英文校史解说词：

School History Room Commentary

I. Welcome Speech:

Distinguished guests, welcome to the school history room of Henan University. I will introduce our university's history for you. With my commentary,I hope you can have a better understanding of this one hundred-year-old university.

II. General Overview

Henan University was founded by Lin Boxiang in 1912, originally named the Preparatory School for Further Study in Europe and America. Afterwards it was renamed Zhongzhou University, Henan Zhongshan University, Henan Provincial University, Henan National University, Henan Teachers College, Kaifeng Teachers College. In 1984, the name Henan University was restored. For nearly a century, Henan University has trained over 40 million professionals for the country, making an indelible contribution to the rejuvenation of the nation. Many famous scholars, say, Fan Wenlan, Feng Youlan, Ji Wenfu, Jiang Liangfu, have taught here, and the present Chinese defence minister, General Liang Guanglie, is also one of our outstanding alumni. At present, Henan University is supported by the provincial government and Ministry of Education. As a comprehensive university, it consists of 11 branches of learning with 33 schools and teaching departments., 76 specialties for undergraduates , 182 specialties for Master’s degree candidates,18 programs for Doctor's degree, 10 centers for post-doctoral studies . Among them, there are 24 first-level disciplines to award the Master's degree and 1 to award the Doctor's degree. Henan University has been built for over 90 years. Its experiences in the past years can be said to be a epitome of China's modern higher education's development. Now please follow me along the steps of history to explore the developing process of Henan University.

III. Initial Henan University

Founded in 1912, Henan University was originally known as the Preparatory School for Further Study in Europe and America. At that time, Tsinghua College (namely the former Tsinghua University ), Nanyang Public School in Shanghai (namely the former Shanghai Jiao Tong University) and the Preparatory School for Further Study in Europe and America were the only three schools that could directly send students to Europe and America with the support of government,which outstands the past glory of Henan University.

These are several presidents at the initial stage. Among them, Mr. Lin Boxiang was the first president of Henan University. He was courteous to the wise and condescending to the scholarly, and treated his students as his own children. During the four years when he was in office, not only the university developed very well, but also the "diligent, precise and simple" ethos was established.

The Preparatory School was built on Henan Gongyuan (Henan Examination Center), and this is the building of Gongyuan for teachers and students to live. Gongyuan monument still remains to be the witness to the site of Gongyuan on the campus. As to this building, it is known as Building 6, the teaching building at the time. It is the first teaching building of Henan University. President Li Jingzhai designed and built it. Now it has become a key cultural heritage site under state protection.

This is Zhaifang, the students' dormitory of the period. Now, it is also the key cultural heritage site under state protection.

Since its opening, the Preparatory School had been well known for its openness and advanced concepts in education, which was mainly reflected in three aspects: first, the Preparatory School opened English, French and Germany courses, and foreign teachers accounted for more than one-third of the faculty. These are the photographs of several of them; secondly, all the courses, except a small number of them such as Chinese history and Chinese language, were taught in foreign language; thirdly, the Preparatory School set a coeducational precedent. This is girls' dormitory at the time.

The cultural activities on campus in Henan University have always been rich and colourful. That's resulted from the historical tradition. Please look at these pictures. As early as the time of the Preparatory School, teachers and students have organized the basketball team, tennis team, drama club, and Kongfu team.

In January, 1924, Kuomingtang and the Communist Party of China made their first cooperation. The worker-peasant movements surged across the country. Pushed by the revolutionary wave, some progressive students set up a stall to secretly sell and hand out the progressive books and magazines in Henan University which was named Zhongzhou University then. In the following year, the Communist Party branch in Zhongzhou University was established. In July,1925, Li Dazhao, the leader of the Northern District Committee of CPC was invited to the provincial capital Kaifeng and made a report about the history of British aggression in front of Building 6, inspiring students of central plains to join the army of revolution. Since then, a glorious page in the history of Henan University's revolutionary movement was opened.

This is Mr. Wang Gongbi, a progressive professor, rural educator and patriotic democrat. In the early 1927, Mr. Wang Gongbi was appointed editor-in-chief of Henan Minpao and later resigned from this governmental work to be an educator. He participated in the establishment of Henan Zhongshan University, becoming one of the founders of the Agricultural Institute of Henan University.

The celebrated scholar Mr. Feng Youlan once was the director of School of Arts during 1923 to 1925, and he was also the head and professor of the Department of Philosophy. Influenced by May Fourth Movement, Feng Youlan and his several friends co-founded Xinsheng to vigorously promote the New Culture Movement. This picture shows the first issue of Xinsheng, which was considered as the New Youth of Henan Province.

