Handwritten letters from battlefields and deathbeds touch viewers nationwide

Wang Yaoqing reads a letter of Hu Lian, a general in the Chinese People's War Against Japanese Aggression (1937-45). [Photo provided to China Daily]

Many letters were written during the Chinese attempt to protect Changsha, capital of Hunan province, against Japanese invasion that caused 130,000 casualties among Chinese troops between 1939 and 1944. Up to 1,500 such letters were penned by Chinese troops during the battle, Zhang said.

The TV program displayed one letter from Chu Dinghou, a Kuomingtang sergeant who was killed in a battle near the north bank of Liuyang River in eastern Hunan in 1941.

His last letter to his older brother showed his determination in a desperate situation: his army column was ordered to fight until the last person to resist the Japanese invaders after a Kuomingtang backup failed to arrive in time.

Zhang said the letter shows unyielding Chinese patriotism.

For Guan Zhengwen, the program's chief director, the letters give a glimpse of Chinese values.

He cited the example of Yang Kaihui, Mao Zedong's wife, who was executed by a warlord in 1930 at the age of 29 after she refused to renounce Mao and the Communist Party.

"She was the mother of three children. You can sense the affection for her children through her letter," Guan said.