"The Soul of China"

Wen Tianxiang, the martyr (d. 1282)

Unfortunately I have not found a translation of the autobiography Wen Tianxiang 文天祥, China's first and most important national martyr. That's a shame, because as Mr. Brown shows in his brief but note-packed little book, this guy is tremendously interesting. From Yuan-dynasty accounts of how much he impressed the invading Mongols, down to statues of him in Singapore, we can see that Wen has been a model figure of national sacrifice for almost one thousand years, everywhere where Chinese is read and spoken.

A couple of interesting notes from Mr. Brown's text: A film called "The Soul of China" 國魂 was made in 1948, just as Chiang Kai-shek was losing China. From its popularity in Hong Kong as late as 1959, it's clear that anti-Communist Chinese audiences saw Wen Tianxiang as a martyr for the anti-Communist cause. Funny enough, Wen Tianxiang was also taught in history classes in mainland China during these years, presumably with a different interpretation. Also, the star of the 1948 film was Tao Jin 陶金 (above); he stayed in mainland China, I guess, because he starred in the famous Communist agitprop romance Song of Youth 青春之歌 just a few years later.

More fun facts: Wen's martyr figure appealed to Chinese intellectuals; Brown cites the case of William Hung, author of Tu Fu [Du Fu]: China's Greatest Poet:

"...when imprisoned by the Japanese in 1942, he requested a copy of the works of Du Fu in the hope of using them as had Wen Tienxian, while imprisoned by the Mongols. In coversations with me Professor Hung also reported that the memory of Wen's devotion to his cause not only gave hope and sustenance to those Chinese intellectuals who were suffering at the hands of the Japanese but also affected the captors themselves, for the Japanese officers, having been taught in their educational system the stories of Wen and other Chinese historical heroes, could not but respect those of their captives who remained steadfastly loyal."

Cool, huh? Also, the following passage really made my eyes widen, because I visited the tiny town of "Tianxiang" in Toroko gorge in 2005, but I had no idea it was founded for an ancient political martyr.

In 1960, during my first tour as a language student on Taiwan, I found that the portrait of Wen Tianxiang was prominently displayed, that there was a place (Tianxiang) named after him in the Toroko Gorge, and that this name was familiar to all Chinese with whom I spoke, some of whom not only knew his famous "Song of the Upright Spirit," but could also readily allude to his works or biography in one way or another. In 1979, during my second tour, I found that a stature of Wen had been erected at Tianxiang in 1967 and that a scene depicting Wen before his execution had been installed in the Wax Museum of the Central Film Studio in Taipei.