Handwritten letters from battlefields and deathbeds touch viewers nationwide

Jiang Qinqin reads the last letter of Yang Kaihui, Mao Zedong's wife, who was killed in 1930 at the age of 29.[Photo provided to China Daily]

Guan also mentioned that Xia, the 16-year-old who died for the Ming court, made a moral choice to be faithful to the education he had received and the culture he had inherited.

"Reading his last letter thrilled me. It's really hard to imagine how a teenager calmly wrote down the words as he prepared for his execution," Guan added.

Other than letters from brave people, the words left behind by some others are also thought-provoking. Such cases include the last letter by Qiu Wenzhou, a Taiwan father who wrote to his daughter, who was 6-year-old, before he died of cancer.

Liu Yu, executive director of the program, said a last letter is "a solemn ceremony to say farewell".

"For family and friends, a last letter is an important legacy," Liu added.