The Eight Hundred Heroes - Books - Famous Chinese Shopping City

March 8, 2014


		1 Introduction 2 The battle 3 Aftermath 4 Media Embellishment 5 Legacy 6 China Will Not Perish 7 See also 8 External links

Famous Chinese Shopping City Books

The Eight Hundred Heroes

Wikipedia

[go back to top]

The battle

Image:Sihangmap.png|left|thumb|460px|<li>Blue: Garrisoned by National Revolutionary Army|NRA troops</li>
<li>Red: Garrisoned by IJA troops</li>
<li>Green: International Settlements</li>
As the main bulk of the Chinese forces retreated after their loss of the Battle of Shanghai, Regimental Commander (later General) Xie Jinyuan (zh-tss|t=?????????|s=?????????) led a force of 452 soldiers from the 2nd Battalion, 524th Regiment of the crack German-trained-and-equipped 88th Division of the National Revolutionary Army, fortified the 33,000m2 Sihang Warehouse (zh-tsps|t=????????????|s=????????????|p=S??h??ng C??ngk??) along the Suzhou River which the rest of the NRA were using to retreat, and from that position repeated repulsed more than 10 attacks by Japanese combined-arms forces from 26 October to 30 October 1937, killing at least 200 Japanese troops, tying down thousands more, and allowing the remaining columns of the RNA, including the 8 elite German-trained divisions, to withdraw without Japanese harrassment.

Image:Yanghuimin_collage.jpg|right|thumb|Three different portrayals of Yang Huimin: 1938 film, 1980 film, and ca. 1940 "gum card" ephemera.
The residents of Shanghai, including the foreigners in the Shanghai International Settlement aided the defenders of the warehouse by providing them with food, water, clothing and ammunition salvaged from the battlefields in Shanghai. Particularly inspiring is the actions of a Girl Guide Yang Huimin (zh-tss|t=?????????|s=?????????) who braved enemy fire and swam across the frigid Suzhou River to bring the defenders supplies, and a 12-foot wide flag of the Republic of China, which the defenders proudly hoisted above the warehouse. This flag is now preserved in an ROC museum on Taiwan.

The warehouse itself is a 6-storey concrete building situated in Zhabei District north of the Suzhou River, at the north-western edge of the Tibet Road Bridge. Built jointly by four banks - hence the name Sihang (literally Four Banks) - in 1931, it sat on a 0.3 acre plot of land, with an area of 20,700m2, 64m wide by 54m long, and 25m tall.

The leaders of the International Settlements, citing that the Heroes "posed a danger to the International Settlements", brokered a ceasefire deal with the Japanese, and on 30 October Chiang Kaishek gave the order for the Heroes to withdraw, and the remaining men made a break and escaped to the British International Settlement, while the Japanese reneged on their deal and shelled the New Lese bridge. Of the 378 soldiers left on the last night, 9 were too heavily wounded to pull back, and covered the rest of the soldiers, 358 of whom made it across to the Settlements.

[go back to top]

Aftermath

After the retreat, the remaining soldiers set forth to regroup with the rest of the 88th Division (National Revolutionary Army)|88th Division. However, British troops appeared and seized all their weapons and placed all the soldiers under arrest. The reason was that the Japanese threatened to invade the International Settlements if the Heroes were allowed to leave the area. They were herded into the Italian area of the Settlements and fenced off.

Within the "Lost Battalion Barracks" the Heroes languished for more than 3 years, and after refusing numerous offers from Wang Jingwei's collaborationist government, Xie Jinyuan was assassinated on 24 April, 1341 at 5 AM, by Sergeant He Dingcheng and 3 other of his own troops, who were bought over by Wang's government. He died at 6 AM. More than 100,000 people turned up for his funeral and he was posthumously made a General of the National Revolutionary Army.

After the Pearl Harbor attack, Japanese forces occupied the International Settlements and captured the soldiers. They were shipped off to Hangzhou and Xiaolingwei to do hard labour. Part of the group sent to Xiaolingwei escaped and returned to the war. 36 officers were sent to Papua New Guinea to do hard labour, and in 1945 when the war went against Japan, they overpowered their captors and took them prisoner.

