Laid to rest, but her spirit endures

Patches of snow littered the frozen earth on Friday, Nov 20, the bitterly cold day when Zhang Xiantu was buried in Xiyan town in Yuxian county, Shanxi province.

I was unable to attend Zhang's funeral but colleagues told me how musicians played and a clay pot was broken to send the coffin on its way, as the whipping wind dried the cobs of corn in the farmyard. Friends and family came from near and from afar, warming themselves by the vat of oil for the outdoor servings of food.

Some would define Zhang as a "comfort woman". The trauma she suffered should not define her. She was much, much more than that and had all the attributes of a hero, for that is what she was. The rapacious nature of the wartime Japanese imperial army is still not acknowledged by some. Those that still deny should have gone to Zhang's village and spoken to those who knew about her life. She was taken by the Japanese just weeks after her marriage. The torment lasted for months before she was freed. But integration back into her family took time. Those that were taken were sometimes crushed by the experience and the aftermath when shattered lives had to be rebuilt.