《Outsmarting Weihu Mountain》Yang ZirongPromoted as a “heroic figure” and a brainwashing tool for the CCP. (Picture source: Internet picture)
Press: Mainland Peking Opera performerTong XianglingPassed away in Shanghai Ruijin Hospital on the afternoon of December 2 at the age of 89. He was in modern timesmodel operaHe became famous for his role as Yang Zirong in “Taking Tiger Mountain by Wisdom”. “Taking Tiger Mountain by Wisdom” is a film set during the Cultural RevolutionJiang QingOne of the eight model plays that participated in the production (i.e. five “revolutionary modern Peking operas”: “Red Lantern”, “Shajiabin”, “Taking Tiger Mountain by Wisdom”, “Harbor”, “Assault on the White Tiger Troupe” and ballet The dance dramas “Red Detachment of Women”, “White-Haired Girl” and Jiao Xiangle’s “Shajiabin”), model dramas highlight so-called “heroic figures” and become tools for the CCP’s propaganda and brainwashing. During the Cultural Revolution, her sister Tong Zhiling was characterized as a “reactionary academic authority and KMT cultural agent”. For this reason, Tong Xiangling publicly contradicted Zhang Chunqiao and was banned by the “Gang of Four”. In 1969, Tong Xiangling was asked to “make meritorious service and atone for her sins” by filming the modern Peking Opera model film “Taking Tiger Mountain by Wisdom.” In 1970, “Taking Tiger Mountain by Wisdom” was released nationwide, and he became famous nationwide for his role as Yang Zirong in the drama. Tong Xiangling became famous for her role as Yang Zirong, but when interviewed, she once lamented, “I will only be one Yang Zirong in “Taking Tiger Mountain” in my whole life.” Tong Xiangling, who has played Yang Zirong for a long time, tried his best to perform the role of an anti-Japanese hero with “a righteous look” image. But this is not the case. The distorted mountain eagle is not a bandit, but a real anti-Japanese hero.
Speaking of Yang Zirong, people over the age of 40 in China should be familiar with it. This should be attributed to the once popular “revolutionary model drama” “Taking Tiger Mountain by Wisdom” in China. Yang Zirong is the male protagonist of this drama. Another important character in this play is the “bandit” mountain eagle. As for the source of “Taking Tiger Mountain by Wisdom”, Qu Bo’s novel “Lin Hai Xue Yuan” was also a hit. In the context of the Chinese Communist Party, whether in model plays or novels, Yang Zirong has a “righteous face” and is an anti-Japanese hero, while the mountain eagle is a “bandit” who does all kinds of evil. Is this really the case?
Who is resisting Japan?
According to official information from the Chinese Communist Party, Yang Zirong’s family moved to Anton in 1929 to make a living due to financial constraints. “After the September 18th Incident, the Japanese army occupied the entire Northeast. Yang Zirong’s father fell ill and died. His mother took his two sisters back to his hometown in Shandong, leaving him to continue to make a living in Anton. Yang Zirong, who was only a teenager, did various coolies, and later , was captured by the Japanese army and worked as a mining worker. In 1943, he fled back to his hometown in Shandong due to his job as a foreman.
According to the CCP, Yang Zirong secretly joined a militia organization in Shandong and “actively participated in the anti-Japanese struggle and fought against the Japanese and puppet troops.” It was already the late stage of the Anti-Japanese War, and there were basically no large-scale battles. Since the CCP was unclear, I don’t know how Yang Zirong resisted Japan, or was he just trying to defeat a few Japanese and puppet troops?
And while Yang Zirong was working hard to make a living, what was the mountain eagle, called a “bandit” by the CCP, doing? In real resistance against Japan.
The “Zongheng” magazine sponsored by the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference published an article “Thousands of Years of Merit by Xie Wendong” in the fifth issue of 2006. The article stated that the mountain eagle’s real name was Xie Wendong. During Japan’s occupation of Northeast China, he organized a “self-defense group” to fight with the Japanese army many times. After fighting, he was later recommended by the people as the commander-in-chief of the Anti-Japanese People’s National Salvation Army. He was an important force in the Northeast Anti-Japanese Allied Forces. It is said that at that time, the Japanese lamented helplessly that “the three eastern provinces are small, but Xie Wendong is big”.
Film critic Ma Qingyun also published an article revealing that the “bandits” in the Northeast during the late Qing Dynasty, Beiyang, and the Republic of China were actually a kind of social force outside the official government. They were responsible for checking and balancing official power, just like the heroes of the Water Margin in Liangshanbo. The mountain eagle is the same character as Zhang Zuolin. After Zhang Xueliang lost the Northeast on September 18th, Zuoshandiao stood firm in the Northeast and led the resistance against Japan. He fought until only one soldier was left. The Japanese army tried to recruit him as a high-ranking official to surrender to the Puyi regime, but he flatly refused.
Compared with such a mountain eagle and Yang Zirong, who is the real anti-Japanese hero? Who is distorting the glorious deeds of the mountain eagle? It’s clear at a glance.
The mountain eagle was deceived and captured
So, how did Yang Zirong and the mountain eagle intersect? In September 1945, Yang Zirong joined the Eighth Route Army of the Communist Party of China and later stationed in Northeast China with the army. At this time, the Anti-Japanese War had been victorious. With the help of the Soviet Union, the CCP quickly occupied Northeast China to compete with the National Government headed by Chiang Kai-shek. Since there are no more Japanese to fight, Yang Zirong is responsible for the local “bandit suppression” mission. Among them, he was awarded by the CCP for capturing alive the “bandit leader” mountain eagle in Mudanjiang in February 1947. This is what “Taking Tiger Mountain by Wisdom” is about.
According to the memories of members of Yang Zirong’s unit 203, the so-called “outwitness” was as follows: Yang Zirong and others got on the line with the bandit liaison through bandit slang, and were introduced to the adjutant and a company commander of the Mountain Eagle. The two agreed to take them into the mountains, but the company commander was not at ease with Yang Zirong and his party. He tried to hand over their guns but was overpowered by Yang Zirong. Arriving at the shed where the mountain eagle was, Yang Zirong raised his gun and asked why he broke the rules of the world by letting his subordinates offend him, and asked the mountain eagle to apologize to his master “Jiu Biao”.
As a prestigious mountain eagle in the world, he is reasonable. In order to show his sincerity, he did not even bring a gun. While getting dressed, he said to his subordinates: “We are sorry for this. There is nothing we can do. Let’s talk about it.” After going down the mountain. The mountain eagle was dumbfounded. What was waiting for him was the CCP army. This old man who once made the Japanese helpless can only lament that he has “beaten the geese all his life and let the geese look away.”
Yang Zirong, who used his loyalty to lure the mountain sculpture down the mountain, quickly became famous and was rewarded. The Northeast Daily, controlled by the CCP, reported on it with the title “Fighting Model Yang Zirong and Others Capture the Bandit’s First Mountain Sculpture Alive”.
It was such an anti-Japanese hero. After being captured, he was shot by the CCP on the charge of “banditry” because he refused to persuade the CCP to surrender. He even skipped the step of going to a military court. Since then, the mountain eagle has become the villain in the works of military writer Qu Bo, a “big bandit” who does all kinds of evil.
Less than a month after Yang Zirong “captured” the mountain eagle alive, he encountered another wave of “bandits” and was killed by the “bandits” because he could not open the bolt due to the cold weather. Is this also a natural cycle?
Editor in charge: Wen Li
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