But in 1938, when Xiamen fell to the Japanese, Jimei began almost a decade of upheaval. The campus was bombed heavily, the schools moved several times, and they could only continue teaching with the greatest of difficulty. But to have remained open at all was a considerable achievement for a private establishment.
然而一九三八年廈門被日軍攻陷後，集美開始了近十年的動盪歲月，校區歷經大轟炸，學校幾次流徙搬遷，只能勉強維持開課，就私立學校來說，已是難能可貴。