"Blood-Stained Heroic Soul: The Legend of Zhao Yiman"

Author: Wen Ye
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-04-01
Features: Zhao Yiman, female, was born in Yibin County, Sichuan in October 1905. In 1923, she joined the Chinese Socialist Youth League. In 1926, she joined the Communist Party of China. By the end of that year, she enrolled in the branch of the Wuhan Central Military and Political School for studies. In September 1927, she went to the Soviet Union to study at the Sun Yat-sen University of Moscow. In winter 1928, she returned to China and engaged in underground work successively in Shanghai and Jiangxi. After the "September 18th Incident," she was sent to Northeast China to launch the anti-Japanese struggle. She was martyred in 1936.
On November 1935, the third unit of the Northeast Anti-Japanese United Army was surrounded by Japanese and puppet forces. Zhao Yiman, the unit's political commissar, led the troops in fierce battle, killing more than 30 enemies, including Major Kogo Kiyoshi. To cover the troops' escape, Zhao Yiman was severely wounded. A few days later, while recuperating in a rural house, she was discovered by the enemy. In the battle, she was injured again and captured. Faced with the enemy's brutal torture, Zhao Yiman refused to yield. To obtain a confession, the enemy sent her to a hospital for treatment. In the hospital, she actively promoted the ideals of resisting Japan and saving the nation. The female nurse Han Yongyi and the guard Dong Xianxun were deeply moved and helped her escape. During the escape attempt, she was captured again and subjected to even more brutal interrogation, but she remained steadfast. Enraged and humiliated, the enemy decided to execute her. A record in one of the enemy's "reports" captures the touching scene of Zhao Yiman facing death with courage and composure: During her escort, though she felt death was near, she showed no panic. Instead, she expressed the belief that dying for the anti-Japanese struggle was glorious.
On August 2, 1936, after writing a farewell letter to her child, promising to continue the struggle in her mother's place, Zhao Yiman sang the "International Song" and the "Red Flag Song," shouted slogans such as "Down with Japanese Imperialism!" and "Long live the Communist Party of China!" as she walked to the execution ground, meeting her end with heroism.