In the 7th conference of the 12th NPCSC(short for "Standing Committee of the National People's Congress of the People's Republic of China") that took place on the 27th of February, 2014, the leaders of the Communist Party of China announced the 13th of December of every year to be the "National Memorial Day for Nanjing Massacre Victims".
On this day, every man and woman, child and senior, take a minute of silence at 10:01 to commemorate the loved and innocent ones that we lost in the crisis.
In this article, we will briefly elaborate on this fragment of history and join 1.4 billion people to memorialize the victims of the inhumane massacre.
The event refers to the atrocities the Japanese Army did to the city of Nanjing and its people during the Second Sino-Japanese War.
It began on the 13th of December, 1937, which, as discussed earlier, is set as the national memorial day. The slaughter and pillaging lasted 6 weeks and during this time, around three hundred thousand Chinese citizens were killed by the Japanese army.
Apart from that, a third of Nanjing city was burned down and the loss of properties and facilities was simply immeasurable.
However, this is only a small fraction of the brutal acts and invasions of the Japanese army during the 14 years of the Second Sino-Japanese War. Other broadly recognized events include the September 18th Incident, the July 7 Incident of 1937, and the Battle of Songhu.
But the most infamous atrocity of the Japanese army was the biochemical experiments carried out by Unit 731 that were performed on innocent Chinese citizens in an attempt to initiate germ warfare on China. In June 2020, a Japanese medical professor publicized a document composed by the government, which clearly outlines and thereby officially proves the inhumane development of biological weapons.
Now, let's briefly move our focus onto the overall damage of the Japanese army's monstrosity.
In 14 years' time of the war, 35 million Chinese people were killed or injured, the majority of which were citizens. Apart from that, there had been 154 large-scale massacres and more than 4 thousand murders.
During these 14 years of resistance and hope for peace, every 12 seconds a Chinese victim passes, according to statistics.
Apart from that, it is estimated that at least 200,000 Chinese women were forced to become comfort women, referring to the Japanese army’s sexual slavery. During the Nanjing Massacre, more than 20,000 rapes could be initiated within a month. Victims of these dreadful nightmares even include girls under the age of 9, newborns, and pregnant women…
Yet, these numbers are far more than just ice-cold figures; they symbolize the countless families that were devastated and the loss of millions of innocent spirits.
In the Japanese comfort women barracks, the Japanese soldiers have completely lost their moral code and humanity in order to satisfy their lust. They will administer styptic injections and instill drugs in women to indefinitely delay their menstruation. Many women, unfortunately, contracted syphilis and were brutally used by the Japanese army as live targets for recruits to train.
Most of the victims were mutilated to death or committed suicide due to the overwhelming humiliation and despair, and only a small portion survived. But, who will heal the permanent physical and mental wounds cursed on those who survived?
The voice of the ones who witnessed the catastrophe best narrates the story.
As of today, only 54 of those vigorous minds that went through the massacre are still with us, and they have absolute accountability to restore and reveal the traumatizing memories to the world, which should be, however, remembered and memorialized by people to take as a warning.
In the winter of 2020, the librarian of a university in Nanjing, Ms. Huang, found a 33-page and 19137-word handwritten memoir authored by one of the victims, Mr. Wu Yanqiu. The text chronicles Mr. Wu's experience and sentiments around his life between 1937 and 1938.
Mr. Wu was a staff at the highest court of the National Government, and he suffered from the savage acts of the Japanese army in Nanjing during this time.
Ms. Huang spent a whole year investigating and researching relevant information about the memoir, and finally, a year later, which was just a while ago, it was publicized to the world and listed as one of the most valuable pieces of evidence for the massacre.
The realistic depiction of the period of time mixed with complex emotions acts as an undeniable affirmation of the immoral and aggressive behavior that resulted in the loss of three hundred thousand lives.
Mr. Wang Heng（1922.8.2—2022.4.7）
“我父亲被日本兵拳打脚踢，踢了不知道有多少脚，后来全身水肿，不久就去世了。”(original)
"My father was punched and kicked by Japanese soldiers; after an unknown number of times, he passed away due to edema"(translated)
Mr. Xiang Yuansong（1928.9.9— 2022.12.5）
“我哥哥和叔叔被日军抓走了，邻居告诉我们，他们应该是被抓到煤炭港仓库杀害了。活要见人，死要见尸，母亲和我寻到江滩上。江滩上全是死人，堆积在一起，把我们吓坏了。我们在尸山寻找着哥哥的尸体，翻来翻去还是没有找到。"(original)
"My brother and uncle were captured by Japanese soldiers, and my neighbors told us that they were probably sent to a coal warehouse and murdered there. Whether dead or alive, we wanted to see them. My mother and I went to the river beach - it was full of dead bodies stacked together, and we were terrified. We looked through them and unfortunately didn't find my brother and uncle."(translated)
Mr. Yu Changxiang（1927.10.19—2022.6.7）
“我的生父当年住在中华门外的西街，被日军杀害了，尸体一直没找到。我养父被日军打了两枪、刺了七刀后侥幸活了下来。”(original)
"My father lived in the west street of the Gate of China. He was murdered by Japanese soldiers and his body wasn't ever found. My adoptive father was shot twice and hit seven times by a Bayonet, and still managed to survive."(translated)
As a new generation, we believe that we cannot forgive Japanese Imperialism for the damage they caused to our ancestors, it is vital that we keep in mind and spread the knowledge of this haunting and tragic past. We don’t want this period of history to fade from people’s memory, we don’t want the lives of these 300,000 innocent Chinese citizens to become meaningless, and we don’t want this tragedy to recur.
We are still waiting for Japan to honestly admit and take responsibility for their atrocities and sincerely make an apology and compensation to those who lost their blameless lives.
Our intentions are not to reinforce the hatred, but we hope that by increasing the world’s awareness of this event, more people can reflect upon and learn from this heart-breaking past and make the world a more peaceful place.
After investigation, we discovered the woeful fact that there are very few historical records related to the Nanjing Massacre in western countries. Therefore, the world’s recognition and attention to this tragic historical event haven’t reached its corresponding significance.
At the same time, there are still some Western media such as The Guardian that questions Japan’s irresponsible evasion to admit their past sins, stating that “The truth is never enough, but the truth must be acknowledged”.
The Nanjing Massacre is an event that every Chinese citizen should remember. The “National Memorial Day for Nanjing Massacre Victims” is not used to express our hatred toward history, instead, it allows us to reflect on the consequences of not being strong enough to resist wicked intentions. Thus by learning from the past, we can be more united and committed to building an indestructible country to avoid the recurrence of the tragedy and maintain peace in our land.
Cover image: Xinhua News
Image of the memoir: 中青在线
Conclusion image: 新华报业网