What Chen Jiageng left behind for Xiamen

Blue sky and blue sea, sky waves and sea breeze, the beautiful seaside is so moving. Winter is not too cold, summer is not particularly hot, spring and autumn sunshine is long, and the wind and rain are many, the climate is pleasant. The city is full of islands, dotted with rainbows, rainbows, bridges and tunnels.

The sea is in the city, the city is on the sea, and the beautiful bay is eye-catching. Xiamen Island is centered, surrounded by many small islands such as Dayan, Erdan, Dadeng and Xiaodeng, and the stars arch the moon and a ring form the beautiful form of a bay-type city. Unique geography, long history, rich culture, bred the characteristic coastal city civilization.

Xiamen University, which impressed outsiders, is surrounded by mountains, facing the sea, and blossoms in spring. Under the Five Old Peaks, on the seashore of Baicheng, a series of high-rise and bright teaching buildings have risen from the ground, and a series of dormitories with unique styles are hidden in the green mountains and green waters. Amazingly, above the group of buildings, without exception, is the bucket arch roof with Chinese national characteristics, the classrooms are bright and functional, and the dormitories are spacious, convenient and comfortable. Not in the West, not in the land and not in the ocean, in the mix of East and West, in a Western-style house, in a Chinese roof, in the practical length of the West, in the spirit of China, in the west wind and in the east, and in the connotation of oriental tolerance, it is cleverly hidden in this style that is called "wearing a suit with a bucket".

Xiamen University was personally surveyed by Chen Jiageng, and the architectural style was established by his thinking, which reflects his thinking on the university, building buildings, running universities, revitalizing culture, educating new people, the environment is important, the atmosphere is important, and the university building itself also reflects his national integrity and beautiful pursuit.

He donated in Jimei to build a famous Chinese school village that integrates kindergartens, primary schools and middle schools into a system of its own. Chen Congzhou, a famous architect, commented that "the Chen Jiageng style architecture with the locality of Xiamen has an indelible position in the history of modern architecture" and "Mr. Chen Jiageng's ideological and artistic realm is the hometown and the country, and the nostalgia and national thinking leap on its buildings". The campus architecture founded by Chen Jiageng is a model of modern and contemporary campus architecture in China. Jimei series of teacher training, aquatic products, commerce, agriculture and forestry, traditional Chinese studies and other majors, complete disciplines, large-scale university system is still benefiting future generations. Graduates of Jimei University majoring in navigation and aquatic products are still popular in Southeast Asia.

Chen Jiageng is a leader in advanced concepts. He believes that "the wealth and strength of the country are all about the people." The development of the people is all about education" "Education is the foundation of the founding of the country, and the development of learning is the natural duty of the people." Devoted his life to building more than 100 schools. He founded the board of directors to build the school, introduced educators to run the school, brought advanced ideas to Xiamen University to blossom and bear fruit, and delivered scientific knowledge to the students who studied hard, consolidating the solid foundation of Xiamen University to become a national key university today. In the 1930s, the best building in Xiamen was Xiamen University, and the most beautiful house was the teaching building of Xiamen University. Today, we walk into Xiamen University, the science museum and hospital that laid the foundation of the year are still playing a role, and the auditorium and library in the center of the school are still the most beautiful scenery in Xiamen. The turquoise Furong Lake, the romantic Love Valley, and the natural swimming pool with the same color of sea and sky make Xiamen University the warmest university in China. The Jiannan Building, Qunxian Building and Furong Building, which live around the area, are the places that young people who come to Xiamen to travel love to punch cards.

Those who have interest have friendship, and those who have affection have great love. Mr. Chen Jiageng's spirit of serving Sangzi and being diligent and hard-working inspires his peers, and Xiamen University has attracted a group of talented and loving figures to continue to create: physicist Saben-dong and literary master Lu Xun came to spread the advanced ideas of scientific democracy. Xiamen University has trained a number of talents: mathematician Chen Jingrun and chemist Lu Jiaxi have opened up new paths for the country's scientific exploration. Friends told me that there are few people in Xiamen, but there is a national key and several southeast Asian reputable universities, and many college students fall in love with this place when they come to study and become the main force in building Xiamen.

The great love of man is like loving the country and the people. As the "rubber king" and big industrialist in Southeast Asia, Mr. Chen Jiageng has a sincere patriotic heart. In 1911, he joined the Chinese League led by Sun Yat-sen and funded the Xinhai Revolution. After the outbreak of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, he was elected as the chairman of the "Nanyang Overseas Chinese Relief Association for Refugees from the Motherland" and actively raised funds to support the motherland's War of Resistance. He had a pair of wise eyes and stood on the side of historical progress. In March 1940, he led the "Nanyang Overseas Chinese Repatriation Condolence Inspection Group" to return to China to comfort the anti-Japanese soldiers and civilians. In Chongqing, the Kuomintang's lavish hospitality to him made him lament: "The front is tight, the rear is tight, how can we win the battle?" In the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia Border Region, Mao Zedong entertained him with vegetables planted in front of and behind his house, and the consistent, arduous and simple style of officers and men of the Communist army led him to conclude that "the Kuomintang Chiang government will be defeated, and the Yan'an Communist Party will win." At the Second Congress of Overseas Chinese convened after returning to Singapore, he pointed out that "China's hope is in Yan'an" and can be described as a sincere friend of the Chinese Communist Party.

Ten years later, this patriotic overseas Chinese leader with extraordinary historical foresight was warmly welcomed by Mao Zedong and became the vice chairman of the Second and Third National Committees of the Chinese Political Consultative Conference, the chairman of the All-China Federation of Returned Overseas Chinese, and a member of the Constitution Drafting Committee of the People's Republic of China.

Today, when you walk into Jimei AoYuan and visit the promenade that brings together historical scenes and stone carving art, you will be shocked by a photo: when Chen Jiageng died of illness in Beijing in 1961, Zhou Enlai and Zhu De personally performed the memorial service. Where a man builds a great and glorious cause, the people will erect a monument to his reverence for virtue and goodness. Since 2014, Xiamen has designated October as the "Jiageng Spirit Publicity Month". In Xiamen, Chen Jiageng is not only a name that everyone is familiar with, but also a valuable spiritual wealth of Xiamen.

On October 17, 2014, General Secretary Xi Jinping wrote in a reply letter to the Xiamen Jimei Alumni Association that Mr. Chen Jiageng is "the banner of overseas Chinese and the glory of the nation". He loved the country and studied, threw himself into the struggle for salvation, promoted the unity of overseas Chinese, and fought for national liberation, and was a generation of leaders and models in the overseas Chinese circles. His spirit of arduous pioneering and unremitting self-improvement, his character of putting the country first and the nation first, and his sincerity in caring for the construction of the motherland and devoting himself to the cause of education are always worth learning. The noble spirit of Chen Jiageng is like a sweet spring flowing to this day, and it is still transmitted to this warm and glorious city of Xiamen.

(The author is the internal director of the China Chronicle Association, and was the station manager of the Xiamen reporter station of the Economic Daily)