General Nie and the Japanese Little Girl

General Nie is Marshal Nie, and that Japanese girl is Mihoko.

The story of Marshal Nie Rongzhen and the Japanese orphan girl

Twenty-six years ago, an ordinary Japanese woman came to China, but was warmly welcomed and received. This woman's name is Miyoko. It's not her first time in China. Speaking of her fate with China, it can be traced back to her legendary past with a China general in War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression. The reunion 26 years ago was the second time that the two met after 40 years. A film called "Mei Hezi visits relatives" recorded everything at that time. Recently, CCTV's "Revisiting" column interviewed Mei Hezi, an old man, and told a love story that crossed national boundaries and races during the war years.

On August 24th, 2005, Miyoko, the heroine of Visiting Miyoko, came to China again. She was a Japanese orphan adopted by Nie in War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression. Ms. Mihoko is 69 years old, and this is her sixth "home" visit. Compared with 26 years ago, the years have quietly left a mark on her face, and China has also undergone earth-shaking changes. But what hasn't changed is that China's friends are as enthusiastic as ever. This is all because of this Japanese woman's childhood love affair with China.

Surprised to see the orphan girl in the war

1August, 940, the story happened on the Shitai Railway, that is, a village called Dongwangshe on the Zheng Tai Railway, which is the traffic artery crossing Taihang Mountain. This railway line has natural barrier Niangziguan and Jingxing Coal Mine, an important fuel base of Japanese army in North China. Mihoko's father, Kato Kiyoshi, used to be an employee of North China Communication Company. At the end of 1939, he was sent to Jingxing Coal Station as an assistant, responsible for transporting coal.

On August 20th, the famous Hundred Regiments War started. The main task in the early stage of the campaign is to break the general traffic attacks, destroy the enemy's traffic lines, and concentrate on destroying the Zheng Tai Railway. On the night of August 20th, under the unified command of the headquarters in front of the Eighth Route Army, all the participating troops attacked the enemy and puppet strongholds on all lines in North China as planned. In the fierce war, Jingxing Coal Mine turned into a sea of fire. In the sea of fire, the Eighth Route Army soldiers rescued two Japanese girls, Michiko, 4 years old, and her sister who was dissatisfied with/kloc-0 years old. Faced with two Japanese girls, the Eighth Route Army soldiers didn't know what to do, so they called the military region.

Ask for instructions.

It was a staff officer who answered the phone. Because this matter is special, he reported to Nie Shuai. Nie Shuai told them to send it here quickly. As long as the prisoner laid down his weapon, we would be lenient. Those two Japanese girls are innocent. Later, the soldiers quickly sent two Japanese girls from the front to the headquarters.

At the headquarters, two little girls became Nie Shuai's little guests and were taken good care of. "In half a day, the troops sent two children to my command post. I picked up the injured baby first, and saw that the wound was well bandaged and the child fell asleep peacefully. I told doctors and guards to take good care of the children, see if there are any breastfeeding women in the nearby village, and feed the children quickly. That big boy is very likable. I took her hand and brought her pears. " In his memoirs, Marshal Nie Rongzhen used "an episode in a fierce war" to recall the past.

Adopting a daughter in the line of fire shows benevolence and righteousness.

What should these two children do in the front line where the war is extremely fierce? The Japanese often go to the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei region to mop up, and the results are unpredictable. If these two Japanese girls stay abroad, it may have a bad influence on them when they grow up. Although their parents are dead now, she should still have relatives. In the war environment at that time, Nie Shuai decided to hand them over to Japan.

Sha Fei, a war photographer, took three photos at that time. One is Nie Shuai holding the 4-year-old Miyoko, the other is Miyoko sitting in the laundry basket eating pears, and the other is the back of a fellow villager. Some of these works were first published in the June issue of Liberation Pictorial 194 1, which was contributed by the photojournalism section of the Political Department of the Jinchaji Military Region and edited by the Jinchaji branch of Japan's anti-war alliance in China. The earliest published Chinese media was the first issue of Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei Pictorial published on July 7th, 1942. At this ignorant age, Mihoko doesn't know how this legendary childhood experience will affect her life. But 40 years later, it was that photo that changed her life.

