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Comrade Tong Zeng,

　　How have you been?

　　I read from Weekly Digest the article Pursuing Justice Against Japan, which reported the first international hearing about Japan’s post-war compensation and described your work. First off, I’d like to send my highest regards to you from the remote border of our country.

　　I am 69 years old and retired in 1988 as a full-time Standing Committee of CPPCC of Mongolian Autonomous Prefecture of Bayinguoyangzhou, Xinjiang. My whole family suffered greatly from Japanese invaders during the anti-Japanese war period. Some of the major events are described below:

　　1. My parents were brutally beaten. My mother was tied to a door, poured water and beaten black and blue. After that, she couldn’t speak for over a month. My father died not long after being beaten.

　　2. My family’s 3 houses of brick were burned and most of our property was robbed by the Japanese puppet army.

　　3. My older male cousin Xiao Huiji was beaten to death at Qingfanguling Mountain.

　　4. My younger male cousin Xiao Huilin (infant name: Laozao) was captured by the Japanese and beheaded in Anxin County. We couldn’t even find his corpse.

　　5. My older male cousin Xiao Huiwen was hurt by the Japanese in the foot (he has passed away).

　　6. My older male cousin Xiao Huixiang was arrested by the Japanese puppet army for four times.

　　7. I was captured by the Japanese gendarmerie of Gaoyang, Hebei and sent to work as a slave labor. I jumped off the train at Langfang Railway Station and escaped home (See my memoir A Narrow Escape for details).

　　I once wrote a five-character poem to record this event:

A war broke out in July 7,
Lugou was shocked by gunfire.
Older brother was shot dead,
Younger brother was beheaded.
Mother was brutally beaten,
I was captured by the enemy.
Houses burned and property robbed,
A family history of blood and tears.

　　8. More than 10 people from my village were captured as slave laborers. Four of them were sent to Japan and returned after the war. All the others tragically died in Northeast China. All the people aged over 60 in my village (Zuojiazhuang, Jinzhuang, Gaoyang, Hebei) can provide detailed information about this matter.

　　I firmly support the campaign of demanding damage compensation from Japan launched by you.

Best regards,

Xiao Sa (originally Xiao Huitian)

Address: Sanatorium for Retired Cadres, Mongolian Autonomous Region of Bayingolin, Xinjiang
Postal code: 841000

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　　I am from Gimcheon, Gyeongsang, Korea (now South Korea). When I was 16 (in winter 1939), I was deceived by a bad guy and taken to China with other 24 women. We were first taken to Shanghai and given to the Japanese army. That’s when we realized we were deceived. We were forced to be comfort women. We had to entertain the guests, maybe over 10 men or dozens of men, day and night, even when we were sick! After nearly one year in Shanghai, we were transferred to Nanjing, Beijing and Changsha to be comfort women until Japan’s surrender in 1945. Then, I escaped to Hankou and got married.
A Korean woman who now lives in Wuhan

A Korean woman who now lives in Wuhan
Hong Changlin
September 13, 1992

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　　I am from Yesan, Chungcheongnam, Korea (now South Korea). As my family was very poor, when I was 17 (in December 1944), I was deceived by a local bad guy and taken to China with other about 30 women. It wasn’t until we reached Hankou after passing Tianjin and Nanjing that we knew we were taken there to be comfort women. We resisted, but in vain. Over 30 of us lived in a building (Nanyang Building near Public Orchestra in Liuduqiao, Hankou based on my memory), where each was given a room and forced to “entertain guests” even when we were having a period. We had to entertain over 10 or dozens of men every day. It was an inhuman life. In June 1945, I was bought by a pro-Japanese traitor surnamed Yin and served as his concubine until Japan’s surrender.

A Korean woman who now lives in Wuhan
He Junzi
September 13, 1992

A Narrow Escape (Memoir)

By Xiao Sa (Personal seal)

A Narrow Escape

By Xiao Sa

　　During the anti-Japanese war, the Japanese army based in Northern China vigorously implemented the Three Alls (kill all, burn all and loot all) policy. Especially during the May 1 Sweep in 1942, the Japanese army trampled on the sacred land of China, bayoneted the unarmed civilians, and burned the villages. The 8 million soldiers and people in the military area in Central Hebei Province fought bravely under the leadership of the Communist Party of China. During those days of horror and terror, when not a single person hasn’t lost someone he or she loved and not a single family is not sorrowful, I, as an 18-year-old primary school teacher, had my share of the unforgettable tragedy.

I was arrested by Beihai Foreign Firm

　　On the morning of lunar August 20, 1942, after having breakfast, I was going to hide among the sorghum field. Unexpectedly, when I just got to the door, three guns were aiming at my chest. It turned out three spies have waited outside the door for a long time. I recognized one of them, named Zhang Te, who once worked with the Anti-Japanese Youth Association, and later became a traitor after he was arrested by the Japanese. He said, “You are under arrest. Captain Gao is waiting in front of the Dragon King’s Temple.” Before he finished, the other two traitors tied my hands back with a string and pushed me out of my house with guns. I looked in the direction of the temple and saw that Captain Gao referred to by Zhang Te was actually Gao Tieying (also a traitor), who was sitting on a bench and pretended to be polite. He said something to me, but I didn’t care because I knew those who were under arrest would be either killed or sent to work in a mine in Northeastern China unless they become a traitor!
　　My parents were terribly distraught at seeing their only son being arrested. It broke my heart to describe that in details. Another two men who were also arrested are Xiao Zhuopu and Xiao Qingyue. We were arrested because the traitor in our village reported us. The enemy headed straight to our houses based on the roadmaps provided by the traitor. Later I heard that the traitor would be awarded a five-yuan fake note by the Japanese for reporting each person.

