Former Site of Ya'an Mingde Middle School (Ya'an Xikang Museum)

Former Site of Ya'an Mingde Middle School (Ya'an Xikang Museum)

The former site of Ya'an Mingde Middle School (Ya'an Xikang Museum) is a National Key Cultural Relics Protection Unit.

Mingde Middle School, officially known as "Ya'an Private Mingde Junior High School," was located on Zhangjia Mountain in Yucheng District, Ya'an. It was a church school established in 1917 by the China Baptist Convention. In 1950, after the liberation of Ya'an, Mingde Middle School merged with the Industrial Vocational School, Normal School, County Middle School, and Ya'an Girls' Middle School to form Ya'an Middle School of Xikang Province.

In 1917, the China Baptist Convention built a Christian church on Zhengfu Street (now Danan Street) in Ya'an County town, and subsequently selected a site on Zhangjia Mountain to establish a school. After five years of construction, by 1922, all necessary facilities for the school, including classrooms, playgrounds, and dormitories, were completed. Subsequently, the Mingde Middle School departments previously located on Xiaobei Street in the county town and the upper primary section were relocated to Zhangjia Mountain, forming Ya'an Private Mingde Junior High School. The Xiaobei Street campus retained the private Mingde Girls' Primary School, while the Zhongda Street Ping’an Lane kept the Mingde Boys' Lower Primary School. Later, the Boys' Lower Primary School was moved to Xiaobei Street and merged with the Girls' Primary School to become Mingde Primary School, and Ping’an Lane was repurposed as Mingde Kindergarten.

The first principal of Mingde Middle School was an American named Shi Mianzhi, who devoted himself entirely to the establishment of the school and was deeply respected and beloved by teachers and students. Choosing Zhangjia Mountain as the school site left indelible and beautiful memories for Mingde students: “Standing at the school gate and looking into the distance, one can see the verdant peaks of Cai Mountain, Mengding Mountain, and Laojun Mountain. Looking down, the Zhougong River and Fen River flow on either side, the Longxi River meanders from the south, and the Pingqiang River surges eastward. The school is surrounded by ancient trees, and the campus is filled with blooming flowers. Whether under the shade of trees in the mountain hollows, everywhere is tranquil and serene.”

The funding for Mingde Middle School mainly came from the “Western Mission,” which was a property organization of the North American Christian Church stationed in Shanghai. It controlled all donations to the China Baptist Convention across the country, distributing funds annually to Baptist conventions in various regions, including Sichuan. The Sichuan Baptist Convention then allocated the funds to four dioceses at the time: Chengdu, Ya'an, Leshan, and Yibin, serving as the primary financial support for running schools. Additionally, some funds were managed by American missionaries, consisting of non-private donations called “special funds” provided by the church, mainly used for church-related school affairs, subsidies for teachers, church members, and students. The faculty and staff of Mingde Middle School received high salaries and good benefits. The school had strong teaching staff with comprehensive subject offerings. Liberal arts teachers were mainly individuals who had achieved scholarly honors in the late Qing Dynasty, with profound knowledge of traditional Chinese studies. Examples include Yu Liangyu, the top scholar of the late Qing Dynasty’s Jieyuan examination, Yu Liangsui, an official of the Ministry of Personnel in the late Qing Dynasty, Jia Guzhi, a successful candidate in the imperial examinations, and Chen Zicai, Hu Xingjiu, Yan Shouzhi, and Chen Shijie, who were selected as tribute students. Teachers of mathematics, physics, chemistry, and English mostly graduated from West China University. They possessed genuine expertise, were in their prime, passionate about education, and dedicated to nurturing talent.

Students came not only from Ya'an County town but also from counties such as Tianquan, Lushan, Baoxing, Hanyuan, Shimian, and Yingjing. Since Baptist gospel halls had been established in various places at the time, many children of church members came to study here. Students of the school enjoyed living allowances and free medical care, and could seek treatment at the Baptist Ren De Hospital when ill. The school also provided “loaned fees” for graduating students. The top three graduates from families truly in poverty, upon joining the church as members, had the opportunity to receive an annual “loaned fee” of 70 silver dollars to attend the affiliated middle school of West China University in Chengdu—Private Huaxi Union High School—for further studies. Later, outstanding students could progressively receive “loaned fees” to advance to West China University, theological colleges of church universities, or even study abroad. According to regulations, students would gradually deduct the “loaned fees” from their salaries after starting work, but in fact, students were never required to repay them. The goal of church schools was to cultivate talent in various fields, and thus many students were able to pursue higher education or even study abroad, changing their lives.

