Yang Dapeng: Remembrance of a Martyr in Nanjing 1937 - Softcover

For nearly 40 years, Shu-Chin Yang had been haunted by the question posed by his family since the early days of World War II in China: “Where is Eighth Brother?” Yang’s brother Dapeng hadn’t been heard from since he entered battle after graduating as a young officer from the prestigious Whampoa Military Academy. Decades later, Yang finally faced the deep anguish of this early loss to launch an inquiry of his brother’s death at the Battle of Nanjing in 1937. The book he wrote in 1975 seeks to give recognition to Yang Dapeng, who essentially died an unknown soldier, and in doing so, to commemorate all the soldiers of China’s War of Resistance who pitted themselves against a far stronger enemy to save their nation. The narrative, now in English, tells one family’s story in these unstable times--from engaging anecdotes of childhood in Northeast China to the tragedy of war. From a natural-born storyteller, this book is a poignant history and a valuable primary source about extraordinary ordinary people who lived through one of China’s most harrowing eras.