The period of progress, unhappily, was short lived. It had become obvious to the Japanese war lords that a patriotic, united China might, on the one hand, prove an insurmountable obstacle to their own plan to conquer and control all of Asia. On the other hand, it would be too sweet a plum to pass up! Twice during the Thirties they shelled Shanghai and in 1939 launched a full scale war of aggression. All of the cities along the coast were captured, and the Chinese were forced to move far inland. Led by the Generalissimo, thousands of Chinese moved whole libraries, printing presses, government records and valuables laboriously up the Yangtse River to the city of Chungking. Every kind of river craft was used from a few modern boats to small sampans, junks and home-made rafts pushed by hand. All had to be either lifted out of the water and carried around the rapids in the river or be abandoned. Many families travelled on foot, each member carrying a bundle on his back. Even children of four and five had their small belongings wrapped in a large scarf and tied to the end of a stick slung over their shoulders. The road along the river valley became lined with food vendors and shoemakers who did a big business in woven straw sandals. Professors, surrounded by their students carrying modern books or ancient Chinese written scrolls, conducted classes during their periods of rest. United with their leader against a foreign enemy, the people of China revered and respected the Generalissimo. At last the long procession of uprooted patriots reached its destination, Chungking, and here Chiang set up his military headquarters and conducted his affairs of State. The Japanese, unable to reach the city by land, attacked almost nightly by air. Without anti-aircraft guns or planes of their own, the Chinese suffered terrible civilian casualties. A great part of the city was burned by incendiary bombs. On the ruins of the old city, Madame Chiang Kai-shek proceeded to build a model village, with schools, nurseries, libraries and churches such as she had known in America. The project proved a wonderful morale builder. Everybody for miles around took part in the construction of the unique little city, and it became the center of a broader undertaking known as “The New Life Movement.” In this new village, personal habits of cleanliness and sanitation were taught and ways of being mutually helpful suggested. Concerts and community singing were held almost nightly. The Generalissimo, wishing to emphasize unselfish cooperation, expressed the philosophy of the movement in four simple words: “Honesty, Industry, Sincerity and Justice.” There developed, among these people at least, a feeling of pride and unity that was well on the way to becoming national patriotism. This new spirit of oneness in the face of common danger was greater than at any time since Emperor Chin caused the Great Wall to be built in 214 B. C. to keep the Huns from invading his Empire.