VALUES & VIRTUES
EPOCH TIMES
AUGUST 8 – 21, 2014 35
PUBLIC DOMAIN
Continued from Page 34
“Don’t grieve for me, but take pride in my sacrifice. Devote yourself to the bringing up of the children.” Lim Bo Seng’s last words to his wife Lim Bo Seng in his 30s
Adnan was seriously wounded, but carried on fighting until he succumbed to his injury. After the battle was lost, the Japanese soldiers tied him to a tree and repeatedly bayoneted him to death. His surviving men were also massacred. Another well-known war hero is Lim Bo Seng, a Singaporean Hokkien businessman-turnedresistance fighter. Shortly before Singapore fell to the Japanese, Lim left his family for India. There, Lim helped set up Force 136, a Sino-British resistance group and guerilla task force to support the eventual British invasion of Malaya.
Lim recruited and trained hundreds of secret agents in China and India, before returning to Malaya with a group of Force 136 members. Together, they set up an intelligence network in the urban areas of Pangkor, Lumut, Tapah and Ipoh, to gather information to aid the British invasion. But Lim and his fellow agents were betrayed and captured by the Japanese. Lim was taken to the Kempeitai headquarters, where the Japanese tortured him to make him reveal information about Force 136. Lim refused to divulge anything, and instead protested against the ill-treatment of his fellow men in prison.
A few months later, the torture and malnutrition eventually caused Lim to fall ill with dysentery, and he died in prison at the age of 35. In his final letter to his wife, he wrote, “Don’t grieve for me, but take pride in my sacrifice. Devote yourself to the bringing up of the children.” Today, these patriots are remembered for their courage and loyalty through memorials such as the Lim Bo Seng Memorial in Esplanade Park, and Reflections at Bukit Chandu along Pepys Road. Like historical heroes such as Joan of Arc and Yue Fei, they serve as exemplars of true patriotism and loyalty to one’s country.
HISTORICAL FIGURES
The Tattoo on Yue Fei’s Back PUBLIC DOMAIN
By Epoch Times Staff Yue Fei (1103-1142 AD) was a famous military general of the Song Dynasty and a national folk hero. He was best known for defending the Southern Song against the Jurchen or Jin invaders from the north. He was also a noted strategist, but it’s not his military talent that made the most profound impact on the Chinese people. His loyalty and devotion to the country became a role model for many generations of Chinese. Beginnings of a Mighty General Yue Fei was born to a farmer’s family in Henan, China. Despite his family's poverty, he was studious and read widely. Yue was eventually taken under the wing of Zhou Tong, a famous master of military skills, who taught him military strategy and weapon use, including archery and the eighteen weapons of war. Yue eventually came in first place at the Tangyin County military examination, and joined the army at the age of 19. The most widely told story about Yue Fei is how his mother placed a tattoo on his back. It is this story that deeply ingrained the ideal of loyalty to one’s country in the philosophy of the Chinese people. At the time, the Jin invaders had captured the north of the Song Dynasty, and were threatening to capture the south as well. When the emperor sent Yue Fei to resist the Jin invaders, Yue was in a dilemma— there was no one to take care of his elderly mother if he went. When his mother learned of her son’s predicament, she told him that the country’s needs should take precedence. She then tattooed four Chinese characters, “jin zhong bao guo (精忠报国)”—meaning "serve
To exhort Yue Fei to fight for his country, Yue Fei's mother tattooed on his back the words “jin zhong bao guo (精忠报国)” , meaning “serve the country with unreserved loyalty”.
the country with unreserved loyalty"—on Yue Fei’s back, to exhort him to fight for his country. The Loyal General Meets a Tragic End Yue Fei went on to become one of the most awe-inspiring generals of the Song Dynasty, as well as in Chinese history. His army, known as “Yue’s army,” was unassailable. The mere mention of it caused the northern Jin invaders to quake in their boots. The Jin moaned that it would be less sweat to move mountains. That aside, Yue’s army was also very disciplined, and had the reputation for not disturbing the civilian population under any circumstances, even when they were starving. When the army stayed at an inn, they always tidied the place up the next morning. Step by step, Yue’s army drove back the Jin invaders from Northern Song.
Finally, in 1140 AD, Yue was about to achieve the objective that he and his army had been working towards for the past 18 years – to launch their final assault against the Jin, and recover all of north China. However, the then Emperor Zhao Gou and corrupt minister Qin Hui, fearing Yue’s victory would bring back the previous emperor and threaten their stranglehold on the throne, gave orders forcing Yue to retreat and go back to Lin’an, the capital of the Southern Song Dynasty. As a result, the Song land was lost once again. After Yue returned to Lin’an, he was arrested under trumped-up charges of treason, locked up in Dali Temple, and tortured. Legend has it that when he was tried in court for treason, Yue ripped his jacket to reveal the tattoo "serve the country with unreserved loyalty"
on his back—stark proof that he was clearly innocent of the charges. On New Year’s eve of 1142, Yue was executed at the age of 39, along with his son, Yue Yun, and another general, who was also his son-in-law. To commemorate the national hero, people later made four statues, including likenesses of Qin Hui and his wife, kneeling in front of Yue’s tomb in Yue Fei Temple in Hangzhou, to have them atone for their sins. They have been condemned to kneel there for hundreds of years since.
When tried in court for trumped-up charges of treason, Yue Fei ripped his jacket to reveal the tattoo ‘serve the country with unreserved loyalty’ on his back—stark proof he was clearly innocent of the charges.
Devotion to Country and Its Culture Yue’s devotion to his country was not simply a matter of safeguarding the then Song’s territory, but more importantly the preservation of thousands of years of Han Chinese culture. Yue knew in his heart that if Song should succumb to alien occupation, the broad and profound Chinese culture could very well be destroyed. Unfortunately, he fell prey to corrupt officials and was unable to save the Song Dynasty in the end, which was taken by the Jin in 1279. However, the Jin did not destroy the ingrained Chinese culture, but instead were to a considerable degree assimilated into it.