Professor Wilton Fowler

There’s nothing quite like taking a tour of a noteworthy location with a knowledgeable history professor…. & we were very, very lucky to have exactly such a walking tour of Nanjing with Professor Wilton Fowler, a historian who has taught American Studies at HNC for eleven years. His course on American Diplomatic History is an extremely popular course (with lots of auditing students, since his class size limit is quickly reached!) — and he’s also teaching a seminar course this semester entitled ‘Missionaries in China.’ This tour was a bittersweet occasion, however, because he is retiring from HNC (a second retirement, as he is already Emeritus Professor of History at the University of Washington) – and this was thus a last chance for us to tap into the considerable knowledge of local history he has built up over the years.

Wang Jingwei’s former residence

Many of the tour sites were certainly off-the-beaten-path, including a building that formerly was the site of China’s Supreme Court (now a commercial building with a broken fountain out front, hosting an arts complex), as well as the former American Embassy (now a hotel). Another interesting site was the former residence of Wang Jingwei. Wang’s story was told quite nicely recently by Rana Mitter, in his book Forgotten Ally: China’s World War II, 1937-1945. Mitter considered it “one of the great tragedies of twentieth-century history”:

He was a more prominent nationalist and revolutionary in his youth than either Mao or Chiang, and served as second in command to the legendary Dr. Sun Yat-sen. But during the war against Japan, Wang authored a decision that would condemn him, to this day, as “a traitor for a thousand generations” against the Chinese people.

That decision was to lead a puppet government, based here in Nanjing, for the Japanese occupation. History – and the Chinese people — have not forgotten.

Another historical tour site laden with WWII memories was Ginling College. This women’s college, designed by the American architect Henry K. Murphy (please see posting immediately below), was located within Nanjing’s “Safety Zone,” and served as a refuge and sanctuary-of-last-resort for young Chinese women and others trying to escape the brutal reality of the ‘Rape of Nanking’ in 1937. Anyone who has watched Lu Chuan’s searing film City of Life and Death knows very well about Ginling…. & the crucial role that it played during that harrowing period.

Ginling College
Source: Cody, 2001; credit: Wesleyan University, Meng Collection

Today Ginling is a part of Nanjing Normal University, located just a few blocks away from HNC… and our tour took place on a beautiful Sunday morning, with many young students walking about, far removed in time (if not in place) from such traumas. Historians such as Professor Fowler keep us honest about the past, however, and force us to be vigilant today – and we will certainly miss his voice here at HNC!