In early summer, the morning light is slightly dewed, and the vast Yangtze River is rippling. At the gentle bend on the south bank of the Yangtze River, a white wall and black tiles built by the river and stretching for 5 kilometers have frozen the memory of history and engraved with legendary time.

  This is Lizhuang, China, and is known as the "No. 1 Ancient Town of the Yangtze River in the Yangtze River".

  The picture shows Lizhuang Ancient Town (photo taken on April 30). Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Liu Kun

  Li Zhuang is not a "Zhuang", and its name comes from the "limb pile" that measures distance on the Yangtze River. Today, it is a small town under the jurisdiction of Cuiping District, Yibin City, Sichuan Province. What is amazing is that more than 80 years ago, I sent an email from the other side of the ocean and could arrive here accurately by writing "China Lizhuang".

  During the War of Resistance Against Japan, the National Tongji University moved to Lizhuang with a 16-word telegram "Welcome to Sichuan and Lizhuang, all needs and local supply". Subsequently, cultural, educational and scientific research institutions such as the "Central Research Institute", the Preparatory Office of the "Central Museum", the China Construction Society, the Institute of Liberal Arts, and the Geometric Group of the Institute of Geography of China successively moved here.

  The top Chinese intellectuals and college teachers and students who have experienced chaos find a quiet desk here, remembering the hatred of the country and family, devote themselves to studying and studying, and leaving behind a peerless figure in the ancient houses and the country roads. Their six years in Lizhuang and more than 2,000 days and nights are a sample of the Chinese cultural heritage that has been through hardships. This remote town “not found on the map” at that time also became a cultural center during the War of Resistance Against Japan.

  On the 80th anniversary of the victory of the World Anti-Fascist War, looking back at those storms and years, Li Zhuang is no longer a geographical noun, but also a cultural symbol that is forever remembered by history.

  The war fire tempers the cultural context of thousands of years

  "The reason why gentry and others actively assist the great people is that the school's students have made great contributions to the anti-construction construction, and that the stability and great people indirectly strengthen the national strength..." Today's Lizhuang Cultural Anti-Japanese War Museum displays joint letters from 32 gentry including Luo Nanyang.

  In 1939, with the massive invasion of the Japanese invaders invading the south, Tongji University, which moved from Shanghai to Kunming, was bombed again and decided to move in again, entrusting its alumnus and director of Zhongyuan Paper Factory Qian Zining to choose a site.

  Zhongyuan Paper Factory has moved from Shanghai to Yibin. It is located on the Golden Waterway of the Yangtze River. There are still many villages and towns along the coast that have not been marked on the enemy's military map. However, due to the war, there are many people who have moved inward, and there are very few places that can accommodate the teachers and students of Tongji. Some places that were still capable were worried that the "Xiajiang people" (the name Sichuan people at that time for people in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River) would attract enemy planes and raise prices, and they all refused until Lizhuang extended an olive branch.

  Old photos of scientific research institutions and universities moving to Lizhuang when they moved to Lizhuang. (Photo provided by the Management Committee of Lizhuang Ancient Town Scenic Area)

  In the autumn of 1940, Lizhuang ushered in a lively life that had never been seen before. The teachers and students of Tongji University set off from Kunming, first took land and then water to arrive in Lizhuang. Every ship of people, every ship of books, every ship of rare things, every ship of rare things, rushed up the river and rushed into Lizhuang.

  "Many people, with the cool autumn wind, run to the dock every day to see all kinds of 'Xiajiang people'. They walked down from the passenger ship to the barge one by one, carefully swaying on the narrow springboard to the shore." Luo Nanyan's great-granddaughter Kan Wenyong once heard his mother talk about the situation back then.

  Tongji is here, the "Central Research Institute" is here, and the China Construction Society is here... From 1940 to 1946, Lizhuang, which has an area of ​​less than 1 square kilometer and a permanent population of only 3,000, suddenly added more than 12,000 college teachers, students and scientific researchers.

  Among them are Liang Sicheng, a master of Chinese architecture, Li Ji, a pioneer of modern Chinese archaeology, Li Fanggui, a master of non-Chinese linguistics in China, Ling Chunsheng, a pioneer of Chinese ethnology, Tong Dizhou, a pioneer of Chinese cloning technology, Dong Zuobin, an archaeologist of Yinxu and one of the "Four Oracle Bone Halls", and a large number of scholars who are famous at home and abroad, including Fu Sinian, Liang Siyong, Tao Menghe, Wu Dingliang, Wu Baosan, Liang Fangzhong, Zhou Junshi, Ding Wenyuan, Xia Nai, Zeng Zhaoyan, etc. The unknown Li Zhuang gathered in a while.

