As today marks the 94th anniversary of the September 18 Incident — the start of China's war of resistance against Japanese aggression, it is worth remembering how teachers in Zhejiang province stood firm in the darkest hour, passing on knowledge and hope with their words, actions, courage, and sacrifice.

In Ningbo, Xu Ying (1921-44), born into an ordinary family, witnessed the destruction wrought by repeated bombings from Japanese aircraft. Moved by the suffering of his hometown, he joined the underground resistance.

In February 1942, he founded the Gulin Supplementary School. Officially offering Chinese and arithmetic classes, the school also taught philosophy and political thought. Students trained militarily in the morning and studied by night — many of the 1943 cohort later joined anti-Japanese guerrilla forces.

The school was forced to close in 1944. Xu Ying handed his unfinished manuscript, Outline of Anti-Japanese Public Education, to fellow teachers before being captured and killed later that year, aged just 23.