At the end of the war, some 100 survivors of the Battalion returned to Shanghai and the Sihang Warehouse. When the Chinese Civil War broke out, most of them wanted to fight no more and returned to civilian occupations

[go back to top]

Media Embellishment

Image:Xiejinyuan_and_friends.jpg|left|thumb|200px|Xie Jinyuan and 3 of his subordinates.
Faced with the defeat in the Battle of Shanghai and the loss of a third the National Revolutionary Army|NRA's best trained troops, the failed but nevertheless brave defense of Shanghai proved to the Chinese people and foreign powers alike that Chiang Kaishek was actively resisting the Japanese. The media capitalised on the defense of the warehouse and lauded the Eight Hundred Heroes (embellished from the original 400) as national heroes, and a patriotic song was also composed to encourage the people to resist Japanese aggression.

The actions of The Eight Hundred Heroes were made into a 1938 movie of the same name, and then later in 1980 made into a Taiwanese production starring Brigitte Lin.

[go back to top]

Legacy

Xie Jinyuan's body was interred in the small garden along Singapore Road (now Yao Road) where his bunk used to be. In 1947 the Shanghai city government renamed Jiaoyuan Park (where the soldiers lived) as Jinyuan Park, and renamed an elementary school in the vicinity 12th District Jinyuan National Elementary School. The road to the immediate north of the warehouse was renamed Jinyuan Road.

On 16 April, 1983, Xie's grave was moved to the Wanguo Public Mausoleum. On the same year the barracks area was rebuilt and named Jinyuan Alley. 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.

The Sihang Warehouse has been preserved and is now a repository of documents, photos and journals during the Battle of Shanghai.

Both the PRC and ROC claim the men as national heroes, and an MTV was made with the modified lyrics "China will be strong" (presumably because the survival of China is no longer in question). There has also been reunions between the remaining Heroes who have been separated by the Chinese Civil War.

[go back to top]

China Will Not Perish

Image:Sihangwarehouse_photo.jpg|right|thumb|250px|Photo of the Sihang Warehouse in which the Heroes resisted waves of Japanese attacks. The ROC flag is still flying.
China Will Not Perish (zh-tsps|t=???????????????|s=???????????????|p=Zh??ngg??o B??hu?? W??ng), Also known as the Commemorative Hymn of the Eight Hundred Heroes (zh-tsps|t=?????????????????????|s=?????????????????????|p=B??ba?? Zh??angsh?? J??n??an'g??), is a patriotic song composed shortly after the defense of the Sihang Warehouse, to raise morale and encourage resistance. ???????????????,???????????????, ?????????????????????????????? ???????????????,???????????????, ??????????????????????????????????????????, ??????????????????,??????????????????, ??????????????????,????????????????????? ???????????????????????????????????????,????????????,????????? ?????????????????????,?????????????????????, ?????????????????????,?????????????????????, ???????????????!???????????????! ??????????????????,??????????????????????????? ???????????????,???????????????,???????????????,???????????????! ?????????!?????????!?????????! China will not perish, China will not perish! Just look at our national hero, Regimental Commander Xie. China will not perish, China will not perish! Just look at our Eight Hundred Heroes, defending the eastern battlefields alone. Cannon fire from all around, wolves and jackals everywhere, But we'd rather die than retreat, rather die than surrender. Our national flag waves and flutters amidst the enemy siege. Eight Hundred Heroes, with one heart, one hundred thousand enemies dare not oppose, Our actions courageous, our spirit bold. Countrymen, arise, arise! Quickly, to the battlefield, look to the Eight Hundred Heroes! China will not perish, China will not perish, China will not perish, China will not perish! Will not perish, will not perish, will not perish!

! Approximate translation
???????????????(?????????:??????)<p>	China Will Not Perish (Alternatively, China Will Be Strong)<p>

[go back to top]