  Liang Sicheng is in Lizhuang's office. (Photo provided by the Management Committee of Lizhuang Ancient Town Scenic Area)

  The Dongyue Temple, which is mainly worshipped by the God of Mount Tai in the town, became the classroom of the School of Engineering and Law of Tongji University, and the Hall of the founders who worshipped Emperor Zhenwu became the School of Medicine of Tongji University. The Zhang Family Ancestral Ao was packed with boxes of cultural relics transported from all over the place of the "Central Museum" preparation office. Banliao welcomed the long-gown gentlemen from the "Central Research Institute" such as Fu Sinian and Dong Zuobin. Liang Sicheng and Lin Huiyin took their children and supported the old man, and walked into the courtyard of the Moon Field with deep and shallow feet...

  The picture shows a 16-word telegram "Tongda Qianchuan, Lizhuang welcomes all needs and local supplies" displayed in the Dongyue Temple of Lizhuang (the former site of Tongji University School of Technology) (photo taken on April 30). Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Liu Kun

  In the sixth year of Lizhuang, the cultural and educational institutions in remote villages in southern Sichuan not only did not decline day by day, but instead grew tenaciously in this small place and produced fruitful results. Among the academicians of New China, many have worked and studied in Lizhuang.

  After the victory of the Anti-Japanese War, the teacher and the students bid farewell to Li Zhuang and returned on a boat. The academic spirit and cultural spark cultivated from here are like a prairie fire.

  To this day, many universities including Tongji University, Tsinghua University, Peking University, Fudan University, Shanghai Jiaotong University, and Wuhan University still flow with the cultural heritage cultivated by Li Zhuang.

  Its far-reaching influence is not only in academic heritage, but also in the pulse of national development: Liang Sicheng and Lin Huiyin, with sincerity to the new republic, devoted their research and understanding of Chinese architectural aesthetics during the Lizhuang period to the design of the national emblem and the monument of the People's Heroes; Tong Dizhou set a precedent for the research on cloning technology in China; Dong Zuobin's oracle bone inscription research provided important support for today's Chinese civilization source exploration project...

  Learning the spirit of "cultural resistance" tempered by people in Lizhuang has become a precious spiritual wealth of the Chinese nation. In the face of adversity, the unity of scholars and the people to overcome difficulties, and the sincere and passionate feelings of family and country demonstrate the spiritual character of Chinese intellectuals.

  As Jiang Hongbo, an alumnus of Tongji who came out of Nanxi District, Yibin City and the author of the book "The Fire of Tongji: The Days in Lizhuang", understood that the achievements of Chinese universities and academic institutions in Lizhuang prove that the Chinese can achieve world-renowned scientific achievements under any difficult conditions. This inspired the Chinese people's confidence that they will surely achieve victory in the War of Resistance Against Japan, and today it should become a spiritual force that inspires all Chinese people to achieve the great cause of national rejuvenation.

  Cultural War of Resistance and Knowledge to Serve the Country

  Today, in the History Museum of Tongji University, a black and white photo of the Wusong campus of Tongji University that was turned into ruins under the bombing of the Japanese army is displayed. In 1937, the Battle of Songhu started, and the Japanese army deliberately destroyed cultural and educational institutions. The Wusong Campus and Commercial Press of Tongji University were turned into ruins in succession of bombings.

  "If you want to destroy a country, you must first destroy its history; if you want to destroy its clan, you must first destroy its culture. The Japanese army deliberately bombed Chinese cultural and educational institutions to destroy the Chinese cultural context, and their hearts can be punished." When talking about the tragic history of Tongji, Liang Xuying, assistant librarian of the History Museum of Tongji University, could not hide his grief and anger.

  In the smoke of cannon fire, countless pavilions and towers turned into rubble, countless ancient books and treasures were burned, and countless Chinese people were displaced.

  The teachers and students who once "read only the books of sages" moved all the way. Some of them lost their closest relatives in their wandering conditions, and some of them fell into stubborn diseases. They learned the ability to live with adversity in poverty and illness, and worked hard to survive and studied knowledge with the other.

