Students and staff members of SCUT visited the Guangzhou Memorial Park of  the 19th Route Army to commemorate Sino-Japanese War martyrs on April 4, the  Ching Ming Festival.

Also known as Memorial Day in the traditional Chinese culture, the Ching  Ming Festival is on the first day of the fifth solar term of the Chinese  lunisolar calendar, meaning April 4, 5 or 6 in a given year.

The festival is an occasion for celebrants to remember and honor ancestors  and passed ones at grave sites. For the students that visited the memorial park,  it is an opportunity for them to learn history and honor the patriots that  fought against foreign invaders for the freedom of the nation.

In January 1932, Japan launched a premeditated invasion to Shanghai. The  Chinese 19th Route Army, a 30,000-man military unit stationed in Shanghai, along  with other friendly forces, defended the city for 33 days against 100,000  well-trained Japanese soldiers. Even though outnumbered, Chinese army’s fierce  resistance forced the Japanese to change their commander for three times, while  the 19th Route Army also suffered thousands of casualties.

Since most officers and soldiers of the 19th Route Army were from Guangdong  province, in 1933, a memorial site was built in Guangzhou to memorize the  Shanghai Battle martyrs of this military unit. After 1981, the site was  preserved and renovated by the municipal government before it was turned into a  public park.

During this year’s Ching Ming memorial tour, staff members of the SCUT  Committee for the Care of the Next Generation were present with students. After  telling about the stories of the 19th Route Army and how the memorial site was  built and later renovated, they encouraged students to remember history, and  thus to cherish the independence of the nation and today’s opportunity to study  in peace and wealth.

Students attended the activity included those from the School of Electric  Power, the School of Mechanical Engineering and the School of Physics and  Optoelectronics.

Source from the School of Electric Power

English rewritten and edited by Xu Peimu

From the SCUT News  Network