Whether in the history of modern Chinese education, cultural diplomacy, or film history, Li Lin seems to be a very important figure. He was a famous educator, linguist and cultural diplomat during the Republic of China. He was also the founder of my country's audio-visual education and a pioneer of educational and cultural exchanges between China and Europe. However, few people know that this scholar who studied in Japan and got married was also an anti-Japanese fighter. During the Anti-Japanese War, his idea of ??"non-violence and non-cooperation" influenced a large number of intellectuals, and his military research results played an important role in the Anti-Japanese War.
Li Linsi (1896~1970), whose original name was Li Jiaxiang and whose courtesy name was Linsi, was from Hangzhou City, Zhejiang Province. He was born in a scholarly family in the south of the Yangtze River. His father Li Liangyu was a famous calligrapher and calligrapher in the late Qing Dynasty. His great ancestor Li E was the leader of poetry in the Qing Dynasty. His three brothers, Li Suizhi, Li Erkang and Li Yingcheng, were also famous figures in the Republic of China. According to reports, the Li Linsi family is the descendant of Jiang Ziya, the founding prime minister of the Zhou Dynasty. Li Linsi was born in a famous family and received a very good family influence since he was a child, thus laying a very solid foundation in Chinese studies. When he was studying in Hangzhou Fuzhong School, he was a classmate with Xu Zhimo and Yu Dafu and became close friends. After graduating from the Language Department of Tongji University in 1915, Li Linsi went to Japan to study at Sophia University for four years. After returning to China, he was admitted as an official-sponsored student in Germany with excellent results. During his stay in Germany, he obtained a master's degree in law from the University of Jena, Germany, and a master's degree in law. PhD in Philosophy from the University of Heidelberg. During his more than ten years studying abroad, Li Linsi met a group of scholars studying in Germany such as Zhou Enlai, Zhu De, Lin Yutang, and Chen Yinke, and was exposed to many Western progressive ideas. These paved the way for him to embark on the road of "non-violent non-cooperation" resistance against the Japanese invaders.
After returning to China after completing his studies, Li Linsi actively participated in national education and cultural diplomacy. In 1932, Li Linsi went to Europe to inspect education on behalf of the Kuomintang. After returning to China, he actively participated in educational construction and exchanges and cooperation in education between China and Europe, which effectively promoted the reform of China's education and cultural exchanges between China and Europe. Together with Cai Yuanpei, Zhu Jiahua, Tao Xingzhi, Chen Lifu and others, he initiated and founded the China Association for World Cultural Cooperation of the League of Nations, the Sino-German Cultural Association, the China Education Society, the China Educational Film Association and other influential external and cultural organizations during the Republic of China. organize. During this period, he served as Director of the Department of Social Education of the Ministry of Education of the People's Republic of China, Vice Chairman of the Selection Committee of the Examination Yuan, and Professor of the National Central University. He also served as a member of the Standing Committee of the Film Censorship Committee of the People's Republic of China and a director of the Chinese League of Nations Comrades Association. , director of the Sino-German Society, etc.
As one of the top administrative officials in the film industry during the Kuomintang period, Li Linsi actively absorbed and learned from the latest foreign ideas and technological achievements, and reformed our country's film industry. He actively promoted educational films, set standards for domestic films, and eliminated bad films; he vigorously developed the national film industry, actively raised funds for the production of high-quality domestic educational films, held selections for excellent domestic films, and proposed the grading system for Chinese films for the first time; He actively promoted high-quality domestic films such as "Yu Guang Qu" and "Three Modern Women" to participate in international film festivals, and introduced a number of outstanding foreign educational films; he also edited and released China's first film with Chen Lifu and others Film Encyclopedia Dictionary - "Chinese Film Yearbook (1934)".
In 1936, Li Linsi translated and published the masterpiece "A Soldier's Thoughts" by General Seeckt, the "Father of the Wehrmacht" in Germany. The book was widely circulated among the Japanese military and became an important reference book for military construction. On the eve of the outbreak of the Anti-Japanese War, he was invited by his friend, the military theorist Jiang Baili, to translate German military works for him. Later, he listened to Jiang Baili's suggestion and moved his family from Nanjing to Shanghai to help him translate German military works. During the eight years of the Anti-Japanese War, Li Linsi translated many Japanese and German military works and did a lot of research. His research results played an important role in the Anti-Japanese War, but he did not sign most of the research results, so his name is not as well-known to the public in the field of military education as Jiang Baili.
In the early days of the Anti-Japanese War, Li Linsi, Cai Yuanpei, Hu Yuzhi and other famous figures in the Shanghai cultural circles jointly organized and established the Shanghai Cultural Sector and National Salvation Association, and actively organized and mobilized cultural circles and the public to participate in the anti-Japanese and national salvation movement. The Shanghai Cultural Circle and National Salvation Association was the most influential organization among the anti-Japanese and national salvation groups at that time. It played an active role in organizing intellectuals to contribute to the anti-Japanese and national salvation movement and using the ideas of intellectuals to influence ordinary people. The association also actively carried out international publicity, expanded the international influence of the Chinese People's War of Resistance, and played a role in promoting the cooperation between the two parties of the Kuomintang and the Communist Party of China in the war of resistance. As a founding member of the Shanghai Cultural Circle National Salvation Association, Li Linsi, Cai Yuanpei and others, together with presidents and professors of major universities across the country, jointly issued a long statement, exposing the criminal atrocities committed by the Japanese army in deliberately destroying China's educational institutions, and organized the International Publicity Committee under the National Salvation Association. Expand external publicity and win support from people all over the world. In addition, Li Lin seemed to have also been absorbed into the Shanghai Anti-Enemy Support Association from all walks of life, which was legally designated by the Kuomintang government as the "top organization" of the city's anti-Japanese and national salvation groups. This organization led and coordinated various social organizations and national salvation groups in Shanghai, and carried out a large amount of anti-Japanese support work. Especially during the "August 13" Songhu Battle, it played an active role in cooperating with and supporting frontline operations.
