Yang Huimin


Yang Huimin was a Girl Guide during the 1937 Battle of Shanghai who supplied a Republic of China flag and brought supplies to besieged defenders of the Sihang Warehouse. Her actions proved inspiring to the defenders, who flew the flag the next daybreak in front of thousands of watching eyes across the bank of the Suzhou Creek.

Personal life

Yang had studied physical education in Shanghai and was a member of the girl scouts when the war broke out. Her courageous action during the Defense of Sihang Warehouse made her famous. In 1938, she was sent overseas to raise support and spoke about China's struggle in a number of countries. Her efforts were memorialized in the 1938 film Eight Hundred Heroes, but Yang objected to some of the ways in which the film exaggerated her action for dramatic effect.
After the Chinese Civil War, Yang followed the Chiang Kai-shek government to Taiwan. She married National Taiwan University professor of physical education Zhu Chongming and had two sons, Zhu Fugui and Zhu Fuhong. She worked as a physical education teacher in Taipei. The sons were not aware of their mother's war effort when they studied her role in grade school lessons.
Yang died of a stroke March 9, 1992 at the age of 78. Her involvement in the Sihang Warehouse defense is featured in the 1976 Taiwanese film Eight Hundred Heroes by starring Brigitte Lin as Yang Huimin.