Chinese Nationalist Party on a wartime campus: A study focused on the National Southwest Associated University

Abstract

During the Anti-Japanese War, universities became an important arena for the competition between GMD and CCP, as well as the contention among various nationalist factions. The GMD branch in the National Southwest Associated University was the most active one among its university party branches during the wartime. About half of the professors joined the GMD, and the university authorities also tolerated professors and students in other parties and factions. The professors made up a heterogeneous group that included democratic fighters  like Wen Yiduo and faithful party members  like Yao Congwu. The co-existence of intellectual elites belonging to different parties and factions created a highly tolerant fortress of democracy  on campus.

Keywords

National Southwest Associated University, GMD (KMT), the Youth League of Three Principles of the People, Yao Congwu, Zhu Jiahua