East of the Ocean

In 1937, in a small village in Yishui County, Shandong Province, a family named Feng Xingzhuang had a junior high school graduate this year. There were not many educated families in this poor village. The Feng family had three sons and two daughters. His father, Feng Lushan, was self-taught and knew some words. He could actually read some ancient books and was considered a small intellectual in the local countryside. Feng Lushan's second child, Feng Pingyuan, went to junior high school at home. In early 1938, Feng Pingyuan, a 17-year-old student who had just graduated from junior high school in Linyi, appeared at the gate of the Youth National Salvation Army in the Fifth War Zone in Xuzhou. Li Rui, a graduate of Peking University, happened to be at the gate. He saw this handsome young man in straw sandals staring intently at the notice he had just posted on the door wall recruiting members of the National Salvation Corps. He called Feng Pingyuan into the office. Feng Pingyuan told him that he had just graduated from school, his name was Feng Pingyuan, and he wanted to join the army and fight with the Japanese.