The story of 96-year-old Peng Zhuying, one of the last living survivors from the Japanese military's "comfort women" system in the Chinese mainland, has been told in a moving documentary produced by the China Global Television Network (CGTN),
Peng remains one of the only seven registered survivors in the Chinese mainland of the Japanese military's "comfort women" system, a brutal Japan-enforced regime of sexual slavery during World War II, victimizing over 400,000 women across Asia.
She is also the only living survivor who is officially documented as a victim of both sexual slavery and of Japan's chemical warfare during the Japanese militarists' war of aggression against China.
Eight decades on, Peng has bravely shared the story of her horrifying experiences in the CGTN original documentary "Last Daughters," which reveals the deep scars left by war and captures the quiet strength and warmth that endured, even in the darkest depths of human suffering.
Blinded by mustard gas at age nine and mutilated at 14 before being forced into a military brothel during the war, Peng was able to survive despite facing these unimaginable hardships in her young life.
Her nephew Peng Zipang shared some insights into his aunt's incredibly strong character.
"For years, I've studied my aunt. She's fiercely strong-willed. In the face of difficulties, she never complained. The word 'complaint' simply wasn't in her vocabulary. She has placed two broken porcelain shards in her pot. She listens to their sound to judge whether the food is cooked and ensure that the water doesn't dry up while boiling. She solves problems on her own. Therefore, she is a truly strong woman. She may be a victim, but she has never thought of herself as weak. She's an optimist, a resilient soul," he said.
Nowadays, living in a narrow alleyway, a humble dwelling with one room and one kitchen in central China's Hunan Province, Peng sometimes receives visitors from historical institutions, including Zhang Ruyi, deputy head of Chinese "Comfort Women" History Museum.
"These elderly women, once enslaved, have suffered so much. Yet they shine with a certain light. I don't think it's about us doing something for the elderly ladies, not at all. Instead, they educate us. Every time I come, her room is already lit up, as though she was waiting for me. The light is never for herself, it's for those who come to see her. What is that if not tolerance and love for the world?" said Zhang.
According to "Comfort Women" Research Center at Shanghai Normal University, only seven registered survivors remain alive in China, with an average age of 96.
Since 1995, victims from the Chinese mainland and the Taiwan region have filed five lawsuits against Japan in Tokyo, all of which have proved unsuccessful.
Though Japan's Supreme Court acknowledged the Imperial Army's sexual violence and its lasting harm, the state refuses reparations.
Survivor of wartime sexual slavery embraces world with love despite ill-fated life