Mingde Middle School had a simple and earnest academic atmosphere. The relationships between students, and between students and teachers, were as close as those between family members. The school offered a rich variety of extracurricular activities, such as morning exercises, seven-day spring hikes, short autumn trips, field collection of plant and insect specimens, religious discussion meetings, and free debate sessions, emphasizing both knowledge transmission and practical training. During festivals, students also performed plays and organized lantern parades. The school’s Parent-Teacher Association, student-managed library, and the jointly created “School Journal” by teachers and students further enhanced students’ sense of autonomy and identity.

From 1917 to 1949, Mingde Middle School enrolled 35 classes, with over 1,000 students. Among the graduates, the most famous was the anti-Japanese hero and “Flying General” Le Yiqin, as well as “Left-Wing Writers’ Union” writer Zhou Wen, Mosuo Princess Xiao Shuming, and Yang Lizhi, former head of the Xikang Provincial Department of Culture and Education. Talented individuals from all walks of life were too numerous to list.

Students of Mingde Middle School were diligent, ambitious, and full of dedication to serving the nation and society. Their teaching integrated Chinese and Western elements, and in the then remote and underdeveloped Ya'an region of Xikang, the school was considered to have top-tier teaching quality.

What was once Ya'an Private Mingde Junior High School is now the Xikang Museum.

A century-old legacy and provincial cultural relics protection unit—Ya'an Private Mingde Junior High School has been revitalized through reconstruction, reinforcement, and renovation, transforming into the “Sichuan Ya'an Xikang Museum,” which officially opened to the public on May 1st, providing citizens with an excellent place to gain knowledge.

Ya'an Private Mingde Junior High School, abbreviated as Mingde Middle School (Sichuan Ya'an Xikang Museum), is located on Zhangjia Mountain in Yucheng District. Covering an area of 1,300 square meters, it is a typical modern building that blends Chinese and Western architectural styles and is one of the few surviving modern-era buildings in Ya'an, holding significant cultural value.

Mingde Middle School was originally a church school, established in 1917 by the Ya'an Church of the China Baptist Convention and completed in 1922. Its first principal was an American named Shi Mianzhi.

Many students who attended this school later became pillars of the nation. The most famous among them was the “Flying General” Le Yiqin, who shot down four Japanese planes during an air battle in the War of Resistance against Japan. Today, a bronze statue of Le Yiqin stands proudly in front of the museum. Others include Yang Lizhi, who served as head of the Xikang Provincial Department of Culture and Education after the liberation, and countless others who laid a solid foundation here and later became doctors, hospital directors, experts, professors, underground Communist Party members, and democrats. The first principal of Mingde Middle School, Shi Mianzhi, to whom Mingde students hold deep respect, devoted his entire life to the school’s educational mission.

Cultural heritage infrastructure in Yucheng District was severely damaged in the magnitude 4.20 earthquake in Lushan. With the high attention and strong support of the provincial, municipal, and district party committees and governments, as well as the provincial and municipal cultural relics departments, projects such as the “Yucheng District Cultural Relics Rescue and Protection Project” and the “Yucheng District Museum” were included in the overall post-disaster reconstruction plan. Based on the actual conditions of Yucheng District and in accordance with the arrangements of the Ya'an and Yucheng District party committees and governments, the “Yucheng District Museum” was implemented in the reinforced and repaired provincial cultural relics protection unit, Ya'an Private Mingde Junior High School, for exhibition arrangement and was renamed the Sichuan Ya'an Xikang Museum.

As is well known, our city was once the capital of Xikang Province. What is Xikang Province? The name “Xikang” first appeared in a memorial by Fu Songmu, the acting Sichuan-Yunnan Compilation Affairs Minister in the late Qing Dynasty—he wrote, “Upon investigation, the borderlands are the ancient territory of Kang, located to the west, hence proposed to be named ‘Xikang’.” On the vast map of our motherland, Xikang was once an administrative province, existing for 17 years from its official establishment in 1939 to its dissolution in 1955. The former Xikang Province was located in the transitional zone from the Sichuan Plain to the Tibetan Plateau, serving as an important passage connecting the inland of the motherland with border defense areas such as Tibet and Yunnan. Its establishment was aimed at countering the imperialist ambitions toward China since the late Qing Dynasty, stabilizing Kham and securing Tibet, consolidating national defense, and also serving as a rear base to support China’s War of Resistance against Japan.

Today, the Xikang Museum displays a large number of relics from the Xikang Province era, showcases rarely seen old photos of Ya'an, and exhibits precious cultural relics from various dynasties unearthed within the urban area. The comprehensive use of modern sound and imaging technology allows citizens to feel as if they have traveled back to those times, immersing themselves in history and gaining knowledge.

Further Reading:

· Eighth Batch of National Key Cultural Relics Protection Units