The Persistence of Seeking Knowledge in the Flames of War

GUIYANG, China, Nov. 26, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- During the World Anti-Fascist War, many Chinese universities relocated to Guizhou. Institutions such as Zhejiang University, Daxia University, Xiangya School of Medicine, and dozens of others continued their teaching and research sheltered by Guizhou's rugged mountains. They maintained regular academic life and trained a generation of talent. Meanwhile their faculty and students joined local efforts to support the resistance. The westward movement of these universities ensured that China's higher education could endure through the war period, keeping the academic tradition moving forward.

Invited by The International Communication Center of Guizhou Radio and Television Station, José Luis Fonseca Conejo from Costa Rica and Gharibmamadova Sabzon from Tajikistan, both students at Zhejiang University, travelled to Guizhou to learn the history of their alma mater during the war. Guided by their senior schoolmate Zheng Xiangyi, a fellow ZJU student from Guizhou, they head to Meitan County to visit the former campus that sheltered Zhejiang University during the war. There, they learn about the hardships the university overcame on its long road west and how Meitan protected and supported it for seven years. In this quiet southwestern town, they come to feel how simple human kindness helped cradle the flame of knowledge and offered teachers and students a safe place to study, teach and serve the nation.

Their journey continues on to Fuquan County, where they explored the wartime relocation of the Tangshan Engineering College of the "National Chiao Tung University", the alma mater of ZJU President Zhu Kezhen as well as the predecessor of today's Southwest Jiaotong University, along with the story of the relocation of Beiping Railway Management Institute to Guizhou. They also discovered stories of Mao Yisheng and his contributions during the War of Resistance, gaining a fuller sense of how the universities that moved to Guizhou carried the legacy of Chinese higher education through a time of upheaval.

Throughout this journey, Fonseca and Sabzon see the resilience with which Zhejiang University's faculty and students pursued knowledge amid the flames of war, and they experience the generosity of the people of Guizhou. Most of all, they sense China's reverence for education, its commitment to preserving culture, and its belief in values shared by all humanity. At the end of the trip, Fonseca reflects, "I could see the knowledge preserved during the war now shining brightly for the future of this land."

YouTube Link: https://youtu.be/PbVKhmdXu70

SOURCE International Communication Center of Guizhou Radio and Television Station