Cleveland High School - Beacon Yearbook (St Louis, MO)

Page 18 text:

Offer C!Li1f1,a The Burma Road . . . Madame Chiang-Kai-shek . . . The General- issimo . . . The Kings . . . The Burma Road . . . The Flying Tigers-A. . . Chennault . . . The Burma Road . . . Gung Ho . . . Indusco . . . The,Burma Road . . . Stanley Preson . . . Burma Road . . . No matter where you begin to think of China these days you come right back to the Burma Road. It is no longer the open road it was before the fall of Burma, but even that fact cannot steal the glamour from the gigantic accomplishment of opening China's back door. There was once a time when all you heard was: The Great Wall . . . Mandarin . . . Confucius . . . The Great Wall . . . Pekin . . . The Temple of Heaven . . . Gun Powder . . . Silk . . .Paper . . . Tea . . . Ginger . . . The Great Wall . . . Sun-Yat-sen . . . Communists . . . The Great Wall . . . But that time just isn't any more. History and history alone will determine the change from a wall to an open road. Its record is written in blood and great agony. And even beyond the pages of the record are the great heartaches and mighty hopes of more than four hundred million people as they watch the storm that topples the wall and leaves in its place an open road. There was a time-and it seems very long ago, when our mission- aries to China regularly boarded their boats at some port on the west coast, sailed undisturbed over the waters of the Pacific, spent a day in Haurii, another day in Tokyo, landed peacefully in Shanghai, and then traveled by slow river boat to the province of Hunan, or the one assigned to them. Today-if they can get permission from the government to travel to and from China, almost anything can happen, such as: ea breath-taking ride over the Pacific on a Clipper, or on ammunition-loaded freighter to Australia with a dash over the Himalayasg a loaded troop ship around the Cape of Good Hope. But there will always be the Burma Road. They may go around the curves, that is, those that are in Free China, in a truck, or they may sail majestically over it in one of those giant birds that have made our world the One World that it is. And the Burma Road, even though it is closed at one end, remains the symbol of free China's new place in our now small world. RUTHELLEN GRUPE - T6'7'77Z TILIZCC. 14 D095 fe!

Page 17 text:

i 1 In the meantime there was a rebellion inside China, led by a fanatic schoolmaster who wished to make himself head of the nation. The Chi- nese government was unable to cope with the situation but a small army consisting chiefly of Chinese under Charles Gordon soon stamped it out. In 1894 there was war between China and Japan over Korea. The results were the guarantee of Korean independence, the giving up of the island of Formosa and the Liao-tung Peninsula to Japan and the promise of a huge indemnity from China. Foreign powers intervened and made Japan give up much of its gains but they also used the opportunity to secure trade privileges with China. - After the war the need for reform was great and wise statesmen began to see and declare the necessity of introducing Western methods. A committee was selected to study the forms of government in other countries with a View to determining the one best fitted for China. The government promised a Parliament in 1913. But the radical element didn't want half-way measures and demanded the abdication of the emperor. Riot and later organized revolution broke out and in 1912 a provisional republican government was set up with Yuan Shi-Kai as president. The people were not ready for a republic, it seemed, and they failed to grasp many of its main principles. In fact, while a republic in name, it was practically a monarchy. They voted whether to continue this form of government and decided to do so. China remained neutral in World War I until 1917 when it declared war on Germany. At the peace table Japan demanded the Shantung peninsula but through the interference of the United States it was given to China. Now China has been plunged into another war and is a battle ground today. What will be the outcome? No one knows when China will add another page to its long and glorious history. DOROTHY SUMPTION 1 TGTW1. Two. If! 3 l

Page 19 text:

jim KAW MM! The great and mighty ruler, Shih Hwang-Ti, Wanted to see his fame spread far and wide And to be known as the First Emperor Of that vast land which bore his father's name. For old Chin's son ruled China now, and greed For fame spurred him ever onward, until At last, he even stooped to kill the men Whose wisdom was renowned throughout the land Who told of other rulers and their deeds. He also built a huge bonfire and burned All records which pertained to former kings. But that one deed which hist'ry stresses most ls the building of the Great China Wall. The scattered forts which kept the Tartars out Were linked together by a long roadway Built on the top of a high brick wall That stretched from central Asia to the sea. For fifteen hundred miles it twists and turns Along mountain ridges and lowland plains. Behind this wall, a mighty nation grew And prospered though cut off from all the world. But like some strange snake which coils round its prey And stops its breath, so did this great wall soon Choke off the breath of China, for without Knowledgeof the outside world, its progress, Always slow, became steadily slower And slower and finally stopped. The work Of more than a million men who had helped To make the name of Shih Hwang-Ti well known Was left to ruin 5 Mongols invaded The land and added it to their empire. But this empire was overthrown by Ming Who in turn the mighty Manchus conquered. During their reign, trade with the world began And progress flourished again, the people Also increased in both knowledge and strength. Today, this great country which once did seek To cut herself off from the outside world Can now be reached by land and sea and air. It has rightfully earned its place among The great nations on earth. We salute you- The children of China-China, our ally. JEANNE HEINICKE - Team Threr l Ll Ll'I I 5 S 15