Wang Dazhi
Encyclopedia
Wang Dazhi was a Chinese
educator.
in 1903. He attended the Nanjing
Xiaozhuang Normal College, which was founded by Tao Xingzhi
. After graduating in 1928, Tao appointed him to be the principal of the Xin'an Primary School, a rural school in Huai'an
, Jiangsu province that Tao had established, from 1928 to 1935.
In 1935, Wang Dazhi established the Xin'an Lüxing Tuan or Xin'an Traveling Group (新安旅行团) to test Tao Xingzhi's education philosophy of treating society as one's school and to advocate national salvation in the face of Japanese aggression. On October 10, 1935, Wang and 14 primary students left Huaian and began a 25,000 km journey that would take 17 years through 22 provinces and Hong Kong. Along the way, they held public rallies, showed film, held dramatic and dance performances, sang songs, wrote articles and created artworks to advocated national salvation and anti-Japanese resistance. Their group expanded to several hundred youth members. They had no formal school structure but continued their education by teaching each other, inviting guest lecturers and undertaking new activities such as filmmaking and choreography. Famous song writers such as Wang Luobin
, Tian Han
and Nie Er
wrote songs for them. Group members were invited to act in Cai Chusheng
's films.
They also drew patronage from political and military leaders across party lines. Luminaries who lent support include Chen Guofu
, Zhou Fohai
, Feng Yuxiang
, Jiang Qing
, Tong Lin'ge
, Zhao Dengyu
, Fu Zuoyi
, Ma Bufang
, Wang Luobin
, Zhu Shaoliang
, Chen Cheng
, Zhou Enlai
, Guo Moruo
, Tian Han
, Bai Chongxi
, Du Yuming
, Li Jishen
, Zhang Fakui
, Li Kenong
, Liao Chengzhi
, Liu Shaoqi
, Chen Yi
, Zhang Aiping
, Huang Kecheng
, Su Yu
, Rao Shushi
and Zhu De
. Tao Xingzhi recounted the group's exploits in his fundraising trips overseas.
Many of Wang's students in the Xin'an Traveling Group went on to become accomplished artists, musicians, writers and leaders in the Chinese artistic world, including two past presidents of the China Academy of Art
.
After the People's Republic of China
was founded, Wang Dazhi first served as the president of Nanjing
Xiaozhuang Normal College, his alma mater, which had been closed due to political reasons in 1930. He then moved to Beijing
to become the deputy director of Chinese Character Reform Committee (中国文字改革委员会) at the Ministry of Education and later to Hainan
where he served as the Party Secretary of Guangdong College of Nationalities.
Wang died in Beijing
in March 1980 and is buried near the Xin'an Primary School in Huaian.
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
educator.
Biography
Wang Dazhi was born in Yi County, AnhuiAnhui
Anhui is a province in the People's Republic of China. Located in eastern China across the basins of the Yangtze River and the Huai River, it borders Jiangsu to the east, Zhejiang to the southeast, Jiangxi to the south, Hubei to the southwest, Henan to the northwest, and Shandong for a tiny...
in 1903. He attended the Nanjing
Nanjing
' is the capital of Jiangsu province in China and has a prominent place in Chinese history and culture, having been the capital of China on several occasions...
Xiaozhuang Normal College, which was founded by Tao Xingzhi
Tao Xingzhi
Tao Xingzhi , was a renowned 20th century Chinese educator and reformer. He studied at Teachers College, Columbia University and returned to China to champion progressive education. His career in China as a liberal educator was not derivative of John Dewey, as some have alleged, but creative and...
. After graduating in 1928, Tao appointed him to be the principal of the Xin'an Primary School, a rural school in Huai'an
Huai'an
Huai'an , known as Huaiyin before 2001, is a prefecture-level city in northern Jiangsu province of Eastern China. It borders Suqian to the northwest, Lianyungang to the north, Yancheng to the east, Yangzhou to the southeast, and the province of Anhui to the southwest.The municipality has 4,799,889...
, Jiangsu province that Tao had established, from 1928 to 1935.
In 1935, Wang Dazhi established the Xin'an Lüxing Tuan or Xin'an Traveling Group (新安旅行团) to test Tao Xingzhi's education philosophy of treating society as one's school and to advocate national salvation in the face of Japanese aggression. On October 10, 1935, Wang and 14 primary students left Huaian and began a 25,000 km journey that would take 17 years through 22 provinces and Hong Kong. Along the way, they held public rallies, showed film, held dramatic and dance performances, sang songs, wrote articles and created artworks to advocated national salvation and anti-Japanese resistance. Their group expanded to several hundred youth members. They had no formal school structure but continued their education by teaching each other, inviting guest lecturers and undertaking new activities such as filmmaking and choreography. Famous song writers such as Wang Luobin
Wang Luobin
Wang Luobin was a renowned Han Chinese songwriter. He specialized in composing Mandarin-language songs based on the music of various ethnic minorities in western China.Wang was born in Beijing on 28 December 1913...
