In 1938, in Yishan, Guangxi, the rear area of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, a general passed away. Although he did not die on the battlefield, he still received the highest honor. Celebrities in the political and literary circles sent him a bang, and a few years later, the Kuomintang government was buried with the scenery of national mourning. He was Jiang Baili, a military figure of the Republic of China and a general of the army. It was such a patriotic general, and the lady he loved deeply all his life was a Japanese woman.
In 1912, at the age of 30, Jiang Baili became the principal of the Baoding Army Military Academy with the rank of major general. With a passion for blood, he carried out a drastic reform of the school, he rectified military discipline and innovated the content of teaching. Jiang Baili's policies were supported by teachers and students, but touched certain interest groups. Duan Qirui sent people to obstruct it, so that the school completely had no economic resources, forcing Jiang Baili, who had just taken office, to a dead end.
In order to express his dissatisfaction with the old warlords and his determination to reform, Jiang Baili committed suicide in the early morning of June 18, 1913, in front of many teachers and students, in shangwutang. When Jiang Baili committed suicide, the guards stepped forward to grab the gun, and the bullet was deflected, fortunately it did not hurt the heart, but only the lungs. Jiang Baili made up his mind to thank the world with his death, and the dark curtain of the Beiyang warlord was torn apart by him, and Duan Qirui also panicked at this time, personally ran to the Japanese embassy and asked the Japanese embassy to send the best doctors to jiang Baili to heal his wounds. Jiang Baili was rescued, and after hearing that Duan Qirui was looking for a relationship to save him, he was even more furious, secretly hiding a bottle of sleeping pills himself, ready to commit suicide again. At this time, it was the little Japanese nurse who took care of him who gave him the courage to face this gray society.
The nurse' name was Sato Yaden, a native of Hokkaido, Japan, 8 years younger than Jiang Baili, born into an aristocratic family and well educated. After graduating from nursing school, she has been working as a nurse at the Japanese legation in China. After seeing the sleeping pills under Jiang Baili's pillow, Sato knew that Jiang Baili still wanted to commit suicide. She gently persuaded Jiang Baili: "You must be patient, suicide is not the act of a brave person, but an escape from the responsibility of life." Only those who know how to endure can achieve great things. A man with hot blood and responsibility never speaks of sacrifice. In the days when Jiang Baili had limited mobility, Sato took good care of Jiang Baili, and also accompanied him to chat and walk. In the daily relationship, Jiang Baili has been deeply attracted by Sato, she is quiet and gentle, like the morning sun warms Jiang Baili, let him see the hope of life again.
Jiang Baili directly confessed to Sato and entrusted Yuan Shikai to speak to the Japanese legation. Jiang Baili was a soldier, and he did not know how to express his love euphemistically. And Sato is both excited and nervous in the face of such direct love, Jiang Baili already has a wife, although the original wife is an arranged marriage at home, Jiang Baili has no feelings for her, but to marry Sato to a foreign country, she still has to go through a strong psychological struggle. She didn't know how long Jiang Baili's love could be maintained, and would she be abandoned like Jiang Baili's original match?
Sato really did not know how to respond to Jiang Baili's love, and she hurried back to Japan. Jiang Baili could not forget Sato, he could not keep her, he could only write to her in a fief, expressing his love and thoughts to her. Jiang Baili sent an unknown number of love letters, and Sato gradually darkened his heart under his strong attack. Sato wavered, Jiang Baili knew her hesitation, and in order to express his determination, he swore to Sato: "I was born because of you, and now you want to put me to death, well, I will come to Japan right away, and I will die in your home." Sato's heart was full of torment, and she told her parents that she wanted to marry Jiang Baili. Sato's parents did not agree at all, after all, their family was a reputable nobleman, and China was in chaos at that time, and they could never have allowed their daughter to marry Chinese at that time, even if he was a celebrity.
Jiang Baili's love letters still kept sending to Sato, and Sato really had no way, so he handed all the love letters to his father, hoping that his father could make the final decision for her. After Sato's father read the letter, he was touched by Jiang Baili's literary style and persistence, and his daughter kept pleading, and he finally agreed to this family affair. In 1914, Sato came to China again, in order to marry someone he loved.
Because of his busy affairs, Jiang Baili sent his non-commissioned officer classmates to meet her and sent her to Tianjin. The two married in Tianjin and settled in Beijing. Sato said to Jiang Baili: "From today on, Sato Yadori is dead, I am now a Chinese woman, my surname is Jiang. Because Sato likes plum blossoms, Jiang Baili gave her a new name, called Jiang Zuomei. The second half of Sato's life was like a most ordinary Chinese woman, she wore the clothes worn by Chinese women, taught her husband and children at home, spoke an authentic Beijing dialect, and did not teach her children to speak Japanese, and she could not see that she was a foreigner.
Jiang Baili loved Sato very much, he bought a few acres of land in his hometown of Zhejiang Kishi Dongshan, all used to plant plum blossoms, not called it "plum garden", they originally wanted to return here to retire after they were old, but they did not expect that this became an unfulfilled dream. Sato gave birth to 5 daughters for Jiang Baili, because of the war, she has been following her husband to the northeast and west, and wholeheartedly supports her husband's career. In 1927, Jiang Baili's student Tang Shengzhi raised an army in Wuhan to beg Jiang, and Jiang Baili was implicated and arrested and imprisoned in Nanjing. Sato came to Nanjing with his two young daughters, rented a small house, and took care of his daughter while taking care of Jiang Baili's prison life. It was not until after the "9/18" incident that Chiang Kai-shek agreed to release Chiang Baili.
After the beginning of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, Jiang Baili was appointed as a national defense senator and ran around for the cause of the War of Resistance. As his wife, Jiang Zuomei also participated in the Anti-Japanese Women's Salvation Congress, donating all her jewelry and savings to buy cloth for soldiers on the front line to make military uniforms. The Songhu War was very tragic, Sato and his daughter joined the stretcher team in the midst of artillery fire, and have been treating the wounded on the front line.
In 1938, Jiang Baili was leading students on the way from Hunan to Zunyi, but due to overwork, he had a heart attack and unfortunately passed away at the age of 57. Jiang Zuomei suffered the pain of bereavement and the suspicion of society for her. People spread rumors that she poisoned her husband, but Jiang Zuomei did not explain much, but took her daughters to Chongqing and continued to silently engage in the work of resisting Japan and saving the dead. After the victory of the Anti-Japanese War, Jiang Zuomei lived in her daughter's home in Beijing, and she died in 1978 at the age of 88. The daughters buried their mother next to their father's grave, and according to Jiang Zuomei's last wishes, a row of cherry blossom trees was planted in front of her cemetery.
In the war-torn era, Jiang Zuomei married a Chinese general, she could not predict the future feud between the two countries, there was no way to change her origins, and she had to bear malicious blame for her homeland. What is rare is that her love for her husband is enough to cover up these insecurities and grievances, and she is a strong woman, an arrogant Chinese daughter-in-law.