Under the arrangement of Nie Shuai, two little girls were sent to Shijiazhuang a few days later. The soldiers found a reliable fellow villager and prepared a pickaxe. Nie Shuai of the command post and several comrades-in-arms worried that the child was crying on the road and piled a lot of pears in the basket. After being handed over to the Japanese army, Mihoko's sisters were sent to Shimen Hospital in Shijiazhuang. My sister died of serious injuries. Mihoko himself was safely brought back to Japan by his uncle in June of 1940+00, and has been living with his grandmother ever since.

When the Mihoko sisters went back, there was a letter from Nie to the Japanese army. The letter wrote: "This time, our army attacked the defense line in Zheng Tai, recovered the East King Snake, and brought back two weak women from Japan. After I took care of it, I specially sent it back to my relatives for support. Our Eighth Route Army, based on the spirit of internationalism, is full of benevolence and righteousness. I sincerely hope that Jun and others will suddenly wake up and join hands with China soldier Qi Xin to seek liberation. Then Japan is very lucky and China is also very lucky. "

Looking for orphans after 40 years

Time flies, the peak years of the war have faded away in people's minds. In a blink of an eye1April, 980, Vice Minister of General Logistics Department of South China took Comrade Yao to interview Nie Shuai. At that time, the whole army held a political work conference, and they came to Nie Shuai for instructions on political work. After this conversation, Comrade Yao took out three photos and asked Nie Shuai if he still remembered it.

The photo evoked memories of Nie Shuai 40 years ago. Soon, Yao finished talking to him once. Little Japanese girl, where are you? On May 28th, 1980, Xinhua News Agency broadcast this newsletter, and the People's Daily, People's Liberation Army Daily, Guangming Daily, Wenhui Daily and other provincial and municipal newspapers also published this article and this precious historical photo. The report also attracted the attention of Japanese news media. A Japanese journalist in Beijing took the lead in sending articles and photos of Nie and a Japanese girl to Japan. On May 29th, Japan's Yomiuri Shimbun devoted a large space to highlighting this article and photos. The topic is "Sister Xing Zi, where are you?" Forty years later, General Nie called for the rescue of orphans from the war.

On June 3, that is, in the China newspaper published "Japanese girl, where are you? On the sixth day, the Japanese girl named "Xing Zi" mentioned in the article was finally found. However, the Japanese girl she found was not Xing Zi, but Mihoko.

Marshal Nie Rongzhen once said in his memoirs: "After settling down the two children, I asked the cook to cook a pot of porridge, held the older child in my arms and fed her with a spoon, and the child became less restrained. I asked her what her name was, and she replied' mm-hmm'. The interpreter nearby said that she called it' Xing Zi'. I heard that this name is very similar, like the name of a Japanese girl. " Actually, this little girl's name is Mihoko.

On June 8th, 1980, Yomiuri Shimbun published the article "I am Xing Zi" in a prominent position, with a large photo of Mihoko next to it. At that time, Mihoko was 44 years old, lived in Miyazaki Prefecture and had three daughters. She and her husband opened a hardware store and lived a very happy life.

Visit China with emotion.

When Mihoko read this report in a Japanese newspaper, she never dreamed that she was the "Xing Zi" mentioned in the article, and she also discussed with her husband that others had the same experience as herself. When Mihoko learned that the word "Xing Zi" in the newspaper was her own, the degree of her surprise could only be described by the word "echo".

That night, Mihoko excitedly wrote a letter to the rescuer Nie Shuai, expressing his gratitude and his desire to visit China. This letter was brought back by the Yomiuri Shimbun reporter who returned to Tokyo the next day and quickly handed over to Nie Shuai in Beijing. On June 24th, 1980, the Japanese Embassy in China received an official invitation to invite Michiko to visit China. The specific departure date was July 10, which happened to be Mihoko's 44th birthday.

On the evening of July 1980, Mei Hezi and her family arrived in Beijing from Nagasaki on a China civil aviation flight. They are welcomed by a large number of reporters, as well as floodlights and camera flashes. Surrounded by the crowd, Mihoko came to the VIP room of the airport and met Nie Li, Nie's daughter.

1980 is the stage when Sino-Japanese relations began to heat up in various fields. Any news media will never let go of the story of the general saving the orphan girl. Without exception, the Central News Recording Film Studio also filmed the film Visiting Mei Hezi, which recorded Mei Hezi's visit to China.

For Miho's future, the biggest wish of her trip to China is to meet Nie Shuai and thank him for saving her life. The meeting was held in Xinjiang Hall of the Great Hall of the People on July 14. The night before we met, Miyoko was very nervous and didn't know how to thank Nie Shuai.

