate.
By raising this question in the Senate, the dean learned of my arrival and called on me after the Senate meeting and asked if I would be willing to teach their geography course because they were having difficulty in finding a teacher. I was glad to take on the course because I want Hua Chung to feel that their kindness to us is reciprocated and I want to do some "missionary work" for geography. At first my only comfort lay in the fact that the students are happy that I came; now I feel that my presence is justified since I am meeting a need.
With the kind help of Miss Spicer we have the privilege to use a house as classrooms. We have already settled in it. Tsui Deh-djen, Djang Gin-hwa and I moved the furniture all by ourselves. The man servant of the dormitory declared that our book boxes are an impossible job to open and so we opened them ourselves. Fortunately Miss Chow of the Sociology Department came the second day, so now the Sociology staff are all here and their classes will be held in this building also. We delegated to Miss Dzo Yu-lin, the Sociology assistant, the honor of getting a blackboard, eraser, chalk and other equipment.
I am now offering one course on the Geography of Asia for our own two majors and two University of Nanking boys. I am supervising Tsui Deh-djen's thesis which amounts to 6 credits because I would like her to finish it this term. Special problems in climate for Djang Gin-hwa are being carried. I have a course in the Principles of Geography in Hua Chung for four of our students and twenty Hua Chung students. Now poeple see what it means to be "guest students" and at the same time to have our own center. They have not only accepted the idea but are glad of it.
Wuchang does not yet know the meaning of preparation for air raids. Since the bombing of Wuhan on the 24th we have been urging preparation to meet the situation. The house we live in is seventy years old. When girls walk upstairs it rattles so downstairs that you can hardly sleep. Everybody admits that the house would come down if a bomb dropped in the vicinity. The students do not know where to go if there is an air raid, for the answer always given is, "Go to Hua Chung," but just where in Hua Chung none of us really know. It has been raining continuously for several days so nothing has happened. Yesterday was a fine day. After supper the warning came and the urgent one followed the first one almost immediately. Everybody ran toward Hua Chung. When we got inside of the gate we saw people running in all directions, but nobody knew where to go. I decided to go into the house nearby and run no more and just leave everything to fate, because I was already out of breath. One of the Ginling students was right behind me so both of us went in. Right after we entered somebody locked the door and no more were admitted. We went down to the basement which also had its windows to the outside. Boys were piling up on the window sills. It was very funny. Why should they take the trouble to go into a basement and then expose themselves in the window! And why should they lock the door since the room is spacious for more, while people were still running outside without a place to go. We could see this from the window. Another group of our girls following the mad crowd went to the new dormitory. Then in the middle of the raid a person shouted with a loudspeaker, "Come, come under the trees for it is not safe to be in a house." So the big crowd flocked out under a tree with wet mud below and nothing above them and they stood there for more than an hour. Fortunately the raid was not a bad one, only one bomb in Hanyang. Nothing happened in Wuchang. But if it should have been a bad one, what would happen? My own desire and longing is that this cursed war will cease quickly. I hope against hope that before long we can all safely reassemble beneath our own Ginling roof. All these trials and experiences have pressed Ginling closer and closer to one's heart.
Please do not think that my letter is one of complaint. If it sounds so it certainly is not meant to be so. I am happy to feel that one can work at last. I am just thinking aloud and feel rather sad that our work has been so disorganized by the unfriendliness of a neighbor. How cruel it is that when life is full of expectations fate should hit you hard.
The students are very anxious to have Miss Sutherland. They ask every day when she is coming. Four music majors are here now. I have a notion, purely personal, that our Music Department could make a special contribution to Hua Chung and so could the P.E. Department. It might be too late now, but along these lines we can contribute the most.
Everything is going well with us. The group is a happy one. Miss Chow and Miss Dzo are moving in today so we will have six beds in the faculty bedroom and Mou-i will come to spend the weekend with us. From this you will know how attractive we are!