  "We are now 'anti-Japanese and save the country', which is not a slogan. You should know that the enemy's 'strong' is not one-sided. Our soldiers are fighting against enemy soldiers, farmers are fighting against agricultural forces, workers are fighting against industrial forces, and commerce is fighting against businessmen, so our 'Central Museum' must fight against museums in Tokyo or Kyoto, Japan. We should not ask whether the loyal and brave soldiers on the front line can resist the enemy? We should ask whether our science or general academics can resist the enemy?" The exhibition board in the Lizhuang Cultural Anti-Japanese War Museum marked the words of Li Ji, an archaeologist and director of the Preparatory Office of the "National Central Museum".

  In early summer, along the newly renovated path, walking into the depths of the green moonfield, Liang Sicheng, Lin Huiyin, Liu Dunzhen, Jin Yuelin and others lived there was a plaque "The former site of China Construction Society" and there was a big tree in the yard. The young people of the Construction Society once practiced climbing bamboo ladders here repeatedly. When surveying and mapping ancient buildings in the field, climbing is the basic skill, and even when you reach the moon field, it will not be abandoned.

  The cottage where Liang Sicheng and Lin Huiyin lived for 6 years still maintain the furnishings in the old photos. Time seems to be frozen here, and it seems that the next moment you can see the scene of Mr. Lin leaning on the sickbed reading.

  Liang Sicheng and Lin Huiyin lived in the small house where they lived in Lizhuang. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Liu Kun

  In the drawing room, a rusty medical metal vest is waiting for the owner. Liang Sicheng, injured in an early car accident, needs to carry it to support his fragile spine all year round. When he leaned over to draw pictures, he often placed his jaw on a small vase to relieve the pressure on his spine.

  In this small courtyard, Liang Sicheng and Lin Huiyin spent their 40 years with the dim vegetable oil lamps - for academic research and artistic creation, it was the most precious time in their lives. It is also here that the two worked together to complete the first draft of "History of Chinese Architecture", and for the first time incorporated Chinese architectural history into the field of scientific research.

  In 1942, in the courtyard of No. 6 Yang Street, a typhoid fever claimed the life of the 17-year-old daughter of archaeologist Li Ji. Just two years ago, his youngest daughter passed away in Kunming due to pancreatitis. The successive blows made him lament in his diary that he "relief is not enough to serve his parents, and he is not enough to steal his wife."

  As a father, Li Ji was self-repentant and helpless, but the national treasures that had wandered with him might give him some comfort. After the outbreak of the Anti-Japanese War, thousands of national treasures moved inward. In 1940, they arrived in Li Zhuang under the escort of Li Ji, then director of the Preparatory Office of the "Central Museum". In 1945, when the cultural relics returned to Nanjing, none of them were lost and damaged. During his time in Lizhuang, he also completed works such as "Yin Ruins Artwork and Pottery", and made outstanding contributions to the archaeological research of Yin Ruins.

  Such a story can be found in almost every corner of Lizhuang - in the laboratory of Nanhua Palace, Tong Dizhou and his wife Ye Yufen used a microscope that they spent two years to buy, to conduct embryology experiments under the vegetable oil lamp, achieving world-leading research results; Liang Siyong, an archaeologist who was repeatedly devastated by stomach disease and tuberculosis, completed the outline of the excavation report of the Northwest Grove of Houjiazhuang, Yinxu under the oil lamp...

  There are also works such as "Yin Li Tu", "Six-Part Records", "Explanation of the Han Dynasty in Juyan", "Ancient Rhymes", and "Estimation of China's Loss in War against Japan" in Lizhuang. A number of pioneering works such as "Poems of Pre-Qin, Han, Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties" and "Statistics of Household Registration, Land, and Land Taxes in China throughout the dynasties" have completed preliminary preparations.

  At the critical moment of national survival, what is the significance of learning people's diligent exploration of the Shang Dynasty, ancient rhymes, and Juyan Han bamboo slips? "No matter what era, not slacking the pursuit of adversity, it has always been the noble character of Chinese literati, just like Kuafu chasing the sun and Jingwei filling the sea." Dai Jun, the author of the book "Discovering Li Zhuang", said this.

  "Chinese scientists were engaged in laboratory construction and work in the most remote and scientific and convenient place before the war, showing their perseverance and heroic determination... I firmly believe that Chinese scientists are not afraid of comparing with scientists from any country in the world." In 1943, British biochemist Joseph Needham sighed after visiting Li Zhuang.