　　The spy team that arrested us was nicknamed Beihai Foreign Firm and consisted of 18 members, headed by a Japanese gendarme named “shazigai” (transliteration). He was waiting in the fort in Jinzhuang and didn’t come to Zuojiazhuang. The 18 spies came by bicycle. After we were arrested, they rode back to Jinzhuang, with us sitting in the back of their bicycles. On the way to Jinzhuang, I peeked at the sorghum field by the roadside to seek an opportunity to escape.

　　When we reached a crossroads between South Jinzhuang and North Jinzhuang, it occurred to me that “Big Black”, the director of the District Council, was sacrificed here after a failed escape attempt. How could I escape under the escort of 18 armed spies and with my hands tied up? So I gave up.

　　After the spies entered North Jinzhuang Village, they had some watermelon before the house of a man nicknamed Liu Luoguozi and then directly headed to the fort at the northwestern corner, where “shaizigai” was waiting. In a moment, the spies were riding fast on 18 bicycles along the road from North Jinzhuang to Ruanjiazhuang.

　　Back at that time, forts could be seen everywhere in the Central Hebei Plain. The enemy trampled on the vast land by implementing the cage policy that emphasized division and blocking. Yellow leaves falling with the autumn wind, the Japanese flags on the forts were like the soul leading banners on tombs, casting a miserable shadow on the Chinese people whose motherland was perishing. From the July 7 Incident to May 1 Sweep, how many Chinese people were killed and how many happy families were torn apart? As an 18-year-old rural young man who became a teacher after being deprived of education, what fate awaits me?

　　The fort in Ruanzhuang was already in sight. It was like a den of monsters and had caused endless disasters to nearby villagers. In the beginning, the enemy was stationed in the high compound of Liu’s family. The guerrillas attacked them multiple times, but failed to destroy them due to the lack of heavy weapons. Afterwards, when the enemy was building a fort in Yangjiazuo, only several Japanese soldiers were left to defend their base in Ruanzhuang. After getting the news, the Chinese guerrillas forced in, killed the remaining Japanese soldiers and seized guns and ammunition. By the time the enemy got the news and returned for rescue, the guerrillas had gone. After that, the enemy built a new fort in the east of Ruanzhuang to keep a distance from residential houses.

　　It was a straight road from Ruanzhuang to Jianwo Village, with deep and wide “blocking ditch” on both sides. The enemy forbade the villagers from growing long-stalked crops such as sorghum and would cut them off if they did to prevent the ambush of the guerrillas.

　　After passing the fort in Jianwo Village, I could see tall chimneys in the town. When the spies pushed us all the way to Xiguan, Gaoyang, it was already noon. There was a fair in Gaoyang. The street was crowded with people wearing a white cloth on their heads who cast sympathetic eyes on us. Despite being tied-up, we straightened our backs and passed through the bustling crowd.

　　The spy team escorted us into Beihai Foreign Firm in North Xida Street, a Japanese spy agency led by the Japanese gendarmerie. Later, I saw the water barrels in the firm bear words “Spy Squad”. Except a Japanese officer and several Japanese soldiers, all the rest staff of the firm were traitors and Gao Tieying was the team leader. The Japanese didn’t trust these traitors. I noticed that after we were escorted in the office, some traitors returned the guns to the Japanese, which meant they were given guns only when they needed to arrest people in the countryside and some of them were not allowed to bring guns anymore after they came back.

　　Beihai Foreign Firm occupied the residence of Li’s family. One of its gates was near the street and lied alongside the gate were three large halls. After entering the gate, the western and eastern houses in the compound were dormitories of the gendarmerie. After passing the central gate, there was the backyard where prisoners were held in the western and eastern houses. The guards lived in the northern houses and posts were set up on the roof. The compound was surrounded by wire on all sides, the traitors and soldiers were fully armed and several fierce large dogs guarded inside the compound. This place was gruesome like hell.

　　After we were escorted in a hall, a Japanese soldier ordered us to write our name, age and occupation. I wrote “primary school teacher” in the occupation column. Then, a spy searched us, took off our trouser belt and escorted us to the western house in the backyard.

　　The house in which we were kept was indeed a cage. The floor was an uneven wooden board and the wooden door was about 1 meter high, locked with a big padlock. At the southeastern corner of the house was a rectangular wooden pit, a place for us to urinate and defecate. It was extremely stinky and attracted a lot of flies. The foul air was so suffocating that it made me want to vomit as soon as I got in the cage. There were no quilts or pillows. I lied on the floor covered with smelly mud, wearing only thin clothes (back then farmers didn’t have vests or shorts), and began my tragic life as a prisoner. I engraved “August 20”, the unforgettable date, on the wall through a wooden pile and made a stroke on the wall every day ever since.

