Rediscovering a Chinese legend: The untold wartime tale of Dr Li Linsi
Taylor Wong
By Friday marked the 80th anniversary of the Marco Polo Bridge Incident on July 7, 1937. The event was the start of China's eight-year resistance against the Japanese aggression.
Friday marked the 80th anniversary of the Marco Polo Bridge Incident on July 7, 1937. The event was the start of China's eight-year resistance against the Japanese aggression.
Chinese people were a formidable force in the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression (1937-45), playing a positive role in the world's anti-fascist efforts. Dr Li Linsi was among those Chinese people who campaigned tirelessly for national dignity and survival at the risk of their own lives.
The Chinese educator, diplomat and linguist, who was fluent in six languages, was known for his status in Chinese cultural and diplomatic history, but few know this pioneering figure in the China-Europe cultural exchange was also an anti-fascist fighter, a rescuer of the Jews and China’s Mahatma Gandhi.
Li managed to draw more support from the international community and Germany to fight against the Japanese aggression. His anti-Japanese philosophy inspired millions of people, and his military research made a considerable contribution to China's resistance to Japan.
Li's wartime tale was one of the great untold stories that reflect the gigantic struggle those Chinese elites waged during some of the darkest moments the country has ever faced.
A Born Legend
Li Linsi was born in Hangzhou, a beautify city with a long Chinese tradition, in February 1896. He came from a distinguished Chinese literary family. Li's father, Li Liangyu, was a Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) official and renowned artist, who co-founded the Xiling Society of Seal Arts, one of China's most important traditional arts associations. His paternal fourth great-grandfather, Li E, was a notable poet and scholar during the Qing Dynasty, who has been recognized as a leader of the Zhejiang School of poetry. He was the descendant of Jiang Ziya, the Chinese legendary founding prime minister during the Zhou Dynasty (c.11th century-256BC).
Before entering the Tongji University in Shanghai for higher education, Li spent his early years in Hangzhou. After graduating in 1915, he then went to Japan to study literature and education at the Sophia University.
Li went on to further his education in Germany following four years of study at the Sophia University, and earned his master’s degree in law from the University of Jena and doctorate in philosophy from Heidelberg University. He resided in Germany for 10 years.
Travelling extensively around Europe, Li came into contact with a range of Western progressive ideas, and got to know a handful of promising Chinese students, who later became leaders of the Chinese Communist Party. These students included Zhou Enlai and Zhu De. Li also established a deep friendship with German sinologist Richard Wilhelm.
He participated in Germany's first China Institute at the University of Frankfurt, a research institution founded by Richard Wilhelm. The facility was committed to encouraging the West to better understand Chinese cultures. Li helped the institution start multiple journals on Chinese studies, such as China, the China-Germany Yearbook and East Asia Review. He also contributed to organizing various seminars and exhibitions on Chinese studies for the institution.
Being reputed as a human bridge connecting Chinese and European cultures, Li made a great contribution to helping the West comprehend ancient Chinese philosophies, and introduced many Western progressive thoughts to China.
Key proponent of China's League of Nations diplomacy
When Li returned to China in 1930, he joined the government as an education official upon the recommendation of Kuomintang leader Chiang Kai-shek. He later became a diplomatic consultant to Chiang.
As a senior education official, as well as a cultural diplomat, Li was a key proponent and practitioner of China's League of Nations diplomacy in the 1930s. He actively promoted communication, cooperation and coordination between China and the League of Nations – the predecessor of the United Nations – which was the first international organization whose principal mission was to maintain world peace.
He proposed that to better combat the Japanese aggression, China should try to draw more support and favorable public opinion from the international community through the League of Nations.
In 1932, in order to strengthen the relationship between China and the League of Nations, Li then served as a cultural and educational representative of the Chinese government to pay an official visit to Europe, including Switzerland, where the League of Nations headquartered. The successful six-month trip enhanced the cultural exchange and cooperation among China, Europe and the League of Nations.