  The students attended classes in the Palace of King Yu in Lizhuang. Photo by Joseph Needham (Photo provided by the Management Committee of the Scenic Area of ​​Lizhuang Ancient Town)

  The scholars of Li Zhuang are both profound and well-versed in Chinese and Western learning, and also have the character of Huai Jin and Yu.

  During the War of Resistance Against Japan, many foreign institutions and schools sent invitations to Liang Sicheng. In a letter to his friend and American historian Fei Zhengqing, he wrote: "My motherland is in disaster, and I cannot leave her. If I have to die under a bayonet or bomb, I will also die on the land of my motherland." After the victory of the Anti-Japanese War, his son Liang Congjie asked his mother what to do if the Japanese attacked Lizhuang? Lin Huiyin replied lightly: "Isn't there a Yangtze River at our doorstep?"

  In 1944, Tongji students in Lizhuang responded to the call of "one inch of mountains and rivers, one inch of blood, one hundred thousand young people and one hundred thousand troops", and more than 300 people signed up for the army, including many children from wealthy families. Students with myopia memorized their vision charts in order to pass the vision test. "Although they did not go to the front line as they wished, their determination to serve the country with their own strength can be seen," said Ma Wenjing, an commentator of the Lizhuang Cultural Anti-Japanese War Museum.

  The sea embraces all rivers and is inclusive and helps the world

  Lizhuang has been a place where merchants come and go since ancient times and a place where diverse cultures meet. In the late Ming and early Qing dynasties, many immigrants who "filled Sichuan with Huguang" came along the river.

  The immersion of foreign cultures and the local area is gradually integrating, giving birth to a place that respects culture, righteousness, grandeur and inclusive waters and soil, forming an ancient town pattern of "Nine Palaces and Eighteen Temples": the Heavenly Palace was built by Fujian immigrants, the Nanhua Palace was built by Guangdong immigrants, and the Wanshou Palace was the place where "Jiangxi Laobiao" worshipped the "True Lord"...

  In 2013, Qian Zheng, deputy director of the Department of Music and Performance, School of Arts and Media, Tongji University, received the task of creating the school historical drama "Hard Working Together" and came to Lizhuang to collect folk songs.

  This newcomer was received by the unexpectedly warm reception by the residents of the town. "Go to this house for dinner and to that house for drinking, it's not about relatives or not, so I feel like I'm bathing in the spring breeze." While chatting with residents, he felt more deeply the deep friendship between Li Zhuang and Tongji teachers and students.

  Back then, in order to welcome Tongji University and research institutions that moved inward, the gentry and people of Lizhuang gave up their houses, moved the ancestral tablets, moved the classroom into the ancestral hall, and made the "Nine Palaces and Eighteen Temples" a place...

  The foreign gentlemen were treated with a good manners in Lizhuang, and Lizhuang was also fed back for their arrival. The teachers and students of Tongji sent Lizhuang the electricity that was not even in the county at that time, curing the stubborn disease "mamel feet plague" for the elders in southern Sichuan. At that time, Lizhuang had an education system from kindergarten, elementary school, junior high school, high school, university, to graduate students, which allowed Lizhuang and the children of surrounding farmers to receive the best education.

  The teacher and the students also brought new things - in the sports field in front of the Dongyue Temple, Tongji University held its 35th anniversary here in 1942, and invited an air force coach to perform a fancy flight. On the old stage of Huiguang Temple, students from Tongji University and Jiang'an National Drama College jointly rehearsed Cao Yu's famous works "Thunderstorm" and "Sunrise".

  Today in Lizhuang, there is a delicacy called white meat. The white meat is taken from the "sitting meat" of a fat pig. It is as thin as a piece of paper. It is so big. When eating, it is gently picked up with chopsticks and then swipes it gently. The slices of meat are wrapped around the chopsticks, soaked with dipping garlic with dipped water, and put them into the mouth in one bite, leaving a fragrance on the lips and teeth. In the past, it was called "foot binding" by the people of Lizhuang. Tao Menghe, who was the director of the Institute of Social Sciences of the "Central Academy", liked this dish very much, but thought it was indecent, so he changed the name to "Lizhuang Baimao", and the name of the dish remains to this day.

  The picture shows Li Zhuang’s white meat. (Photo provided by the Management Committee of Lizhuang Ancient Town Scenic Area)

  The town also welcomed many foreigners - German professor Stubo, who loves to wear long gowns, and Polish professor Weit, who loves to eat fish. There are also Fei Zhengqing, Fei Weimei, Zhai Yin, and Joseph Needham... These foreign scholars who have close ties to China have visited Li Zhuang.

