A Memory of Pearl Harbor: School was Cancelled

Chinese-American Dr. Tsu Yao was born in Beijing in 1932, just as WWII in China was getting started. He remembers his birth as being, “two weeks before Japan attacked Shanghai.” Despite this, his father insisted that the family move to Shanghai, as he believed it would be safe.

“Shanghai at that time was extremely complicated,” explained Dr. Yao. “There was this core part of Shanghai that was divided into foreign concessions. They were international settlements. This is an interesting part of China’s history. “

China, in the early days, was the center of the world: everyone wanted China. In fact, the country was so self-sufficient and wealthy, they cut themselves off from the rest of the world for several hundred years (mid 1300s to mid 1600s.) Opium—and the illegal trading of it by British, Portuguese, Americans and others—forced China to open. While some Chinese tried forcibly to get rid of the foreign elements, and the opium, others were already addicts. Two opium wars ensued--China lost both--and foreigners demanded land around the ports. This is how the  international concession Dr. Yao spoke of was created. The British were given a concession, as were the French and Americans. 

These international areas were foreign-controlled and, initially, Chinese weren’t even allowed inside. With this kind of international atmosphere, Tsu’s father thought the family would be safe.

On August 13, 1937 Japan attacked Shanghai again.

“When I say Japan attacked, it was not in the two concessions. The two concessions were like an isolated island, completely cut off from outside.” 

“When Japan attacked Shanghai, the battle outside the concession lasted three months and was one of the most heavy fighting at the beginning of the Sino-Japanese war. The headquarters of the Bank of China (where Dr. Yao's father worked), being mostly controlled by the central government, was ordered to move to the war capital of Chongqing.”

Chongqing, located in the interior—with no railroad connection, few highways, no electricity or running water--was unprepared for the sudden migration of an extra 1.5 million people.  “There wasn’t enough housing or schools for the refugees.” So as an intermediate step, in 1938, the Yao family was sent to Hong Kong.  

“That was the first time I was on a big ship.” Dr. Yao, who was six at the time, even remembered the name of it: —a 25,000 ton Italian ship called, 'Conte Russo' which had been built for service in the First World War. The 800-mile trip to Hong Kong took 2 ½ days.

“Hong Kong was much poorer at that time. Shanghai was more prosperous, more populous than Hong Kong.”

Dr. Yao went to school in Hong Kong for 2 ½ years until the Bank of China headquarters in Chongqing were ready. In 1940 the family was all set to move there. Unfortunately, by this time the Japanese had started bombing Chongqing day and night, and many families moved to the outskirts of the city—real countryside. All farms. No schools. Dr. Yao's mother worried about the latter.

So while Father went to work in Chongqing, the rest of the family returned to Shanghai. Their house in Shanghai was located between the International settlement (British/American) and the French Concession.

“On the French side the voltage was 110. Across the street was the British system which was 220.” There was also an electric trolley that ran through the area. At the intersection between the French Concession and the International Settlement Dr. Yao had to get off, cross the street, and get on a different trolley—because the electricity was different.

“I remember the day of Pearl Harbor. We didn’t have radios at that time, so I didn’t know what happened. I walked to school eight blocks away. There were hardly any students there, as they had probably heard through the radio or their friends that the war had started. There were a few teachers who told us to stay put and they would find out what was really going on. Our teacher said, ‘The whole city is under Japanese control.’ So we decided to walk back home. School was cancelled.”

(…to be continued. Next: Avoiding Bandits and Bombs.)