Li also co-founded some of China's most influential organizations, including the China Institute of World Cultural Cooperation at the League of Nations in 1933.
In 1935, the Shanghai cultural diplomat met another native diplomat, Gu Weijun. The pair bonded and developed a close and respectable relationship. Li became a major supporter of Gu's notion of peacefully resolving international disputes through the diplomacy with the League of Nations.
In March 1936, the pair were both elected as members of the council at the League of Nations Association of China, the China branch of the League of Nations. Li was also a participant in the founding of the China branch of the United Nations after the League of Nations was replaced by the United Nations.
Li effectively advanced the diplomatic ties between China and the League of Nations, and played a major role in the operation of some Chinese affiliates of the League of Nations, including the League of Nations Association of China and China Institute of World Cultural Cooperation at the League of Nations.
Leveraging his influence and connections in the diplomatic, political, military, media and educational circles, Li made great efforts and contributions in advancing the communication between China, the League of Nations and Europe, and helped to create a favorable atmosphere of international public opinion for China during the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression (1937-45).
Link between Chinese Leaders and the German Military Mission
The German Military Mission in China made a positive contribution to China's resistance against the Japanese aggression, and provided China with a range of military assistance. In a report to Chiang Kai-shek in 1934, the German advisory group highlighted Japan was China's primary enemy.
Li played a crucial role in the existence and development of the German Military Mission in China, and was a key facilitator of the China-Germany relationship during the 1930s. He was Chiang's right-hand man on China's diplomacy toward Germany, and a link between China's top leaders and the German military advisory group.
Li helped facilitate former commander-in-chief of the German Army Johannes Friedrich “Hans” von Seeckt's official visit to China in 1933, and persuaded him to accept the offer from Chiang Kai-shek to be his military adviser and chief of the German military mission. This move helped elevate the China-Germany relationship to a new height. In 1935, the diplomatic relationship between China and Germany was upgraded from a ministerial level to an ambassadorial level.
During his first visit to China, Seeckt gave Chiang a book, titled Thoughts of a Soldier, which he considered was a representative work of his own. The translator of the official Chinese version of the book was Li. The Chinese version of the book published in 1936 then became a key reference book for the Chinese military.
Relocating to Shanghai at the outbreak of the anti-Japanese war
Shanghai has been known for its unique status in China's resistance against Japan, and was widely recognized as the center of the anti-Japanese and salvation movement. The war of resistance brought Li to Shanghai, which became his home for the remainder of his life.
Before the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression (1937-45), Li was invited by his friend Jiang Baili, a noted Chinese military strategist, to contribute to his military works. After the war erupted in 1937, Li resigned from his post in the central government and took the advice from Jiang Baili to move his family from Nanjing to Shanghai to help him finish his works.
During this period, Li translated and researched a large number of Japanese and German military works. His research contributed greatly to the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression (1937-45). He did not place his name on any of his studies. That explains why his name is not as well-known as his friend, Jiang Baili, in the field of Chinese military education.
At the beginning of the war, Li co-founded the Shanghai Cultural Salvation Association – otherwise known as the Shanghai wenhua jie jiuwang xiehui – with revered educator Cai Yuanpei and other cultural celebrities in Shanghai. The organization was the most influential among all the anti-Japanese organizations at the time in China. The Shanghai Cultural Salvation Association played an important role in organizing the strengths of Chinese cultural elites, as well as motivating the masses to resist against Japanese invasion in the anti-Japanese and salvation movement.
As the co-founder of the organization, Li also engaged in international communication. He led the organization's International Communication Committee to campaign for support from people around the world, and helped the international community have a better understanding of Chinese people’s resistance against the Japanese aggression.
Aiding Jewish people in the Isolated Island period
During the Isolated Island period in Shanghai, Li's family lived on Ximo Road in the Shanghai International Settlement, an area which was not occupied by Japanese invaders, but in control of the British and American forces.
As a prestigious figure in China's cultural and diplomatic circles, while at the invitation of his friend He Bingsong, Li was engaged as a professor at the Jinan National University – the first university in China to recruit foreign students.