　　Before we were put in the prison, there was already a prisoner, who was a traitor. He said it was because of “heroin”. After that, I often saw him squeeze off some tobacco leaf in the cigarette, add some “white powder”, set it on fire and desperately puff on it. He said it felt like above the clouds. Although we were not the same as him, we had to chat with him in a seemingly pleasant way because we lived in the same room now and he knew things around here. He told us after the May 1 Sweep, most of the people that were arrested were village cadres and young, strong men. In this way, the Japanese tried to destroy the rural anti-Japanese organizations and capture slave labors to supplement their labor needs. He added that the previous groups of people that were arrested were all sent to Manchukuo to dig coal and that only a few people with serious issues or poor health were left and sent to Jingjing Mine. The Japanese’s cruelty to Chinese slave labors was known to all. Huang Yichou, Xiao Dahan’s younger brother, Wang Zao and Xiao Shuilan, etc. from my village had an experience of the life as an animal. Except Xiao Shuilan, who escaped home after going through all sufferings, all the rest died tragically in a foreign place and became wandering souls. Like them, we three had entered into the abyss of suffering and might have a worse life than they did.

　　Only those who have lost freedom know the preciousness of freedom best. “Life is dear, love is dearer. Both can be given up for freedom.” I remember when I was young, I caught a little bird and put it in a cage. The bird kept bumping into the cage until it died. Today, I clutched at the wooden cage and stared at the things outside. The shouting of traitors, the sound of chains when opening and closing cells, and the barking of dogs came together into a thrilling song. Not until at this moment did I truly know what it felt like to pass a day as if it were a year!

　　The sun set down in the west, giving out a beam of light from the peak of Taihang Mountain to the North China Plain. It got darker in our western cell. A husky voice came, “Dinner time!” A short and stout man, lifting several small bowls, went to the gate of our cell and passed 4 bowls of porridge through the small hole. Not until I saw the steaming rice did I realize I hadn’t eaten anything for over 10 hours since the morning and I was starving. “People are iron. Rice is steel. You’ll feel like crap without a meal.” As I held the bowl, a disgusting musty smell went in my nose. But as the Chinese saying goes “A hungry person is not picky”, I quickly swallowed the porridge down, leaving some bean-size sand at the bottom. After finishing the porridge, the traitor in our cell said, “We will be given only two meals, one bowl of porridge for each time, about 100g or 150 g of grain for a day to barely maintain our life.” Later I knew that the cook was nicknamed Hu Ma Zi. He was also arrested here. Since he became the cook, he began to speak like the Japanese and would even call others “moron” in Japanese. There was a cook assistant, over 20, medium high, round face. He didn’t forget he was a Chinese. He would quietly cook and send meals, sometimes cast a sympathetic look at me and try to give us a bowl of more and denser porridge.

　　It was dark after dinner. It’s black and foul in the cell. Lying on the wooden board, I couldn’t fall to sleep as the picture of me getting arrested kept repeating in my mind and the crying of my parents broke my heart. I am the only child of my father. My biological mother died of disease three months after I was born. I was taken good care of and brought up by my stepmother. As the Chinese saying goes, “I want to put you on my head, but I fear you may fall. I want to put you in my mouth, but I fear you may melt.” But today, their only child was in prison, how could they withstand the heavy blow?

　　The first night after my arrest left a deep imprint in my 18-year life and I grew up to be an adult in just one day. When I was thinking, hurried footsteps came closer. Then, the cell was opened. With a shining flashlight in hand, two guards stood outside the door armed with bayonets, saying, “Xiao Yixin, come out.”After Xiao Yixin was taken away, I and Xiao Qingyue stayed closer together, thinking he was taken away for interrogation. The traitor said the Japanese had cruel tortures and elaborated on the punishments of the gendarmerie such as biting by large dogs, pouring pepper water and iron-branding. At that moment, I and Xiao Qingyue were worried about Xiao Yixin’s life. With autumn wind outside the windown, the light on the ceiling and nosie in the front yard, we vaguely heard the piercing cries of Xiao Yixin.

　　At midnight, two guards held Xiao Yixin back to the cell. Xiao Qingyue and I immediately ran to him and gently put him down on the floor. As I saw him covered with blood, with closed eyes and weak breath, my tears came out. He slightly opened his eyes and said weakly, “I am ok. Don’t be sad!” I gently wiped the blood off his face and saw a wound the size of a Walnut on his forehead. Xiao Yixin later told us, “The enemy asked me where the guerrillas are and where the guns and food are hidden. I said the guerrillas changed several places in a day, brought guns on them and ate wherever they went. The enemy was angry to hear that, so they gave me a good beating.” At that time, Xiao Yixin was over 40. He told us to have a firm stance and be careful. During the 10-year Cultural Revolution, when he was in Wuhu, Anhui, the “rebels” asked me to report on his “betrayal”. I faithfully described the above process. In 1979, after receiving my letter, he, over 80 then, jumped out of joy! That’s a 200-word letter, which I wrote with trembling hands for three days. Xiao Yixin, whose original name was Xiao Zhuopu, changed his name to show his determination to fight the Japanese. In the letter, I wrote a four-line poem, “Determined to fight the Japanese, he never bows his head before a bayonet. Old but still passionate, he continues to live a life with enthusiasm.”

