A New Journey of Struggle for a Hundred Years · The Spiritual Pedigree of the Chinese Communists | Selfless Dedication to the Motherland -- A Review of the Spirit of Moving to the West

Xinhua News Agency, Beijing, November 24th. Title: Selfless dedication to the motherland -- A review of the spirit of moving westward
This is a feat in the history of higher education in New China and a long march for patriotic intellectuals to build the northwest.
Sixty-five years ago, thousands of teachers, students and staff of Jiaotong University responded to the call of the party and the state to bid farewell to the prosperous Shanghai and came to the ancient capital of Xi'an, opening the prelude to taking root in the west in a field of wheat. The patriotic struggle of the people who moved to the west gave birth to the great spirit of moving to the west.
In April 2020, General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out during an inspection tour in Shaanxi that the core of the "spirit of moving westward" is patriotism, and the essence is to follow the party's command and follow the party, breathe with the party and the country, the nation and the people, and share a common destiny. It has profound practical and historical significance.
The spirit of moving to the west is the time coordinate of the patriotic struggle of the intellectual group in the spiritual pedigree of the Chinese Communist Party. This spiritual force has inspired generations of intellectuals to be loyal to the people of the motherland, shoulder their responsibilities and missions, and write new answers to the times.

A scene of the campus of Jiaotong University after moving westward in 1959 (file photo). Xinhua News Agency

With the overall situation in mind: "wherever the party wants us to go, we will go wherever we carry our bags!"
At the beginning of the founding of New China, it was urgent to change the face of the country's poverty and weakness. The unreasonable industrial layout and the weak strength of higher education in the west are the two "mountains" that lie in front of the country's economic construction ".
At that time, nearly one Jiazi Jiaotong University was founded in Shanghai, and a number of outstanding talents such as Qian Xuesen, Wu Wenjun and Huang Xuhua were trained.
In 1955, the Party Central Committee made a decision: Jiaotong University moved from Shanghai to Xi'an, Shaanxi.
When the news came, excited emotions surged among the teachers and students of Jiaotong University, "wherever the party lets us go, we will go wherever we carry our bags!" The lofty mission of striving and pioneering for the construction of the country has deeply attracted and inspired the older generation of people who moved westward. In 1956, they embarked on the first westbound trains without hesitation.




 

 
Pan Ji, the representative of the old scientist who moved to the west, delivered a speech at the opening ceremony of the theme exhibition "People's Heart to the Party Self-reliance-Scientists under the Leadership of the Party" (photo taken on May 24). Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Jin Liang

"Over the mountains, across the plains, across the galloping Yellow River and the Yangtze River." Pan Ji, an 87-year-old professor who moved to the west, still clearly remembers the scene of the day of departure. The people of Jiaotong University were full of longing and hope, and the carriage echoed with cheerful singing.
Zhong Zhaolin, the founder of China's electrical machinery industry, was nearly 60 years old when he took the lead in moving westward. He said: "If you look at your personal living conditions, maybe staying in Shanghai will have some benefits. But considering the country, you should move to Xi'an. When the school board held a meeting to vote, I raised my hand in favor of it. Intellectuals must not break their promises to others and to the people in the northwest!"
After settling his paralyzed wife in Shanghai, Zhong Zhaolin came to Xi'an alone. With his efforts, the Department of Electrical Engineering of Xi'an Jiaotong University became the first electrical engineering department with strong foundation, good conditions, large scale and perfect equipment in China;
Professor Chen Daxie, a pioneer of thermal engineering in my country, disposed of Shanghai real estate and moved his family westward. Before his death, he donated his life savings to the school to set up scholarships to reward outstanding graduate students......
"Chang 'an is good, construction needs support, 100,000 athletes are full of atmosphere, and Wu Nong's soft language is full of noise. Why remember Jiangnan!" The song "Recalling Jiangnan", published in the school magazine in 1957, expressed the lofty aspirations of the people who moved to the west to devote their youth and sweat.
Today's Xi'an Jiaotong University campus, a school building, a plant, all tell this period of hot years--
Thousands of workers from all directions completed the task of building a campus of more than 100,000 square meters in one year; a total of more than 200 train carriages were transported to Xi'an, ranging from equipment to a teaching aid, without any damage; from the south The various seedlings such as sycamore and cedar that came here put green clothes on the yellow land......
The mission of a university is closely linked to the fate of the motherland. As time goes by, advanced educational concepts and outstanding talents have taken root in the western part of the motherland.







