Survivors of the Nanjing Massacre: Passing on the Historical Truth to the End of Their Lives

Nanjing, 12 Dec (ZXS) -- Survivors of the Nanjing Massacre: Passing on the historical truth to the end of their lives

China News Service reporter Zhu Xiaoying

"I'm sorry I couldn't come to Qingming Festival this year, but I'm here to see you today. As long as I can still move, I will do my best..."On the 3rd, at the Memorial Hall of the Nanjing Massacre Victims of the Japanese Invasion of China (hereinafter referred to as the "Memorial Hall"), Xia Shuqin, a survivor of the Nanjing Massacre, walked to the wall of the list of victims and chanted the names of the families killed on the wall.

The warm winter sun shone on this old man with a mackerel's back. At the commemoration of the families of the victims of the Nanjing Massacre, she stood up from her chair tremblingly, walked to the wall of the list of victims with her daughter, granddaughter and great-grandson, and laid flowers and bowed deeply to the victims of the Nanjing Massacre. At the ceremony, Zhou Feng, deputy director of the Propaganda Department of the Nanjing Municipal Committee of the Communist Party of China and director of the memorial hall, drew up a new list of victims.

On December 12, the memorial service for the families of the victims of the Nanjing Massacre was held at the Memorial Hall of the Nanjing Massacre Victims of the Japanese Invasion of China. Xia Shuqin wiped away her tears during the event. Photo by Yang Bo

A reporter from China News Service observed that only three survivors, Xia Shuqin, Ai Yiying, and Liu Minsheng, attended the family memorial event that day. As time goes by, fewer and fewer elderly people are able to participate in family festivals as usual. At present, there are only 3 registered survivors of the Nanjing Massacre.

The year 2023 marks the 86th anniversary of the Nanjing Massacre. In the winter of 86 years ago, the invading Japanese army burned, killed, looted, and slaughtered in Nanjing. Seven of Xia Shuqin's nine members were brutally murdered by the Japanese army. Xia Shuqin, who was only 8 years old at the time, and her 4-year-old sister Xia Shuyun survived. Xia Shuqin was stabbed by Japanese soldiers with bayonets, and her blood flowed, leaving scars on her body to this day.

Xia Shuqin has insisted on running for the truth of history for decades. In 1994, at the age of 65, Xia Shuqin went to Japan and became the first survivor to go to Japan to complain about the atrocities of the Nanjing Massacre after the war. In 2006, because a Japanese right-wing writer slandered him as a "fake witness", the 77-year-old man went to Japan to respond to the lawsuit in indignation, and countersued the other party in court for infringing on the right to reputation, and finally won the lawsuit.

On December 12, Xia Shuqin and her family laid flowers to the victims of the Nanjing Massacre. Photo by Yang Bo

Like her, many survivors went to Japan to participate in testimony rallies and testify against history; Some gave speeches in various parts of China, telling future generations not to forget the national shame and face the future; Some insist on collecting and sorting out historical materials and writing special "heirlooms"; Some have set up accounts on new media platforms to tell young people how important and hard-won peace is by revealing their scars. Many of them suffer from insomnia, crying, and depression at night, but even then, they choose to continue.

"Why is the Nanjing Massacre a pain for the whole world?" "What does the Nanjing Massacre have to do with the people of the moment?" They have been answering these questions from the perspective of witnesses and living witnesses; Throughout their lives, they regarded the transmission of historical truth as their mission and responsibility.

On December 12, the memorial service for the families of the victims of the Nanjing Massacre was held at the Memorial Hall of the Nanjing Massacre Victims of the Japanese Invasion of China. Photo by Yang Bo

Since the launch of the "Nanjing Massacre Survivors' Descendants Inheritance and Memory Action", the descendants of the survivors are passing on this sad memory of their homeland and the world from generation to generation. Through a large number of books, oral accounts and digital video materials, the story of their family is being seen, heard, understood and passed on by more and more peace-loving people around the world.

"Peace, peace, peace, must be peace!" Every time she goes to the memorial hall, the old man Xia Shuqin will emphasize this to the media, and this time is no exception. "This is the biggest wish of my life," she said. (ENDS)