Yimeng

This film (drama)Also known as沂蒙，is aMainland ChinaProducerbeauty live，At2009Released in year 。The dialogue language isMandarin Chinese，Current Douban rating8.8(For reference only)。

In the autumn of 1938, in a small mountain village called Mamu Pool deep in the Yimeng Mountains, Aunt Yu and her husband Li Zhonghou were busy preparing for the wedding of their second son, Jicheng. Watching the happy couple, Aunt Yu's eldest daughter-in-law "his sister-in-law" couldn't help but recall her own wedding night when her husband Li Jichang ran away. The village's good-for-nothing, Er Nuo, ran to tell everyone that the soldiers had come, causing panic as the villagers hid in the ravines. After the soldiers left, they returned to find that their village not only hadn't been looted, but the streets were also cleaned, and some families had even left cash as compensation, as the Eighth Route Army had advanced into Yimeng for the anti-Japanese war. The Japanese really came; the villagers all hid in the back mountains. Aunt Yu's third daughter, San Ni, was brutally raped and killed by the Japanese, and the wife of Li Jicai, also fell victim to the Japanese and committed suicide by jumping off a cliff. Angry villagers killed a straggling Japanese soldier. Village head Li Datou gathered everyone to discuss how to resist the Japanese retaliation. The landlord Li Zhongfeng's eldest son returned from the Kuomintang army to visit family. Li Datou implored him to help find the Nationalist Army, but he was rebuffed. While Li Datou prepared for a fight to the death, he sent Li Jicheng and Jishan to find the Eighth Route Army and the Nationalist troops for help. To prevent the village’s extinction, the young people were sent to the mountains, while the rest armed themselves with homemade guns and cannons, rushing to their positions at the dirt walls by the village. Hundreds of Japanese soldiers and puppet troops began their attack, and under the leadership of village head Li Datou, the villagers bravely fought against the well-equipped Japanese soldiers, suffering heavy casualties. Li Jicai, who had gone for help, was conscripted by the Nationalist army, while Li Jicheng not only found the Eighth Route Army but also encountered his long-lost elder brother Li Jichang. As the walls were breached, the villagers desperately resisted the massacre, and the Japanese paid a heavy price. The Eighth Route Army dispatched a platoon to distract the enemy, causing the Japanese to abandon over a hundred corpses in a hasty retreat. The villagers buried their loved ones and cremated the Japanese corpses. Li Zhongfeng brought the ashes of the Japanese to the county town occupied by the Japanese; his elder brother Li Zhongqi falsely claimed to be part of the main force that dealt a heavy blow to the Japanese army, which prevented the Japanese from retaliating against the village. After the Eighth Route Army left, Aunt Yu's eldest son Li Jichang and his wife Luo Ning were sent back to the village to carry out community work. Faced with her husband, whom she had only seen once before he fled, and his new wife, Aunt Yu felt a deep, unexpressable sorrow. Moved by her sister-in-law's magnanimity, Luo Ning became a close friend. Li Jichang encouraged everyone to join the revolution, and Jishan and Jicheng both joined the Party. Aunt Yu was deeply affected, and Chen Tong gave Aunt Yu, who had never had a name, the name Yu Baozhen. Chen Tong persuaded Li Zhongfeng to become the village head to appease the Japanese, while Jishan and Jicheng organized militia. Yu Baozhen rallied her daughter-in-law and daughter to mobilize and organize the village women to establish a women’s rescue committee. Li Jizhou returned to the village to capture Li Jichang, but Li Zhongfeng rushed to stop him. After investigation, under Chen Tong's introduction, Yu Baozhen finally joined the Party. The Japanese came to seize grain, and Jicheng and others cooperated with the Eighth Route Army to recover the grain, and Jicheng's wife also wanted to join the Party, only to discover that the introducer was her own husband. Yu Baozhen treated her sister-in-law's daughter as her own and named her Xin'ai, and gave her second daughter-in-law the name Xintian. Jicheng led the militia to cooperate with Jichang's Eighth Route Army to eliminate the Japanese cannon tower, and Li Zhonghou helped carry the door plank, organizing the women’s rescue committee with Yu Baozhen to assist the injured. The battle was victorious, and Jicheng was sent for training. Luo Ronghuan stayed at Yu Baozhen's home to recuperate, and she took great care of him. The Eighth Route Army had strict discipline and was deeply loved by the people. In 1941, Jichang organized the villagers to hold a council meeting, electing Yu Baozhen and Li Zhongfeng to represent them at the wartime Work Committee election in Shandong Province at Qingtusi. Busy with women’s rescue committee work, Xintian had a miscarriage. The matchmaker said the future home was the carpenter's family of the neighboring village, but the second daughter refused and was locked up. Just then, students