Hu, 54, died on Wednesday, two days after she was stabbed multiple times trying to restrain an attacker at a school bus stop. The man first attacked the mother and child waiting at the stop and then tried to get on the bus, which was carrying Japanese schoolchildren.
Suzhou police said Hu immediately rushed to help and her courageous act “prevented more people from being hurt”.
The mother, who was also wounded, was quoted by state news agency Xinhua as saying Hu stopped the attacker and enabled her son to escape.
The attacker was a 52-year-old unemployed man, it said.
Hu’s bravery prompted suggestions online that the local government create an account for the family that the community could contribute to.
But the family said that after discussions among its members “we decided not to accept donations or gifts, and hope not to be disturbed. We only hope that the deceased will rest in peace and the family can return to a peaceful life as soon as possible.”
The Japanese embassy in Beijing flew its flag at half-mast on Friday in tribute to Hu.
Ambassador Kenji Kanasugi also posted a video on the embassy’s WeChat account, offering his respects and sincere condolences on behalf of the Japanese government and Japanese people for Hu.
Kanasugi described the school bus attendant’s courage and kindness as representative of the general Chinese public.
The ambassador said an initial police investigation concluded that the incident was an isolated one, although inquiries were continuing into the suspect’s motive and details of the incident.
Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said Hu exemplified the kindness and bravery of the Chinese people and their willingness to help others.
Other tributes to Hu included a light display on the Tianjin Radio and Television Tower in the northern municipality of Tianjin describing the deceased as “A Hero with a Capital H”.
The attack ignited a flurry of ultranationalist and anti-Japanese comments on Chinese social media, which were quickly deleted.
Weibo said on Wednesday that it had banned 36 accounts for posting such comments.
“Some individual users have posted extreme remarks that incite national sentiment and promote group hatred, even calling for criminal acts in the name of patriotism,” Weibo said.
Monday’s attack was the latest knife incident in which people have been wounded in public places.
“Police told us that he [the Chinese man] was unemployed and down on his luck, and that somebody in our group bumped into the man,” one of the four American college instructors was quoted as saying by NBC News. “And he decided to respond in the way he responded.”
In Shanghai, a man allegedly wounded three passengers with a knife at a subway station on June 19.
And a man was arrested in Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region in southern China on Friday accused of stabbing two people to death after an argument, according to Shanghai-based news outlet The Paper.
