Yizhen Zhang

Pieces of me

Yizhen Zhang my great-grandad on my mom's side,

He was born in 1918 in a small village in China, he grew up studying in a private school and had an excellent academic score. He then graduated from normal school.

After graduating he became a teacher.

During the Japanese invasion in WW2 around 1947, he resolutely abandoned his pen and joined the Eighth Route Army to fight against the Japanese invasion.

with an anti-Japanese front, he began his strict military life in the army; a lifetime engaged in ideological and political work.

After the Japanese invasion and WW2, China successfully won the war against them, but my great-grandad sadly got a few injuries.

After that, Yizhen Zhang became a general in the military. He was quite popular in his city during that time.

Yizhen Zhang got married and had ten children but six were lost and died during the war, one of his sons that survived is my grandad.

Before my great-grandad Yizhen Zhang passed away, his father left a fortune to Yizhen Zhang and his children, and my grandad and his father for many years moved many times from Shanghai to Nanjing to Beijing to Xuzhou to Changchun(where my grandparents live right now). Afterward, My great grandad sadly passed away from the side effects of a past injury during the war.

After my great-grandad passed my grandad would always have a small notebook with him whenever going on a trip or going somewhere to remember my great-grandad, Yizhen Zhang's suffering during the war and how much of a hero he was.

By Kiki