Zheng Xiangkai, a 95-year-old Christian anti-Japanese veteran (cadre of the Fujian Health and Epidemic Prevention Station), was born into a poor peasant family in Baisha Town, Minhou County, Fujian Province on December 27, 1927. At the age of seven, his father died. The whole family of five depended on his mother. She burnt paper and worshipped Buddha all year round, but she could not change the difficult family circumstances.
Later his mother sent him to a private school in a village where he stayed in his uncle’s house. He and his cousin went to the school and studied classics such as The Great Learning and The Doctrine of the Mean. When he was eight, his family’s situation improved slightly, so his mother took him back to his hometown to study in Grade Two in a primary school. Perhaps it was the poor condition of his family that made him have great ambitions since he was a child. He was determined to be loyal to the nation, honor his parents, and study in good schools to change his family’s situation.
When Zheng was in Grade Three or Four, he got up early every day. He sold fried dough sticks along the street with a cake basket on his head. Then he went home to eat breakfast and go to school. Even so, his studying results ranked No. 1 or 2 every semester in the class.
In April 1941, the Japanese army captured Fuzhou for the first time. On the fourth day, the situation was tense, and the national army could not hold out against them. The Japanese entered the city from the north gate. Early in the morning, the local people took their children to flee. His sister took him to run with the refugees and went back to their hometown Baisha from Fuzhou through the Hongshan Bridge.
On the next day, gunfire could be heard in Baisha also. Very scared of this, the young boy saw Japanese forces burnt, killed, and raped people. All the women in Baisha, his hometown, went to hide in the mountains. No one dared to stay at home. The Japanese would leave their food everywhere so he went to pick up the leftovers and cooked them for his grandfather and two younger brothers.
In the spring of 1942, Zheng was admitted to Fuzhou No.1 Middle School, where he finished junior high school. By then Fuzhou fell for the second time. Around October 1944, the national government launched the campaign of “100,000 educated youths for the army”. In that year, there were only over 500 teachers and students in Fuzhou No.1 Middle School in Minqing and more than 300 students signed up for the army. After a physical examination, more than 30 students including Zheng were chosen.
Zheng was assigned to the Third Class of Artillery Company of the Fourth Infantry Company of the Second Battalion of the 622nd Regiment of the 208th Division of the Intellectual Youth Army. He became second-class artillery. On August 15, 1945, his troops trained in Zhongxian Town, Lichuan County, Jiangxi Province. In the middle of the night, the platoon leader blew his whistle to wake the troops up, announcing that Japan had surrendered and that they had won the Anti-Japanese War.
When Zheng’s troops were informed that they were going to take over Taiwan, he began to learn the Minnan dialect and Taiwanese customs. After leaving Fuzhou with his troops, he went north to Xing Wu, Zhejiang Province for six months of training. He then prepared for graduation and demobilization. There were three choices for demobilization, continued education, employment, or retirement. He chose education and went to Jiaxing to finish high school for three years. After graduation, tired of civil war, he decided to stop serving as a soldier and returned home. At the end of 1948, after three days and nights of tossing and suffering, he sailed from Shanghai to his hometown in Fuzhou, which had not yet been liberated.
When Zheng came home, he was in a more difficult situation. Failing to find a job, he relied on his brother to make silverware to support his family. Later, when he heard that Baisha cigarettes were easy to sell, he went to Fuzhou to wholesale cigarettes and came back to sell them. Soon, he encountered Zhang Henian, the principal of the original primary school, who asked for his consent to teach in Baisha Primary School. At the beginning of liberation, the rural land reform and fighting hegemony movement made him feel uneasy. He went to Fuzhou to find a job instead.
One day, Zheng read in Fujian Daily that the Fujian Provincial Health Department had recruited “Training Course for Epidemic Prevention Personnel of Plague Prevention and Control Office in Southeast of East China”. He was lucky enough to be accepted. After six months of studying and training, 148 kg of rice was rationed to him every month. That amount could barely support the whole family. After a few months, he was sent to Jian’ou to set up a plague prevention and control station and then was transferred back to Fujian Health and Epidemic Prevention Station a few years later.
