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Japan with the liberated area of the Eighth Route Army. In the position of vice-
chairman of the Student Welfare Committee in the period of 1 year since the autumn
of 1940, I helped these students to leave university. For a more detailed record of
these affairs please read my account “Reminiscences on the Closing Down of
Yenching University” in the volume
Peking under the Japanese Puppet Regime
.
4
Unfortunately, some messages written by students who had gone south were inter-
cepted, and I was arrested by the Japanese military police. In June 1942 I was sen-
tenced by a Japanese military court to prison for 1 year with the execution suspended
for 3 years, and was released on bail, but I had no freedom of migration or travel.
When my 3-year suspension period was just over, the Japanese invasion army lost
the war and surrendered. The university president Stuart was released, and he imme-
diately re-established the university committee, seven people in all, and I was asked
to join too, even though I was still quite young.
5
The new university committee set
down one strict rule, being that whoever had worked for the enemy when Yenching
was closed off by the Japanese bandits, was not allowed to return to university. This
rule again proved that Yenching University stuck fi rmly to its principles, and the rule
was resolutely supported by staff and students alike.
Before I end this paper, I should make some additional remarks, being that when
I came out of prison and went through my suspension period, in the fi eld of conduct-
ing myself in society and the fi eld of studying I received the unremitting guidance
and strict demands of William Hung. The couple of letters he wrote to me by hand
then are still treasured by me today. Four of these letters I had even photo reprinted,
and they will appear in the second issue of the new edition of
Yanjing Xuebao
(
Yenching Journal of Chinese Studies
). This
Yanjing Xuebao
, the magazine that in
the past by spreading the splendid Chinese traditional culture became famous at
home and abroad, will now, under the enthusiastic support of the Alumni of
Yenching University, continue to be published by the Yenching Graduate Institute,
keeping its editorial characteristics. How things will develop in the next phase, is a
problem I feel should also be considered deeply.
Peking University
March, 1996
4
See The Research Committee on Historical Materials of the Peking Committee of the Political
Consultative Conference of the People's Republic (eds.)
Peking under the Japanese Puppet
Regime
, Beijing Publishing House, 1987.
5
On 19 August 1945, William Hung wrote me to inform me that I had been chosen as one of the
members of the Yenching University Committee, and urged me to return to Peking to attend the
conference. I have added the original letter here, with a translation in English:
Dr. Leighton Stuart has been released on Friday and we talked for days, which was
extremely nice. The new university committee has held its fi rst meeting yesterday.
Tomorrow (Monday) early in the morning at nine we will have our second meeting. If you,
my young friend, would like to be one of the committee members, you will have to return
tonight. I tried to phone you several times but couldn't get through, so had no other way
than ask mister Guo to go to Tientsin to invite you. We will talk later. Hastily I remain,
wishing you,…Renzhi, good health. (Written on the 19th).
