Xie Jinyuan (Hsieh Chin-yuan; 26 April 1905 – 24 April 1941) was a
Chinese Nationalist
Chinese nationalism () is a form of nationalism in the People's Republic of China (Mainland China) and the Republic of China on Taiwan which asserts that the Chinese people are a nation and promotes the cultural and national unity of all Chin ...
military officer famous for commanding the
Defense of Sihang Warehouse
The Defense of Sihang Warehouse () took place from October 26 to November 1, 1937, and marked the beginning of the end of the three-month Battle of Shanghai in the opening phase of the Second Sino-Japanese War. Defenders of the warehouse he ...
during the
Battle of Shanghai
The Battle of Shanghai () was the first of the twenty-two major engagements fought between the National Revolutionary Army (NRA) of the Republic of China (ROC) and the Imperial Japanese Army (IJA) of the Empire of Japan at the beginning of th ...
in the
Second Sino-Japanese War
The Second Sino-Japanese War (1937–1945) or War of Resistance (Chinese term) was a military conflict that was primarily waged between the Republic of China and the Empire of Japan. The war made up the Chinese theater of the wider Pacific Th ...
.
Biography
Xie was a
Hakka
The Hakka (), sometimes also referred to as Hakka Han, or Hakka Chinese, or Hakkas are a Han Chinese subgroup whose ancestral homes are chiefly in the Hakka-speaking provincial areas of Guangdong, Fujian, Jiangxi, Guangxi, Sichuan, Hunan, Zhej ...
born in
Jiaoling County
Jiaoling County ( postal: Chiuling; ) is a county in the northeast of Guangdong Province, China, bordering Fujian province to the north. Under the jurisdiction of Meizhou City, it was previously known as the Zhenping County ( postal: Chenping).
...
,
Guangdong
Guangdong (, ), alternatively romanized as Canton or Kwangtung, is a coastal province in South China on the north shore of the South China Sea. The capital of the province is Guangzhou. With a population of 126.01 million (as of 2020) ...
province. He attended the
Whampoa Military Academy
The Republic of China Military Academy () is the service academy for the army of the Republic of China, located in Fengshan District, Kaohsiung. Previously known as the the military academy produced commanders who fought in many of China ...
in
Guangzhou
Guangzhou (, ; ; or ; ), also known as Canton () and alternatively romanized as Kwongchow or Kwangchow, is the capital and largest city of Guangdong province in southern China. Located on the Pearl River about north-northwest of Hong Kon ...
and graduated in 1925 majoring in politics. He served in the
National Revolutionary Army
The National Revolutionary Army (NRA; ), sometimes shortened to Revolutionary Army () before 1928, and as National Army () after 1928, was the military arm of the Kuomintang (KMT, or the Chinese Nationalist Party) from 1925 until 1947 in China ...
until his death.
After graduation he was assigned to the 5th Regiment, 2nd Division as a platoon commander. In 1928 he was promoted to company commander. The next year the division was involved in the defence of
Shandong
Shandong ( , ; ; alternately romanized as Shantung) is a coastal province of the People's Republic of China and is part of the East China region.
Shandong has played a major role in Chinese history since the beginning of Chinese civilizati ...
from a Japanese invasion and Xie was badly wounded in the defense. After he recovered he took command of the machine gun battalion of the regiment, and was later promoted to major and transferred as a staffer to the
Wuhan
Wuhan (, ; ; ) is the capital of Hubei, Hubei Province in the China, People's Republic of China. It is the largest city in Hubei and the most populous city in Central China, with a population of over eleven million, the List of cities in China ...
HQ. In 1931 he accepted an assignment to the 78th Division of the 19th Route Army, and in October 1930 he was transferred to the 88th as the battalion commander of the Reserve Regiment. Xie saw combat against the Japanese during the
January 28 Incident. He later served as vice regimental commander and was promoted to lieutenant colonel.