In 1963, Zheng, nearly 40 years old, studied hard and sat the national college entrance examination. He was admitted to the Department of Environmental Engineering, Tongji University, Shanghai, majoring in water supply and drainage engineering. After three years of study, the school was suspended during the “Cultural Revolution”. It was not until 1980 that Zheng was awarded his undergraduate diploma, and in 1992, he was awarded the title of deputy director of health technical personnel.
When the Cultural Revolution began to clean up the class ranks, Zheng was no exception. He was locked up by the rebel side of the epidemic prevention station in the bullpen of the provincial health school for isolation and introspection. At first, he was constantly criticized day and night, so he was desperate that he wanted to hang himself with a rope.
The Cultural Revolution was coming to an end, and he was sent to the brigade to farm. Soon, the old headmaster of Qingliu No.1 Middle School, who was with Zheng, was transferred to Qingliu No.3 Middle School as the headmaster. He asked him again if he wanted to teach, and this time Zheng taught chemistry there for five years. In the spring of 1977, he was transferred back to the provincial health and epidemic prevention station. He laughed at himself for “eight years of anti-Japanese war and eight years of decentralization to the countryside”. Later He was rehabilitated and reinstated as the section chief of the health and epidemic prevention station.
In October 1979, Huaxiang Church or the Flower Lane Church was the first to reopen in Fuzhou, resuming normal religious activities. Living in a nearby community, every time he went out into the street, he had to pass through the alley beside the church. Attracted by the church’s hymns and the enthusiasm of the worshippers, he began to enter the chapel. In 1980, he was baptized in Huaxiang Church and became a Christian. He said, “I am not destined to be president, but I should learn from Jesus according to the Bible’s teaching of “loving each other as one’s own”. Since then, he desired to do more things that benefitted other people for the rest of his life.
In June 1993, Zheng retired from the posistion of Chief of Health and Epidemic Prevention Station in Fujian Province. Then he founded a scientific research institute at his own expense, engaged in scientific creation and invention of water and environment, and designed two local waterworks with a daily output of 60,000 tons without charging any fees. After that, he attained four patents such as a water purifier without replacing the filter element and a water purifier that automatically eliminates the dirt in the filter layer.
In recent years, Zheng had personally prepared water-based drugs for external use, which can effectively kill bacteria and viruses. He sent more than 5,000 bottles to churches in Fuzhou and Putian free of charge.
The old man said, “I have lived under the same roof for four generations, with six children, three boys, and three girls. They are all very kind to me. I am already a 95-year-old man, and my future is limited. The Party and the government pay me nearly 8,000 yuan a month. Volunteers who care for the Anti-Japanese War veterans during the Chinese New Year are like angels sent by God. They often come to visit and express their condolences to me. I don’t need any more money ... I have experienced all kinds of difficulties in my life, and I am satisfied with my reward at present. Everything in the world has its cause and effect. God’s arrangement is very fair. In my lifetime, I will continue to do what benefits the world and the human race.”
(This article is written by a special/freelance writer who is a Christian in Fujian and originally published by Gospel Times.)