　　After Xiao Yixin was interrogated, I was emotionally prepared for the same. I registered my occupation as teacher; they might use that against me. After several tough nights, more people were arrested and put in the cells. Our cell was so crowded that there was only enough room for me to sit.

　　Then at midnight one day, shouts suddenly came from the backyard, causing a chaos. The lights went on. Then, we saw the backyard was full of Japanese soldiers and traitors. They called all prisoners from all cells to gather in the backyard. It turned out that a prisoner in an eastern cell secretly stroke a match to light a cigarette, but was seen by a Japanese soldier, who thought he was planning to escape. So the solider hit him hard with a stick. That’s the first time in my life I witnessed someone being so brutally beaten.

　　The next morning, the enemy carried out a massive search in all cells. When we were just put in the cell, there were no quilts, so we often shivered out of cold in the night. Days later that kind cook assistant got several quilts for us. We felt like we were covered by eiderdown. Sadly, after the search, our precious quilts were gone. At that night, we knew the word “head of circle” (round up your body due to cold) (the word is pronounced the same as regimental commander in Chinese).

　　On a storm night, appalling shouts came, “XX, come out.” I vaguely saw through the wooden cage that a shackled man was taken out of an eastern cell and staggered towards the front yard. The sound of shackles got farther and father. The lightning piercing the night sky and the autumn rain wetting the ground, gunshots came from a distant. The traitor in our cell said, “One more is dead.” Then, I realized another Chinese was killed by the Japanese. The Japanese gendarmerie is like a den of beasts that eat people. God knows how many people were killed in Beihai Foreign Firm!

　　One day, there was a fair in Gaoyang. At noon, when the traitors were about to put the several people they arrested from the fair into a cell, a middle-aged man requested to take a shit in the toilet. One traitor said, “Be quick!” The toilet was in a small passage at the southwestern corner of the yard. Ten or twenty minutes later, the man still didn’t return. The traitors became worried and ran into the toilet with bayonets, shouting “He has run away!” Instantly, the Japanese soldiers and traitors in the front yard, backyard and on the roof began to search for that man, but in vain. The traitor in our cell said, “This man can leap from rooftop to rooftop, otherwise he cannot escape from the compound.” I sincerely admired this middle-aged man for his wisdom and bravery that helped him escape. I learned something from this incident that seeking the right opportunity to escape was the only way out.

　　At that time there were over 10 people in my cell, so there were more urine and shits and the shits overflowed down on the ground. I often stood at the gate to breathe some fresh air. There was a female cell opposite ours, which only held a Korean military prostitute with golden teeth. She would wear makeup every day and lie on thick quilts, smoking. Some guards often stayed at the gate of her cell like flies to hit on her and she would fearlessly scold them. Then one day, a female cadre was arrested and put in the same cell as the prostitute. The female cadre often silently leaned against the cell gate and whispered to me. She would sometimes sing anti-Japanese songs in a low voice, “Since the Japanese came, the Chinese people have begun to suffer. They lost their parents and cannot return to their hometown.” These songs often made me emotional.

　　After I was kept in the cell for over 10 days, a guard called me and Xiao Qingyue out. I was so worried, thinking I would be interrogated, but we were taken outside the right gate in the front yard. It turned out we were ordered to carry water. As soon as I carried two heavy wooden barrels on my shoulder, I felt dizzy due to starvation. But I felt like a bird out of a cage when I breathed in fresh air. I hungrily looked at the free outside world. Two guards escorted us out of Beihai Foreign Firm and led us to walk along Xida Street for a while before entering a police station. There was a well in the yard. I filled the two barrels with water and walked slowly by carefully holding the carrying pole. I nearly fell several times. After carrying four barrels of water, I was put back in the cell again. I felt quite depressed. The water we carried was used by the Japanese to take a shower. These wolves would always try to take a shower wherever they went, while we hadn’t washed our face since the day we were put in a cell. We lived like beggars.

　　Several days later, the guards ordered us to carry water again. I had lost the interest in the job. Carrying water might not count as a heavy job, but was indeed a heavy burden to starving people. But as a man in a cell without freedom, I had to obey them. When I staggered to the cell in the policy station, I surprisingly saw my mother. We were just parted for days, but her hair was whiter and eyes blinder. As soon as she saw me, tears came out of her eyes. I also became emotional, but couldn’t say a word as my throat was choked by cotton. My mother held me and asked with concern, “Have you been beaten?” I said, “No, not for a once.” With that, tears flowed down my cheeks. But I quickly realized our reunion was short and I couldn’t add her pain. So I wiped off tears with my sleeve and managed a smile. My mother took out several meat buns out of her bag and put them in my hands. I swallowed them up, feeling they were the most delicious buns I’d ever had. Later I knew our reunion was arranged by Li Zhenxiang. Before I was arrested, Zou Ping and Xing Xiaowang with the Traitor Removal Department instructed me to contact Li Zhenxiang (with the Spy Department) and tell him to be a spy for the Chinese army. Li promised he would contact the Traitor Removal Department. My reunion with my mother was arranged by Li through his brother, a policeman.

