Nanjing Marks 65th Anniversary of Japanese Massacr

[Craig]

http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/200212/1...12_108379.shtml (http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/200212/12/eng20021212_108379.shtml)

Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Thursday, December 12, 2002
Nanjing Marks 65th Anniversary of Japanese Massacre

A bronze road of footprints from 222 witnesses to the 1937 Nanjing Massacre during which more than 300,000 Chinese were slaughtered by invading Japanese troops, was added to the Nanjing Memorial on Thursday to mark the 65th anniversary of the tragedy.

A bronze road of footprints from 222 witnesses to the 1937 Nanjing Massacre during which more than 300,000 Chinese were slaughtered by invading Japanese troops, was added to the Nanjing Memorial on Thursday to mark the 65th anniversary of the tragedy.

The road, 40 meters long and 1.6 meters wide, is made of bronze blocks cast with the footprints and the handwritten names and agesof those survivors.

The number 300,000 is inscribed in black at the end of the road at the memorial's plaza in the capital city of Jiangsu Province, east China.

Two bronze sculptures of survivors Peng Yuzhen and Ni Cuiping stand on either side of the road.

Ni, four of whose family were killed by Japanese troops, was invited to speak at the launching ceremony. Showing a scar on her left shoulder to the audience she said, "I hate the brutality of Japanese soldiers. Now I hate more those Japanese who deny history."

Wu Xiulan, 89, was accompanied by her family to the ceremony. She left only one footprint on the road because she lost her left foot during the massacre.

Zhou Wenbin, 65, shared his memory of one of his toes being cut off during the massacre when he was a baby in a cradle.

The memorial designers went to Beijing, Shanghai, and Anhui and Jiangsu provinces to collect the footprints and signatures of the 222 witnesses.

More than 300,000 unarmed Chinese civilians and soldiers were slaughtered 65 years ago by the Japanese troops, an event right-wing Japanese have repeatedly tried to erase from history.

[ism]

Hmm, donno what to say to this, other than that history books don't tell everything. Kinda funny how Holocaust deniers are the scum of the earth but revisionist historians are accepted, published, and cited.

[loserbutt]

explain ism?

[BeTheReds]

They don't teach that in Japanese schools.

That's all I know..

[ism]

explain ism?
Not sure what you want me to explain. History written by the victors will cast actions in a good light, e.g., the Civil War as a war over slavery. In Japan, many facets of history are omitted or revised. Unit 731, Unit 100, Rape of Nanjing, the Burma-Siam Railroad, Comfort Women, etc.. I'm not sure how much of this is taught in Japanese schools. In America, genocide of Indians and slavery are acknowledged (and somewhat glossed over), but total omission is a different story.

[loserbutt]

umm, everyone knows about the atrocities of the japanese...

[Chris]

Yeah personally went to see the exhibits of pictures taken of the Nanjing. Some of the pics were so horrible and disturbing that I felt like throwing up at that time. Stories from the vicitims are even worse.

[kasia]

my grandmother was from nanjing. she said something about the older women from her village taking off the cloth binding their feet and forming a barrier (with the extremely stinky cloth) to keep the japanese out. supposedly, it worked.

on a different note, though, it's really hard to discuss what the japanese have done and my feelings toward it, because a lot of my friends and colleagues are japanese. i don't know--i mean...how do jewish people just speak candidly about the holocaust with germans? i don't want to come across as though i hold anything against them-b/c i don't...but i don't want to pretend that it never happened, either.

[deez nuts]

Originally posted by kasia@Dec 14 2002, 03:07 PM
my grandmother was from nanjing. she said something about the older women from her village taking off the cloth binding their feet and forming a barrier (with the extremely stinky cloth) to keep the japanese out. supposedly, it worked.

on a different note, though, it's really hard to discuss what the japanese have done and my feelings toward it, because a lot of my friends and colleagues are japanese. i don't know--i mean...how do jewish people just speak candidly about the holocaust with germans? i don't want to come across as though i hold anything against them-b/c i don't...but i don't want to pretend that it never happened, either.
I discuss it freely if it comes up when I'm around any Japanese collegues and the subject of politics and history comes up. I mean why should I hold back. I've been bombarded with it as a kid growing up, my grandparents and my parents told me stories and accounts of their experience.