, Tian Han
Tian Han
Tian Han , born in Changsha, Hunan, was a Chinese drama activist, playwright, a leader of revolutionary music and films, as well as a translator and poet. Tian contributed a great deal to the development of Chinese modern drama as well as Chinese opera...
and Nie Er
Nie Er
Nie Er , was a Chinese composer. He is known for composing the national anthem of the People's Republic of China, the March of the Volunteers. In numerous Shanghai magazines he went by the English name "George Njal"...
wrote songs for them. Group members were invited to act in Cai Chusheng
Cai Chusheng
Resting Place= Babaoshan Revoluntionary CemeteryCai Chusheng was a Chinese film director of the pre-Communist era. Known best for his progressive output in the 1930s, Cai Chusheng later became a victim to the persecutions of the Cultural Revolution.- Early career :Born in Shanghai to Cantonese...
's films.
They also drew patronage from political and military leaders across party lines. Luminaries who lent support include Chen Guofu
Chen Guofu
Chen Guofu, or Chen Kuo-fu , was a Chinese politician in the Republic of China. He was born in Wuxing, Zhejiang, China . Chen Guofu joined the Tongmenghui in 1911. He participated in both the revolution against the Qing dynasty and the "second revolution" against Yuan Shikai...
, Zhou Fohai
Zhou Fohai
Zhou Fohai , Chinese politician, and second in command of Wang Jingwei's collaborationist Nanjing Nationalist Government Executive Yuan.-Biography:...
, Feng Yuxiang
Feng Yuxiang
Feng Yuxiang was a warlord and leader in Republican China. He was also known as the Christian General for his zeal to convert his troops and the Betrayal General for his penchant to break with the establishment. In 1911, he was an officer in the ranks of Yuan Shikai's Beiyang Army but joined...
, Jiang Qing
Jiang Qing
Jiang Qing was the pseudonym that was used by Chinese leader Mao Zedong's last wife and major Communist Party of China power figure. She went by the stage name Lan Ping during her acting career, and was known by various other names during her life...
, Tong Lin'ge
Tong Linge
Tong Linge or Tung Ling-ko , was the Manchu ethnicity Chinese Deputy Commander of 29th Corps or 29th Route Army in 1937 during the Marco Polo Bridge Incident and Battle of Beiping-Tianjin....
, Zhao Dengyu
Zhao Dengyu
Zhao Dengyu or Chao Teng-yu was a Chinese general, distinguished for his service at the beginning of theSecond Sino-Japanese War....
, Fu Zuoyi
Fu Zuoyi
Fu Zuoyi was a Chinese military leader. He began his military career in the service of Yan Xishan, and he was widely praised for his defense of Suiyuan from the Japanese. During the final stages of the Chinese Civil War, Fu surrendered the large and strategic garrison around Beiping to Communist...
, Ma Bufang
Ma Bufang
Ma Bufang was a prominent Muslim Ma clique warlord in China during the Republic of China era, ruling the northwestern province of Qinghai. His rank was Lieutenant-general...
, Wang Luobin
Wang Luobin
Wang Luobin was a renowned Han Chinese songwriter. He specialized in composing Mandarin-language songs based on the music of various ethnic minorities in western China.Wang was born in Beijing on 28 December 1913...
, Zhu Shaoliang
Zhu Shaoliang
Chu Shao-liang was a general in the National Revolutionary Army of the Republic of China.In 1935, he was hand picked by Chiang Kai-shek as the commander-in-chief of the Third Route Army for exterminating the bandits...
, Chen Cheng
Chen Cheng
Chen Cheng , was a Chinese political and military leader, and one of the main National Revolutionary Army commanders during the Second Sino-Japanese War and the Chinese Civil War. After moving to Taiwan at the end of the Civil War, he served as the Governor of Taiwan Province, Vice President and...
, Zhou Enlai
Zhou Enlai
Zhou Enlai was the first Premier of the People's Republic of China, serving from October 1949 until his death in January 1976...
, Guo Moruo
Guo Moruo
Guo Moruo , courtesy name Dingtang , was a Chinese author, poet, historian, archaeologist, and government official from Sichuan, China.-Family history:Guo, originally named Guo Kaizhen, was born on November 10 or 16, in the small town of Shawan...
, Tian Han
Tian Han
Tian Han , born in Changsha, Hunan, was a Chinese drama activist, playwright, a leader of revolutionary music and films, as well as a translator and poet. Tian contributed a great deal to the development of Chinese modern drama as well as Chinese opera...
, Bai Chongxi
Bai Chongxi
Bai Chongxi , , also spelled Pai Chung-hsi, was a Chinese general in the National Revolutionary Army of the Republic of China and a prominent Chinese Nationalist Muslim leader. He was of Hui ethnicity and of the Muslim faith...
