Chen's Head

Every nation in wartime derives inspiration from its own peculiar tales of heroism. Some are legend, some are fact. Legend or fact, a tale was told by the Chinese last week of Chen Chung-chu, a guerrilla leader in the never-never land of North China behind the Japanese lines.

As an ace officer of General Li Tsung-jen, Chen needled the Japanese so spectacularly that they made a special expedition to mop up him and his men.

The Japanese beheaded Chen Chung-chu. They left the body for the villagers, took the head away.

Chen's wife next day went to see her husband. She knew that he could not rest quietly in the good earth without his head. Tucking a wash basin and a bottle of alcohol under her arm, she trudged off to Japanese headquarters at Taichow. From a Japanese officer she demanded the head of her husband. The officer refused.

Then Chen's wife put down the wash basin. She pulled a dagger from the sleeve of her cotton gown and spoke quietly. She said that if she were not given her husband's head she would add to his corpse two dead bodies, hers and the officer's. The Japanese officer took the head from a basket and gave it to her.

Carefully placing the head in the wash basin, Chen's wife soaked it in alcohol and took it back to her village. There she sewed it to the neck and buried body and head. Now Chen and his head rest in a grave no different from thousands of others that dot the green hills of China.

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