-Translated by Charlie Li
一位95岁基督教徒抗战老兵（福建省卫生防疫站干部）郑祥开1927年12月27日出生在福建省闽候县白沙镇一个贫穷的农民家庭。七岁时，他的父亲就去世了。全家5口人，靠母亲一个人养活，母亲常年烧纸拜佛，却也无法改变他们艰难的家境。
父亲过世后，母亲就把他寄送到公家的村里读私塾，之后不久，便寄送到一舅舅家，在那里他和表妹一起念私塾，读了《大学》、《中庸》等书，八岁那年家庭经济稍有好转，母亲就把他领回家乡，在小学插班读二年级。也许是家境穷的原因，他从小就有很大的抱负，要忠于国家民族、孝敬父母，决心读好书改变家庭境遇。
郑祥开读到三四年级时，每天都早起，头顶饼箩沿街叫卖油条，卖完油条后才回家吃早餐上学，即便如此，他每学期考试成绩都在班上前一二名。
1941年4月，日本军队第一次攻占福州，第四天形势紧张，国民党军队顶不住了，日本人从北门进城，大清早，街上人群拖儿带女逃难，郑的姐姐就带着他跟着人群跑，从福州经过洪山桥一直跑回白沙老家。
次日，白沙也听到枪炮声了。年幼的郑祥开非常害怕，他亲见到日本鬼子烧杀奸淫，家乡白沙所有女人都往山里躲起来，没有人敢留在家里。日本人吃剩米饭鱼肉到处乱丢，他就去捡那个残饭烂莱回来煮一下给外公和二个弟弟充饥……
1942年春，郑祥开考入福州一中，他在那里读完初中，这时福州又二次沦陷。1944年10月左右，国民政府号召“十万知识青年从军”，当年在闽清（国统区）的福州一中全校师生也只有五百多人，报名从军的就有三百多人，经过体检，包括郑祥开在内的三十多名同学被选上。
郑被编入知识青年军208师622团第二营步兵四连炮兵三班，当上二等炮兵手。1945年8月15月，郑的部队在江西黎川县钟贤镇集训，半夜排长吹哨子叫起床集合，宣布说日本投降了，抗战胜利了。
郑祥开部队接到通知，准备去接收台湾，他便开始学闽南话和台湾风俗习惯。他随部队离开福州后北上浙江吴兴集训六个月后，准备毕业复员。当年复员的官兵去向有就学、就业、退伍等几个选择，郑老选择到嘉兴到青年中学读完高中三年。毕业后郑老对内战已感厌烦，决定不再继续当兵，打道回府。1948年年底，经三天三夜折腾、历经磨难从上海乘船回到还没有解放的福州老家。
郑老回到家，处境更艰难，找不到工作做，靠他弟弟打银器维持全家人的生活。后来听人家说白沙烟好卖，他就到福州批发烟回来卖。不久，他找到原来读小学校长张鹤年，经校长同意让他在白沙小学教书。解放初农村土改斗霸运动使他心感不安，于是跑到福州城里找工作。
一天郑祥开在《福建日报》上看到福建省卫生厅招收“华东区东南鼠疫防治处防疫人员训练班”的消息，有幸被录取。训练班学习训练六个月出来后，每月148斤大米工薪，勉强可以养活全家。又过几个月，组织上让他到建瓯去建立鼠疫防治站工作，后几年才调回福建省卫生防疫站工作。
1963年，快40岁的郑祥开刻苦自学，参加当年的全国高考，被上海同济大学环境工程学系给水排水工程专业录取，学习三年后，“文化大革命”开始学校停学。直到1980年郑老拿到当年的本科毕业证书，1992年评上卫生技术人员副主任职称。
文化大革命清理阶级队伍开始，也清理到郑祥开头上，郑祥开被防疫站造反派关进位于省卫生学校的牛栏隔离反省。一开始连日带夜不停地对他批斗，很是绝望，就想用绳子吊死以自杀了事………
文化大革命快结束了，他被下放到大队务农。不久，与郑开祥下放同大队原是清流一中老校长被调到清流三中当校长，他问郑祥开说要不要去教书，郑愿意，之后在清流三中教了五年化学。1977年春天，郑祥开被调回省卫生防疫站工作，他自嘲“抗战八年，下放农村也八年”。他被平反，恢复其卫生防疫站的科长职务。
1979年10月，花巷教堂在福州市第一个重新开堂，恢复正常宗教活动。郑的家住附近社区，每次上街都得从花巷堂边巷子经过，他被教堂的圣诗和信徒崇拜的热情吸引，开始进入礼拜堂礼拜。1980年在花巷堂接受洗礼成为一名基督徒。郑祥开说：我没有当总统的命，但要以圣经中“爱人如已”的教导，向耶稣学习，想尽余生多做一点对人民有益的事……
1993年6月，郑祥开从福建省卫生防疫站科长的岗位上退休，退休后的他自费创立科研所，从事水和环境的科学创造发明，为当地两座日产6万吨自来水厂等工程设计，都没有收取费用。之后他又发明了无需更换滤芯的净水器和自动排除滤层积污的净水器等专利等四项发明。
近年郑祥开还亲自配制具有高效杀灭细菌和病毒作用的水型外用药，几年来他免费向福州、莆田教会送出5000余瓶。
郑说：“我现在四世同堂，共有六个子女，三男三女。他们对我都很好，我已经是95岁的老头了，来日有限，党和政府每月还给我近8000元工资，过年过节关爱抗战老兵志愿者像上帝派来的天使，经常来看望慰问我，我不需要更多的钱……这一辈子历经了各种坎坷，眼下对我的回报我很满足的，世间万事都循着因果报来，上帝的安排是十分公平的，有生之年，对世界人类有好处的事我都会继续去做……”
注：本文为特约/自由撰稿人文章，作者系福建一名基督徒
95岁高龄基督徒抗日老兵郑祥开的传奇人生
Zheng Xiangkai, a 95-year-old Christian anti-Japanese veteran (cadre of the Fujian Health and Epidemic Prevention Station), was born into a poor peasant family in Baisha Town, Minhou County, Fujian Province on December 27, 1927. At the age of seven, his father died. The whole family of five depended on his mother. She burnt paper and worshipped Buddha all year round, but she could not change the difficult family circumstances.
Later his mother sent him to a private school in a village where he stayed in his uncle’s house. He and his cousin went to the school and studied classics such as The Great Learning and The Doctrine of the Mean. When he was eight, his family’s situation improved slightly, so his mother took him back to his hometown to study in Grade Two in a primary school. Perhaps it was the poor condition of his family that made him have great ambitions since he was a child. He was determined to be loyal to the nation, honor his parents, and study in good schools to change his family’s situation.
