The untold story of Cheng Benhua: Her last smile changed history

Thekabarnews.com – A young woman named Cheng Benhua appeared in front of her executioners in Hexian County, Anhui, in April 1938, during the Second Sino-Japanese War. She was 24 years old. Not a scream of dread but a slight smile made her last moment remarkable. It was a sign of dignity in the face of death.

Cheng came from an agricultural family in Gaoxiang Village and was born in 1914. She was quite determined from a young age. She joined the Scouts of China for leadership and survival training while she was in high school. This helped her become more disciplined and brave. She joined the local resistance when Japan invaded China in 1937.

In that year, Cheng engaged Liu Zhiyi, another warrior. Liu’s death in early 1938, just a few months after their engagement, destroyed their expectations for a future together. Cheng’s determination did not wane because of his grief. Instead, she kept fighting against the Japanese until they caught her in her village in April 1938.

The unit that held Cheng, under the command of a Japanese officer, subjected her to torture and sexual abuse. Days later, as the unit prepared for deployment, the leaders ordered the execution of the prisoners. To break Cheng’s spirit, guards made her watch her friends die by bayonet, expecting that fear would make her give up information.

A Japanese journalist who worked for the unit shot a picture when it was her turn. Cheng stands still in the picture. There is a calm smile on her face. She is not angry or scared; she is accepting. She would not tell them anything.

The commanding officer, who was apparently impressed by her calmness, saved the picture and inscribed on the back, “Cheng Benhua, age 24.” The note kept her name alive long after her body was gone.

In 1992, more than 50 years later, a Chinese student called Fang Jun saw the picture while studying in Japan with Isamu Kobayashi, a former soldier who had served in the same regiment. Kobayashi gave Fang the picture and said that the woman’s face had tormented him for more than 50 years.

Eventually, the picture made its way back to China. A magazine in Shandong published it in 2005. Four years later, an editor in Hexian found Cheng’s family and her 92-year-old sister-in-law. She said that the woman in the picture was Cheng Benhua. Her family found out how she died for the first time in more than 70 years.

The oldest living family member brought the framed picture to the Cheng ancestral hall on December 25, 2012. It turned into a symbolic burial, a way to remember a woman who never got a proper goodbye.

There is a statue of Cheng Benhua in Nanjing nowadays. People remember her not only as a casualty of war but also as a symbol of resistance. Her last grin, caught in a single shot, speaks to people of all ages about the value of human life, bravery, and the strength of the spirit that violence cannot break.