Rewi Alley (1897-1987) was born in the Canterbury town of Springfield and grew up in Amberly and Christchurch. He moved to China in 1926 and, over the following decade, worked in a number of different professions including: a firefighter, a factory inspector and a relief worker. He witnessed severe poverty and inequalities of wealth in his adopted country. In 1937, he founded the Association of Chinese Industrial Cooperatives known as Gung Ho (“Work together”) with the American journalist Edgar Snow and several other associates. Gung Ho organised small-scale, self-supporting, cooperatives which created employment for workers and also provided resistance during the Japanese occupation.
China gave me an aim to life, a cause to fight for, each year more richly; a place in the ranks of the advancing millions; how great a thing has this been, what bigger reward could one imagine than that which has come to me, and now sustains!
– Rewi Alley
By 1940, he began establishing schools in various parts of China. One of his associates was the British adventurer George Hogg, who revitalised a school in the small village of Shuangshipu (Feng Xi’an). Alley joined Hogg and, in 1942, helped him move the school to the northern county of Shandan after it was threatened by Japanese troops. Following Hogg’s death from tetanus in 1945, Alley took over as headmaster, with administration gradually transferring to local officials following the Communist victory in 1949. By 1953 Alley had settled in Beijing and became a spokesperson for various international peace agencies, such as the World Peace Council. He immersed himself in writing about China and was well-known for his contribution to Chinese literature, writing and translating over 60 books — including the work of Bai Juyi, often regarded as being the finest poet of the Tang Dynasty (618 – 907). Several of Alley’s books and biographies are held in our collection and can be found through the Wellington City Libraries catalogue.
‘China’s cause is my own cause’.
– Rewi Alley
Later in life he revived the Gung Ho organisation with other veterans of the movement and also conceived a plan for a new school in Shandan. He also met and often got to know many of China’s most influential government officials: including Song Qingling, Zhou Enlai, Mao Zedong and Deng Xiaoping. Alley dedicated 60 years of his life in China and founded the NZ China Friendship Association. In 1987, both the New Zealand and Chinese governments honoured Alley for his work in Chin,a where he continues to hold the special status of being one of ‘China’s Top 10 international friends of all time’.
‘Eternal Glory to the Great Internationalist Fighter’.
– Deng Xiaoping, Chairman of China
2022 marks the 125th anniversary of Rewi Alley’s birth and his life and work to inspire people in both China and New Zealand.
Text sourced from https://nzhistory.govt.nz/people/rewi-alley
Rewi Alley resources