During this period, a huge number of Jewish people, mainly from Germany and Austria, fled to Shanghai to escape the Nazis. Li had a reputation for helping these people transition into Shanghai's Jewish community.
Using his personal connections and resources, Li helped to make Shanghai a better place for those Jewish refugees. For a long period, Shanghai remained the only place in the world which unconditionally offered refuge for Jewish people fleeing the Nazis.
Li was deeply moved by the tragedy of these people and contributed as much as he could to the Jewish community as a better-off local who spent more than a decade in Germany. He even sheltered several Jewish refugees who were friends of his in Germany.
With the aid of Li and other wealthy natives, a modern Jewish community emerged: more housing for Jewish refugees was arranged, businesses established, German publications circulated, and even an orchestra formed. Shanghai became a rare bright spot for Jewish people in the dark plight of that age.
China's Mahatma Gandhi
The Shanghai socialite's life went sharply downhill after the outbreak of the Pacific War in December 1941, when Japanese invaders occupied the British and American controlled parts of the city in the wake of the attack on Pearl Harbor. Li’s family lived in misery and was eventually separated from him due to his refusal to work for the Japanese occupiers.
After the fall of the Shanghai International Settlement, the Jinan National University relocated out of Shanghai, but Li stayed. Known as China's Mahatma Gandhi, Li then began to lead Shanghai intellectuals to fight Japanese invaders in a non-violent manner.
Because he was a prominent public figure who served as a high-ranking education official, and had experience studying in Japan, the Japanese occupiers attempted to lure Li to their side, promising to appoint him as the Minister of Education or Minister of Examination if he agreed to work for them.
Facing both temptation and intimidation, Li tried to find various excuses and refused in a mild yet determined manner. He had made up his mind that he would never work for the Japanese invaders. He believed China would be the final winner in this war.
Li’s non-violent strategy proved practical, particularly for the Chinese intellectuals.
He deemed the non-violent approach did not mean to succumb to the invaders' power. Li said true powers did not come from violence, but from non-violence. It was the thoughts from within that held the true power, he said.
Li was not a Gandhian who completely followed the non-violent resistance philosophy of Gandhi. He believed Gandhi's ideologies about non-violence protest were partly the result of a specific historical circumstance and cultural background; his law of success didn't necessarily apply to any nation at any time.
Li’s non-violent resistance philosophy originated from Gandhi, but was distinct from it. It was a theory which better fitted in with China's situation at the time. He believed a non-violent approach should be an option only when one does not have enough capability for armed resistance. Li did not oppose the idea of fighting the invaders with armed forces, and he even deemed it essential, in many cases, to resist the outside aggression by force. However, he always insisted that a violent approach was an inappropriate option for Chinese intellectuals. Li said they should develop their own strength and play to their advantage, and added employing an indirect strategy and combating the Japanese invaders in a non-violent manner would be a wiser choice.
During this period, Li quietly did extensive research on Japanese and German military works. His research played an important role in China's anti-Japanese war.
Li’s philosophy inspired a vast crowd, not only the Chinese cultural elites, but also a new generation of students, as well as the Chinese masses and people from the international community.
Li also highlighted China should not fight the Japanese army alone, but unite all forces possible, especially with Russia, England and the United States. With this, China's victory over Japan would be inevitable.
History has proved him right. In August 1945, Japan surrendered. A new chapter unfolded.
A new chapter
After the liberation of Shanghai in 1949, Li was back to where he started. As an esteemed professor at the Shanghai International Studies University, Li nurtured, through his teaching, a large number of quality language talents.
In October 1970, Li passed away in Shanghai at the age of 74.
Li will be remembered as an anti-fascist fighter for his resilience and intelligence to fight against Japanese aggression, a savior for his humanitarian spirit to save hundreds of Shanghai Jewish refugees at the cost of his own loss, and a legend for his wisdom and patriotism in the history of the world’s anti-fascist endeavors.
The author is a researcher at Beijing Foreign Studies University.
