On December 13th, the wailing siren will once again be the background sound of the entire country. In the city of Nanjing in winter, people wearing purple golden grass once again stood on the streets, looking back at the city’s most painful history.
On the occasion of the 85th anniversary of the Nanjing Massacre, the whole country mourns the victims of the compatriots. It is the mourning that is even more vigilant. The historical tragedy must not repeat itself. Our generation should work together and strive unremittingly for the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.
Eighty-five years, the pain of history has never been forgotten
“Father, Second Aunt, Uncle, I’m here to see you again…” On November 25, Ma Tingbao, an 86-year-old survivor of the Nanjing Massacre, was supported by his family and went to the wall of the list of victims of the Nanjing Massacre. Trembling, pointing to the names of relatives, eyes full of pain between life and death.
Ma Tingbao, a survivor of the Nanjing Massacre, is looking for the names of relatives on the “Wailing Wall”.Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Jiang Fang
The Nanjing Massacre Victims List Wall is called the “Wailing Wall” by the people, and a total of 10,665 victims’ names were engraved on it. Behind every name, there is a tragedy of family destruction.
Bow, present flowers, offer incense, mourn in silence… Ma Minglan, the daughter who accompanied Ma Tingbao to the family sacrifice ceremony, said: “My father is old, and his current memory is very vague, but he remembers the past clearly.” She noticed that the crowd There are only three or four white-haired old people, most of whom are children and grandchildren.
On April 13, 2022, the Memorial Hall of the Victims in the Nanjing Massacre by Japanese Invaders held a “lights out” memorial ceremony for the survivors who passed away this year.Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Li Bo
There are only 54 survivors left! Since 2022, seven more elderly survivors have passed away one after another. Behind the changes in the cold numbers is the disappearance of the witnesses of that tragic history.
13 inheritors are on duty! On August 15 this year, the first batch of inheritors of the historical memory of the Nanjing Massacre was certified, which means that the descendants of the survivors have officially taken over the baton of inheriting historical memory and spreading historical truth.
“Don’t dare to forget! Don’t forget!” Li Zhenming, the son of the late survivor Li Gaoshan, said: “When my father was alive, he often couldn’t sleep at night. Whenever he closed his eyes, it was the experience of escaping death. After he left, this responsibility will be my responsibility. Come carry it.”
“Remember history, don’t remember hatred” “Forgetting the suffering of the past may lead to disaster in the future”… The warning words of the late survivor Li Xiuying and the Chinese judge Mei Ruao of the International Military Tribunal for the Far East are still hanging in the Japanese army who invaded China The conspicuous part of the exhibition hall of the Memorial Hall of the Victims in the Nanjing Massacre is still deafening. In the message area in the end hall, more than 220,000 handwritten messages have been received since 2019, and these two sentences have also been frequently quoted.
“The history of the Nanjing Massacre is the deep suffering of the Chinese nation and the eternal painful memory of the Chinese people.” Zhou Feng, deputy director of the Propaganda Department of the Nanjing Municipal Party Committee and director of the memorial hall, said that this tragic history will always warn the world. dark.
Helping each other and uniting forces for peace
On November 17, Beijing time, Evan Kyle, a pawn shop owner in Minnesota, USA, finally donated the “World War II Photo Album” that attracted the attention of the global Internet to the Chinese Consulate General in Chicago. He felt that “it should go place”.
“300,000 Victims” – On the “Wall of Disaster” on the southwest side of the National Memorial Ceremony, this set of data is engraved in multiple languages, and it is also telling the world that this catastrophe is not only a national humiliation of the Chinese nation, but also a human civilization History of humiliation.
On the “Wall of Disaster” on the southwest side of the National Memorial Ceremony, “300,000 Victims” is engraved in multiple languages. (Photo provided by the interviewee)
On December 13, “For the Common Memory—Exhibition of Overseas Collected Collections of the Memorial Hall of the Victims in the Nanjing Massacre by Japanese Invaders” will meet with the public, displaying historical images of the Nanjing Massacre taken by American pastor John Magee, Japanese invaders Photographs of the Japanese invasion of China collected and preserved by soldier Fumio Horikoshi, Japanese researcher Matsuoka Tsuki recorded audio-visual accounts of Japanese soldiers who invaded China in their later years, etc.