 

 
In 1959, students studied in the reading room of the campus library of Jiaotong University after moving westward (file photo). Xinhua News Agency

Hard work: "to the scientific march, the construction of the northwest!"
In the Museum of the westward movement of Jiaotong University, a pink ticket carries the memory of that passionate burning. That was the westward movement special train pass of Jiaotong University people in 1956, with a sentence printed on it-march towards science and build the northwest!
At the beginning of the move, this university in the wheat field was a scene that southern students had never seen before: uneven roads, unlit lights, gray roads on sunny days, cement streets on rainy days, hayloft auditorium built by moso bamboo, cold in winter and hot in summer, and light in ceiling......
Difficulties and hardships cannot stop the ideals and beliefs of pioneers who move westward to start their own businesses and innovate. By September 1956, more than 6000 Jiaotong University members, including 815 faculty members and more than 3900 students, gathered in the ancient capital of Xi'an, and the new campus also rose from a wheat field.
During the westward move of Jiaotong University from 1956 to 1959, 17 new majors were set up successively. The laboratory area of Xi'an campus is three times that of Shanghai's old campus, and the conditions and environment of some internship factories were first-class at that time. On this basis, the scientific research of Jiaotong University in Xi'an has been carried out rapidly--
On the basis of Jiaotong University, a number of research institutes such as the Shaanxi Branch of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Xi'an Institute of Automation have been established one after another; a large number of scientific research results have been produced, and many firsts in the history of domestic scientific research have been achieved......
64 years ago, when 18-year-old Tao Wenquan first reported to Xi'an, the newly planted phoenix trees on both sides of the road of Jiaotong University were only arms thick, and now they have grown into towering trees. Tao Wenquan, who is rooted here with the plane tree, is also a professor of engineering thermophysics at Xi'an Jiaotong University. The eighty-year-old academician has been sticking to the three-foot podium for more than 50 years. Among the students he has guided, many national pillars such as academicians of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Yangtze River scholars have emerged.
"In our generation, the spirit of moving westward is imperceptible-at that time, when we saw many old gentlemen doing this, we did the same." Tao Wenquan said that he was just a small leaf on a big tree moving westward.
From energy and power scientist Chen Xuejun, metal materials scientist Zhou Huijiu, to computer scientist Zheng Shouqi, to engineering thermophysics and energy utilization scientist Guo Liejin ...... Generations of Jiaotong University people passed down the fire, with science to serve the construction of the motherland, cultivate a large number of rooted in the west, the construction of the local excellent students, the spirit of the westward migration spread on the yellow land.








 

Xi'an Jiaotong University "West-moving people" patriotic struggle advanced groups. Xinhua News Agency

Continuation of Blood Vessel: Trees Moving Westward with Deep-rooted Leaves
Sixty-five years at first mind does not change. Deeply integrated into the development of national construction, Xi'an Jiaotong University has become an important talent center and science and education highland in the western region.
West of Xi'an, the Western China Science and Technology Innovation Port built by Xi'an Jiaotong University has gathered a large number of world-class academic institutions and established a number of international joint laboratories......
In April 2020, General Secretary Xi Jinping, who was on an inspection tour in Shaanxi, came to Xi'an Jiaotong University to encourage teachers and students to vigorously carry forward the "spirit of moving westward", seize the new opportunities in the new era, make contributions to the places most needed by the motherland, and create historical achievements that belong to our generation on the new journey.
The westward migration spirit forged by the older generation of Jiaotong University with patriotic struggle practice has become the coordinate for generations of Jiaotong University to practice their youth dream with practical actions.
In a laboratory in the Science and Technology Innovation Port in western China, Song Siyang, a 28-year-old doctor from the School of Aeronautics and Astronautics of Xi'an Jiaotong University, is doing experiments with his team's teachers and students. After graduating this year, he chose to stay in school to continue his research on high-precision control technology.
"Compared with the predecessors who moved westward to develop scientific research platforms in a difficult environment, we should cherish today's good scientific research environment and opportunities of the times, and do research in response to the major needs of the country." Song Siyang said.
Continued inheritance, not humiliating mission. Over the past 65 years, Xi'an Jiaotong University has accumulated nearly 300000 national education talents, more than half of whom work in the central and western regions; nearly half of the 51 academicians of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Chinese Academy of Sciences have taken root in the western region.
"The spirit of moving westward has become the spiritual imprint of the people of Jiaotong University internalized in their hearts and externalized in their actions, inspiring generations of people of Jiaotong University to bravely shoulder the national mission, take root in China, run a socialist university with Chinese characteristics, and educate people for the party and the country. Contribute wisdom and strength to the development of the western region and national construction." Xi 'an Jiaotong University Party Secretary Lu Jianjun said.
In autumn and winter, the plane trees in Xi'an Jiaotong University began to fade golden, accumulating strength for the next spring. These westward migration of sycamore trees, witnessed the magnificent years of struggle, pregnant with the vitality of the future.

Source: Xinhua