Seeing Nie Shuai the next day, Mihoko felt completely different from the serious image seen in the photo. Nie Shuai is tall, but gentle, which gives Mihoko the illusion that he has met his father. At that time, I witnessed the scene of two people meeting. Former Nie Shuai's secretary recalled: "I was very moved at that time, and Metzuko was very excited. After seeing Nie Shuai, I took his hand and touched my forehead on Nie Shuai's hand with the highest etiquette in Japan. This is the highest etiquette. " Miyoko sobbed and said Nie Shuai was his second child's parents. After meeting Nie Shuai, on July 16, Mihoko's family came to Shijiazhuang and Jingxing Coal Mine Railway Station. In Mihoko's vague impression, the location of the railway station and the place where her father used to work were the same as 40 years ago, and she was also very excited when she was rescued. After leaving Shijiazhuang, Mihoko went to Hangzhou and Shanghai. Wherever he went, he was warmly received. On July 23rd, Miho ended her trip to China and returned to Japan from Shanghai.

Spare no effort for Sino-Japanese friendship

Back in Mizuho, Japan, I made my own modest but unremitting efforts for Sino-Japanese friendship. 1May 1986 and1May 1989, Mihoko visited China twice with a Japanese friendly delegation. After that, Mihoko came to China twice in 2002 and 2003. Mihoko and Chinese sister Nie Li have met seven times, one of which was in Japan. From 65438 to 0998, Nie Li led the All-China Women's Federation and women's delegation to visit the United States and Holland. This is also the first time that Nie Li went to Mihoko's house. In order to receive her sister, Mihoko specially took out the book Songzhumei, which was sent by Nie Shuai and kept for nearly 20 years. The year 2005 is the 60th anniversary of China War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression's victory. On August 24th, Mei Zi set foot on the land of China for the sixth time. This is her second hometown. Time flies and her face changes, but what remains unchanged is her simple heart and grateful mood.

On the afternoon of his arrival in Beijing, Mihoko came to the China-Japan Friendship Association. In the meeting hall, Mihoko and Nie Lishi, a sister of China, met again every three years. At this meeting, Nie Li presented Mihoko with a calligraphy work entitled "Friendship between Chinese and Japanese People for Generations" written by Nie Li and his wife. Nie Li also specially chose a dark green Chinese coat with red and yellow stripes at the hem for her according to her figure.

On the afternoon of August 25th, at the Sino-Japanese Peace and Friendship Exchange Conference in Beijing, Mihoko and Mr. Laizhu Xinping, who have been studying and publicizing Nie Shuai's story of saving orphans, took the stage to speak. They got to know each other and established the Capital Branch of the Japan-China Friendship Association. At the conference, Mihoko bowed deeply and recalled the rescue 65 years ago and their efforts for Japan-China friendship over the years. His speech was drowned out by six applause.

More than half a century has passed since the story of "the general saved the orphan girl", and the appearance of an old man has made this legendary past have a happy ending. This is another purpose of Mihoko's visit to China this time, that is, to meet another benefactor who once saved her-Mr. Yang Zhongshan. When Mei Dezi came to China, his second hometown for the sixth time, he met an Eighth Route Army soldier who carried himself out of the fire 65 years ago. Now he is 82 years old. The old man recalled that at 5 o'clock in the morning of August 2 1, 1940, Yang Zhongshan, who was still a young soldier at that time, came out of the fire with Miho on his back, took out cookies from his satchel (in fact, they were dry cakes, which tasted like lollipops after being heated and dried) and gave them to Miho. As soon as she couldn't walk, she ate some.

After seeing another rescuer, Miyoko said excitedly: "If Nie Shuai hadn't saved me 65 years ago, there would be no me today and no my children today. Although I live an ordinary life now, it was also given to me by Nie Shuai and Mr. Yang Zhongshan. I have a lot to say now, which boils down to one sentence: thank you very much for saving my life. "

postscript

On August 26th, 2005, Mei Zi ended her sixth trip to China and left Beijing to fly back to Japan. Due to physical reasons, this may be 69-year-old Miyoko's last trip to China. However, the story of "the general saved the orphan girl" is still so meaningful today after more than half a century. This is a legendary story, but also a story that will be passed down through the ages. In Mihoko's heart, she will never forget the Eighth Route Army soldiers and China generals who rescued her from the raging fire 65 years ago, and the people of China who gave her a second life and precious friendship.