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

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

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!

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grzfcoagfure China is a land that has been successfully farmed for forty centuries, and has a population over three times that of the United States. In com- parison, the United States is a nation in its infancy. Agriculture is the most important industry in China and the one most highly venerated, as well. With the exception of the extremely mountainous regions, all of China is covered with a fertile soil. Though the most primitive methods and implements are used, the exceeding care and patience of the Chinese in fertilizing and tilling the soil assures good crops. Every bit of refuse on a Chinese farm is put back in the ground for fertilizer. The land along the hills and on the upper levels is often irrigated by Water from the streams. Since these hills are graded into terraces, the entire country, in many of the river valleys, has the appearance of a vast garden. Wheels containing buckets, operated either by animal power or by men, raise the Water to the first level, a second wheel takes it from this to the next, and so on until it has been transported to the highest point in the district to be irrigated. Then it is distributed through small chan- nels, so that each section of land receives its share. Rice, the principal food of the people, is by far the most important crop. The teaplant furnishes an important crop, as tea is the universal beverage and is drunk in large quantities. The raising of the opium poppy has long been a curse to the Chinese people. Mulberry trees are exten- sively cultivated, as the leaves furnish food for the silkworms. From this silk the Chinese make rugs, tapestries, and many articles of clothing. We have much to expect from the friendship and intelligent coopera- tion between the United States of America and her great ally, China. China has much to lear fr mode ethods of agriculture, while the United States of Arner s ch o learn from Chinals centuries of experience. ' ILLIAM KOEDERITZ - Term Four. W 4 W4 16 l