70 years on, young Chinese draw strength from war heroes

Soldiers escort coffins containing the remains of Chinese People's Volunteers (CPV) martyrs at the Taoxian international airport in Shenyang, northeast China's Liaoning Province, Sept. 16, 2022. The remains and belongings of 88 Chinese soldiers killed in the 1950-53 Korean War were returned to China on Friday from South Korea in the ninth repatriation of its kind since 2014. (Xinhua/Pan Yulong)

Wen Changqing, supported by his prosthetic leg, works at a martyrs' cemetery in Dandong, a city in northeast China's Liaoning Province.

After losing his limb in a tragic traffic accident in 2014 at a young age, Wen found inspiration in the memory of the fallen war heroes. The cemetery, located on the border between China and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), serves as a source of resilience and strength for Wen.

Following a year of painful rehabilitation, he was able to walk once again. He secured a job at the cemetery in 2015, patrolling the 12,000-square-meter area every day to keep it clean and remove weeds. One full circle of the cemetery takes him almost two hours.

"It's an honor to work for the war heroes," the 29-year-old Wen told Xinhua.

The cemetery is the resting place of 858 Chinese People's Volunteers (CPV) who fought in the War to Resist U.S. Aggression and Aid Korea (1950-1953).

The Korean War broke out in June 1950, eight months after the People's Republic of China was founded. The flames of war soon reached the border river of Yalu and wreaked havoc in Dandong, then known as Andong, with buildings bombed and civilians killed.

At the request of the DPRK, Chinese ground forces under the CPV entered the Korean Peninsula on Oct. 19, 1950, and fought the first battle on Oct. 25.

A total of 2.9 million CPV soldiers from across the country joined the war that lasted almost three years, with more than 360,000 soldiers killed or injured.

This year marks the 70th anniversary of China's victory in the War. Even today the tenacity and resilience of the war heroes continue to inspire millions of young Chinese like Wen.

Wen said he relied on "the spiritual support" from the war heroes to carry on during his painful rehabilitation period.

In order to master walking with a prosthesis, Wen had to exercise and walk 8 km daily despite the immense pain inflicted by the blisters on his wound. "I kept telling myself, this is not as bad as what the CPV went through and many of them lost their lives for the country," he recalled.

HEROIC TALES

When the war broke out, the new China was economically challenged, lacking advanced weaponry and possessing relatively weaker air and naval forces. In contrast, the United States, the leading nation among the rival forces, held significantly superior military capabilities.

"Huang Jiguang and Qiu Shaoyun were only 21 and 26 years old when they died," said Pei Yanan, a post-90s interpreter from the memorial hall, while explaining the heroic acts of the CPV to visitors. The two iconic names she mentioned have gone down in history.

Six years into the job, she acquired a deeper understanding of the war's history. It dawned on her that it was a profound sense of duty that propelled the CPV, many of whom were remarkably young, to courageously battle adverse circumstances and ultimately achieve victory. "As an interpreter, I feel obliged to do a good job of explaining this period of history to visitors," Pei said.

In the memorial hall of a martyrs' cemetery in Shenyang, capital of Liaoning Province, a notebook left by deceased war hero Wang Bo revealed his intention of crossing the border to join the war: "For the liberation of the people and a lasting happy life. Nothing else," it reads.

In pursuit of this objective, Wang wrote: "I'm ready to devote all my energy, even my life, to humanity."

"Many of the CPV martyrs were passionate young people aged between 20 and 30. During the war, they were willing to give everything for the country and the people," said Du Ruofei, who works at the cemetery in Shenyang, where 123 war heroes were buried.

"The CPV's selfless dedication reminds us that the young people should stand up to shoulder their responsibility and contribute to the country in times of crisis," Du added.

SPIRITUAL LEGACY

Many young Chinese may have forgotten the facts and figures of the war, but the spiritual legacy of the heroes has remained as a collective memory over the past decades as China grew into the world's second-largest economy.

"The tenacious struggle of the CPV under those difficult conditions really inspired us. We should inherit and carry forward their spirit and do our part to promote world peace and development," said Cao Xinyu, a student from Jilin University in northeast China's Jilin Province.

Some 2,000 km to the west of Jilin, Han Jialong, a young photographer from the northwestern province of Shaanxi, is racing against time to capture the faces of CPV who are still alive.

He aims to capture as many photos of the CPV heroes as possible before it is too late. He and his partners also interview the veterans and post their conversations on social media platforms such as Bilibili and Douyin.

"We aim to build a library of photos and videos and through this effort, we wish to help the young generation draw spiritual strength from the CPV's heroic acts and cherish peace and solidarity," Han said.