Bold Plum
with the Guerrillas in China's War against Japan
By Hsiao Li Lindsay
Wedding photo Professor Michael Lindsay and his former student,
Li Hsiao Li June 1941 Yenching University Beijing China.
For more information,
Contact Jim Lindsay
email boldplum@bigfoot.com
© 2006 Hsiao Li Lindsay
My name is Hsiao Li Lindsay. I am the "Bold Plum" in the book title, "plum" being a translation of my family name Li. The "bold" refers to the fact that I broke through multiple restrictions as a Chinese woman growing up during the Sino-Japanese War, 1937-1945.
I worked clandestinely assisting the Chinese Communist guerrillas while a university student in Japanese-occupied Beijing. I fell in love and married one of my professors who was from England, something almost unheard of for a Chinese woman at the time. On the day of Pearl Harbor, my husband Michael and I narrowly escaped capture by the Japanese secret police who had come to arrest us.
I lived underground for 2 ½ years in northern China, with several close encounters with the Japanese Army. I walked over 500 miles, crossing Japanese lines of control, to reach Yenan, the Chinese Communist wartime headquarters. I worked in close contact with the Chinese Communist leaders and the US Army Observers Section in Yenan for almost two years. Knowing both languages and cultures, I was trusted by the Chinese Communists and the Americans at Yenan.
I wrote this story in English in 1947. My story is not just about the Chinese resistance to the Japanese occupation. "Bold Plum" is also a love story between a Chinese woman (me) and an English man (Michael Lindsay, who became Lord Lindsay of Birker).
Watch for Bold Plum, with the Guerrillas in China's War against Japan. Coming soon.
I think you will enjoy reading Bold Plum and will learn about everyday life in northern China behind the Japanese lines.