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Letter to Miss Vautrin from a Ginling student, class of 1940, now at Hua Chung University. September 26, 1937 I did not dream that I cannot go to Ginling in September when I left for home in June. Now I hope that you and Dr. Wu are safe in Nanking. I want to cry when I think that you are still in Nanking for Ginling's sake. God be with you.
I think that you know there are about 30 Ginling girls in Hua Chung. A part of us live in Hua Chung and the others live in the Ginling house which is outside the campus.
Though I have only been one year in Ginling, yet I love her so much. I think you can still remember that I disliked Ginling when I first went there, but I think about Ginling every day now.
Thirteen Japanese airplanes came to Wuhan the day before yesterday. They dropped more than ten bombs. There are many buildings destroyed and hundreds of people were killed. A bomb fell on a school campus which is very near Hua Chung but it did not explode. We are safe now. Please tell Dr. Wu and the other faculty.
I hope that all of us can meet again next semester. I love Ginling so much, and I enjoyed her life for only one year. I sing Ginling songs here. Please send my love to Dr. Wu and the others who are still at Ginling.
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FROM THE SHANGHAI UNIT OF GINLING Letter to President Wu from Miss Florence Kirk, Department of English. September 26, 1937.
Ruth Chester, Lillian and I have just returned from our meeting with Ginling students. It was thrilling to see their faces again, to talk with them, to begin to catch up on the news of these long three months since Commencement Day. There were forty students there - which we consider quite an achievement since we mailed the notice of the meeting only yesterday morning. Mrs. New was with us, and she had already put in good work in the matter of arranging about a meeting place, sending the notices to students, putting a notice in the news paper, managing the tea for the occasion, ad infinitum. She and Dju Gieh-fang, Chairman of Shanghai Alumnae Association, took charge of the meeting; it was a cheering thing to find with us alumnae who were as eager to see something begun as we ourselves were. Liu Yung-sz is helping on some relief committee, but she and Dju Gioh-fang have offered to help Ruth in office work these first busy days. Hu Shih-tsang, Music Department, was present, with news that the Shanghai Conservatory was goign to open, so perhaps some real help can be given the music majors with us.
The girls looked as cheerful as in the days when we were on the peaceful campus in Nanking, but when we talk with them we see some of the effects of the tense weeks in Shanghai. Some told me that it would be impossible for them to study at home; one girl said there were 47 people in her home, and one can imagine how refugee friends and relatives must be filling up every available space in many homes, so that is a problem we will have to work on to see what provision we might make for a quiet place for some of the girls to study. The present quarters of the two universities, St. John's and Shanghai, are so cramped that there is no hope of help in that direction. They are eager to get down to work, but feel at a loss to see where they can turn at the present with so many things unsettled. The next few days will, I think, see many of these questions answered. Some of the girls said they had not a stitch of winter clothing, and they congratulated me on having received my allotment. Our newspaper notice brought to the meeting the father of Liu Che-lan to ask our advice about what he could do for Che-lan now in Changsha. The chief trouble with many of the plans we suggested was the danger in moving her and her young brother and sister in these unsettled days. Ruth and I talked with him and offered our glad cooperation if there was anything we could do.
Yesterday when I visited the offices of the two universities with Ruth, I was impressed with the cordial reception given at both places. It was easy to see that Ginling was a force to be reckoned with. Ruth will tell you the technical information she received. They are faced with almost insuperable difficulties themselves, yet one felt they were seeing some clear light ahead.
