Zhao Yiping, the Immortal Anti-Japanese Hero in the Fire

"Blood-stained yellow sand vows to liberate China, and the fire will treat me like Kyushu", this couplet hanging at the gate of Zhao Yiping's former residence shows the martyrs' bravery and patriotism. Not far from the former residence, the Martyrs Cemetery in Luohe City, Henan Province is surrounded by pines, and the monument to the martyr Zhao Yiping is erected here. The Liulisi Battle Memorial Hall in Liaocheng City, Shandong Province also records Zhao Yiping's heroic deeds. Every Qingming Festival, the people of the two places have carried out commemorative activities to express their memory and admiration for the martyrs.

Zhao Yiping, formerly known as Zhao Lianyue, was born in Yancheng, Henan Province in 1910. Introduced by Peng Xuefeng in 1925, he joined the Communist Youth League of China and became a member of the Communist Party of China in 1926. After that, he used teaching as a cover in Yancheng civilian primary school to recruit party members, establish party organizations, set up peasant associations and carry out peasant movements. After the failure of the Great Revolution, he engaged in the underground work of the Party under the cover of primary and secondary school teachers in Shaanxi, Shandong, Henan and other places. In 1935, he served as a Chinese teacher in Datong Middle School, a private school in Qixian, spreading Marxism-Leninism and carrying out anti-Japanese national salvation activities.

After the Xi'an Incident, in accordance with the requirements of Peng Xuefeng, Secretary of the North China Liaison Bureau of the Northern Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, "put down the whip and wake the soldiers to participate in the war of resistance", Zhao Yiping went to the northwest of Shandong as a secretarial clerk to carry out the anti-Japanese national salvation movement, publicize the Communist Party's anti-Japanese ideas, and expose the reactionary essence of the Kuomintang government's policy of "anti-Japanese anti-Japanese policy. Driven by Zhao Yiping and other Communists, Fan Zhuxian embarked on a bright road of cooperation with the Communist Party to resist Japan.

At the end of 1937, Zhao Yiping went to work in the Special Committee of the Northwest Shandong Province of the Communist Party of China. He successively served as a member of the Party Committee, Secretary-General and Minister of the United Front Work Department of the Luxi District, and Secretary-General of the Political Department of the Sixth District. He made important contributions to the anti-Japanese base area, and was highly praised by the Party Central Committee and Mao Zedong. During this period, he presided over the work of the Anti-Japanese War Daily, the organ of the Special Committee of the Communist Party of China in Northwest Shandong, and the theoretical publication Pioneer monthly. He served as a member of the editorial committee and wrote editorials for the newspaper in accordance with the party's principles and policies, making the newspaper a powerful weapon to publicize the party's anti-Japanese ideas, inspire the people's fighting spirit and fight the enemy.

In March 1939, the leading organs of the Luxi District Committee of the Communist Party of China advanced eastward from Guanxian and Guantao areas with the advance column of the 129th Division of the Eighth Route Army. In the early morning of the 5th, he encountered Japanese troops in the area of Liulisi in Chiping. In the evening of the fierce battle, Zhao Yiping was shot and wounded in many places and fell into the clutches of the Japanese army. The Japanese tied him to a tree, whipped him and stabbed him with bayonets... In the face of the murderous enemy, Zhao Yiping was awe-inspiring, heroic and unyielding, and denounced the barbaric atrocities of the Japanese invading army: "If you crucify me to a tree, I would rather die standing up than lowering my head. It is better to be a whipped ghost than a slave to a conquered country... "The Japanese army became angry from embarrassment, cruelly doused his body with gasoline and set him on fire. In the flames, Zhao Yiping used his last strength to shout: "Down with the dog Japanese devils! Long live the Chinese Communist Party! "The brutal Japanese raised their bayonets and stabbed him in the mouth ...... Zhao Yiping died heroically at the age of 29.

in order to carry forward the spirit of martyrs, the "north street primary school" in luohe city was renamed "yiping primary school" in 1996 ". Zhao Honglei, principal of Yiping Primary School, said: "The school has built a Zhao Yiping Martyrs Memorial Room and Yiping Bookstore, and has established the 'Hongying Yiping Theatrical Theatre. At every important time node, the school will carry out activities to commemorate the martyr Zhao Yiping, which inspired the patriotism of the students."

Source: People's Daily Online