Azure Seas and Skies Reflect Loyalty: Remembering Wang Tianxiang, Huangyan's Anti-Japanese Hero

Wang Tianxiang (1906–1937), born in Ningxi Town, Huangyan, Zhejiang, was a pioneering aviator and martyr of China's resistance against Japanese aggression. A graduate of the Whampoa Military Academy and the Central Aviation School, he rose to prominence as deputy commander of the Nationalist Air Force's 3rd Pursuit Group, embodying scholarly discipline and battlefield valor.

Wang's patriotism ignited early. During the May 30th Massacre (1925), he mobilized classmates to boycott Japanese goods in Ningxi's port. After joining the Central Aviation School in 1929, he mastered flight techniques and became a flight instructor, earning the nickname “Sky Eagle.”

In 1937, as full-scale war erupted, Wang wrote farewell letters to his family from Huangyan, vowing to defend the nation. On August 14, he led fighters to escort bombers during China's first large-scale aerial battle, crippling Japanese naval operations. Days later, during a high-stakes raid near Baoshan, his squadron was ambushed. Despite downing two enemy planes, his aircraft was struck. After parachuting into the East China Sea, he was fatally wounded and died at 31.

A local farmer surnamed Qi retrieved his body. Unwilling to leave the martyr’s body exposed on the beach, he sold Wang’s watch to buy a coffin for burial and erected a brick with inscriptions as a memorial. In 1946, his remains were reinterred at Hangzhou Jianqiao Air Force Martyrs' Cemetery. In 1984, the Ministry of Civil Affairs awarded Wang the "Certificate of Revolutionary Martyr". In 2015, he was honored in the second batch of China's 600 Notable Anti-Japanese Heroes and Hero Groups listed by the Ministry of Civil Affairs, his heroic deeds permanently inscribed in history.

His diaries reveal a man torn between scholarly aspirations and wartime duty. Writings such as ‘To die for the nation is to live eternally’ immortalize his resolve. Today, statues in Ningxi's Jinshan Park and Hangzhou's martyr memorials honor his sacrifice—a timeless testament to unwavering patriotism.