Shanghai Faithful by Jennifer Lin

Author:Jennifer Lin [Lin, Jennifer]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers
Published: 2017-12-21T05:00:00+00:00

In 1948, months before two of the Lin sons departed for the United States, the family posed for a final portrait. Ni Guizhen tucked a copy of the photo inside the suitcase of her son Paul. Clockwise from bottom left: Lin Pu-chi; John Sun, husband of Martha; Tim; Jim; Paul; Martha; and Ni Guizhen. Courtesy of Lin Family Collection.

For the Chinese of Shanghai, if you were lucky enough to have money, you could buy a seat on a steamer or plane to Hong Kong. If you weren’t, you might be able to force your way onto an overstuffed train, even if it meant clinging perilously to the side of the locomotive or sitting on the roof of a car. And if you were a destitute refugee trying to stay one step ahead of the fighting, good luck. Shanghai was walled off as the city girded for a showdown with the People’s Liberation Army. Outwardly, the Nationalist government flexed its muscles for the sake of residents, marching soldiers through the streets and parking howitzers side by side along sidewalks. Troops stood guard at sandbag bunkers by banks and government offices as workers boarded up the windows of commercial buildings and shops to protect against the inevitable onslaught. Newspapers, under tight government control, declared that the city could hold for months if not longer.

St. John’s, on the western side of the city, was on the front lines of the action. Most students had gone, leaving only a skeleton staff on campus. Across Suzhou Creek, an encampment of Nationalist troops had taken over the athletic fields.

On May 24, as staff and teachers were nodding off in afternoon naps, a great explosion jolted everyone awake. The windows in the magnificent library and administration building shattered, sending shards of glass flying. Chunks of plaster dropped from ceilings, and a thick steel beam, hurled through the air like a red-hot spear, landed in the lawn by a giant camphor tree. This is it, everyone on campus thought as the dust cleared. But this was not the work of enemies; it was a desperate move by allies. Retreating Nationalist forces did not want their Communist foes chasing after them so they blew up a nearby railway bridge without bothering to warn anyone on campus.

The following morning, the PLA drew closer and occupied parts of the former French Concession, just south of St. John’s. Shanghai’s mayor fled by air from the Longhua Airfield after the city government flew a white flag of surrender. In the face of defeat, the Nationalist soldiers who were billeted on the other side of Suzhou Creek shifted from protecting the university to looting it. They turned their rifles toward the campus and tried to scare away the handful of Americans by shooting into their homes. Some soldiers crossed the creek by boat, tore down fences, and ran toward classrooms and residences. A history professor called the US consulate, pleading for help. The diplomats told him there was nothing they could do; they had their own buildings to secure.

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