IV. The period of Henan Provincial University

From 1930 to 1949, along with the suffering of the whole nation, the location of Henan University changed several times. Despite this, our universty still struggled very hard to survive and develop in adversity. In March 1942, Henan University was eventually upgraded to Henan National University. In 1944, according to the comprehensive assessment made by the Ministry of Education in National Government, Henan University ranked sixth among the national universities, creating an unprecedented glory. More importantly, the spirit of Henan University was established in this phase.

This map shows us the routes of the university's migration during the anti-Japanese war.

These pictures are some sites of Henan University during the migration. Among them, the second one is the location of the main campus when Henan University moved to a town called Tantou. There happened a touching story. After Henan University moved to Tantou, teachers of Henan University gave full play to their own advantages and developed education in that mountainous area. It received the deeply warm welcome from the local people. When Japanese occupied Tantou, the local people spontaneously organized themselves to help the teachers and students of Henan University to transfer to safety zones. One of the local people sacrificed his life to save them, therefore a solid friendship has been established between the university and the people in Tantou since then. Even today, this story is still being remembered and extoled by all the students and teachers of Henan University.

In March 1942, in order to celebrate Henan University’s becoming the national university, teachers and students specially planted two trees to commemorate. These two trees are sill growing in the courtyard of Tantou High School, and they are called "Henan University Cypress".

On 15, August,1945, the Japanese imperialists announced their unconditional surrender. To celebrate it, teachers and students of Henan University gathered in Shiyang temple of Baoji city and held a grand bonfire celebration. This stone witnessed it.

Our teacher Zhai Lianyuan once attended the 11th Summer Olympic Games in Berlin on behalf of China. This photograph was taken when he took part in the Olympic Games as a member of the Kongfu team.

This is Dr.Joseph Needham. He was a fellow of the Royal Academy and the director of the Sino-British Science Co-operation Office. In 1945, Dr. Joseph visited Henan National University and delivered an academic speech named “Science and Democracy”. The book Daozang in our library confirmed Dr. Joseph's idea of writing Science and Civilization in China. He exchanged views on Chinese culture with professor Li Xiangjie and eventually published the great work Science and Civilization in China which caused a stir in the scientific world. This is the silhouette of that work.

During this period, the Civil War still continued thus making people suffer great hardship. Therefore teachers and students of Henan University set off a series of anti-Japanese movements. Among them the "roaring singing team" was the most famous one. Its captain Ma Ke who used to study here was a well-known musician. His music compositions such as the White-Haired Girl and Nanniwan have been handed down and become classics.

V. Adjustment

From 1948 to 1984, Henan University was renamed several times and had a rough and bumpy road. As one of the matrixes of higher education in the six provinces of Central South China, Henan University made an indelible contribution to the educational cause of People's Republic of China. On the basis of the original faculties, a number of new institutions and departments were opened. These pictures were taken when the state and party leaders visited our university. They are Mao Zedong, Zhu De, Zhou Enlai, Chen Yi and so on. From this we can see their care and consideration for this university.

These pictures show us the growing process of Henan University. In the early 1950s, the Ministry of Education of Government Administration Council proposed the policy that "develop specialized institutes, strengthen and reorganize the university to become a comprehensive one" to adjust the faculties. In the circumstances, Henan University experienced two important adjustments of faculties: the first adjustment was in 1952 when a new batch of schools and departments came into existence on the basis of the original faculties; the second adjustment was in 1953. Pingyuan Teachers College and Henan University merged into Henan Normal College and it was run both in Xinxiang and Kaifeng. The college in Xinxiang later became the present Henan Normal University. As a result of this history, Henan University was vividly called "the univerisity that can produce a university".

This is our school song.

Our school song was composed in 1940. Its lyricist was Ji Wenfu, and the composer was Chen Zibei. During the anti-Japanese war, Henan University passed through many places. At the most difficult moment, the university decided to create a school song to unite the thinking of teachers and students, inspire the fighting spirit, promote the academic tradition and adhere to the running of the university. Therefore, Ji Wenfu and Chen Zibei were invited to create the school song of Henan University. Over the years the magnificent melody of our school song has been engraved in the hearts of many students, encouraging them to work hard for the prosperity of the country.

These pictures demonstrate the teaching and scientific research achievements of our university during this special period. What is worth mentioning are the achievements in composing the specialized books, including Mr. Liu Bingshan's A short history of British literature , Wu Zumou's Basic Theory of Law, Zhu Shaohou's Chinese Ancient History, which are listed by the Ministry of Education as the teaching books in university and were sold more than 1,000,000 copies.

VI. Reform and Development

Since the mid-1980s, Henan University has began to enter its golden age.

