Zhao Yiman (; 1905 – 2 August 1936) was a female Chinese resistance fighter against the

Imperial Japanese Army The was the official ground-based armed force of the Empire of Japan from 1868 to 1945. It was controlled by the Imperial Japanese Army General Staff Office and the Ministry of the Army, both of which were nominally subordinate to the Emper ...

Northeast China Northeast China or Northeastern China () is a geographical region of China, which is often referred to as "Manchuria" or "Inner Manchuria" by surrounding countries and the West. It usually corresponds specifically to the three provinces east of ...

, which was under the occupation of the Japanese puppet state

Manchukuo Manchukuo, officially the State of Manchuria prior to 1934 and the Empire of (Great) Manchuria after 1934, was a puppet state of the Empire of Japan in Manchuria from 1932 until 1945. It was founded as a republic in 1932 after the Japanese ...

. She was captured in 1935 by Japanese forces and executed in 1936. She is considered a national hero in China, and an eponymous

biopic A biographical film or biopic () is a film that dramatizes the life of a non-fictional or historically-based person or people. Such films show the life of a historical person and the central character's real name is used. They differ from docudr ...

was made for her in 1950. The 2005 film ''My Mother Zhao Yiman'' was based on her son's memory of her.

Biography

Zhao was born Li Kuntai (李坤泰) to a rich family of

Sichuan Sichuan (; zh, c=, labels=no, ; zh, p=Sìchuān; alternatively romanized as Szechuan or Szechwan; formerly also referred to as "West China" or "Western China" by Protestant missions) is a province in Southwest China occupying most of t ...

Province in October 1905. Zhao Yiman's letter to her son

She joined the

Communist Party of China The Chinese Communist Party (CCP), officially the Communist Party of China (CPC), is the founding and sole ruling party of the People's Republic of China (PRC). Under the leadership of Mao Zedong, the CCP emerged victorious in the Chinese Ci ...

in 1926. In September 1927, she went to the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...

to study at the

Moscow Sun Yat-sen University Moscow Sun Yat-sen University, officially the Sun Yat-sen Communist University of the Toilers of China, was a Comintern school, which operated from 1925–1930 in the city of Moscow, Russia, then the Soviet Union. It was a training camp for ...

. She married her comrade Chen Dabang (陈达邦). She returned to China in the winter of 1928, and engaged in the underground Communist work in

Shanghai Shanghai (; , , Standard Chinese, Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four Direct-administered municipalities of China, direct-administered municipalities of the China, People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the ...

, and then in

Jiangxi Jiangxi (; ; formerly romanized as Kiangsi or Chianghsi) is a landlocked province in the east of the People's Republic of China. Its major cities include Nanchang and Jiujiang. Spanning from the banks of the Yangtze river in the north int ...

Province. After the

Mukden Incident The Mukden Incident, or Manchurian Incident, known in Chinese as the 9.18 Incident (九・一八), was a false flag event staged by Japanese military personnel as a pretext for the 1931 Japanese invasion of Manchuria. On September 18, 1931, ...

, she was sent to northeast China to start up struggles against the Japanese occupation. She changed her name as Zhao Yiman to avoid implicating her family. In November 1935, the Imperial Japanese Army and the

troops encircled the 2nd Regiment of the 3rd Army of the

Northeast Anti-Japanese United Army The Northeast Anti-Japanese United Army was the main anti-Japanese guerrilla army in Northeast China (Manchuria) after the Japanese invasion of Manchuria in 1931. Its predecessors were various anti-Japanese volunteer armies organized by locals ...

. Zhao Yiman, who was political commissar of the regiment, was seriously wounded. Several days later, the Japanese found Zhao in a farmhouse where she stayed. In the ensuing fighting, she was wounded again and captured.

Imprisonment

Zhao was cruelly tortured after an argument with the questioners. In view of her political value, the Japanese sent her to a hospital to receive treatment. In the hospital, Zhao converted and recruited Han Yongyi, a female nurse, and Dong Xianxun, a guard. Han and Dong helped her to escape. Zhao was recaptured not far from the guerrilla base and suffered further torture due to her escape. On 2 August 1936, she wrote down the last words, asking her children to continue the struggle. On her way to the execution ground, Zhao sang loudly the Ode of the Red Flag, and shouted anti-Japanese slogans. The guard, Dong, who helped Zhao to escape, soon died in the prison after torture.

Memorial

Zhao Yiman is featured as one of the revolutionary heroes in the Northeast China Revolutionary Martyrs Memorial Hall located at 241 Yiman Street in the Nangang district of Harbin.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Zhao, Yiman Women in war in China Military personnel of the Republic of China killed in the Second Sino-Japanese War 1905 births 1936 deaths Moscow Sun Yat-sen University alumni Chinese expatriates in the Soviet Union Women in World War II People executed by Japanese occupation forces Executed people from Sichuan People from Yibin Executed Chinese women Chinese communists People of Manchukuo Chinese prisoners of war Prisoners of war held by Japan