Editor's note: This year marks the centenary of the Communist Party of China. To learn more about the history of the ruling party of China, we will publish a series of inspiring stories shared by President Xi Jinping, who is also general secretary of the CPC Central Committee. Here's the fifth story, about General Yang Jingyu, an anti-Japanese fighter who earned tribute from his foes.

General wins admiration of enemy for iron will

The story of Yang Jingyu was mentioned by Xi during his trip to Northeast China's Jilin province in July 2020.

General Yang Jingyu, originally named Ma Shangde, was a national hero who led the Northeast Anti-Japanese United Army during the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression (1931-45).

In February 1940, Yang was killed in battle. The Japanese dissected his body, finding only undigested grass roots, cotton batting and tree bark left in his stomach, and not a single grain of rice, as he had eaten nothing for five consecutive days before dying.

Yang's persistence earned the tribute of his mortal foes, who held a memorial ceremony after his death. The Japanese commander Ryuichiro Kishitani was so shocked at the revelation that he "went silent, and appeared to have aged a lot within the next day". Kishitani once wrote: "China has steely soldiers like Yang Jingyu, and it would not fall."