Defense of the Sihang Warehouse
On 26 October 1937, as the Chinese defense of
Zhabei
Zhabei, formerly romanized as Chapei, is a neighborhood and a former district of Shanghai with a land area of and a resident population of 847,300 as of 2013. It is the location of the Shanghai railway station, one of the main railway stations ...
faltered,
Chiang Kai-shek
Chiang Kai-shek (31 October 1887 – 5 April 1975), also known as Chiang Chung-cheng and Jiang Jieshi, was a Chinese Nationalist politician, revolutionary, and military leader who served as the leader of the Republic of China (ROC) from 1928 ...
wanted to withdraw all Chinese forces to defend the rural western regions of Shanghai and ordered acting commander of the 3rd Military Region
Gu Zhutong GU, Gu, or gu may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Music
* Gu (instrument), Chinese drums
** Bangu (drum) () or Gu (), a Chinese "flowerpot" drum
* ''Global Underground'', an electronic dance music compilation series
Other media
* GU Comics, an ...
to leave the
88th Division behind to cover their retreat. Gu was personally attached to the 88th Division and was vehemently against this plan, as was the division's commander
Sun Yuanliang
Sun Yuanliang (; March 17, 1904 – May 25, 2007) was a Chinese military general of the National Revolutionary Army of the Republic of China. Sun was the last surviving member of the first graduating class of the Whampoa Military Academy, as well ...
, who sent his chief of staff Zhang Boting to Gu's headquarters to argue against it. However both hesitated to go against Chiang's orders; Sun instead suggested that the number of troops left behind to cover the withdrawal would not matter. He proposed (through Zhang) that a single regiment instead be left to defend one or two fortified regions, a plan Gu approved. Back at his own headquarters, however, Sun decided that a regiment would still be too many lives wasted and decided to instead order a single over-strength battalion - the 524th Regiment, which had been reduced to 423 men - to defend the divisional headquarters at Sihang Warehouse instead. Xie Jinyuan, relatively new to the 88th, volunteered to lead the regiment, relieving
Yang Ruifu
Yang Ruifu (1902 – 3 February 1940) (), courtesy name Jieqing, was a Chinese military officer. Born in 1902 in Jinghai County, Tianjin, he joined the National Revolutionary Army in 1921, assigned the 524th Regiment of the 88th Division. He ro ...
of command on 26 October.
When he was transferred to the 524th Regiment, Xie was not familiar with any of the men under his command. He commanded the defense of the warehouse from 27 October til 1 November. Its proximity to the
Shanghai International Settlement
The Shanghai International Settlement () originated from the merger in the year 1863 of the British and American enclaves in Shanghai, in which British subjects and American citizens would enjoy extraterritoriality and consular jurisdiction ...
made it world-famous and brought the war between the Chinese and Japanese to the world's attention, if only briefly. During the defense, Girl Guide
Yang Huimin
Yang Huimin (; March 6, 1915 – March 9, 1992) was a Girl Guide during the 1937 Battle of Shanghai who supplied a flag and brought supplies to besieged defenders of the Sihang Warehouse. Her actions proved inspiring to the defenders, who flew ...
secretly delivered a Republic of China flag to the defenders; when she asked what Xie's plans were, he replied, "Defend to the death!" Moved, she asked for a list of the names of the defenders to announce to the entire country. Xie realized that doing so would reveal to the Japanese (who had been fooled into thinking an entire regiment was stationed at the warehouse) their real strength. However, not wanting to disappoint Yang, he gave her the original roster of the 524th Regiment - 800 men, nearly double their actual strength. Thus the defenders of Sihang Warehouse became known as the Eight Hundred Heroes.
By 31 October the rest of the Chinese forces had retreated and been redeployed to defend more favorable areas. The nearby
Shanghai International Settlement
The Shanghai International Settlement () originated from the merger in the year 1863 of the British and American enclaves in Shanghai, in which British subjects and American citizens would enjoy extraterritoriality and consular jurisdiction ...
was concerned at the combat taking place so close to them and petitioned Chiang to stop the fighting. Chiang, who considered the fight already won, agreed to withdraw the 524th Regiment to the foreign concessions before regrouping with the rest of the 88th Division. On 1 November the 524th withdrew; in the defense of the Sihang Warehouse, they lost 10 men killed and 37 wounded for over 200 Japanese killed.
However, when they retreated, British troops arrested them; the Japanese had threatened to invade the Settlement if the soldiers were allowed to retreat. Though the Chinese had lost the Battle of Shanghai, the defense of Sihang Warehouse proved to be a major morale-booster.
