Wild Swans: Three Daughters of China

The oppressed people of Jinzhou cheered the news that the U.S. had dropped two atomic bombs on Japan. Many of the city’s residents engaged in violent reprisals against the Japanese invaders. At the urging of Chang’s mother, the Xias agreed to hide Miss Tanaka, the Japanese teacher who had wept at the schoolgirl’s execution and the only teacher who had been kind to the students. The Soviet Army moved into Jinzhou. Soviet troops, by and large, behaved in the same barbaric manner as their comrades in Eastern Europe, raping and pillaging with impunity. Shortly after the Soviets arrived, so too did the Chinese Communists, who set about restoring order and arresting collaborators, including Chang’s great-grandfather in Yixian. By mid-November 1945, the Soviets had withdrawn from the city. Viewing the countryside as their stronghold, the Communists were content—for the time being, at least—to abandon the major cities to their enemies, the Kuomintang.

Kuomintang troops now entered Jinzhou. These were the Chinese nationalists, backed by the United States. Chiang Kai-shek was their leader. For the next four years, they would fight a vicious and devastating civil war against the Chinese Communists. For the time being, they occupied Jinzhou and soon made themselves nearly as contemptible as the Japanese had been.