You may be interested in our impressions of life in Shanghai. The trip down from Tsingtao was uneventful. We found it interesting coming up the Whangpoo. We had advice from the boat's officers to get "below decks" for our safety. From the second deck we looked out on the destruction around Woosung - every building gutted, with sagging roofs, half-demolished walls, empty window frames, heaps of debris showing where other buildings had been. Some Japanese transports were unloading horses by the use of derricks, and from then on we saw miles of horses going in general toward the city on that near river road; many were cavalry horses; apparently many were drawing carts loaded with bales of hay. As we turned and made for the Bund there was a long line of Japanese warships almost end to end, the elusive "Izume" among them; farther along on the other side of us an equally imposing array of ships of other nations, the British "Falmouth," an Italian destroyer, the American ships, a French one, etc. By this time there was the dull booming of guns from towards the North Station area, but it all seemed so unreal, that one forgot everything but to watch all that was going on. Nine Japanese airplanes circled near us, in three groups of three, and I suppose they were doing the bombing in the North Station area. We stood later on the Morris housetop, and watched the planes drop the bombs; Dr. Morris with his field glasses could distinguish the bombs in the air, and then with the naked eye we could see the anti-aircraft shells which never seemed to go high enough to scare the airplanes; later the shells would burst and there would be a cloud of smoke in the air above which the planes serenely flew.
One thing we are aware of on the streets is the number of people, many of them refugees, I suppose. On Nanking Road there is a certain proportion of the windows boarded up, and doors with their iron bars either entirely or partially closed, but it is surprising that business is proceeding so much as usual. It is a contrast to the blocks of boarded up shops in Tsingtao, and the few people on the street. We saw the hole at Thibet Road and Avenue Edward 7, but the damage to the Sincere area appeared to be repaired, except for the holes in the walls of buildings nearby. They tell us that a car near the Nanking Road disaster had more than 700 holes in the body of it - ready for the museum, I would say.
Today we have had heavier bombing than usual; we were awakened near five this morning by a loud explosion, and the noon radio says that it was a mine in the river aimed at the Izume; for a few hours in the morning there was heavy firing a couple of miles to the north of us, and just now there has been a regular pow-wow in the air.
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Letter to President Wu from Dr. Ruth Chester,
Department of Chemistry. September 29, 1937.Florence has written you something of what we have been doing since we got here. Considering that we have had practically only two days I think we have done quite a lot, and on the whole I should say the prospects are very encouraging. Both institutions seem anxious to do all they can to help us. There will not be time to write you in as much detail as I should like, but here are a few of the high spots of things arranged so far. First, we are to have at least temporarily a camping place with the Y.W.C.A. at 99 Bubbling Well, so continue to send business mail there and personal also until further notice. They are very crowded and for a few days can only give us the use of their tea room, but hope to do better later. It seemed better to take that than a better room at the American School since the latter is much less accessible to students. I plan to be there Friday, Saturday, Monday and Tuesday from 10-12 and 3-5, and after Tuesday the 5th I shall continue to keep the morning hours at least through next week. Later office hours will depend on how much there seems to be to do. Classes for the University of Shanghai begin Monday the 4th so there will be quite a lot right now.
I have arranged with both institutions, the University of Shanghai and St. John's University, that I do the registering of our students and then turn in the card to them. I think I shall also work out some sort of form to keep myself but haven't had time to do it yet. One difficult problem is that St. John's haven't their course list ready yet and the girls find it hard to decide where to go until they know what both have to offer. The University of Shanghai will take any number of the three upper classes, but no freshmen. St. John's cannot register any freshmen until I have word from you as I have no way at all of knowing their standing or whether they are bona fide students.
University of Shanghai will accept students up till the end of next week. St. John's will register on the 15th and 16th and classes begin the 18th. That means there is time for girls to come from other paces if there are any near enough who want to brave the perils of the trip. If you can send out a letter to those in Hangchow and other nearby places telling briefly what we are doing I think it would be fine. If they hesitate because they have no place to live I think that can be handled through a student relief committee that is going to try to make provision for such cases. It would undertake to see that they are met at the station if any of them want it and would let me know beforehand.
I think some feel St. John's tuition is pretty high. That brought to my mind a question in regard to scholarships. Is our scholarship money a separate fund that is still available in spite of cut budget, or not? If it is, are there any girls in this Shanghai group who are due to receive them? If so let me know. Also, about loan fund. If there is anything either for loan or scholarship available but not yet assigned let me know that too, and I will refer to you any cases that seem worthy of consideration.
