SHIJIAZHUANG, April 5 (Xinhua) -- About 300,000 people in northern China paid homage to two foreign doctors who volunteered during the War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression (1937-1945) through a six-day public memorial that ended on Tuesday.

Tuesday marked the Qingming Festival, or Tomb Sweeping Day, a 2,500-year-old tradition in China meant to mourn the death of ancestors and loved ones.

People from all walks of life came to the North China Military Martyrs Cemetery in Shijiazhuang, the capital of Hebei Province, to mourn Norman Bethune and Dwarkanath S. Kotnis.

Bethune, a Canadian, came to China in 1938 and helped the Chinese people in their fight against the Japanese aggressors by saving thousands of lives. In late 1939, he died of blood poisoning due to a finger prick he sustained during surgery.

Kotnis, an Indian, also came to China in 1938 as a volunteer doctor to aid China's anti-Japanese aggression effort. He died due to an illness in 1942.

"The two have become widely known and respected by generations in China," said Tian Guoxiang, the director of the historical materials department of the North China Military Martyrs Cemetery.

In December 1939, the late Chinese chairman Mao Zedong wrote an article called "In Memory of Norman Bethune" to call on the Chinese people to learn from his example.

Xinhua