However, with the defeat of the Battle of Songhu and the Japanese invasion of Shanghai's Chinese community, the Shanghai Cultural Circle National Salvation Association and the Shanghai Anti-Enemy Support Association were also disbanded.
During the "Isolated Island Period" in Shanghai, Li Linshi still stayed on the "isolated island" and worked hard to cultivate cultural elites on the anti-Japanese front for the country. Li Linsi lived on Seymour Road in the British and American Concession at the time, an area controlled by Britain and the United States and other countries that the Japanese army had not reached. Although his life was poor, it was still manageable. After work, he often helped Jewish refugees who fled to Shanghai and gave them the help he could. During this period, Li Lin seemed to be invited by his friend He Bingsong to teach at Jinan University. Li Linsi, who was already well-known in the field of educational research, could have moved to the rear and continued his academic path in a relatively safe environment. However, in order to cultivate more talented people for the country and the nation, he resolutely gave up. In academic research work, most of the energy is focused on cultivating students and encouraging students to serve the country loyally and resolutely resist Japan. He endured the harsh political environment and difficult living environment and continued to stay at JNU on the "isolated island".
After the Japanese army invaded and occupied the concession in Shanghai in 1942, Jinan University moved away from Shanghai, but Li Linsi remained in Shanghai, facing an unprecedentedly dangerous environment, carrying out his "unfair war" with the invaders. Violent non-cooperation" resistance. Because Li Lin seemed to be a social celebrity at the time, he once held an important position in the Ministry of Education, and he also studied in Japan. The Japanese invaders and Japanese puppet authorities tried to win over him many times and used various corrosive and seductive methods to force him to work for them. . The Japanese told Li Linsi that as long as he cooperated, he could be given the high position of Minister of Education or Dean of the Examination Yuan. In the face of coercion and inducement, Li Lin seemed neither humble nor overbearing, and found various excuses to evade. He had secretly determined that he would never serve the Japanese invaders. He firmly believed that the Anti-Japanese War would eventually be victorious. Li Lin seemed neither humble nor arrogant, and his attitude of non-violence and non-cooperation made the Japanese helpless. According to Li Linsi's son, Mr. Li Shengjiao, my country's senior diplomat and famous international jurist, recalled that during the fall of Shanghai, his father often told him that he was just a scholar and could not be like his two brothers, one of whom saved lives and the other joined the army to fight against the Japanese. All he can do is "non-violent non-cooperation" with the Japanese and do his best to cultivate more talents for the country.
Li Linsi believes that non-violence does not mean surrendering and compromising to the aggressor. Real strength does not come from violence, but from non-violence, from the heart and mind. His idea of ??"non-violence and non-cooperation" originated from Gandhi, but was different from Gandhi. Li Linsi believes that only when you do not have the ability to fight violently, you should choose non-violent resistance. He was not opposed to using force to fight the invaders, and even believed that force was very necessary in many cases. However, he always insisted that cultural and intellectual people should not use violent resistance to fight against the Japanese invaders, but should avoid the real and attack the fictitious. , using long attacks and short attacks, giving full play to the advantages of cultural people, and using non-violent methods to fight against the Japanese invaders in a roundabout way. During this period, Li Linsi silently translated many Japanese and German military works and did a lot of research. His research results played an important role in the Anti-Japanese War.
Li Lin’s idea of ??“non-violence and non-cooperation” also influenced a large number of intellectuals in Shanghai. Educator Qian Junfu, historian Lu Simian, Peking opera artist Mei Lanfang and other Shanghai cultural celebrities were deeply influenced by it. They showed the wisdom and courage of the older generation of intellectuals in the face of enemy coercion and inducement.
Li Lin seemed to be determined not to compromise with the Japanese invaders and the Japanese puppet government, which made it difficult for the family to maintain even basic life, and his wife and children were separated. His son Li Shengjiao recalled in the article "Reminiscences of the Anti-Japanese War Years in Old Shanghai": "The hard life during this period had a lifelong negative impact on my body. My mother, who was originally an authentic Shanghainese lady, later lost her temper because of the hard work of living in Shanghai. He moved to Hangzhou with his younger brother and sister. "During these difficult years when his wife and children were separated, Li Lin seemed not to be overwhelmed by the brutal rule and high-handed policies of Japanese imperialism. He cherished the spirit of loyalty to the country. His heart, in the days of hunger and cold, silently burned the glimmer of his life as a generation of intellectuals for the country.
"As dark as the night is, dawn is not far away." This is what Li Linsi often said during the Anti-Japanese War. At the same time, he also believed that China could not fight alone in the War of Resistance Against Japan, but must unite the power of the Soviet Union, Britain and the United States. If so, China's final victory and Japan's final defeat would be inevitable.
On August 15, 1945, Japan announced its unconditional surrender, and history opened a new page. After Shanghai was liberated in 1949, Li Linsi returned to his lifelong favorite cultural and educational position after a long absence, and continued to cultivate talents for the country. While serving as a professor of German at Shanghai International Studies University (now Shanghai International Studies University), he trained a large number of high-end foreign language talents for New China. Until he was half-paralyzed and bedridden, he remained in the educational position for which he had dedicated his life. superior. In October 1970, Li Lin, a generation of cultural diplomats and educators who had spent half his life working hard and educating countless people, passed away at the age of 74.