Hu Shih-tsang is going to investigate informally whether there is any prospect of our music majors getting some work at the Conservatory and I'll report on that later. At least three are here. Also P. E. I must take up with Li-Ming as soon as I can get in touch with her. Science labs are so far impossible. Neither institution sees any prospect of laboratory work at present.
Florence mentions what I think may be a problem ahead and that is the provision of a place for study. I wish you would let me know whether you feel it possible to incur any expense for that purpose, and if so how much. Perhaps a lump sum for general running expenses here to be used for whatever seems most urgent is the best way to get at it. I shall have to get a few office supplies; Mrs. New's paper won't hold out indefinitely. It probably will be possible to make use of classrooms in one or both institutions if we can schedule our work when they are free, but if we do teaching they ought to pay us fees, I should think, though it will be hard to work that out. I am hoping to make arrangements for partial fees for partial registrations at both universities but am not sure yet whether it will go through or not. I think there are likely to be some who will want some courses in each place, and as one has all classes in the morning and the other in the afternoon there would be no schedule complications at all.
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Letter to Ginling College Board of Founders in America from Miss Florence Kirk. October 15, 1937. Received New York November 8, 1937. This is our first report of what we have been doing in Shanghai for Ginling. Mrs. New will see that the first project of Ginling Alumnae in Refugee work is reported. She is starting another which she hopes the Alumnae and undergraduates may do together; this has to do with distribution of clothes and supplies that have come in and are coming in to the refugees. She wants this to be a distinctly Ginling College project, too.
Compared with the peace of our campus in Nanking, Shanghai just now is a strange place to begin college work in. Air raids become a matter of course these days; sometimes we have been waked at 5 a.m. by gunning and bombing. Last week it rained almost all the time, so there was a comparative lull in war proceedings. Now we are having sunny weather, with bright blue skies, and the air battles are more severe than ever. About 5:45 we went on the roof garden of this apartment house, and watched the heavy columns of smoke from a fire in Chapei, the growing flames of another huge fire, the airplanes going at times right over our heads, and then about 6:00 the fireworks, consisting of the bursting anti-aircraft shells, the brilliant red tracer bullets, the criss-crossing searchlights trying to discover some planes that were doing damage. We are learning to identify by sound such aspects of war as power dives, bombs, heavy gunning, anti-aircraft. I think we are all a little uncomfortable when planes go directly overhead. The day before yesterday a two-foot piece of steel rail weighing 22 pounds travelled a mile from the North Station to a point within a block of Nanking Road, all this without wounding a single person.
Other drawbacks are crowded living quarters which make it difficult for the girls to settle down to study; one girl told me there were 47 people in her home, her own immediate family, her grandparents, uncles, their children, etc. Then the girls spend so much time getting to and from classes; busses and trams run regularly but distances are often very great. Books cause difficulties, or rather the lack of them. Certain books are prescribed for courses, but the universities cannot get at their books and they cannot be bought, so the students have to use one or two reference books for the whole class. They are generous girls, and we are hoping that gradually we can solve some of their problems and thus make it possible for them to do some good work.