When Zheng was in Grade Three or Four, he got up early every day. He sold fried dough sticks along the street with a cake basket on his head. Then he went home to eat breakfast and go to school. Even so, his studying results ranked No. 1 or 2 every semester in the class.
In April 1941, the Japanese army captured Fuzhou for the first time. On the fourth day, the situation was tense, and the national army could not hold out against them. The Japanese entered the city from the north gate. Early in the morning, the local people took their children to flee. His sister took him to run with the refugees and went back to their hometown Baisha from Fuzhou through the Hongshan Bridge.
On the next day, gunfire could be heard in Baisha also. Very scared of this, the young boy saw Japanese forces burnt, killed, and raped people. All the women in Baisha, his hometown, went to hide in the mountains. No one dared to stay at home. The Japanese would leave their food everywhere so he went to pick up the leftovers and cooked them for his grandfather and two younger brothers.
In the spring of 1942, Zheng was admitted to Fuzhou No.1 Middle School, where he finished junior high school. By then Fuzhou fell for the second time. Around October 1944, the national government launched the campaign of “100,000 educated youths for the army”. In that year, there were only over 500 teachers and students in Fuzhou No.1 Middle School in Minqing and more than 300 students signed up for the army. After a physical examination, more than 30 students including Zheng were chosen.
Zheng was assigned to the Third Class of Artillery Company of the Fourth Infantry Company of the Second Battalion of the 622nd Regiment of the 208th Division of the Intellectual Youth Army. He became second-class artillery. On August 15, 1945, his troops trained in Zhongxian Town, Lichuan County, Jiangxi Province. In the middle of the night, the platoon leader blew his whistle to wake the troops up, announcing that Japan had surrendered and that they had won the Anti-Japanese War.
When Zheng’s troops were informed that they were going to take over Taiwan, he began to learn the Minnan dialect and Taiwanese customs. After leaving Fuzhou with his troops, he went north to Xing Wu, Zhejiang Province for six months of training. He then prepared for graduation and demobilization. There were three choices for demobilization, continued education, employment, or retirement. He chose education and went to Jiaxing to finish high school for three years. After graduation, tired of civil war, he decided to stop serving as a soldier and returned home. At the end of 1948, after three days and nights of tossing and suffering, he sailed from Shanghai to his hometown in Fuzhou, which had not yet been liberated.