  However, the arrival of top science at that time also brought about cognitive impacts and caused some misunderstandings.

  Li Zhuang once made a joke about "The people in Xiajiang" eating people." Since Tongji University School of Medicine often conducts anatomical experiments and research on the "School of History and Language" also requires human bones, villagers who are not familiar with it have begun to spread rumors.

  In order to break the rumors, in June 1941, Li Zhuang held a popular science exhibition with the highest standards in the country at that time.

  The "School of History and Language" took the lead in displaying human bones, dinosaur fossils, bronzes unearthed from Anyang, armored chariots, Ming and Qing calligraphy and paintings, as well as many foreign cultural relics in Banliao. The on-site commentators were held by Li Ji and Liang Siyong. In the Ancestor Hall, Tongji University Medical College held a "Human Anatomy Exhibition", and the professor pointed to various parts on the picture to explain to his fellow villagers one by one. Some elderly people who were visiting the exhibition asked about their illness on the spot and regarded the exhibition site as a hospital for diagnosis. A misunderstanding was resolved.

  The strong academic atmosphere in the town has also quietly influenced the local residents, and many young people have set their ambitions to study and serve the country. Liang Sicheng's student and ancient architect Luo Zhewen, who has made outstanding contributions to the protection of Chinese cultural relics, is a young student who has emerged from Lizhuang.

  In 6 years, the wandering wanderer found a harbor in Lizhuang. In the spring of 1944, Lu Qinli, an assistant researcher at the Institute of History and Language, tied the knot with Luo Nandi's ninth daughter. "This year, he became a matchmaker and married his daughter" is a legend in Lizhuang.

  "The relocation of institutions such as Tongji University and the Institute of History and Language to the southwest has brought a series of impacts and changes to Lizhuang. The modern technology they brought not only makes locals feel that the development of the external world has been thousands of miles a day, but also inspires their admiration for modern science and civilization, which is also a kind of "enlightenment"." said Chen Tingxiang, professor of the School of History and Culture of Sichuan University and vice president of the Chinese Society of Modern History.

  The torch spreads through the fire

  "If Tongji, the heroes will grow up; if Lizhuang, the country will not perish." Today, when people come to Lizhuang, they will always stop in front of the Tongji Monument of Lizhuang, which looks like sails. The words on the monument attract endless imagination.

  More than 1,600 kilometers away, the "Tongji Footprint Earth Column" displayed in the hall of the school History Museum is eye-catching.

  After the outbreak of the Anti-Japanese War, Tongji University moved from Shanghai to Jinhua, Zhejiang, Ganzhou, Guangxi Babu, Hanoi, Vietnam, and Kunming, Yunnan. Finally, it moved to Lizhuang for the sixth time in 1940. A piece of soil layer in the soil column comes from the "second hometown" of the Tongji people.

  During the years of Lizhuang, Tongji University has developed from the original School of Engineering, Medical College and Science to a comprehensive university with a complete range of five colleges: science, engineering, medicine, literature and law. In 1942, it also started postgraduate education in Lizhuang.

  Some disciplines of today's Fudan University, Shanghai Jiaotong University, East China Normal University, Wuhan University, and Ocean University of China are closely related to Tongji during the Lizhuang period.

  Not only Tongji, but in the 80 years since the victory of the Anti-Japanese War, the cultural spark cultivated by Li Zhuang has bloomed into dazzling stars in the sky.

  The China Construction Society has profoundly influenced China's architecture. Liang Sicheng founded the Department of Architecture at Tsinghua University. "History of Chinese Architecture" was published many times and is still a must-read classic in architecture. Liu Dunzhen founded the Department of Architecture of Nanjing University. Lu Sheng, a research assistant to the China Construction Society, later founded the Department of Civil Engineering of Tianjin University.

  The "Institute of History and Language" has a profound impact on the humanities and has cultivated a large number of talents in history, language and anthropology. Among the scholars of the "School of History and Language", Chen Yinke, Gu Jiegang, Xia Nai and Xu Zhongshu entered the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Sun Yat-sen University, Fudan University, Sichuan University and other universities after the founding of New China, and cultivated a large number of talents for the country.

