Text/Schrödinger's Monkey
In Jinan, there was once such a well-known "centenarian doctor", even at the age of 103, he still conducted free public welfare clinics for his neighbors every day - if he did not understand his background in advance, obviously no one would have thought that this centenarian who spoke authentic Jinan dialect in front of him was actually a member of the Japanese army invading China seventy or eighty years ago!
One
After the outbreak of the "July 7 Incident" in 1937, Japan began a full-scale invasion of China, and major cities such as Beiping and Tianjin fell one after another, and the flames of war burned throughout North China.
In August, a warship full of soldiers of the Japanese 10th Division landed at Tanggukou. At this time, a head came out of the crowd, looking at the strange land in front of him, and his heart was at a loss: "Why did I come here, what am I going to do here?"
Not many days ago, Hiroshi Yamazaki, 30, was just an ordinary doctor in Wakayama City, Japan. Born in a Japanese Han Chinese medical family and three generations of ancestors practicing medicine, he joined the Japanese Red Cross Society early on, and has always been responsible for hanging pots to save the world and treating diseases and saving people, but he did not expect that such a doctor was also forced to recruit soldiers to the battlefield by the militaristic Japanese army.
In the early days of China, although Yamazaki, a military doctor, did not go to the front line, did not even touch the gun, but was only responsible for bandaging the wounds of the wounded in the rear, the tragic situation of the war still made him feel shocked and frightened. At this time, Yamazaki Hiroshi thought to himself, he only wanted to treat the sick and save people in his hometown, why was he pulled to the battlefield and became an invader, and it was even possible that he gave his life in vain?
At that time, he only had one thought, and that was to run!
So, on the eve of Hiroshi Yamazaki's 33rd Brigade preparing to attack the Chinese army, Yamazaki took advantage of the darkness and ran decisively. Because the Japanese army's punishment for desertion was extremely strict, Yamazaki had to mix with the Chinese refugees and escape all the way. In order not to reveal his Japanese identity, Yamazaki Hiroshi never dared to speak, and when he really had no food to eat, he used his hands to beg for food from others. With the relief of many Chinese a bowl of rice and a mouthful of water, Yamazaki fled all the way to Jinan, which had been occupied by Japan, and tried to blend into the Japanese ship to return home.
But in this war-torn situation, it is impossible to escape back to Japan. Hiroshi Yamazaki could only disguise himself as a Japanese expatriate and find a job as a warehouse manager at the Jinan Railway Station, which was a temporary settlement.
While working in the warehouse, Hiroshi Yamazaki also became friends with several Chinese workers. On a trip to Peiping to escort military supplies, the train was ambushed by railway guerrillas, and three Chinese workers were held accountable by the Japanese army and their lives were in danger. At this moment, Yamazaki Hiroshi stepped forward and took the initiative to take the blame for his Japanese identity, saving the lives of these three Chinese workers.
At the age of 100, Yamazaki recalled the incident vividly, proudly saying: "This is a good thing I did!" ”
Two
During the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, Yamazaki also became acquainted with his Chinese wife, a Tianjin girl who had also fled to Jinan.
After the victory of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, because he did not directly participate in the war and saved the lives of Chinese, Yamazaki Hiroshi was not repatriated to China, stayed in China, and opened a public welfare clinic with his wife on the railway as a member of the International Red Cross Society, and continued to do his old business of treating diseases and saving people, specifically helping those who looked down on the sick. Yamazaki Hiroshi did not charge any fees for these poor people, but asked each other to bring some food when they saw the doctor, so he and his wife were often hungry.
In 1952, the state began to implement public-private partnerships, and Yamazaki Hiroshi officially opened a clinic, becoming the first generation of barefoot doctors in New China, and then became a doctor in the local health center, eating public meals.
Yamazaki and his wife do not have children of their own, and their only daughter, Yamagami, is the adoption of a baby girl who has been abandoned and dying by others, and a weak baby girl who no one wants is saved by Yamazaki Hiroshi.
When he was a child, Shan Yongyun did not know his own origins, nor did he know much about his father's true identity, only knowing that he was different from other children, and at the beginning he followed his mother's surname Liu instead of his father's surname. When he heard someone call himself "Devil Ni", Yamanaka realized that his father was the so-called "Japanese Devil".
It was not until later when he heard the neighbors mention that his father had saved the lives of his co-workers, that Shan Yongyun learned about his father's past. Shan Yongyun also realized that his father was not the same as those Japanese devils, a well-known benevolent person, and later, Shan Yongyun also changed his surname from Liu to Shan.
Three
In 1976, with the restoration of diplomatic relations between China and Japan, Yamazaki, who had been living in China for nearly forty years, finally ushered in the opportunity to return to Japan to visit his relatives.
However, Hiroshi Yamazaki, who had just arrived in Japan and disembarked, stunned the relatives who came to greet him. Hiroshi Yamazaki also reacted after a moment - it turned out that he had been in China for a long time, and his mouth was an authentic Jinan dialect, and he almost forgot how to speak Japanese!
After the war, Japanese relatives thought that Yamazaki had died in China long ago, and even the tombstone helped him erect it.
Yamazaki also went to open and look at the so-called urn he had sent back - only to find that there were three stones in it, which made Yamazaki feel a sense of irony with black humor. A deserter who should have died a long time ago, he did not expect to eventually return to Japan in this way.
Hiroshi Yamazaki, who returned to his homeland and met his relatives, was also full of emotions and was hesitating whether to stay in Japan. Relatives were also preparing to help Yamazaki arrange accommodation and help him find a job in the hospital, with a monthly salary of 300,000 yen, and Yamazaki's monthly income in Jinan Hospital was only more than 80 yuan a month. To this end, Yamazaki Hiroshi also wrote a special letter to his daughter to ask for her opinion.
At this time, her daughter Yama Yongyun had grown up and married, and she expressed respect for her father's wishes, and he was willing to stay in Japan without worrying too much about his relatives in China.
But in the end, what was surprising was that Hiroshi Yamazaki, who had planned to visit his relatives in Japan for 4 months, not only did not stay in Japan, but returned to China early after staying for just over 20 days. Apparently, he was ultimately reluctant to his family in China and the cause of treating people in China for decades.
Four
Until his death in 2010, Hiroshi Yamazaki, who was 103 years old and had been in the same house for four lifetimes, still spent two to three hours a day in the morning at the office to do public welfare clinics for neighbors, and even sometimes insisted on peeing his pants.
Once Yamazaki Hiroshi was not old, staying at home and not going to work, but there are still many patients who come to the door, so busy that they are often disturbed by eating. Perhaps unable to let go of the career that has lasted for decades, Yamazaki finally continued to work every day to do free outpatient clinics for everyone.
In his later years, in addition to continuing his duty to cure diseases and save people, Yamazaki Hiroshi also found another career - that is, to make efforts to make Jinan and Japan's hometown of Wakayama City a sister city. Until he could not walk the road, the elderly Yamazaki often rode his bicycle through the streets of Jinan, running various offices, and making his own contribution to the development of friendly relations between the two cities.
In Yamazaki's view, he is doing a very meaningful thing! It can also be regarded as the mission that people with special status that are sandwiched between China and Japan should have!
Five
In December 2010, Hiroshi Yamazaki died at the age of 103, and although he was a foreigner, the Red Cross Society of China approved his application for the donation of his body for medical research after his death.
When someone once asked Hiroshi Yamazaki whether he should be counted Chinese or Japanese, he laughed and said: "No one matters, I am a deserter who should have died on the battlefield a long time ago, and I have been very lucky to be able to live for so many years and have been serving the people!" ”
(End)