China News Agency, Nanjing, December 13th, title: Eighty-five years of black and white festival: the world is in sorrow and the world is praying for peace
China News Agency reporter Zhu Xiaoying Shen Ran
In the early morning of December 13th, it was cold.
In the large assembly square of the Memorial Hall of the Victims in the Nanjing Massacre by Japanese Invaders, the national flag flew at half-mast.
The National Memorial Ceremony for Nanjing Massacre Victims was held here.
December 13 is the National Memorial Day for Nanjing Massacre Victims. The Memorial Hall of the Victims in Nanjing Massacre by Japanese Invaders held a ceremony of raising the national flag and lowering the flag at half-staff.
Photo by China News Agency reporter Yang Bo
On the west side of the square, the huge black "Wall of Disaster" reflects the 14 white characters of "National Memorial Ceremony for Nanjing Massacre Victims".
Representatives from all walks of life stand still and stand tall.
The atmosphere was solemn and solemn, and the square was silent.
Gray-haired Nanjing Massacre survivors Xia Shuqin, Ge Daorong and others sat in the front row of the public sacrifice queue.
The cold wind blows the white flowers on their black clothes, and the dove of peace "stamen" emblem shines in the morning light.
December 13 is the National Memorial Day for Nanjing Massacre Victims. The Memorial Hall of the Victims in Nanjing Massacre by Japanese Invaders held a ceremony of raising the national flag and lowering the flag at half-staff.
Photo by China News Agency reporter Yang Bo
For eighty-five years, the history of blood has sunk.
In the winter of 1937, seven of the nine members of Xia Shuqin's family were brutally murdered by the Japanese invaders. Only her 8-year-old and her 4-year-old sister Xia Shuyun survived.
The vicissitudes of the righteous way, the truth will last forever.
Her ardent expectation for peace made her decide not to miss this commemoration.
"Peace from generation to generation, peace forever," Xia Shuqin told a reporter from China News Agency.
At present, there are only 54 registered survivors of the Nanjing Massacre alive, and the new generation has taken over the baton of inheritance.
Remembered by the world, this memory of the world is "alive".
December 13 is the National Memorial Day for Nanjing Massacre Victims. The Memorial Hall of the Victims in Nanjing Massacre by Japanese Invaders held a ceremony of raising the national flag and lowering the flag at half-staff.
Photo by China News Agency reporter Yang Bo
Chang Xiaomei, the youngest daughter of Nanjing Massacre survivor Chang Zhiqiang, mourned the victims at the mass burial site at Zhongshan Wharf on the banks of the Yangtze River that day.
"I hope that the six family members who lost their lives under the bayonet of the Japanese army will have a spirit in heaven, and they can witness the safety of their family and country today."
Chang Xiaomei wrote the pain of her father's life into a "micro history" - "The Life History of Chang Zhiqiang, a Survivor of the Nanjing Massacre", which has been published in Chinese, English and Japanese.
"It is an obligation to record the shame and pain that the war against humanity brought to the Chinese nation. Don't forget this dark page in the history of human civilization, and you need to take on the important task of upholding peace."
"In and out" piles of old papers, looking for clues overseas, historical researchers continue to collect ironclad evidence of the atrocities committed by the Japanese invaders around the world.
Zhang Lianhong, vice president of Nanjing Normal University and director of the Nanjing Massacre Research Center of Nanjing Normal University who has studied history for 30 years, published "Research on the International Safety Zone of the Nanjing Massacre" before the public memorial day, adding a new perspective to the existing research.
In the past 20 years, many new historical materials of the Nanjing Massacre have come out.
"Historical facts cannot be distorted, and justice will not be late." Zhang Lianhong believes that only by looking at the past objectively and calmly, and drawing lessons from history, can we solve the destiny of mankind and calmly face the future.
When the air defense sirens pierced the sky.
While the world is recalling the suffering of blood, the desire for peace also resonates at the same frequency.
"Peace is like air and sunshine. You don't realize it when you benefit from it, but you can't survive if you lose it." Gu Yu, chairman of the Bethune Medical Foundation of Canada who participated in the mourning event in Nanjing, initiated an online connection with overseas Chinese on the other side of the ocean.
Previously, they jointly erected the Nanjing Massacre Victims Memorial in Richmond Hill, Ontario, Canada.
Affected by the new crown pneumonia epidemic, Japanese friend Tamaki Matsuoka has not visited China in the past three years.
In December of this year, she continued to travel in Japan and held a lecture on "Connecting the Memory of Nanjing 2022: An Unsafe Nanjing Safety Zone".
In an exclusive interview with a reporter from China News Agency remotely, she said: "Not forgetting this bloody memory is the greatest respect for the survivors of the Nanjing Massacre, and it is our determination to insist on telling the truth to the Japanese people."
Overseas Chinese associations in more than 70 countries and regions around the world participated in the public sacrifice simultaneously through poetry readings, book clubs, symposiums, etc., to mourn the victims of the Nanjing Massacre and pray for peace.
No one can stand alone in history, and the future will be written by the present.
"We remember history not to remember hatred, but to use history as a mirror and cherish peace." On the same day, the online cloud class "Children's History - Reading Together on the Cloud" with the participation of elementary schools in many provinces and cities across the country started. Read aloud.
Inside the memorial hall, the Great Peace Bell was rung.
The doves of peace fluttered their wings and hovered over the city.
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