In that turbulent era, a Japanese female high-achieving student born in Tokyo crossed the ocean to China with anti-war ideals. She not only joined the Eighth Route Army led by the Communist Party of China, but also became a capable general under General Zhu Rui, making outstanding contributions to China's War of Resistance Against Japan. How did this Japanese woman come to Taihang Mountain from Tokyo, and how did she grow into a heroic soldier of the Eighth Route Army?
Born in the aristocracy of Tokyo, anti-war ideals sprouted
In the third year of Taisho (1914), Aoko Hara was born into an aristocratic family on the outskirts of Tokyo. Her father, Hara Hikojiro, was a professor at Tokyo Imperial University, and her mother, Hararu, was a housewife. The family lived a comfortable and comfortable life, and Hara Qingzi received a good education since she was a child.
However, Hara Aoko's childhood was not too peaceful. In the seventh year of Taisho, World War I broke out, and after Japan's entry into the war, the domestic economy prospered for a time, but the shadow of war also loomed over the entire society. As an intellectual, Hara had a deep understanding of the cruelty of war, and he often taught Hara to cherish peace and oppose war at home.
In the fourteenth year of Taisho, Hara Aoko's mother died of illness when she was 15 years old, and her life fell into trouble. Fortunately, thanks to the financial support of her brother Hikotaro Hara, she was able to continue her studies at the Tokyo Women's Higher Normal School. There, Hara made many like-minded friends who were keen to discuss current affairs and expressed strong dissatisfaction with the expansion of Japanese militarism.
Yuan Qingzi read many anti-war literary works, such as Lu Xun's "Diary of a Madman" and Ba Jin's "Home", which further strengthened her determination to oppose the war. In the fifteenth year of Taisho, she joined the "Tsukiji Small Theater Troupe", an underground revolutionary literary and artistic group composed of intellectuals who preached pacifist ideas.
He went to China and joined the Eighth Route Army to resist Japan
In 1936, Hara married Cheng Mingsheng, a Chinese student at Waseda University in Tokyo, and came to China with her husband. Mr. Cheng nominally worked for a British company in Jiaozuo, but in fact he was doing clandestine work for the Chinese Communist Party. Aoko Hara's husband knew that she had been involved in the underground activities of the Japanese Communist Party when she was in Tokyo, so he trusted her and often gave her some tasks.
On July 7, 1937, the Lugou Bridge Incident broke out, and the all-out War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression began. Once, Zhu Rui, who served as the director of the liaison office of the First Theater of the Eighth Route Army, came to Yuan Qingzi's house, and Yuan Qingzi confided in him his desire to oppose Japan's invasion of China and be willing to do some work for the resistance against Japan. Cheng Mingsheng also introduced Yuan Qingzi's experience to Zhu Rui. At that time, Zhu Rui only asked Hara Qingzi to assist her husband in his work.
In the early spring of 1938, Yuan Qingzi came to Kaifeng and got acquainted with a group of patriotic young people who were preparing to join the Eighth Route Army, such as Wang Lanxi, Lei Renmin, Yang Zhanwu, etc. Their revolutionary enthusiasm deeply infected Hara Qingzi. In particular, the drama "The House of the Traitor" performed by Ma Nan, a female teacher and student of Kaifeng, and others reflecting the bad deeds of traitors, gave great inspiration to Yuan Qingzi.
Yuan Qingzi could no longer hold back the impulse in her heart, she wrote a letter to her husband Cheng Mingsheng, resolutely asking to participate in the Eighth Route Army to resist Japan, even if it was just laundry and cooking. Cheng Mingsheng conveyed Yuan Qingzi's wish to Zhu Rui, who first asked her to go to the Xi'an Eighth Route Army Office to go through the formalities, and then go to Yan'an.
When Yuan Qingzi arrived in Xi'an, the formalities could not be completed, so he had to go home first. During this period, she secretly cried many times, because Japanese women are not allowed to cry in front of others. Zhu Rui understood Yuan Qingzi's feelings, and he said that since the formalities could not be handled, he should go to the Taihang Mountains on the anti-Japanese front line first.
