A restored portrait has given a 93-year-old woman in central China an emotional reunion with the young husband she lost to war decades ago.
Zhao Cuifen, from Liuyang in Hunan province, reportedly married Zhang Zhixin in the 1950s. Soon afterwards, Zhang enlisted in the army.
In July 1953, as Korean War armistice talks were deadlocked, Kuomintang forces launched a major assault on Dongshan Island off southeastern China. People’s Liberation Army (PLA) troops training in nearby cities were rushed in as reinforcements. Among them were 60 soldiers from Liuyang, including Zhang.
After 36 hours of fierce fighting, the PLA claimed victory, but more than 1,200 soldiers were killed or wounded. Zhang died in the battle at the age of 20, leaving behind no children and no photographs.
Zhao cried every day but continued to care for Zhang’s parents. Worried that she could not bear the family burden alone, the elderly couple later arranged for her to marry Zhang’s cousin, according to Liuyang Daily.
Zhao went on to have five children but never stopped mourning the man she lost as a young woman.
For decades, the martyrs of the Dongshan Island battle existed only as names carved into stone. Although a cemetery was built on the island, many families found it difficult to travel there to pay tribute.
In May, a volunteer portrait team from Nanjing University of Industry Technology, supported by Hunan authorities, began restoring the faces of the fallen soldiers.
Drawing on relatives’ facial features, family memories, and historical records, the team used sketches and digital restoration to recreate the images of four Liuyang martyrs.
On June 24, the four portraits were returned to Liuyang and handed to the martyrs’ families.
Video footage shows Zhao, supported by those around her, taking Zhang’s portrait into her hands. As she looked at the face of her late husband as a young man, her legs gave way, and she started sobbing.
She called his name, pressing her head against the frame. Later, she knelt before burning joss paper for a long time.
Zhao’s youngest daughter said her mother had been strong all her life, and that it was only the second time she had seen her cry.
Reports said Zhao’s children still call the fallen soldier “Father Zhixin.”
“From now on, Father Zhixin is no longer a cold name on a wall of heroes, but a flesh-and-blood relative we can see, honour, and remember,” Zhao’s second daughter told the media.
The younger cousin of another martyr, Liu Xinfu, also attended the reunion ceremony. Seeing his portrait, she was overcome with emotion, tears streaming down her face. “Brother, after 73 years, we can finally see your face,” she said.
One online observer of the story remarked: “The lives of martyrs may take up only a few lines in history books, but to their families, they were husbands and sons. War took them from this world, but not from the hearts of those who loved them.”
The Korean War broke out against the fraught backdrop of the Cold War. China entered the conflict to support North Korea and defend its homeland, sending the Chinese People’s Volunteer Army to the front. Beijing says more than 197,000 Chinese soldiers died in the war, though international estimates of its military casualties vary. -- SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST
