Zhang Xinyi Funds Comfort Women Documentary

Chinese actress Zhang Xinyi has donated 1 million yuan ($156,000) to the production of a documentary about China's comfort women entitled "Thirty Two."

A comfort woman refers to women during the Japanese occupation in World War II that were forced to become sex slaves for Japanese soldiers.

The documentary is the project of Chinese director Guo Ke. The film's title refers to the number of comfort women left alive when Guo was started filming in 2012, from an original number of over 200,000 comfort women.

In June 2012, Guo learned the story of Wei Shaolan, a former comfort woman living in the remote countryside of Guangxi Province.

Wei and her daughter were forced to be comfort women. They escaped after being raped and tortured for months, but Wei's daughter died shortly after, and Wei got pregnant with a Japanese child.

But Wei remained hopeful despite going through so many hardships. "Now the world is so good, and I don't even want to die," she said, jokingly.

Inspired, Guo decided to turn Wei's story into a documentary. He almost gave up due to lack of funds when Zhang gave him 1 million yuan without any conditions.

Thanks to the contribution, "Thirty Two" was awarded "Best Documentary" by Chinese broadcaster Phoenix television.

Zhang is best known for her appearances in high-profile historical films and television dramas.

Many commenters online approved to the donation, saying it revealed more about the star beyond her beautiful face and outstanding performances.

"It is really remarkable that people in show business would fund documentaries that are barely economically rewarding," said a fan.

Zhang herself has not made any comments about the issue.

Comfort women existed in many countries other than China that Japan occupied during World War II, including the Philippines, Korea, Vietnam and Malaysia. Japan has historically downplayed the role comfort women played in the war, often claiming none were ever forced into the role.