Twenty-five alumni of the Huangpu Military School gathered at
the Sun Yat-sen Mausoleum in Nanjing on Saturday morning,
commemorating the modern China forerunner's 140th birth
anniversary, which falls on Sunday, or November 12.
The old men, most of whom are above 80 years old, arrived at the
mausoleum at 7:00 AM. Some of them had difficulties getting about
and were accompanied by their relatives to pay homage to the
founder of their school.
Wu Zhongqi, chief of the school's Nanjing alumni union, said
more former Huangpu graduates attended this year's commemorative
activities.
"To some of them, it is the first time to attend an organized
formal homage paying activity, so they felt very excited," Wu
said.
The old man said Sun's three-word teachings of "peace, striving
and saving China" before he passed away were engraved in every
Huangpu graduate's heart till now.
Founded in 1924 by Sun, Huangpu Military School was a cradle of
Chinese military talents, from which graduated a large number of
prestigious generals and marshals of both the Communist Party of
China and Kuomintang.
Sixty-nine-year-old Zhao Bin was also invited to the Saturday
activity. His father Zhao Zhiguang was a keeper of the mausoleum
for eight years and was killed by the invading Japanese soldiers in
1937 for protecting the sacred site.
"I am here in memory of my father and what is more, to
commemorate Dr. Sun Yat-sen, the person to whom my father devoted
his life," Zhao said.
A great number of people from other different circles, including
over 500 officials of Nanjing, also attended the commemorative
activities in Sun Yat-sen Mausoleum.
Also on Saturday a comprehensive historical picture album of Sun
Yat-sen was officially published in Beijing. The picture album,
co-authored by the Chinese People's Political Consultative
Conference's Committee of Cultural and Historical Data and the
National Museum of China, depicts Sun's great life and includes
experts' latest research on Sun.
(Xinhua News Agency November 12, 2006)