I'm not pinning the blame on my collegues but I'm not gonna sweep it under the rug and pretend it never happened either. It's a sensitive issue but hey it's history. I mean why shouldn't it be publicized as much as the Holocaust? Why should it be so hush-hush? Why spend a friggin week+ in history class in High School to dwell on the Holocaust and not even mention "Nanjing Dai Tu Sa", even once?

I usually never like to discuss politics and history. But out of respect for my grandparents and parents I'm not gonna sweep it under the rug if it's bought up like I usually do when it comes to say Taiwan and China's politics.

[SunWuKong]

Originally posted by kasia@Dec 14 2002, 03:07 PM
my grandmother was from nanjing. she said something about the older women from her village taking off the cloth binding their feet and forming a barrier (with the extremely stinky cloth) to keep the japanese out. supposedly, it worked.

on a different note, though, it's really hard to discuss what the japanese have done and my feelings toward it, because a lot of my friends and colleagues are japanese. i don't know--i mean...how do jewish people just speak candidly about the holocaust with germans? i don't want to come across as though i hold anything against them-b/c i don't...but i don't want to pretend that it never happened, either.
it is entirely possible to talk about the event itself as a tragic event without conveying negative attitudes toward japanese people as a whole.

[ism]

Originally posted by loserbutt@Dec 13 2002, 05:18 PM
umm, everyone knows about the atrocities of the japanese...
Not really. I know each town/school district in America has a different curriculum, and I can't speak for all schools, but I highly doubt that "everyone" has been taught these things. Compared to the dropping of the atomic bomb, I would find it surprising if the average American student knew about Nanjing, whose death toll exceeds that of both bombs combined.

The sense I get about continued ill feelings towards Japan regarding these acts is that there is a faction that denies or tries to cover it up, that revisionist history is taught in those schools, and there never was a formal apology. While the actions of some do not represent that of the whole, it does reflect on the rest of the society when there does not appear to be any widespread condemnation. If someone who has gone through the Japanese education system can give us the straight story on what is covered and how it is approached, that would help clear up any misconceptions some of us have.

[ChairmanMah]

i wonder what the ppl at home in Japan thought of this. Did they hide it from their own ppl too... Is that why there are so many deniers?

As for the nanjing exhibits...i don't think i could go there. It would make me too mad. i've only heard about some of the things that happened there, don't really wanna see it.

[kasia]

Originally posted by ism@Dec 14 2002, 10:00 PM
The sense I get about continued ill feelings towards Japan regarding these acts is that there is a faction that denies or tries to cover it up, that revisionist history is taught in those schools, and there never was a formal apology.
that is what bothers me most as well. i remember the japanese government pushing for a formal apology from the united states for the bombings not too long ago. while they were entitled to that apology, i wondered how they could be so hypocritical.

[lethal]

Originally posted by ism@Dec 14 2002, 05:00 PM
Not really. I know each town/school district in America has a different curriculum, and I can't speak for all schools, but I highly doubt that "everyone" has been taught these things. Compared to the dropping of the atomic bomb, I would find it surprising if the average American student knew about Nanjing, whose death toll exceeds that of both bombs combined.
To support ism, every country teaches its students facets about its history with somewhat of a favorable light upon itself. I'd say this is true in America, Japan, Germany, China, Vietnam, anywhere you go.

Reading about the same events from different perspectives as told in history books amazes me sometimes. When I was in Vietnam, I went to a bookstore and browsed their English language selection and picked out a book about the Vietnam War. After reading it, it sounded completely different than the American perspectives that I've read in the past. Curious, I found some French history of the conflict which also shed some light on the viewpoints of the different parties.

If you grew up in America and studed U.S. history, I'd recommend a book named "Lies My Teacher Told Me" by James Loewen. It highlights many stories of things American history books omit or gloss over. It presents more of a complete story.

I'm sure that this is as true in Japan as it is in America. No country is proud of its darkest moments.