Reviving History: American Journalist’s Captivating Photos and Writings Illuminate China’s Wartime Memories

As China approaches the significant milestone of the 80th anniversary of its victory in the War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression on September 3, a small town in the heart of Hubei Province is preparing for a poignant act of remembrance. Dawu County, historically a crucial anti-Japanese base hidden in the mountains, is finalizing an exhibition dedicated to the New Fourth Army’s Fifth Division, a Communist Party-led force that played a vital role in the resistance during the War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression (1931-1945).

This upcoming exhibition will showcase more than a dozen artifacts, generously donated by descendants of soldiers who fought during the war. Among these treasures are rare black-and-white photographs captured in Dawu in early 1940 by American journalist Agnes Smedley.

Agnes Smedley arrived in China in late 1928 and spent over a decade chronicling the brutalities of Japanese aggression and the indomitable spirit of the Chinese resistance. In January 1940, she ventured deep into the mountainous regions of Dawu, which served as a stronghold for the New Fourth Army’s Henan-Hubei Detachment—a guerrilla force operating just 100 kilometers from Japanese-occupied Wuhan, and the precursor to the Fifth Division.

Eighty-five years later, the children of the late veteran Wu Daoying traveled from Beijing to Dawu, bringing with them Smedley’s photographs featuring their mother, once a soldier in the area. They donated these invaluable images to the county archive.

According to Wu’s son, Song Shenguang, the photographs taken by Smedley had remained undeveloped for years due to the harsh wartime conditions. It wasn’t until the 1980s that his mother first laid eyes on the photographs.

Song recounted that his mother held dear the story behind one particular group portrait until her passing in 2023. This photograph features the joyful faces of children and soldiers, where the young ones were part of a troupe that boosted morale through music and messages, although too young to participate in combat. One of these children was Wu, who was not yet 12 at the time.

However, the most striking figure in the photo is a boy at its center, his head bowed. His name was Sheng Guohua. Once a street beggar, Sheng had expressed a strong desire to join the army and was assigned as Smedley’s orderly during her visit. According to Wu’s recollection, after witnessing a performance by the troupe, Smedley invited the children to pose for a photograph and encouraged Sheng to join them.

“Sheng was shy,” Song recalled his mother saying. “He might have felt nervous about being in the picture and lowered his head just as the shutter clicked.”

Despite his minimal presence in the photograph, Sheng left a profound impact on Smedley. Her 1943 book, “Battle Hymn of China,” which recounts her firsthand experiences during the early years of China’s resistance, includes a section titled “My Chinese Son,” highlighting her brief yet meaningful connection with Sheng during her three-month stay at the base.

In her book, Smedley described Sheng, then around 10 or 11 years old, as possessing “that curious wisdom of China’s children.” She recalled his words, “When I grow up, I want to join the cavalry and fight the Japanese,” which he shared with her repeatedly. Before Smedley left Dawu, she offered to adopt him and take him abroad for an education. However, Sheng declined her offer, stating, “All men must remain at the front. You can adopt me after the final victory.”

Tragically, that final victory never came for Sheng, as he was later killed in battle—one of the many young lives lost in the difficult terrains of central China, where over 13,000 soldiers from the Fifth Division either died or were wounded in combat.

“Every time my mother looked at that photo, she cried,” said Song. “Not just for Sheng, but for all the friends who never made it home.”

Sheng’s poignant story, preserved through Smedley’s writings and shared through Wu’s family, is set to reach a larger audience through the upcoming exhibition at the New Fourth Army’s Fifth Division Memorial, located near the former headquarters of the division in Dawu. This memorial and its historical site have become a vital hub for patriotic education, attracting over 300,000 visitors each year with its immersive revolutionary-themed study programs.

“These quiet, personal memories, like Sheng’s bowed head, add depth to the grand narrative of resistance,” remarked Fu Bo, who oversees Dawu’s revolutionary heritage sites. “They help today’s youth understand that victory was not just about battles, but about choices, courage, and sacrifice.”

Now at the age of 70, Song is a member of the Beijing Society for the New Fourth Army. Raised on stories from his mother’s era and inspired by Smedley’s work, he is dedicated to transforming his family’s legacy into a shared public memory—one that emphasizes how the Chinese people, alongside others globally who stood for peace and justice, united to achieve the war of national liberation.

“Some memories shouldn’t be kept in a photo album,” he expressed. “They belong to everyone, not just as reminders of the past but as truths that continue to shape who we are today.”