　　There was another time that the Japanese gendarmerie ordered me and Xiao Qingyue to do a cleaning. I saw in the Japanese dormitory books about Chinese party members and guerrilla tactics. The enemy were indeed working hard on invading China. The Japanese gendarmerie slept on tatami (a mat woven from straw), with the quilt woven into the shape of a pocket. When I was cleaning tatami, a Japanese soldier suddenly rushed in. It turned out he put a sparkling gun under his pillow. I remained calm and continued cleaning. At that time, several more people were arrested and taken into the yard. I didn’t know whether they were cadres or common people, but they were bitten by dogs and beaten by the Japanese soldiers. It was a tragic sight to behold. The Japanese gendarme urged me, “Clean faster.” I did as he told and after we cleaned the front yard, we went to the clean the houses in the backyard. When thinking back about how my fellowmen were cruelly beaten, I felt sad, but helpless.

　　When we were cleaning the central room in the backyard, there were two children of 13 or 14 years old sitting opposite and playing the chess. They looked like children from the city as their faces were quite clean. I didn’t know their identity. They were playing the chess and humming a song. I didn’t pay attention at first, but after a moment, I vaguely heard them sing, “A Chinese man with a conscience should not betray his country.”

　　I spent over 30 days of cold and hunger in Beihai Foreign Firm, when I suffered from serious cold for several times and even got blisters in my mouth, but I wasn’t given cool water to drink, let alone medicine. Then on the afternoon of a gloomy day, the yard which was usually empty was suddenly full of Japanese gendarmerie and traitors. A tall Japanese soldier with a black beard sat in the chair in the northern house, like the King of Hell. The traitor in our cell whispered to me, “He is the head of the gendarmerie, nicknamed Big Beard. The traitor once told me that Big Beard was a ruthless man. He killed so many people in Xinzhuang fort that his sword became a saw and he set the record of killing the most number of people. There was once he put a man under arrest on the fort, poured gas on him, set him to fire and watched him rolling down and falling to death, or burning alive. Suddenly, Big Beard gave an order. All prisoners were gathered in the yard and stood in lines. We were as quiet as sheep to be slaughtered. We were waiting for our fate. Big Beard began to call our names. After calling a name, he would tick off the name on the list. Some people were ordered to walk in the western cell and some in the eastern cell. Nobody knew what this was about. The whole thing took two or three hours. About 1/3 of the prisoners were in the eastern cell, while I, Xiao Yixin and Xiao Qingyue were in our original cell. Just as we felt relieved, a Japanese gendarme called me and Xiao Qingyue out and ordered us to enter the eastern cell. We felt sad to part from Xiao Yixin. It’s always better to die or live together with him. Although Xiao Yixin was a tough man, tears welled up in his eyes at that moment.

I left the hometown to work as a slave labor

　　The next morning, all the people in the eastern cell were called out, stood in lines and were escorted on the large trucks at the gate of Beihai Foreign Firm under the supervision of two traitors. Each truck was escorted by four traitors. In a while, four or five trucks, carrying about 100 people under arrest, drove to the west along Gaobao road. This was the first time that I was in an automobile. I didn’t know it was so fast. I could see the electric poles moving in the opposite direction. I tried to find the right moment to jump off the truck, but when I just made up my mind, we were near the base. It was only 10 minutes’ drive from Jianwo to Ruanzhuang and from Babanqiao to Shiqiao. Hesitation could never help me succeed. I felt very depressed.

　　When the trucks reached Xiguan Railway Station, Baoding, the sun was in the west, and red clouds gathered at the peak of Taihang Mountain. We were escorted in a large yard and met with the people arrested from other places. There were about 200 people and each was given a grass green hat, a pair of rubber soled shoes and a towel. I washed my face and hands under the faucet for the first time in over 30 days. A Japanese soldier spoke to us through an interpreter and told us that we were about to go to Qinjinzhai, Fushun in Northeastern China (the enemy called it Manchukuo) to dig coal. I had been told by the adults since I was young, “When people come to Qianjinzhai, they sell their new quilts for the old ones and then the ragged ones to pay their debt.” Xiao Shuilan from my village was arrested and sent there. It took him 8 months to escape by crossing the Great Wall. Today, we were about to follow his footstep. I secretly discussed with Xiao Qingyue and we decided that we must escape before we reached Shanhaiguan, otherwise it became more dangerous for us to escape.

　　At dawn, we were escorted on a train. As the whistle blew, I became emotional. Baoding was once the place where I was educated and schools such as Gulianchi, Daqinghe, Yude and Tongren No. 2 Normal School were places I was familiar with. But now I was about to leave here as a slave labor. “The desolating gale freezes River Yi.” I felt like death was approaching.

