The martyr in a primary school Chinese textbook is still alive. In our hearts, the martyrs are always those heroes who died heroically, and their names are forever engraved on the monument, but if you are told that one of them not only came back to life, but also lived among us in obscurity for almost forty years, this is not the plot of the movie, this is the true story of Li Yu'an. How did he escape from the death line on the battlefield?
In 1924, Li Yu'an was born in picturesque Shandong Province. As a teenager, he left his quiet hometown and went to the Northeast to seek a livelihood, where he experienced the baptism of youth and resolutely joined the People's Liberation Army in 1946 at the age of 22, starting his bumpy and legendary military career. He successively participated in the Battle of Siping, the Battle of Western Liaoning, the Battle of Pingjin and the Battle of Crossing the River, and made many military exploits and became a real battlefield hero.
In 1950, when the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea broke out, Li Yuan was assigned to the 3rd Company of the 335th Regiment of the 112th Division of the 35th Army of the Volunteer Army as the deputy squad leader. In the early morning of November 30, he and his comrades-in-arms ushered in the most difficult battle of their lives on Songgu Peak. In the face of the well-equipped American army, Li Yu'an and his comrades-in-arms resisted with their bodies, and they fought bloodily for 8 hours until they ran out of ammunition and food, Li Yu'an rushed down the mountain at the last moment and launched a fierce hand-to-hand combat with the enemy.
After the war, because Li Yu'an's body was not found, everyone thought that he had died heroically. The novelist Wei Wei arrived at the front with his troops the next day, and according to the oral account of a battalion commander, the tragic battle was written into his reportage "Who is the Loveliest Man", and Li Yu'an's name was also recorded as one of the thirteen martyrs.
The magic of fate lies in the fact that Li Yu'an did not sacrifice. Seriously wounded in the battle, he was found in a coma by a group of passing Korean People's Army and rushed to the hospital in time for treatment. After one operation after another, despite severe damage to his spine and ribs, Li Yu'an's life was miraculously pulled back. In the spring of 1951, after he was sent back to China, he was treated in several army hospitals, underwent eight major surgeries, and finally saved his life, but he has been disabled ever since.
Despite his physical disability, Li Yu'an's heart still yearns for the battlefield, and he has repeatedly asked to return to the front, but the military has politely refused on the grounds of his physical condition. In September 1951, he was assigned to a farm in Harbin, Heilongjiang Province, and began another form of fighting—to be with the earth, quietly cultivating and building. In the decades that followed, Li Yu'an lived an extremely low-key life, rarely mentioning his past, and never revealing to the outside world that he was the martyr who was praised.
In 1990, by chance, Li Yu'an's true identity was recognized by an old comrade-in-arms of the original army. His name was engraved on the Martyrs' Monument, and his heroic deeds were compiled into textbooks and became a model for all students. When the truth was revealed to the world, it shocked the whole society, and also made Li Yu'an himself feel unprecedented complex emotions.
In an interview with the media, Li Yu'an once said with emotion: "I just did what I should do, life and death, I feel very lucky to come back alive." Still, he was uneasy about his status as a "martyr," preferring to be remembered as an ordinary man who fought on the battlefield and toiled in the fields rather than as a misunderstood hero.
Li Yu'an's story spread quickly in the local area, and many people expressed deep respect and curiosity for this "living martyr". His story has been used by some researchers to explore the complex relationship between war, historical truth, and personal fate.
Li Yu'an's story is not only a legend about the miracle of life and death, but also a profound reflection on history, truth and individual destiny. From the battlefield to textbooks, from martyrs to peasants, his life is the truest portrayal of that turbulent era. In this story, we see the cruelty of war, the impermanence of history, and the unpredictability of individual fate. And Li Yu'an, the hero who was once forgotten by history, finally redefined what a true hero is in his unique way. His story deserves to be remembered by each and every one of us.