So, Zhu Rui arranged Yuan Qingzi to work in the Xinxiang Office of the Eighth Route Army. Soon, he introduced Yuan Qingzi to the North China cadre training class in Jincheng to study. There, in addition to teaching Japanese, Hara also studied Chinese diligently. Two months later, her classmates were willing to get close to her, and she and Ma Nan, Chen Ji and others had nothing to talk about.
New elements:
a. Propaganda of anti-Japanese resistance in the Taihang Mountains to win the support of the masses
b. Personally participated in guerrilla warfare and made many meritorious contributions
c. Establish a deep friendship with Chinese farmers
In February 1938, according to the instructions of the Northern Bureau, Zhu Rui decided to lead Yuan Qingzi, Ma Nan and other classmates into Yangcheng to open up the Shanxi-Henan border anti-Japanese base area. When they arrived at Henghe Town, most of the villagers avoided it, except for one old man who cried and said, "I heard that the army was coming, and the villagers ran away." ＂
After Zhu Rui comforted the old man, he said to Yuan Qingzi and others: "The people in the mountains still don't know you, and without the support of the masses, you can't gain a firm foothold in Jinyu." Your first task is to educate and educate the people who have fled to come back. ＂
Yuan Qingzi, Ma Nan and others formed a propaganda group, because they were lesbians, it was easier to get close to the masses. They enlightened the villagers with the principle of resisting Japan and saving the country, and soon became familiar with many villagers. Until March, Zhu Rui went to Lingchuan and gave Yuan Qingzi a photo when he parted, which Yuan Qingzi still treasures.
After Zhu Rui left, Tang Tianji, Fang Shengpu, Ao Jimin and others formed the Eighth Route Army's Jinyu border guerrillas. Ma Nan served as the head of the propaganda section, Geng Xixian did mass work, and Yuan Qingzi served as the head of the enemy engineering section. Commander Tang asked her to translate slogans such as "Down with Japanese imperialism" and "Preferential treatment of prisoners by the Eighth Route Army" into Japanese to teach the soldiers, and also asked her to teach Japanese to friendly troops.
In the early morning of September 18, 1938, the troops were surrounded by enemy troops in Jiyuanjian North Village. Ao Jimin and Fang Shengpu ordered the troops to break through the encirclement, and Yuan Qingzi and other political workers rushed to the east entrance of the village, and heard someone shouting, "Come quickly." Before they could finish speaking, the machine guns fired at them. A soldier shouted, "Quick, go with Hara Aoko!" Hara Aoko and the others escaped in the darkness of night, but the enemy chased them closely. Yuan Qingzi climbed the mountain twice in a row and slid down, and a comrade-in-arms next to him fell.
Hara Qingzi gritted her teeth and continued to climb, she always remembered that she was Japanese and must not be captured. As soon as she climbed the mountain, she heard someone shouting to her, "Mr. Cheng, come down quickly", and she looked at her own people. At this time, she found that a shoe had been lost somehow, the foot plate was worn and bleeding, and there were a lot of sour jujube thorns. Hara Qingzi endured severe pain and joined up with the troops that had repelled the enemy, and the rest of the comrades returned to the assembly area one after another.
In the area of Taihang Mountain and Zhongtiao Mountain, the original Qingzi and the troops lived and died together, and also formed a deep friendship with local farmers. There is a family of three who treats her as a relative, and the little girl affectionately calls her "godmother". When parting, the whole family was reluctant to let her go, and Hara Qingzi didn't want to leave here. She had no choice but to comfort them: "The Eighth Route Army is around you, and the Tang detachment is still here... ＂
He was promoted to a cadre of the Eighth Route Army and became Zhu Rui's right-hand man
At the end of 1938, Yuan Qingzi was transferred to the Enemy Army Work Department of the Political Department of the Eighth Route Army, the minister was Taiwanese Cai Qian, and there were 7 or 8 staff members under his jurisdiction, most of whom were Japanese soldiers who had been captured anyway, and there was also a leader of the Japanese Anti-War League in China named Shanmu. Here, Aoko Hara started a new job.