, Du Yuming
Du Yuming
Du Yuming was a Kuomintang field commander active in the Sino-Japanese War theatre of World War II and in the Chinese Civil War from 1945 to 1949....
, Li Jishen
Li Jishen
Li Jishen was a Chinese military commander and statesman. He served as commander of the Fourth Army of the Republic of China, governor of Guangdong, military affairs commissioner, and acting president of the Whampoa Military Academy...
, Zhang Fakui
Zhang Fakui
Zhang Fakui was a Chinese Nationalist general who fought against northern warlords, the Imperial Japanese Army and Chinese Communist forces in his military career. He served as commander-in-chief the 8th Army Group and commander-in-chief of NRA ground force before retire in Hong Kong in...
, Li Kenong
Li Kenong
Li Kenong was a major figure in the early history of Chinese Communist intelligence, and was rewarded the rank of Colonel General in 1955. Recognized on the Chinese mainland as such, he is almost unknown in the West.-Early years:...
, Liao Chengzhi
Liao Chengzhi
Liao Chengzhi was a Chinese politician. He joined the Communist Party of China in 1928, and rose to the position of director of the Xinhua News Agency; after 1949, he worked in various positions related to foreign affairs, most prominently president of the Beijing Foreign Languages Institute,...
, Liu Shaoqi
Liu Shaoqi
Liu Shaoqi was a Chinese revolutionary, statesman, and theorist. He was Chairman of the People's Republic of China, China's head of state, from 27 April 1959 to 31 October 1968, during which he implemented policies of economic reconstruction in China...
, Chen Yi
Chen Yi
Chen Yi may refer to:* Chen Yi , Chinese communist military commander* Chen Yi , Chief Executive of Taiwan Province* Chen Yi , Chinese composer* Chen Yi...
, Zhang Aiping
Zhang Aiping
Zhang Aiping was a Chinese communist military leader.-Biography:...
, Huang Kecheng
Huang Kecheng
Huang Kecheng was one of ten senior generals of People's Liberation Army.-Biography:General Huang Kecheng was born in Yongxing, Hunan, China, and he was the third of four children...
, Su Yu
Su Yu
Su Yu was a Chinese Communist military leader. He was considered by many to be among the best commanders of the PLA only next to Lin Biao and Liu Bocheng. Su Yu fought in the Sino-Japanese War and in the Chinese Civil War...
, Rao Shushi
Rao Shushi
Rao Shushi like his confederate Gao Gang, was a senior leader of the Communist Party of China , who once enjoyed great power and fame that then quickly evaporated, leaving behind many mysteries about his rise and fall.-Early years:...
and Zhu De
Zhu De
Zhu De was a Chinese militarist, politician, revolutionary, and one of the pioneers of the Chinese Communist Party. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, in 1955 Zhu became one of the Ten Marshals of the People's Liberation Army, of which he is regarded as the founder.-Early...
. Tao Xingzhi recounted the group's exploits in his fundraising trips overseas.
Many of Wang's students in the Xin'an Traveling Group went on to become accomplished artists, musicians, writers and leaders in the Chinese artistic world, including two past presidents of the China Academy of Art
China Academy of Art
China Academy of Art is the highest university of art in China. It was founded in Hangzhou in 1928 by the government of Republic of China.-Introduction:...
.
After the People's Republic of China
People's Republic of China
China , officially the People's Republic of China , is the most populous country in the world, with over 1.3 billion citizens. Located in East Asia, the country covers approximately 9.6 million square kilometres...
was founded, Wang Dazhi first served as the president of Nanjing
Nanjing
' is the capital of Jiangsu province in China and has a prominent place in Chinese history and culture, having been the capital of China on several occasions...
Xiaozhuang Normal College, his alma mater, which had been closed due to political reasons in 1930. He then moved to Beijing
Beijing
Beijing , also known as Peking , is the capital of the People's Republic of China and one of the most populous cities in the world, with a population of 19,612,368 as of 2010. The city is the country's political, cultural, and educational center, and home to the headquarters for most of China's...
to become the deputy director of Chinese Character Reform Committee (中国文字改革委员会) at the Ministry of Education and later to Hainan
Hainan
Hainan is the smallest province of the People's Republic of China . Although the province comprises some two hundred islands scattered among three archipelagos off the southern coast, of its land mass is Hainan Island , from which the province takes its name...
where he served as the Party Secretary of Guangdong College of Nationalities.
Wang died in Beijing
Beijing
Beijing , also known as Peking , is the capital of the People's Republic of China and one of the most populous cities in the world, with a population of 19,612,368 as of 2010. The city is the country's political, cultural, and educational center, and home to the headquarters for most of China's...
in March 1980 and is buried near the Xin'an Primary School in Huaian.