Since the establishment of the National Memorial Day for the Victims of the Nanjing Massacre in 2014, the history of the Nanjing Massacre has gradually become a shared memory worldwide. For the past decade, in the name of our country, we have engraved the sufferings of our nation in our hearts, put into action the desire for peace, and gathered the strength to move forward in realizing the dream of China.
At the National Memorial Ceremony Square located at the Memorial Hall for the Victims of the Nanjing Massacre by the Japanese Invaders, the words engraved on the National Memorial cauldron accuses the brutal actions of the Japanese invaders 86 years ago. This bronze cauldron, weighing 2014 kilograms, has become the most direct carrier for the Chinese people to express their willingness to "remember history and cherish peace.".
As a descendant of a victim and survivor of the Nanjing Massacre, on December 13, 2014, 13-year-old high school student Ruan Zeyu participated in the unveiling of the "National Sacrificial Cauldron". Now as a student at the School of Medicine of Southeast University, Ruan Zeyu has always been a pioneer in participating in historical lectures and spreading the concept of peace.
“The last few words of the national sacrificial cauldron text, praying for peace and the realization of the China's dream of national rejuvenation, remind us not to let such tragedies happen again, pass on this history to our future generation, and strive to build a country of prosperity and strength”, said Ruan Zeyu, Great Grandson of Ruan Jiatian, Victim of the Nanjing Massacre.
Let tragedies no longer repeat themselves, let peace remain on earth forever, and between transmission and inheritance, national memorial is playing a powerful role.
The 1756 survivors of the Nanjing Massacre recorded in 1987 have been reduced to no more than 38 so far.
But more and more people are embarking on the path of safeguarding world memories. Since 2014, over 60 million visitors from around the world have visited the memorial hall.
The number of volunteers for the Zijin Grass Volunteer Service Team has increased from the initial 60 to over 24000. 23 people in the team that inherits memories have become "inheritors of the historical memory of the Nanjing Massacre" .
“We, as their descendants, have taken on the heavy responsibilities they carry, and as inheritors of historical memories, our burden is also very heavy. Through our continuous narration, more people can gain a detailed understanding of this history”, said Xia Yuan, Granddaughter of Xia Shuqin, Survivor of the Nanjing Massacre.
Since 2014, the Nanjing Massacre Victims Memorial Hall has collected a large number of cultural relics and historical materials worldwide to supplements, ranging from the copper kettles and dressing mirrors used by the Japanese military in their comfort stations during the invasion of China, to the firearms and bullets, old photos, and letters and notes from the Japanese occupation of Nanjing, to the oral life history of survivors of the Nanjing Massacre, as well as newspapers and books published abroad.
The memorial hall has expanded its collection to 193000 pieces. These cultural relics and historical materials record the unchangeable historical truth that cannot be diluted, embellished, distorted, or denied. Driven by national memorial day, more and more historical materials are being excavated and made public, reminding us to remember history, not forget the past, cherish peace, and create the future.
“The significance of historical materials is to directly expose Japan's atrocities through reports from third-party and Western media at that time, most of which were broadcast live by many war reporters at that time. I will continue to salvage historical materials for the country forever”, said Lu Zhaoning, Chinese-American Donor of Historical Materials for the Nanjing Massacre.
“In 2017, I came to Nanjing and saw so many living cultural relics and evidence that the history of the Nanjing Massacre became more concrete in my heart. Nowadays, more and more Westerners can learn about that period of history from TV programs”, said Rick Magge, Grandson of US Missioanry John Magge.
Over the past decade of national memorial, the voices of the peace-loving individuals from all over the world have continuously gathered with the relay of countless people spreading the historical facts of the Nanjing Massacre on a wider scale around the world.
In 2015, the Documents of the Nanjing Massacre from China, were inscribed on the Memory of the World Register by the International Advisory Committee of UNESCO’s Memory of the World Program. In the same year, the first overseas Anti-Japanese War Memorial Museum opened in San Francisco, United States.
In 2017, Ontario, Canada became the first administrative region in the West to officially establish "Nanjing Massacre Victims Memorial Day", and in the same year, Nanjing became China's first international city of peace.