  The Preparatory Office of the "Central Museum" that moved back to Nanjing was the predecessor of the Nanjing Museum. After the relocation, the researchers and academic data collected by Peking University were classified into the relevant departments of Peking University. Today's Institute of Economics of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences can be traced to the "Central Research Institute" Institute of Social Sciences, who once lived in Guantian, Lizhuangmen. Today's Institute of Survey and Geophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, is in line with the geodesic group of the Institute of Geography in Lizhuang period...

  Aerial view of the preparatory office of the "Central Museum". (Photo provided by the Management Committee of Lizhuang Ancient Town Scenic Area)

  It is hard for people today to imagine that Dong Zuobin, known as one of the "Four Oracle Bone Halls", completed the "Yin Li Tu" which verified the Yin Li era in the countryside of Lizhuang.

  On February 26, 2024, the new museum of Yinxu Museum in Anyang, Henan was officially opened to the public. The Yinxu Research History Exhibition Area of ​​this modern museum vividly tells the story of archaeologist Dong Zuobin. Chen Xingcan, chairman of the Chinese Archaeological Society, said that Yin Ruins is the starting point for us to trace the origin of Chinese civilization, and Yin Ruins archaeology is a microcosm of Chinese archaeology.

  On January 17 this year, the "Enterprise and diligent craftsmanship and craftsmanship forever - Luo Zhewen's 100th birthday Memorial Exhibition" was unveiled at the Palace Museum. This ancient architect who presided over the protection and restoration of the Great Wall, Zhaozhou Bridge, and the Summer Palace, and promoted the application of the Forbidden City and Mogao Grottoes to Heritage. He was a trainee recruited by the Construction Society in Yibin in 1942. Today, the former site of Lizhuang's China Construction Society still displays photos of his youth. In October 2001, Luo Zhewen returned here to search for his roots. He said: "What I still remember is Sicheng's spirit of patience and meticulous teaching for young people who learn art."

  The picture shows the former site of the China Construction Society (photo taken on December 24, 2024). Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Liu Kun

  On the other side of the ocean, the Joseph Needham Institute of Cambridge, England, receives hundreds of mainland Chinese scholars visiting and studying every year. In early summer of 1943, Joseph Needham's trip to Li Zhuang brought him great shock. At the Institute of History and Language, he met Wang Ling, a talented young scholar, who became his right-hand assistant to write "History of Chinese Science and Technology".

  Today, among the guests who rushed to Lizhuang, there are many junior scholars who came from Beijing, Shanghai, Wuhan, and even overseas. With an inadvertent turn, they can travel through time and space to meet their mentors and their mentors.

  Mountains are high and waters are long and time echoes

  In early summer, follow the masters' footsteps into Lifeng Villa, you can see lush forests and bamboos from afar, and you can hear the crowing of chickens and barking of dogs.

  The towering mountain gate archway has been weathered after vicissitudes, and the words "Qingqin Family" on the plaque are clearly visible. After passing through the archway, there was another stack of stone steps. On the left is the "Inscription on Lifeng, Lifeng, who left behind in order to thank the Zhang clan of Lizhuang in May 1946. Dong Zuobin used the simplicity and natural oracle bone calligraphy title "The mountains are high and the river is long", and historian Chen Pan wrote an article, Lao Juan's calligraphy pill. Thank you sincerely and farewell, it is vividly revealed on the monument.

  The picture shows the "Inscription on Lifeng, Lifeng, who left behind in May 1946, before leaving Lizhuang, to thank the Zhang clan of Lizhuang. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Liu Kun

  80 years ago, when the news of the victory of the Anti-Japanese War reached Lizhuang, people were ecstatic, the town was sleepless, and there were thousands of people in the streets. People lit torches, carried basins, buckets, and wooden boards, danced, knocked and cheered, and they won! We won!

  In 1946, when the ferry full of the last batch of scholars and books left, Lizhuang returned to its past tranquility.

  The masters came and left again. What they could not cut off was their concern and attachment to this land. Today, a research institution and universities with profound connections with Lizhuang have returned to the places where they once gave them warmth and shelter, and gave back their kindness in their own way.

  Zhou Jian, a professor at the School of Architecture and Urban Planning of Tongji University, has been involved in Lizhuang's protection planning since 2005. With a group of students, with a sense of root search, he began to collect historical documents, review archives and old photos, visit the indigenous people, and strived to combine elements such as site display, historical style protection, convenient living of residents, and improvement of public environment. Pan Chengjun, who has been working in Lizhuang Town for a long time, was deeply impressed by Zhou Jian's image of carrying out acceptance while leading students to roll up their sleeves to clean up.