　　We entered a third-class carriage which had two exits at two ends, guarded by four Japanese soldiers at each exit. This was the first time I took a train, so I observed the equipment in it. The window could be moved up and down, furnished with green curtains and a steel box was placed near the seat for passengers to spit in. Due to exhaustion and bumping of the train, I quickly fell asleep and when I woke up, we already reached Peiping Station. I felt depressed that I missed a good opportunity to escape. After all other passengers left, we were ordered to queue up and escorted out the station.

　　Everything was new to me when I just got Peiping. There were so many colorful lights, well-dressed gentlemen, beautifully-dressed women, old people dressed in the traditional gown of the late Qing Dynasty and traitors wearing a beard. How could these apathetic well-addressed men and women know that soldiers were bleeding and the people were suffering? It was indeed “A showgirl doesn’t know the hate of losing her country as she was still singing a conquering song!”

　　Dressed in rags and looking pale and thin, we were driven by the Japanese soldiers as cattle or sheep through allies and entered a large compound. After being dismissed, we drank a lot of running water flowing from Yuquan Mountain and then settled down in several large, empty warehouses. While the enemy were not on guard, we studied escape plans in threes and fives. There were only 8 Japanese soldiers escorting us from Baoding to Peiping. If every 3 of us handled one Japanese soldier, then 24 of us could get 8 guns. It shouldn’t be hard for us to get home with the weapons. The steel box on the train could be used as weapons to smash the enemy’s heads. The other young fellowmen were busy making plans as if success was near, while I was carving a slogan “fight home and never be a colonial slave” on the wall. In fact, how could it be easy for a group of rural young men to seize guns barehanded in a narrow carriage without leadership and organization? Without a leader to decide on key issues, the plan was nothing more than empty talk.

　　The next morning, the enemy escorted us in an alley to have physical examination and obtain a passport to Manchukuo. At that time, some traffickers would sell slave labors to the enemy. We each was given a 20-yuan fake note and spent 10 yuan buying a ragged quilt. Then, the enemy tried to talk some sense into us, claiming repeatedly that “All of those who try to escape will be killed, while you can make a lot of money to support your parents if you work at Qianjinzhai.” Nobody listened to the nonsense. After returning to our room, I discussed with Xiao Qingyue, etc. and decided to escape by jumping off the train at a place preferably between Peiping and Tianjin as seizing guns from the enemy was too dangerous and the consequences are disastrous if there was a spy among other fellowmen. We decided to sit in the middle of the train as much as possible because the enemy were at both ends. Xiao Qingyue was several years older than me and we were from the same large family, so we were determined to live or die together.

I escaped, but faced new danger

　　On the third night after we arrived in Peiping, the enemy escorted us to a train bound for the east. As soon as we got on the train, I and Xiao Qingyue squeezed to the middle and sat opposite to each other by the right window. As the boarding caused a chaos, I secretly opened the window and pulled down the curtain. When the salesperson came, I bought a bottle of white wine, a pack of cigarettes and some snacks with the only 10-yuan fake note. Then, I and Xiao Qingyue ate and drank before pretending to sleep to deceive the enemy. He peeked at the movement of the Japanese soldiers in the back and I the Japanese soldiers in the front. We kicked each other’s feet to exchange information. We were fully prepared to capture the best opportunity.

　　The train moved rapidly along Peiping-Tianjin railway. I felt burning and nearly got drunk as this was the first time I drank a lot. The train swiftly passing one after another station, it occurred to me that I missed the opportunity to jump off the train along Pinghan Road due to sleep and I would regret a lifetime if I made the same mistake again. When the train gradually slowed down as it approached Langfang Railway Station, I kicked Xiao Qingyue and whispered, “Jump!” I opened the curtain and let him to jump first. Unexpectedly, he made a mistake in a hurry by getting himself stuck at the window with one leg inside the train and the other outside. I immediately pulled him in, helped him stick out two legs and then gave him a hard push to help him jump out of the window. As I studied the movement of jumping off the train in advance, I first pushed hands against the seat to stick my feet out of the window and then held my hands on the window to jump off and in a deep ditch by the road. By the time we jumped off, the situation in the train was chaotic. I heard the people smashing the window, running about, the enemy shouting and the sound of gunshots. How many escaped and how many died? I still have no way of knowing that. About over 20 people escaped with us at the same time. Afterwards, we ran to the west along the blocking ditch, with bullets flying above our heads and giving out dazzling light. Then, we found a place easy to climb. We quickly climbed up the blocking ditch by stamping on other people and pulled those in the ditch up. In a moment, we all climbed up and ran quickly to the north. Fearing the enemy might chase us from the north, we hid among the furrows after running 1,000 or 1,500 meters to watch the movement at Langfang Railway Station. The searchlight beamed across the land, mixed with gunshots and after some time, everything quieted down. With a whistle, the train left towards the east. At last, we gathered 12 or 13 people and took the measure of traveling in nighttime and sleeping in daylight to head back to our hometown-Gaoyang.

