Since the invention of photography, it has been given the mission of recording major historical moments, and countless touching historical photos, especially those recording the heroic spirit of resistance in human wars, are still full of infinite appeal.
In the early days of our army, due to the lack of material conditions, countless heroes and great victories did not leave video materials, which became a great regret.
However, during the War of Resistance Against Japan, our army finally had its first professional photojournalist, and many of the historical pictures of the Eighth Route Army, which are widely circulated today, were written by this person.
This person is Sha Fei, a famous military photographer and former chief of the press photography section of the Jin-Cha-Ji Military Region of the Eighth Route Army.
Sha Fei's real name was Situ Chuan, born in Guangzhou in 1912, he first studied radio, in that era, as a telegrapher salary was very rich, but the young Sha Fei was full of patriotic enthusiasm, not willing to be just a rich telegrapher, he resolutely joined the ranks of the Northern Expeditionary Army.
After the victory of the Northern Expedition, Sha Fei served in Shantou Radio, with a monthly salary of up to 150 oceans. According to the price of Nanjing at that time, a pound of pork and two cents, only one in 150 today, a piece of ocean is equivalent to today's 150 yuan, 150 ocean wages, equivalent to 22500 yuan, is definitely a white-collar worker in a first-tier big city.
However, Sha Fei paid more attention to spiritual pursuits, bought a large number of Chinese and foreign progressive books, especially Lu Xun's works, he did not leave a single one, read all carefully, and met Mr. Lu Xun in Shanghai, who had long admired.
On October 19, 1936, Mr. Lu Xun died of illness in Shanghai, and the famous photo of Lu Xun's remains (below) was taken by Sha Fei.
By chance, Sha Fei saw some famous World War I photographic works from a foreign pictorial, and was deeply moved by those photographic works that captured the moments of life and death on the battlefield against the rain of bullets, and he began to realize: How meaningful and valuable it is to be a photographer who records history! Since then, Sha Fei has begun his photography career.
In 1937, after the outbreak of the All-out War of Resistance, Sha Fei's blood boiled, and he was determined to use the camera in his hand as a weapon to leave a historical picture of how his ancestors fought bravely.
Sha Fei came to North China, joined the ranks of the Eighth Route Army, and filmed precious pictures of the famous Battle of Pingxingguan and the Battle of Niangziguan.
Many of the photos we see today that have both important historical value and superb artistic standards were taken by Sha Fei following the troops deep into the battlefield, such as the picture of the heroic attack of the Eighth Route Army in the Hundred Regiments War, the photo of Nie Rongzhen and the Japanese girl, and the scene of Dr. Bethune operating on the wounded... It can be said that Sha Fei is an artist who uses light and shadow to record the Eighth Route Army and the anti-Japanese military and civilians.
However, the long and cruel experience of the war made Sha Fei, who was already thin, suffer from serious mental illness and had to be admitted to shijiazhuang Peace Hospital.
Friends familiar with that period of history may know that the so-called "Peace Hospital" means that many of the medical staff inside are Japanese who help Chinese.
Sha Fei often went deep behind enemy lines, witnessed the tragic situation after the sweeping of many Japanese troops, and was full of bitter hatred for Japanese fascists, and after Lu Xun's death, Sha Fei heard rumors that Mr. Lu Xun was actually murdered by Japanese doctors, so now he is "at the mercy" of Japanese doctors every day and begins to produce "persecution paranoia".
Finally, in December 1949, Sha Fei, in a state of illness, shot a Japanese doctor, Katsuichi Tsuzawa.
At that time, Sha Fei was in a state of illness, so many people interceded for him, but the superiors finally sentenced Sha Fei to death on March 4, 1950, at the age of 38, out of the height of restoring Sino-Japanese friendship as soon as possible.
It was not until 1986, after the case was retried by the higher authorities, that Sha Fei was acquitted and his reputation restored. Sha Fei has a spirit in the sky, and it is always time to look at it.