  In 2016, Lizhuang Tongji Hospital, jointly built by Lizhuang and Tongji University, was put into operation. Academician Wu Mengchao, 94, returned to Lizhuang and had his first surgery himself. This "father of Chinese hepatobiliary surgery" spent four years studying in Lizhuang. That day, he said affectionately: "The people of Lizhuang raised me, Tongji is my root, and Lizhuang has my soul."

  In 2017, Qian Zheng, who returned from Li Zhuang, wrote the story of Li Zhuang and Tongji into the school historical drama "Hard Working in the same boat". The actors are composed of Tongji students and alumni and are now a must-see program for freshmen in Tongji. Every performance was full and the applause was thunderous. It was performed in a moving place, and all the teachers and students stood up and applauded with tears in their eyes.

  This summer, Wang Zhenduo, a member of the 26th graduate teaching team of Tongji University, will complete his one-year teaching task. Since 2006, Tongji University has sent a teaching team to Lizhuang every year. Up to now, 103 Tongji students have served Lizhuang. In his spare time, Wang Zhenduo often strolls in the town, following the footsteps of his predecessors. "How young people take responsibility in the new era and new journey, seniors are our role models," he said.

  Today, in the ancient Zhang Family Ancestral Hall in Lizhuang, a wooden box with seal traces silently tells the story of "Erdu Lizhuang". This wooden box was once a container for the national treasures when the "Central Museum" preparatory office moved to Lizhuang. More than 80 years ago, it came from Nanjing to Lizhuang, and after the War of Resistance Against Japan, it returned to Nanjing from Lizhuang. In 2012, as a cultural relic donated to Lizhuang by the Nanjing Museum, it returned to Lizhuang again and was the best witness of the cultural war of resistance.

  Since 2012, the Nanjing Museum has "tailored" two exhibitions for the Lizhuang Zhang Family Ancestral Ancestral Ancestral Ancestral Ancestral Ancestral Ancestral Ancestral Ancestral Ancestral Ancestral Ancestral Ancestral Ancestral Ancestral Ancestral Ancestral Ancestral Ancestral Ancestral Ancestral Ancestral Ancestral Ancestral Ancestral Ancestral Ancestral Ancestral Ancestral Ancestral Ancestral Ancestral Ancestral Ancestral Ancestral Ancestral Ancestral Ancestral Ancestral Ancestral Ancestral Ancestral Ancestral Ancestral Ancestral Ancestral Ancestral Ancestral Ancestral Ancestral Ancestral Ancestral Ancestral Ancestral Ancestral Ancestral Ancestral Ance

  "The original intention of curating is to review the years of Lizhuang, praise the style of scholars, and be grateful to the people of Lizhuang. The peak of academic career created during Lizhuang has laid a solid foundation for the development of the Nanjing Museum's cause today. In the future, Nanjing Museum and Lizhuang will continue to inherit friendship and cooperate sincerely in exhibition planning and other aspects." Cui Xiaoying, associate researcher at the Exhibition and Exhibition Department of Nanjing Museum, said.

  There are still many people working silently - in order to do a good job in the "Institute of History and Language" in Lifeng Villa, scholars from Peking University ran between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait just to "return the memories left in Lizhuang to Lizhuang." The writer Dai Jun has been studying Lizhuang for more than 20 years, and has not stopped from entering Lizhuang for the first time in 1999 to publishing a 1.35 million-word monograph.

  String songs keep writing brilliant chapters

  80 years of time are gone, and the Yangtze River flows day and night. Although the former husband and students have gone far away, the trend of respecting teachers and education has been deeply rooted in southern Sichuan.

  Today, Lizhuang Middle School was built in Lizhuang Middle School with the best location. The school playground is located on the Yangtze River, which is for children to exercise during the day and is open to the public at night.

  The town also continues the legacy of tolerance and openness. The properly protected "Nine Palaces and Eighteen Temples" flows with soft time. The ancient alleys and deep houses are filled with fireworks on earth. In the Lizhuang Cultural Anti-Japanese War Museum, there are endless teachers and students visiting and studying. The newly built Moonfield Scenic Area has staggered water pavilions and towers. In the alleys in the core area of ​​the ancient town, green vines are climbing over low walls, and the courtyards where the masters once lived are still the same as before.

