On September 19, 1937, coinciding with the sixth anniversary of the "Mukden Incident" (September 18, 1931), the paper featured "To the Front Lines!", a woodcut by Qin Wei (1911–1994). The print portrays a tall, heroic Chinese soldier, holding a rifle in one hand and a sword in the other, standing firm amid smoke and fire. His commanding figure evokes a powerful sense of national pride and defiance. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, Qin Wei served as President of the China Film Art Association.
During the War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression, many artists used Ta Kung Pao as a creative platform, expressing the grand narrative of the national struggle through various visual forms such as traditional Chinese painting, printmaking, and political cartoons. Among these, woodcut prints emerged as the most widely adopted and collectively supported medium.
Artists such as Li Qun, Ma Da, Qin Wei, Lu Hongji, Duan Ganqing, Feng Zhongtie, Zhang Hui, and Shang Mozong wielded their carving knives as weapons. With sharp lines and bold strokes, they vividly depicted the courage and defiance of Chinese soldiers and civilians, exposed the brutality and savagery of the Japanese invaders, and carved indelible marks into the memory of history.
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