You will want to know what we have accomplished during the three weeks we have been here in Shanghai. Ruth Chester has the rather alarming title of "Acting Dean, Shanghai Emergency Unit of Ginling College." Soon after arriving she established herself officially for the time at the International Y.W.C.A., 99 Bubbling Well Road. The Y.W.C.A. was very sympathetic with us in our difficulties of getting under way. Mrs. W. S. New, with her usual generosity, lent us a desk and filing cabinet and chair. I shopped for office supplies on a small scale, and Ruth started interviewing students. Two days after our arrival the girls came to a general Ginling meeting to plan for the Shanghai Ginling unit. There were forty present, and our hearts were cheered to see the group of bright eager girls who outwardly were as we had known them in Nanking, but who had all gone through anxious weeks in Shanghai. The Alumnae and Mrs. New gave us invaluable help in planning that meeting and making the necessary arrangements. Yesterday we have the second meeting of the group, and we feel that almost insuperable difficulties, or what seemed so at first, have been overcome. Many problems have worked themselves out, and we trust others will find as easy solution. The countless friends and sympathizers of Ginling have made this possible. The girls have decided to meet as a group regularly once every two weeks on Sunday. Yesterday a letter from Dr. Wu arrived just before the meeting, and she told us of the date for the Founders Day celebration, October 30, and urged us to see what can be done to have some special activities here. It is hoped that in the regular meetings the Alumnae may be brought closer in touch with the undergraduates, but you will be hearing details of that later on.
The plan here has been to register Ginling girls with three institutions - the University of Shanghai, St. John's University, and the National Conservatory of Music. These institutions have been delightfully cordial in cooperating with Ginling. They are allowing Ginling girls to enter their classes as "guest students;" Ruth has lightened their work by registering the students for them. These universities are working under very special handicaps; the University of Shanghai and St. John's are respectively in downtown quarters, Yuen Ming Yuen Road, quite near Soochow Creek, and on Nanking Road. Their quarters are very cramped. Their staff is incomplete, many members having been caught away on holiday and unable to get back, or having been evacuated in August from Shanghai. The University of Shanghai has not been able to evacuate their books. The Science students are perhaps worst off, for little or nothing of laboratory equipment has been gotten in; St. John's is giving no laboratory science courses, and the University of Shanghai is doing a few, I believe. St. John's Medical School is carrying on, on the old campus. Ruth got permission for one of our pre-meds to attend there. This student got caught here and was not able to get to Peking Union Medical College, but her parents would not give her permission to study in what they thought a dangerous area. Ruth's thesis students can work in the Biochemistry laboratory at St. John's, but Ruth is requiring that each Senior get a signed permission from her parents that she will be allowed to go out. You can see that one result of these war time conditions would be the limitation of courses given in the institutions, so much so that it is not easy to work out programs for the girls. St. John's is giving a special rate for six credits or less. However, one girl says she has to go to three universities to get 15 credits. Our Shanghai Curriculum Committee has ruled that unless there is some special reason no girl will be allowed to take a normal load. The future does not seem to be all rosy in the matter of war, and so much time is lost in the day because of the situation. Some girls are having financial troubles, but we hope the International Student Relief can render assistance here; a committee is at work on this in this city, giving help with housing and fees, and the like.
We have registered 40 students to date, 17 at the University of Shanghai, and 23 at St. John's, and we think we shall have 45 or 50 by tomorrow noon when registration closes. Some students are coming in from other parts; one girl came from Changshu by bus and had an anxious time when the bus overturned, and she was pitched out the window as she said, "right into a farm," being the worst sufferer of the group. She added to Ruth, "and all this just for study!" We hope for a small group from Hangchow, but some we expected cannot get the permission of their parents. One is to come from Soochow, another from Changchow. At St. John's they are allowing us to register our incoming freshmen, and yesterday we had about half a dozen at the meeting, without Freshman Week or any of the dozen activities we have at Ginling to make them welcome.
What faculty are here? Mrs. Chen Hwang Li-ming is here, recovering from her illnesses this summer. Just this week it looked as though she would have to have another operation, but yesterday she reported the fever gone and the danger removed. She is supported by Mrs. Grace Zia-Dju, and they have worked out a possible system of "voluntary Physical Education," in which the girls put in definite hours in games or floor work, and report regularly. They get their half-credit for two hours thus spent. Then there are Miss Hu Shih-Tsang, Music, Dr. Fung Lai-wing, Physics, Mr. Sung, Chemistry, Ruth and I. Ruth will have three theses to supervise; I have two theses students, and am teaching four credits.
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