from the Anti-Japanese Military and Political University came, including many female soldiers. The appearance of these female soldiers completely changed the lives of the women in the village. The second daughter met Xia Yang, whose passionate pursuit of love and freedom strengthened her resolve to resist an arranged marriage. The second daughter changed her name to Li Yang, joined a literacy class, and with Xia Yang's support, went to the district to study, where she not only received new ideas but also met someone who would change her fate, Meng Kui. Meng Kui attended the literacy class, and Yu Baozhen secretly had Meng Kui teach her to read. At Xia Yang and Chen Tong's wedding, Yu Baozhen gave them the first two characters she ever wrote, "Xia Yang," as a wedding gift. Li Yang's feelings for Meng Kui grew deeper, and she refused to get married. When her future in-laws came with betrothal gifts, including lots of Japanese candies, Yu Baozhen realized that Shuan Zhu was working for the Japanese and resolutely canceled the marriage. The eldest daughter was beaten every day at her in-laws' house, but encouraged by her sister Li Yang, she participated in the literacy class and changed her name to Li Yue. In the literacy class, the always troubled eldest daughter revealed smiles, but her husband Sun Wang, incited by her mother-in-law, couldn't stop hitting her. Although she hurt for her daughter, Aunt Yu's outdated sense of face forced her to make her daughter return to her in-laws, and Li Yue escaped. The children of Jichang and Luo Ning were sent back by Li Yue, who was working in the district women's rescue committee, while Xin'ai loved Jichang's children as if they were her own. An Eighth Route Army hospital brought in a batch of wounded soldiers to Mamu Pool, with some being taken into villagers' homes for care. Chen Tong and Xia Yang also returned to the village, but they brought bad news: Jichang and Luo Ning had been captured by Li Jizhou and then fell into the hands of the Japanese. The troops asked Li Zhongfeng to help find his brother Li Zhongqi, who was working as a translator for the Japanese to rescue them. After negotiations led by the patriotic Mr. Chen and others, the Japanese agreed to release Jichang and Luo Ning, but on the condition that they publicly declared their surrender. Jichang and Luo Ning firmly refused and were ultimately executed. Yu Baozhen vowed that until the Japanese were driven away, she would not bury her son and daughter-in-law. A dozen children of Eighth Route Army cadres were sent to the village, and Yu Baozhen dispersed them to various households to be cared for, keeping two at her own home: a three-year-old boy to Xin'ai and a newborn infant named Liming to Xintian. Xintian, determined, weaned her little baby Neini, while the boy Yisheng became another cherished child for Xin'ai. Yisheng fell ill, and Xin'ai carried him to find a military hospital for treatment. Yisheng's biological parents, Minister Xu and his wife, thought their son was dying and asked the hospital not to waste military medicine on him anymore. As the troops prepared to leave, Minister Xu and his wife left in distress. The doctor also gave up treatment, but Xin'ai couldn't bear to give up and kept the medicine in her mouth, feeding it to the child mouth-to-mouth, staying by his side all night. Miraculously, Yisheng survived. In 1941, the Japanese launched a major sweep of the Yimeng base area, and the situation became tense. The troops had to evacuate, and a large quantity of military grain and supplies that couldn't be taken were hidden in the village; some wounded soldiers also needed to be concealed, along with a Dutch cow for the wounded’s nourishment. The Japanese entered the village, demanding food and the Eighth Route Army soldiers’ children, asking the villagers to hand them over. To protect the Eighth Route soldier's child Yisheng, Xin'ai brought back Ning'er, whom she had raised as her own, but then fainted. The Japanese tried to take Ning'er away but were ambushed by Liu Heiqi's bandits; Ning'er also fell into the hands of the bandits. Liu Heiqi demanded a ransom of one thousand silver dollars, but upon learning the truth, he personally returned Ning'er. Teacher Liu from the Anti-Japanese Military and Political University stayed at Yu Baozhen's house to recuperate, and after recovering, promised to come see her after the victory of the revolution. Li Yue brought a leader to a cave dug by her husband Sun Wang to recuperate. To treat the leader's illness, Li Yue urgently went to her mother-in-law for help. Li Yue reconciled with her mother-in-law and got to know her mother-in-law's simplicity and kindness. To protect the leader, her mother-in-law sacrificed herself. Sun Wang used a small cart to push the healed leader back to the troops, and he joined the Eighth Route Army. In order to deliver a message to the captured Zhong Hui, Li Jicun was captured by the Japanese. Xia Yang was arrested, and Li Yang visited her in prison. Xia Yang died heroically, and Li Yang went to find the Eighth Route Army after completing her funeral arrangements, only