Cao Zhenfeng: A young Chinese artist in the communist army

This is the true story of Cao Zhenfeng (1926-2006). Here, the reader will find a certain Chinese point-of-view on some events of the twentieth century that changed the world. He was born into poverty, when warlords were fighting civil wars, Japanese bombing civilians, and militias loyal to Jiang Jieshi (Chang Kai-shek) were conducting summary executions of suspected communists. So at twelve he ran away and joined the Old Eighth Route Army, "to fight the Japanese and save China." He then had many adventures, also some narrow escapes. But Cao Zhenfeng could draw, and read and write, which was rare in those days. He served as a pictorial-journalist at the front lines of three wars: the Anti-Japanese War, China's Civil War, and the Korean War. His illustrated reports were widely distributed to the leadership, and to the troops, local folks and peasants, who were mostly illiterate. Over four-hundred original drawings and sketches by Cao Zhenfeng are included. An American reader might particularly note the pictorial narratives about the battles at Changing Lake (Chosin Reservoir), Wendengli (Heartbreak Ridge) and Shangganling (Triangle Hill). Finally, in 1953, twenty-seven years old, he "retired" from the combat army. This book ends there; he went on to become an authority on Chinese folk art, and a Deputy Director of China's National Art Museum.