　　We each wore a Japanese-style grass green hat, rubber soled shoes and a white towel around our neck, and had different heights, looking very much like a White Neck Team (or traitor team). We marched forward among fields in the black deep night. The puppet organization Village Union of the villages along our way would shout and beat a gong when hearing us and the enemy would shoot from their forts. We had to run fast to escape from the danger. The result was that we would sweat so much that our clothes were all soaked up and the crops would cut our ankles.

　　Before dawn, we reached a small village decorated by several white poplars. We pleadingly knocked open two houses and faithfully described our situation to the owners. They looked us closely and believed us. They bought some corn meals and pancakes for us. We took up posts by turns so the rest people could take a rest. Finally, we could settle down for a moment after a narrow escape.

　　After the sun set down, we asked about the route to the south and decided to march towards Yongding River. The then Yongding River, known as Wuding River, often flooded, causing sand blockage. The trees in low land only had the crown exposed and houses only the ridge. The vast alkaline land was seemingly covered by snow. The northern Chinese people were struggling due to famine in the war.

　　Then, we arrived in a village named Hongxinzhuang. The houses in the village were only a little over 1 meter high, giving out weak light through small windows. We bent over on the window and quietly knocked the door, “Fellowmen, fellowmen.” After hearing our voice, some families immediately blew off the oil lamp and remained silent. We pleadingly knocked more doors and described our situation. The God was finally touched by us. Some families opened doors for us. Their houses were like damp basements as they dug out silt from the houses after being flooded. A house owner told us, “There are about 100 families in the village. Over 70 families have left to beg for a living. The remaining families live on several packages of bran and wild grass. The pile of wild grass at my gate is our food!” With that, the old man gave me half of a grass bun to eat. I hungrily gave it a bite, but couldn’t swallow it down as it hurt my throat. I didn’t want to have another taste. I secretly put it in my pocket. (I took it home as a souvenir.) At that time, we each had a little over 2-yuan fake note, so we put them together and asked the house owner to buy some corn flour in northern villages. The owner made the flour into pancakes over the night. We each took several pancakes as our food along the way and then we gave some to the house owner. His family said, “It feels like the Spring Festival.”

　　We didn’t sleep long. After knowing that there was a shallow ferry by Yongding River, we decided to wade across it. The cold wind blew across the river in lunar October. 13 people of us, hand in hand, formed a long line led by me. I searched forward and suddenly the water became above my chest and nearly swallowed me in the waves. Luckily, the people behind pulled me back to the bank. We walked to the right for some distance and then crossed the river with the water at our waist. In several minutes, my thin clothes became as rigid as ice. But how could I drag down the whole team? After running for a while, the ice melt and the clothes gradually dried, but my feet bled badly due to cracks. It felt like stepping on nails every time I stepped my feet on the land and hurt a lot. But I staggered along to keep up with the team.

　　Our team members didn’t know each other except Xiao Qingyue and me, who were from the same big family, so we only had one goal of returning home safe. Without leadership or organization, we took care of each other at first, but then we only cared about ourselves. The weaknesses of farmers were gradually exposed.

　　After walking dozens of huali (1 huali=500 meters), we entered a village before dawn. We knocked some doors, but were rejected. The situation was bad at that time. The major Chinese forces had marched towards Taihang Mountain and the guerrillas were broken down into smaller groups, so the enemy from different bases often disguised themselves as guerrillas to harass the villagers. Knocking doors at dawn would inevitably cause horror and dissatisfaction from villagers. We had no choice but to go to a closed primary school to take a rest. As soon as we laid down on the broken desks to rest, several clear gunshots came, startling the silence of the night sky. We immediately rushed out of the door and escaped away.

　　I ran to the wheat ground outside the village and hid among sorghums, listening carefully to the movement. After some time, I hesitantly climbed out of the sorghums, and just before I exposed my head, I saw a team of enemy passing through the wheat ground. I immediately lowered down my body and thought, “How close!” Then, after more than one hour, I guessed the enemy must be far away, so I stood up and walked towards the south. At that moment, I was all by myself, like a stray wild goose struggling in a storm.

　　Despite the bleeding of my feet due to cracks, I ran towards Wangjiachang, a manor full of weeping willows. It’s said the manor was a villa of a big landowner which remained its charm despite the damaged round door, beautifully- carved walls and bay windows. At dusk, several kind handymen were sitting by a lamp and chatting. They happily agreed to my request for a stay over the night and even gave me a bowl of warm soup. I took out the remaining pancakes to eat while having the soup. The warm house drove away cold. Through the dim light, I recognized the two people curling on the bed were my team members. I greeted them warmly, but they gave me a cold look as if I became a burden to them by being there.

　　The next morning, they suggested we part to avoid expanding the target. I began to stride along the bank full of weeping willows. It was early winter and fog clouded everything, with a visibility of only a few meters. They two ran for a while and then secretly hid under the trees by the bank. I went furious after seeing that. It was me who led them to jump off the train and it was me who explored the way across Yongding River. But now when we were so close to returning home, they only cared about themselves. I thought of how they flattered us who were put in the cell before them and even kowtowed to us and vowed to the God to share weal and woe with us. Suddenly, they were not who they used to be. Even until today, after over 40 years, I still remembered this moment.

