On Our River, the Japanese invaders once blew up our ship

October 1938, Wuhan in central China's Hubei Province was already under siege by the Japanese.

Despite fierce resistance, the city was on the verge of falling. The Eighth Route Army's Wuhan Office, which had persevered here for a year, and Xinhua Daily, which had been published in Wuhan for more than nine months, received orders to relocate to southwest China’s Chongqing.

At around 5 p.m. on October 22, staff members boarded the steamer Xin Shenglong and headed upstream toward Chongqing. With a carrying capacity of less than 1,000 tons, this river vessel had been rented by the Eighth Route Army's Wuhan Office. On board were its staff and the editorial team of Xinhua Daily, along with most of the paper's printing equipment.

Following Comrade Li Kenong's directive—"travel by night, rest by day, avoid enemy aircraft"—Xin Shenglong reached the waters near Yanziwo in Jiayu County (today's Yanziwo Village, Yanwo Town, Honghu City, Hubei Province) the next morning and concealed itself along the riverbank.

That afternoon, six enemy aircraft suddenly appeared, swooping down to bomb the ship.

Defenseless, Xin Shenglong quickly burst into flames. Comrades of the Office and Xinhua Daily braved death to transfer equipment to lifeboats. Enemy planes circled and strafed; bombs rained down. Soon the deck was awash with blood, and the vessel began to list. Yet the heroes still carried equipment piece by piece to the shore.

The massacre lasted more than half an hour. Sixteen journalists of Xinhua Daily sacrificed their lives, including Pan Meinian, Li Milin, Xiang Tai, and Cheng Deren. Eight soldiers of the Eighth Route Army — including Zhang Haiqing, Zhao Xingcai, and Xu Tingrong — were killed, their blood dyeing the waters of the Yangtze River. Dozens more, including the crew, perished.

The attack was clearly premeditated. They had long harbored deep hatred for the Communist Party's anti-Japanese mobilization efforts in Wuhan.

At that time, with the Anti-Japanese National United Front taking shape, Wuhan had become one of the centers of resistance. Zhou Enlai, then Deputy Director of the Political Department of the Military Commission of the Nationalist Government, oversaw information and mobilization work in Wuhan. Under his leadership, Guo Moruo was appointed Director of the 3rd Bureau of the Political Department. The 3rd Bureau included four anti-enemy communication teams, 10 theatre troupes, a children’s troupe, a cartoon team, a film studio, and five mobile film units, forming a stronghold of the Anti-Japanese United Front in Kuomintang-controlled areas.

The bureau brought together many outstanding artists, including Hong Shen, Xian Xinghai, and Zhang Shu. Through various art forms, they vigorously promoted resistance and salvation.

Guo Moruo later recalled: "Many brave journalists went to the front with passes signed by the 3rd Bureau… We successively sent out nine theatre troupes, four anti-enemy communication teams… and kept the children’s troupe traveling through the rear areas."

Newspapers, theatre, and cinema all became weapons of resistance. Tian Han, head of the 6th Section, led mass choirs in the streets to sing the “March of the Volunteers”: "Arise, ye who refuse to be slaves! With our flesh and blood, let us build a new Great Wall…" On the Yangtze itself, ships formed a stage where Tian Han’s lyrics and Zhang Shu's music gave voice to the "Hongbo Song", echoing with the waves: "We fight on the Yellow River, we fight on the Huai River, Lake Weishan surges once again… The people united, the soldiers united, the nation as one—final victory will be ours…"

Xinhua Daily reported these activities in detail.

As the first national daily founded by the Communist Party in Kuomintang-controlled areas, Xinhua Daily carried articles by Mao Zedong, Zhou Enlai, Zhu De, Dong Biwu, Wu Yuzhang, and Deng Yingchao, as well as reports by journalists such as Fan Changjiang—for example, "A Visit to the Higher People's Court of the Shaan-Gan-Ning Border Region" and "Our Eighth Route Army Inflicts Heavy Losses on the Enemy: Nearly 1,000 Killed in Shanxi-Hebei Operations".

Mao Zedong highly praised the newspaper: "Together with the guerrilla warfare of the Eighth Route and New Fourth Armies behind enemy lines, it is equivalent to one of the Party's field armies."

This cultural force was deeply resented by the Japanese invaders. During more than two months of siege, the Wuhan Office, the Xinhua Daily headquarters, and cultural venues were repeatedly bombed. Records show that Xin Shenglong had been under enemy surveillance even before departure.

When tragedy struck and martyrs' blood dyed the Yangtze red, Li Kenong, despite immense grief, gathered survivors and organized post-disaster work as the best he could.

On December 5, 1938, more than 5,000 people in Chongqing attended the "Memorial Meeting for the Martyrs Who Died in Defense of Wuhan", mourning the fallen.

Funeral couplets filled the hall—

From the CPC Central Committee: "Their spirit shakes mountains and rivers!" From Comrade Mao Zedong: "They sacrificed for the nation!"

Zhou Enlai and Ye Jianying wrote: "The ship burned upon the river, its grand ambition to ride the winds and break the waves left unfulfilled; Falling for the nation in the rear, their death equals dying on the battlefield with arms in hand."

The Japanese thought that by sinking Xin Shenglong, they could silence the Chinese people's cries of resistance. But they were wrong. That very day, Li Kenong and Xinhua Daily president Pan Zinien resolved to continue the newspaper in Chongqing. On the same day, under Zhou Enlai's direction, the Chongqing edition was published. As Deng Yingchao wrote in "In Memory of the 25 Martyrs of the Steamer Xin Shenglong": "They destroyed our city and our vessel, but they could never destroy the great unity of the Chinese nation! We lost 25 martyrs, but gained millions of brave fighters against the enemy!"

……

Decades passed. One summer afternoon 87 years later, the "Into Former Battlefields" reporting team from Guangming Daily arrived at Yanziwo on the banks of the Yangtze in Honghu City.

Because of the Three Gorges Dam upstream, the river now lay calm like a mirror. A lone steamer moved slowly across the water, etching a faint line between sky and river.

Beyond the levee stretched vast lotus ponds. Endless green leaves spread out, dotted with blooming pink lotuses swaying gracefully. A small boat parted the leaves; two fashionable young women were on board, one paddling, the other picking buds.

As we watched closely, the boat slipped into the depth of the lotus blossoms, leaving only a lingering song drifting across the water:

"Wild ducks and water chestnuts all around, In autumn the fields are heavy with rice, All praise the beauty of paradise, But how could it compare with my homeland of fish and rice in Honghu…"

Local officials told us that Xin Shenglong still lies at the bottom of the river. We sincerely hope it may one day be brought to light, to bear witness with us to today's life of peace, happiness, and contentment.

Find the original article at https://news.gmw.cn/2025-08/02/content_38193822.htm

Written by Wang Jianhong, Zhang Rui and Gaoyuyuan

Translated by Wang Xinyuan