In July, 2000, Kaifeng Medical College and Kaifeng Normal School merged into Henan University. By means of its more powerful comprehensive strength, the newly-built Henan University now is heading forward to become a top-class university in China.

These are our presidents during this period.

The construction and development of Henan university has always been the subject of the national and provincial leadership's concern and support. These pictures demonstrate that many leaders have arrived to inspect here in this period.

Besides, some famous scholars, scientists and Nobel Prize winners also often came to give lectures, such as the physicist Yuan Jialiu, the economist Yu Guangyuan.

The above is the motto of Henan university : 明德新民，止于至善. It means that the principle of running a university lies in developing virtues and innovating people's thinking so as to make them perfect.

This is academician Dang Hongxin, a pioneer and academic leader in tribology. He successively developed a solid lubricant, solving the technical difficulties in transmitting signals of missiles and satellites and making a great contribution to the birth of China's first atomic bomb, hydrogen bomb and artificial satellite.

This is the signing ceremony of the cooperation between Chinese Academy of Sciences and Henan University.

This is the signing ceremony of cooperation in cultivating talents between Chinese general staff and Henan University.

These pictures reflect the friendly communication with the international world. As a member of the World Association of Universities and the Asia-Pacific Association of Universities, Henan University has established a cooperative relationship with over 70 universities and colleges from more than 40 countries and districts.

This is the current leadership of Henan University. These are secretary of the Party committee, Guan Aihe, and the president Lou Yuangong.

* This is the head on Zhai Fang’s door. Looking from the front, we can see an antique festoon gate at the entrance to the inner room. Between these two vertical collums are thirty pieces of wood plates engraved with delicate plum blossom, orchid, bamboo, chrysanthemum or some rare animals, and these dazzling adornments are very exquisite. On the whole, this kind of architectural style implies mildness, elegance and singularity that are peculiar to the Estern world, making a beautiful and amiable impression on people.

* This is Li Changchun who was inspecting Henan University. He was a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee. At 11:30am when students were having lunch, Li Changchun went to the canteen in the new campus of Henan University. He received his meal from the student window and had his lunch with students. This was Li Changchun who was discussing with students.

* On April 1, 2009, the member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, vice president Xi Jinping visited Henan Universtiy. He came to a patriotic seminar which was spontaneously organized by students, discussed with students and expressed his expectation of them.

* In Octobor 2007, Ministry of Education came to Henan University for the undergraduate teaching assessment. Henan University was much acclaimed with excellent achievements.

* This is Wang Liqun, one of the speakers in a popular TV Program named Lecture Room of China Central Television . He is a professor in Department of Arts in Henan University.

* Henan University and University of Akron co-founded a Confucius Institute in United States . This is the grand opening ceremony held in America. The foundation of this Confucius Institute enhanced the friendship between two universities and turned to be a symbol of the friendship between China and America. By way of this platform, not only the spread of Chinese language and Chinese culture was promoted, but a better understanding was also achieved by Chinese and Americans.

* This picture was the signing ceremony when people's government of Henan Province and the Ministry of Education decided to build Henan University together. It was taken in Henan People's Conference Hall. With this contract, Henan University will be promoted to achieve a higher level of development from a new starting point and become a new milestone of higher education in Henan Province.

* This was the scene of Beijing Olympic torch relay in our new campus . It was on 26th, July, 2008.

* Please look at this airscape of the campus.

This panoramic picture of Minglun campus was taken from an airplane during Henan University's 90th anniversary. Along the main line in the middle of the campus downward, what we first see is the spectacular and towering gate of Henan University. This side is Building 6 built in Chinese and Western styles. This is the simple and elegant Building 7. At the top of the main line is the majestic assembly hall. These are the landmark buildings which were constructed in the early 19th century. Inheriting the traditional Chinese architectural style while also absorbing some of the techniques of Western architecture, these are the rare and superior modern buildings on campus. In 2006 , they were declared to be the sixth batch of key cultural heritage sites under state protection, and as the important and typical modern historical sites, they were named Site of the Preparatory School for Further Study in Europe and America. Besides, these buildings also contain unique historical value, scientific value, artistic value and educational value. Combining with the adjacent pagoda of Northern Song Dynasty and the city wall of Ming Dynasty, Henan University forms a beautiful scenery in central plains. For a century, many world-famous masters worked very hard here to educate more talents, and a large number of political and academic elites, great scientists and excellent litterateurs have walked out from this university, making a difference in various fields. History created the past achievements and glory of Henan University, and it also inspires people in Henan University to make every effort to make the country prosperous and to create a more bright future as well.

Conclusion

Distinguished guests, my introduction about our university's history has come to an end. Now, you're free to visit.Thank you!