Do not let memories of martyrs fade away

A CHINA CENTRAL TELEVISION PROGRAM broadcast on Sunday told the story of Yang Zirong, a People's Liberation Army hero, whose family was unaware that he had died a martyr until 27 years after his death in 1947. China Daily writer Zhang Zhouxiang comments:

The novel Tracks in the Snow Forest tells how Yang outwitted a group of gangsters in northeastern China in 1946 before dying in a battle a few days later.

The novel was so popular from the 1950s to the 1980s that almost every person born in those decades has read it. However, many people did not know that the character in the novel was the true identity of the hero. Even his son did not know his father was the hero he read in the book until 27 years later, because he carried a name different from the one formally registered with the army.