Newly collected photos reveal resilient China resisting Japanese invasion

A Chinese cultural organization have collected 50,000 photos from old newspapers, libraries and museum to show the tale of ordinary people during China's War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression.

Gathered by Hongyanlianxian, government-funded culture organization in Chongqing, over three years from China's Taiwan, Canada and the United States, one third of the photos will be made public for the first time, portraying a country full of people bent on helping their nation claim eventual triumph.

Li Hua, organizer of the project, said war history surely includes battles, but battles are not only fought in the fields. Ordinary people from all walks of life also helped to win the war.

The photos range from ordinary civilians to military, giving the public a chance to dive into the real-life stories of those that sacrificed to help win peace more than 60 years ago.

Photos depict the evacuation in Yichang, a strategic port city on the Yangtze River in central China. The evacuation, for its massive scale and significance to the war, is called the Dunkirk Evacuation of China.

When the war broke out in 1937, China rapidly lost much of its industrial base in coastal areas to Japan. Without military production, China saw no chance of winning the war, so relocating industrial production facilities to an unoccupied home front in the west became life or death.

Many industrial facilities and materials from the occupied region were transferred to Yichang, awaiting transportation through the Yangtze waterway to safer cities upstream. With most Chinese navy ships destroyed or sabotaged to block Japanese warships, the government was unable to meet the challenge.

Lu Zuofu, a famous Chinese shipping magnate, rose to the occasion. Lu personally organized the evacuation and donated ships from his company for transportation. Day and night for 60 days straight, 24 ships of Lu's company transferred materials upstream.

When the Japanese troops seized Yichang, the invaders took over a virtually empty city. Most of the important material and production equipment had been rushed westward.

The collection also highlights the life of renowned Chinese educator Tao Xingzhi, who spread knowledge against all odds during the war.

Several photos show the campus of Yucai School founded by Tao in a mountainous village near Chongqing. The school was relocated to the village after the Japanese air force launched indiscriminate bombing of the war-time capital.

From the photos, one can see the hardships of the teachers and the students of the school, which was based in Gusheng, a now famous buddhist temple.

Yang Xinglian, a student of the school, recalled his life being educated in the old temple. While its remote location kept the school safe from bombing, it also brought great inconvenience. It took several hours for teachers and lecturers, including famous intellectuals, to walk from the city. Getting water was also an arduous task, requiring long walk carrying buckets filled with water.

Despite hardship, the school enrolled over 600 children during its seven years operating in the temple. It offered a variety of classes to its students, ranging from international affairs to dancing. Thanks to donations, the school had a collection of over 20,000 books, three pianos, and over 1,000 pieces of science equipment.

The photo collection also highlights a number of martyrs and survivors from the military, among which is Zhao Yiman, a brave female solider who is known for not yielding under extremely cruel torture and was later murdered.

Photos of survivors are also present.

One set, depicts Long Qiming, a pilot with the Flying Tigers, a band of U.S. volunteer pilots sent in secret to Asia by President Franklin D. Roosevelt before the United States entered World War II. They joined a Chinese air force organized by Claire Lee Chennault, a retired U.S. Army colonel.

An estimated 1,500 Flying Tigers members and 900 Chinese airmen who fought along with Long reportedly died in the war.

China has set Sept. 3 as Victory Day to commemorate the hardship and struggles of the Chinese people during the Anti-Japanese War.

A book containing the newly discovered photos is in the editing process and will be published before Victory Day 2015.