Dong Cunrui

Dong Cunrui was a Chinese Communist soldier in the People's Liberation Army during the Chinese Civil War who blew himself up in order to destroy a Kuomintang bunker guarding an approach to an important bridge in Longhua County.

Death

Under heavy fire, he reached the bunker, but there was no place to effectively position the explosives. Reportedly shouting "For a new China!", he detonated the explosives he carried, killing himself and the defenders within the bunker. His sacrifice was heavily publicized by the Chinese Communist Party, who called him a hero and model communist, and he remains well known in China. He was posthumously awarded three "Bravery Medals" and one "Mao Zedong Medal", and his squad was titled "Dong Cunrui Training Model Squad".

Cultural depictions

In 1954, a biography of Dong was published, part of a broader trend of biographies of heroic soldiers. Dong was depicted in a 1955 film Dong Cunrui directed by Guo Wei and a 2009 TV miniseries titled For a new China, forward. His story was also published in national elementary Chinese textbooks.