Imprisonment
Xie and the rest of the "Eight Hundred Heroes" were imprisoned in the Settlement for more than three years. During their incarceration, citizens of Shanghai often visited the troops, giving them performances and entertainment. The officers opened classes for the soldiers, teaching foreign languages, mathematics, and even Christian theology.
Chen Wangdao
Chen Wangdao () (1891–1977) was a Chinese scholar and educator. He is recognized as the first and only person to translate the Communist Manifesto into Chinese completely so far. He also served as president of Fudan University from 1949 to 197 ...
, the Chinese translator of the
Communist Manifesto
''The Communist Manifesto'', originally the ''Manifesto of the Communist Party'' (german: Manifest der Kommunistischen Partei), is a political pamphlet written by German philosophers Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. Commissioned by the Comm ...
, also visited the camp from time to time. The soldiers spent their days doing military drills. Their practice of singing the National Anthem of the Republic of China every day was continually disrupted by the foreign authorities, until it was violently put down by White Russian mercenaries.
The Japanese and
Wang Jingwei
Wang Jingwei (4 May 1883 – 10 November 1944), born as Wang Zhaoming and widely known by his pen name Jingwei, was a Chinese politician. He was initially a member of the left wing of the Kuomintang, leading a government in Wuhan in oppositi ...
's
collaborationist government attempted to persuade Xie and the other prisoners to collaborate with them; the Japanese offered to allow the Settlement to free the prisoners on the condition that they disarm and leave Shanghai as refugees, but Xie refused. When Wang invited him to be the chief of staff for his army, he refused as well, stating "my parents are Chinese and their son also is Chinese. Chinese are never slaves."
Death
On the morning of 24 April 1941, Xie was assassinated by Sergeant Hao Dingcheng and three other soldiers who had been bribed by the collaborationist government. All four attackers were immediately caught. More than 100,000 people turned up for his funeral and he was posthumously promoted to major general.
Personal life
Xie married Ling Weicheng (凌維誠) in 1929, and had two sons and two daughters: Youmin (幼民), Jimin (繼民), Xuefen (雪芬) and Lanfen (蘭芬).
Legacy
Xie Jinyuan's body was interred in a small garden along Singapore Road (now Yuyao Road) where his bunk used to be. In 1947 the Shanghai city government renamed Jiaoyuan Park, where the soldiers lived, to Jinyuan Park, and renamed an elementary school in the vicinity 12th District Jinyuan National Elementary School. The road to the west of the warehouse was renamed Jinyuan Road. His grave was destroyed by
Red Guards
Red Guards () were a mass student-led paramilitary social movement mobilized and guided by Chairman Mao Zedong in 1966 through 1967, during the first phase of the Cultural Revolution, which he had instituted.Teiwes According to a Red Guard lead ...
during the
Cultural Revolution
The Cultural Revolution, formally known as the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, was a sociopolitical movement in the People's Republic of China (PRC) launched by Mao Zedong in 1966, and lasting until his death in 1976. Its stated goal ...
.
On 16 April 1983, Xie's grave was moved to the Wanguo Public Mausoleum. In the same year, the barracks area was rebuilt and named Jinyuan Alley.
/ref> In March 1986 the city council of Xie's hometown, Jiaoling, Guangdong, set up a monument in his honour, and his alma mater Jiankeng Elementary School was renamed Jinyuan Elementary School.
In 2005, to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the Chinese victory in the Second Sino-Japanese War, as well as the Allied victory in World War II, China Telecom released a set of themed telephone cards. One card featured Sihang Warehouse and Xie Jinyuan.
See also
*800 Heroes Song
The ''800 Heroes Song'', also known by the title "China Will Not Perish", is a Chinese patriotic song from the Second Sino-Japanese War. The song was written to commemorate the heroic efforts of the lone battalion of the National Revolutionary ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Xie, Jinyuan
Hakka people
Hakka generals
People of the Northern Expedition
Chinese military personnel of World War II
Chinese military personnel killed in World War II
Members of the Kuomintang
National Revolutionary Army generals from Guangdong
Whampoa Military Academy alumni
1905 births
1941 deaths
Recipients of the Order of Blue Sky and White Sun
People from Jiaoling