　　I walked alone along the bank and vaguely saw several enemies coming towards me on a bicycle. I walked down the bank in a hurry and hid myself among the grass. Not until they went far did I stood up and walked forward in knee-high marsh land.

　　There was also much water outside Baiyangdian. I reckoned that water was not deep in the places where grass could be seen, so I struggled forward among the muddy water.

　　As the sun went down, the cold wind blew. I couldn’t see clearly the villages or trees in front and I knew I would die if I couldn’t get out of the marsh land before dark. At this critical moment, I began to run desperately through places with shallow water. But the water often turned out to be high above my chest. I almost despaired.

　　I stood in waist-high water and signed, “It’s over.” At that time, the sun had disappeared and the moon rose in the sky. I shivered, felt dizzy and almost fell down. Suddenly, an owl flew overhead and gave tragic screams. I shuddered with fear. Common farmers took the scream of owls as a bad omen. But I wasn’t superstitious since I was little and I once snapped the neck of a statute of the Dragon King. I wondered where would this owl lead me? The owl flew towards southwest for a while and then stopped on a pile of sorghum stalks in the water. I followed it. After passing several piles of sorghum stalks, I miraculously returned to the land. Later I knew that owls could see where to land from high above in the sky. Thus, I was led out of danger by this “bird of bad omen”.

Unforgettable savior

　　When I entered Xiaoyang Village in northwestern Baiyangdian, the fellowmen had just finished dinner. I knocked door by door to seek accommodation. But all of them refused politely due to my demon-like appearance. Finally, a kind man told me to stay the night in the primary school in the west of the village. I took his advice. After I entered the primary school, I found there was no door or window or nothing inside and the floor was too wet to lie down on. Besides, if I was found here by the enemy, I had no way to escape. I disappointedly came out of the school and walked behind it. Unexpectedly, I saw two shacks with light on. I gently called under the window, “Aunt? Is anybody home?” “Who is it?” An aunt replied kindly. I said, “Aunt, please open the door. I need your help.” The aunt opened the door and invited me to sit on the bed. The warmth inside made me comfortable. There was an uncle named Wang Tao and a child named Wang Youchang in the house. They were a 3-member family. After listening to my suffering, the aunt shed sympathetic tears and left to cook some food for me. In a while, she placed warm porridge and buns on the table. I held the bowl to eat, with tears dropping in it. The aunt comforted me, “Child, don’t be sad. You are home now, right? Your mother must be very happy to see you!” After the meal, the aunt asked me to sleep on the warm bed and gave me the thickest quilt her family had. For over a month, I slept on a cold floor without a quilt. Today, I felt the warmth of a bed and the kindness of people. I lied in the bed and heard the aunt and uncle discussing about how to help me cross Baiyangding. Then, the aunt got off the bed and told me, “I am going to ask whether my younger brother was available to take you across Baiyangdian with his boat.” After quite a moment, the aunt came back and said, “My younger brother wasn’t home. I will guide you through two forts along the bank tomorrow. If the enemy asks about your identity, you just say you are my nephew. Be clam!”

　　The next day, after having breakfast, I put my two pancakes from the towel and into the basket that the aunt gave to me and walked side by side with her, talking and laughing. We looked like mother and son on a visit to relatives. After we successfully passed the two forts, the aunt stopped and earnestly told me, “Child, be careful on the way!” Looking at her back, I couldn’t help but tear up.

　　After walking 20 or 30 li (1 li =500 meters), I reached a village (not far from Tongkou) whose name I forgot and stayed one night at an uncle’s house. This was also a three-member family. They had a little girl. Like the kind aunt’s family, they cooked dinner for me and let me sleep on a warm bed. I will never forget these strange old people who kindly treated young people in difficulties.

　　The next morning, I bid farewell to the uncle’s family and directly headed to my older female cousin’s village-Nanbianwu Village. Her family was very happy to see me return. They cooked a nice meal for me and let me have a good sleep before allowing me to go home the next day.

　　Two days before I returned home, Xiao Qingyue had returned on his own and told my mother, “Don’t close the door tonight, Huitian (my original name) will come home at midnight.” But two days had passed, I still didn’t show up. My mother and other villagers were worried about me, wondering if I was arrested on the way home. My 60-year-old mother leaned against the door, expecting to see me. When other villagers saw me walking on Leizhuang Road, they happily told each other and accompanied me back to the village, “He is back!” They welcomed me in a simple, genuine way. I was happy and sad, tears flowing down my cheeks. The spacious yard of my family was filled with 200 or 300 people. My mother silently watched me for a long time and suddenly cried. The scene of our reunion was still vivid to me.

　　Although I permanently live under the foot of Tian Mountain far away from my hometown, I will always remember those unforgettable days, my saviors and my countrymen.

How often full moon shines over Tian Mountain,
I could Recall I was arrested 46 years ago.
Tied-up in ropes and paraded through a city fair,
Sent to the border in groups as prisoners.
I bravely jumped off the train at Langfang,
still remembers the freezing water in Yongding River.
Fortunately I survived to serve my country,
Always remember the sacrifices of our martyrs.

Finalized on November 2, 1988
Printed in lunar January 1993