Just this November, Japanese friend Hitoshi Ohto sent the latest batch of 51 pieces (sets) of precious cultural relics collected from Japan to Nanjing. Among them, the “Diary in the Battle” of the 11th Squadron of the 36th Infantry Regiment of the Ninth Division of the Japanese Invading Army and the relevant photos of the 1644th Unit of the Japanese Invading Army are particularly precious. Since 2005, he has collected and donated more than 4,500 pieces (sets) of historical materials to the memorial hall.
“There are more than 192,000 pieces of cultural relics and historical materials in the memorial hall, a large part of which is collected and donated by friends from various countries and overseas Chinese. The value and significance of their unremitting pursuit of historical truth is immeasurable.” said Aide Lin, director of the cultural relics department of the memorial hall .
People who love peace can always meet even if they are thousands of miles apart.
Every December 13th, Zijincao International volunteer Dong Weiwei changed his WeChat profile picture to black and white to express his memory of the victims of the Nanjing Massacre. It is understood that starting from Japanese volunteer Kaoru Kuroda in 2008, Zijincao International volunteers have gathered more than 300 people from more than 30 countries and regions around the world, including the United States, South Korea, and Pakistan. They wore purple vests to participate in volunteer activities, using their own language and expertise to continuously consolidate this common memory of mankind.
Realize the dream of China, forge the ambition of revival
“Dang, dang, dang…” Every morning at 8:30, the bell of the memorial hall always rings on time. Every day, the first batch of 12 spectators who entered the venue were divided into two groups to ring the Peace Bell 13 times, implying to remember December 13 and not to forget the national humiliation.
On September 3, 2021, people rang the peace bell at the Memorial Hall of the Victims in Nanjing Massacre by Japanese Invaders.Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Ji Chunpeng
History is the best textbook and the best sober agent.
Entering December, more than 600 primary and secondary schools in Nanjing carried out rich activities by combining classroom teaching and practical activities in combination with the “Nanjing Massacre Victims National Memorial Reader”. On the morning of the 13th, representatives of teachers and students from more than 40 primary schools across the country, including Jiangsu and Liaoning, will also have a themed class through the online cloud classroom, listening to history, reading national memorial books and anti-Japanese war letters together.
“For children, aggression and massacre are just vague concepts. But they will also be enlightened to think about what war is and how to look at history.” Teacher Wang from Kaopeng Primary School in Nanjing said.
85 years of time flies, 85 years of vicissitudes. Nanjing, which has gone through catastrophe, is taking on a new look.
Along the Yangtze River, Yanziji. Eighty-five years ago, 50,000 people were massacred here, with corpses strewn across the barren beaches and blood-stained rivers. Today, with surging rivers and green hills, one of the forty-eight scenic spots in Jinling, “Yanji Sunset” is shining brightly.
“What does the history of more than 180 years since the Opium War tell us? If you fall behind, you will be beaten, and you will be strong if you develop.” Survivor Ruan Dingdong said that his grandfather Ruan Jiatian was killed by the river in Yanziji. When he grew up, he served the country in the army. And led the descendants to take the road of escape many times.
Since 2015, representatives of war veterans such as Wang Sheng, Gao Zaishu, and Qian Jiashu have never been absent from the national memorial ceremony. The 96-year-old Wang Sheng said with emotion: “The smoke of history has dissipated, but the threat of reality is always there. The lesson is not far away, and future generations should warn themselves!”
Show the past and be wary of the future.
On December 13, 2016, a dove of peace was released at the National Memorial Ceremony for Nanjing Massacre Victims.Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Li Xiang
“The dragon and the tiger are on the throne, the Yi training and the tripod are inscribed, carry on the past and open up the future, and never forget it.” At every public memorial ceremony, the youth representatives will recite the “Declaration of Peace”. With the common belief of hundreds of millions of people-taking history as a mirror, the future of the Chinese nation will be extremely bright. (Reporters Jiang Fang, Qiu Bingqing)
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责编：丛芳瑶 ]