to find that Xia Yang's husband Chen Tong had also perished. In the army, Li Yang met Meng Kui and successfully led the troops out of danger. The Japanese swept through again; Er Nuo, unable to endure the humiliation, committed suicide by crashing into a tree. Li Zhongfeng poisoned the porridge he gave to the Japanese, killing them but sacrificing his entire family. Zhonghou and Jishan led villagers to deliver grain to the Eighth Route Army, chosen to starve rather than lose a grain of rice. Li Jizhou's Nationalist troops were surrounded by the Japanese and, at the brink of running out of ammunition and food, were rescued by the Eighth Route Army. Li Jizhou was injured, and after Yu Baozhen and Zhonghou returned the favor, they hid him in their home after helping treat his wounds. Li Yang led over twenty soldiers to protect the main force's evacuation; Meng Kui jumped off a cliff, and Li Yang was captured. While the Japanese were repairing a prison in their stronghold, Shuan Zhu rescued Li Yang. Li Yang felt guilty and, after recovering, went to find Shuan Zhu, only to discover that both Shuan Zhu and his mother had been killed. The Japanese came searching the mountains. Awakening now, Li Jizhou, alone, killed over ten Japanese soldiers before sacrificing himself for the country. The Eighth Route cows were discovered, and to divert the Japanese, Lao Si drove a knife into the neck of his own cow, which he was usually reluctant to whip. The cow ran wildly and died, saving the Eighth Route cows, while Lao Si was solemnly buried by the entire village. The Eighth Route Army returned; the children fostered in the homes of villagers were all taken back, and Xin'ai and the village women were very sad. Many of the young men who had joined the army returned, but Jicheng was nowhere to be seen. In 1945, the Shandong Provincial government was established. Mamu Pool village elected a village head, but Yu Baozhen was not elected, blaming Zhonghou for voting for Jishan. The War of Resistance Against Japan was victorious, and celebrations erupted everywhere. Yu Baozhen and Zhonghou planned to bury the deceased Jichang, Luo Ning, and San Ni when Jicheng returned. At that moment, the Nationalist army attacked the Yimeng Mountain Liberation Zone, and Jicheng received a redeployment order before even entering his home. In 1946, the civil war fully broke out. Yu Baozhen led the villagers of all ages to actively support the army, with women cooking pancakes, making military shoes, and preparing food day and night. A troop needed to cross the river for an urgent combat mission; Xintian, Xin'ai, and dozens of girls from the literacy class jumped into the icy river, using their shoulders to carry planks to build a makeshift bridge. The victory of the Battle of Menglianggu brought the liberation army south in great numbers, needing a massive labor force to support them. The Yimeng base area was truly the last grain of rice and the last piece of cloth for army uniforms, the last son to go to battle. Zhonghou pushed his small cart to the front line; seeing thousands of small boats of the liberation army crossing the Yangtze River, he wept tears of joy, finally understanding why his sons had rushed forward one after another. Zhonghou died at the moment the crossing battle ended. The new China was finally established, and Li Yang returned to the village. Yu Baozhen decided to bury her deceased relatives. As a combat hero, Sun Wang and Li Yue refused the jobs arranged for them by the township, both going to the martyrs' cemetery, wanting to spend their ordinary lives guarding the comrades who sacrificed themselves. Li Yang finally found the injured Meng Kui in the veterans' hospital and brought him home on a cart. Jicheng sent a divorce agreement. Yisheng and Ningning were taken away by Minister Xu. Time reached the Cultural Revolution period. Outside cadres came to Yu Baozhen's home to investigate Teacher Liu, who had once recuperated at home. Although infuriated by his ingratitude, Yu Baozhen still gave him a certificate. Jicheng, already gravely ill, returned home, and Xintian accepted him, ultimately dying in her arms. Time has reached the present. An elderly general with white hair comes looking for and visiting his savior from back in the day. Yu Baozhen, now over a hundred years old, has somewhat unclear wits. But upon hearing someone outside, she instructs Xintian to kill a chicken. The old general carefully recognized for a long time, but Yu Baozhen was still not the person he was looking for. The old general searched for several days in the Yimeng Mountains but still could not find the person he wanted to find. When he was about to leave, he donated all his life savings to Yimeng Mountain to build a hope primary school. The old general didn't find the person he sought but saw many people just like his savior. They are the ordinary people of Yimeng Mountain, the most ordinary common folk in China. Yu Baozhen passed away, and the entire village gave her a solemn burial. The general gazed at the funeral procession, rendering a solemn military salute toward the procession.