Because Hara Aoko was proficient in Japanese and had a deep understanding of the thinking of Japanese soldiers, she soon became the backbone of the enemy engineering department. She was not only responsible for translation work, but also personally conducted ideological education for the prisoners, calling on them to join the Chinese people's war of resistance against Japan.
Hara's efforts soon paid off, and many captives joined the Eighth Route Army under her influence, becoming a reliable fighting force. Her outstanding performance has also attracted the attention of Zhu Rui.
In 1939, Zhu Rui transferred Yuan Qingzi to the First Campaign Headquarters of the Eighth Route Army. Since then, Yuan Qingzi has become Zhu Rui's cronies and right-hand man. She was not only responsible for translation, but also accompanied Zhu Rui to the front line all year round to assist in commanding operations.
In the spring of 1940, Zhu Rui led the main force into the Taihang Mountains, and Yuan Qingzi also went with him. There, she continued to work as enemy propaganda while also serving as an interpreter for Jury's entourage. With her extraordinary talent for language, Yuan Qingzi quickly mastered the local dialect, which made her feel like a fish in water in mass work.
In 1941, Zhu Rui appointed Yuan Qingzi as the chief of the enemy engineering section of the Political Department of the First Campaign Command of the Eighth Route Army. Since then, she has officially become a cadre under Zhu Rui. In this position, Yuan Qingzi was fully responsible for the propaganda of enemy workers and the ideological transformation of prisoners, and won the surrender of a large number of Japanese puppet troops for the Eighth Route Army.
Zhu Rui praised Yuan Qingzi's work ability. Once, he personally wrote an inscription for Yuan Qingzi: "Brave and diligent, amazing!" This is undoubtedly the highest praise for Yuan Qingzi. From an ordinary soldier to Zhu Rui's cronies, Yuan Qingzi interpreted the word "great" with practical actions.
After the war, he continued to fight for the cause of the Chinese revolution all his life
After the victory of the Anti-Japanese War, Yuan Qingzi did not stop there, she continued to stay in China and contribute to the construction of New China.
In 1946, Yuan Qingzi joined the Communist Party of China and changed his name to Yuan Qingzhi. The following year, she went to Yan'an to receive revolutionary training and study Marxist theory. There, she not only raised her political theoretical level, but also further deepened her identification with the cause of the Chinese revolution.
In 1949, when the People's Republic of China was founded, Yuan Qingzhi was assigned to work in the Central Social Department. Her main responsibility was to liaise with overseas Chinese at home and abroad to gain more supporters for the Chinese revolution. With a solid foundation in Japanese, Kiyoshi Hara showed his talents in this position.
In 1950, when the Korean War broke out, Yuan Qingzhi was ordered to go to the Korean battlefield and served as a staff member of the China-North Korea Friendship Association. There, she was not only responsible for translation, but also assisted in the propaganda of war journalism. With his excellent business ability, Yuan Qingzhi soon became the backbone of the China-DPRK Friendship Association.
In 1953, after the Korean armistice, Yuan Qingzhi returned to Beijing and was assigned to work at the Chinese People's Foreign Cultural Association. There, she was mainly engaged in propaganda work with Japan, introducing the face of New China to the Japanese people, and contributing to the promotion of Sino-Japanese friendship.
In the early 1960s, Yuan Qingzhi retired and lived in Beijing. Despite her advanced age, she still keeps an eye on the development of the country and is proud of the victory of the Chinese revolution. Whenever someone asked her about her experience, she always humbly said: "I am just an ordinary soldier who has made a modest contribution to the cause of the liberation of the motherland." ＂
Until 1983, Yuan Qingzhi passed away, and a legendary life came to an end. However, her contributions to the cause of the Chinese revolution will always be remembered by future generations. From a Japanese female high-achieving student, to a capable general of the Eighth Route Army, to a staunch supporter of New China, Yuan Qingzhi used his life to interpret the revolutionary spirit of an internationalist soldier who never slackened.