When Zheng came home, he was in a more difficult situation. Failing to find a job, he relied on his brother to make silverware to support his family. Later, when he heard that Baisha cigarettes were easy to sell, he went to Fuzhou to wholesale cigarettes and came back to sell them. Soon, he encountered Zhang Henian, the principal of the original primary school, who asked for his consent to teach in Baisha Primary School. At the beginning of liberation, the rural land reform and fighting hegemony movement made him feel uneasy. He went to Fuzhou to find a job instead.
One day, Zheng read in Fujian Daily that the Fujian Provincial Health Department had recruited “Training Course for Epidemic Prevention Personnel of Plague Prevention and Control Office in Southeast of East China”. He was lucky enough to be accepted. After six months of studying and training, 148 kg of rice was rationed to him every month. That amount could barely support the whole family. After a few months, he was sent to Jian’ou to set up a plague prevention and control station and then was transferred back to Fujian Health and Epidemic Prevention Station a few years later.
In 1963, Zheng, nearly 40 years old, studied hard and sat the national college entrance examination. He was admitted to the Department of Environmental Engineering, Tongji University, Shanghai, majoring in water supply and drainage engineering. After three years of study, the school was suspended during the “Cultural Revolution”. It was not until 1980 that Zheng was awarded his undergraduate diploma, and in 1992, he was awarded the title of deputy director of health technical personnel.
When the Cultural Revolution began to clean up the class ranks, Zheng was no exception. He was locked up by the rebel side of the epidemic prevention station in the bullpen of the provincial health school for isolation and introspection. At first, he was constantly criticized day and night, so he was desperate that he wanted to hang himself with a rope.
The Cultural Revolution was coming to an end, and he was sent to the brigade to farm. Soon, the old headmaster of Qingliu No.1 Middle School, who was with Zheng, was transferred to Qingliu No.3 Middle School as the headmaster. He asked him again if he wanted to teach, and this time Zheng taught chemistry there for five years. In the spring of 1977, he was transferred back to the provincial health and epidemic prevention station. He laughed at himself for “eight years of anti-Japanese war and eight years of decentralization to the countryside”. Later He was rehabilitated and reinstated as the section chief of the health and epidemic prevention station.
In October 1979, Huaxiang Church or the Flower Lane Church was the first to reopen in Fuzhou, resuming normal religious activities. Living in a nearby community, every time he went out into the street, he had to pass through the alley beside the church. Attracted by the church’s hymns and the enthusiasm of the worshippers, he began to enter the chapel. In 1980, he was baptized in Huaxiang Church and became a Christian. He said, “I am not destined to be president, but I should learn from Jesus according to the Bible’s teaching of “loving each other as one’s own”. Since then, he desired to do more things that benefitted other people for the rest of his life.
In June 1993, Zheng retired from the posistion of Chief of Health and Epidemic Prevention Station in Fujian Province. Then he founded a scientific research institute at his own expense, engaged in scientific creation and invention of water and environment, and designed two local waterworks with a daily output of 60,000 tons without charging any fees. After that, he attained four patents such as a water purifier without replacing the filter element and a water purifier that automatically eliminates the dirt in the filter layer.
In recent years, Zheng had personally prepared water-based drugs for external use, which can effectively kill bacteria and viruses. He sent more than 5,000 bottles to churches in Fuzhou and Putian free of charge.
The old man said, “I have lived under the same roof for four generations, with six children, three boys, and three girls. They are all very kind to me. I am already a 95-year-old man, and my future is limited. The Party and the government pay me nearly 8,000 yuan a month. Volunteers who care for the Anti-Japanese War veterans during the Chinese New Year are like angels sent by God. They often come to visit and express their condolences to me. I don’t need any more money ... I have experienced all kinds of difficulties in my life, and I am satisfied with my reward at present. Everything in the world has its cause and effect. God’s arrangement is very fair. In my lifetime, I will continue to do what benefits the world and the human race.”
(This article is written by a special/freelance writer who is a Christian in Fujian and originally published by Gospel Times.)
-Translated by Charlie Li
The Legendary Life of Zheng Xiangkai, a 95-Y-O Christian Anti-Japanese Veteran