  In the evening, the moon and fields of Lizhuang Ancient Town are on the lanterns (photo taken on April 23). Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Zhang Yawen

  In 2024, the number of tourists in Lizhuang, which has been rated as a "National Historical and Cultural Town", exceeded 4.5 million. Here, tourists can experience old craftsmanship, ancient building drawings, ancient papermaking and other old techniques, and can also enjoy dazzling light shows when night falls; they can taste the "three whites" with a strong local flavor (white wine, white meat, white cake), and drink coffee and whiskey from across the ocean.

  Li Liran, a teacher at the School of Art and Design of Yibin College, often takes students to Lizhuang to sketch, familiar with the streets and alleys of the ancient town. By chance in 2019, he bought an old house in disrepair on Yang Street and started renovating it. The four old Nanmu doors were collected from the fresh goods market, and the door pier and pillar stone were old items in Lizhuang Town. After clever combination, the old house turned into "Yuxiang Coffee" and became the "check-in point" of Internet celebrities.

  20 kilometers from Lizhuang west, Yibin College where Li Liran works is located in the university town with an area of ​​6.13 square kilometers on the north bank of the Yangtze River. Behind this "new city", there is inspiration inspired by Li Zhuang.

  "In 2016, Yibin faced industrial upgrading and urgently needed a large number of talents, but at that time there were less than 25,000 graduates in Yi University every year. The Municipal Party Committee and Municipal Government believe that during the War of Resistance Against Japan, Lizhuang could accommodate so many cultural and educational institutions, and now Yibin should have the courage to build another university town." Li Jie, a fourth-level researcher at the Yibin Municipal Talent and University Town Bureau, said.

  In 2017, Yibin City began to closely connect with universities, and school buildings rose one after another. Just like the fellow Li Zhuang who treated gentlemen from afar warmly and thoughtfully, the university town provided a "turnkey project" for universities.

  Today, 14 universities including Sichuan University and Southwest University have been settled here, with more than 100,000 college graduates in 2024. Around the university town, industrial parks such as intelligent manufacturing, automobiles, rail transit, and advanced materials have been built one after another, and a number of leading companies such as CATL and Jimi Technology that are at the forefront of scientific and technological innovation have been successively implemented.

  Looking back at the Sichuan-Shu land behind Li Zhuang, which was once the "rear". During the Anti-Japanese War, more than 3.4 million Sichuan soldiers walked onto the battlefield without hesitation. The number of people participating in the war and the tragic sacrifices were the first in the country. In the 80 years since the victory of the War of Resistance Against Japan, the children of Sichuan and Sichuan have worked hard to build a western inland province into a national development strategy with the fifth largest economic output in the country.

  Today, in Guanghan City, which had carefully recorded the complete video data by Liang Sicheng, Sanxingdui "wakes up again" in the "archaeological cabin"; on the Taurus Ancient Road that has left behind the footprints of the society to create the inspection of the society, the system of "officials and civilians banning cutting" and "crossing trees and seals" of Cuiyun Lou has been passed down to this day; the "Sichuan-made" animated film "Nezha" innovatively interprets oriental aesthetics, sets box office records repeatedly, and achieves a historic breakthrough in Chinese films... From archaeological evidence to artistic creation, from traditional revitalization to international communication, the Bashu cultural context continues the torch of civilization in the reflection of ancient and modern times, creates a new cultural atmosphere in the upholding of the truth and innovation, and shows the world the style of a great power and cultural confidence forged by the thousand-year cultural context.

  The picture shows the scenery of Lizhuang Ancient Town (photo taken on April 30). Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Liu Kun

  The rising sun jumped out of the horizon, and the rays of light shone on the river.

  Over the past thousands of years, countless literati and poets have chanted through this rushing river. The Yangtze River has witnessed Li Bai's pleasure of "the monkeys on both sides cannot stop crying, and the light boat has passed through thousands of mountains", inspired Su Shi's boldness of "stones penetrate the sky, waves slam the shore, and thousands of snow roll up", and carried Yang Shen's emotion of "rolling the Yangtze River to the east"; the Yangtze River has carried Liang Sicheng, Lin Huiyin, Dong Zuobin, Li Ji, and Tong Dizhou, here and gone, leaving the character of a generation of literati in Lizhuang.

  The water of the Yangtze River flows forever, and each generation has its own responsibilities. At a new historical starting point, the new mission of building modern civilization of the Chinese nation is inspiring to move forward, and hundreds of millions of Chinese people are writing a new chapter... (Reporter Zhang Xudong, Tu Ming, Wu Guang and Yu Tongfang)

[Editor in charge: Wang Mengmeng]