Nanjing Massacre Museum

by Matt Dela Peña

Just in case the message wasn't clear...

Among all of the places we visited in our first week, none struck me more than The Memorial Hall of the Victims in Nanjing Massacre by Japanese Invaders. For all intensive purposes, I prefer to call it the Nanjing Massacre Museum. But for a city whose wounds are still raw from a long and catastrophic war, it's understandable why a generic, three-letter name simply does not suffice.

First, a little background info:

On December 13th, 1937, during the Second Sino-Japanese War, the city of Nanking, then capital of the Republic of China, fell into the hands of the Imperial Japanese Army. In the six weeks that followed, hundreds of thousands of Chinese civilians were systematically raped and killed by Japanese soldiers. One infamous atrocity was the contest to kill 100 people using a sword.

Many innocent people suffered, but none more so than women and children. Following Japan's surrendered in 1945, records of the cruelty were intentionally destroyed. As a result, the official death toll remains a debated issue, although China itself estimates that around 300,000 people perished.

"Incredible Record! —Mukai 106 – 105 Noda—Both
2nd Lieutenants Go Into Extra Innings" [Wikipedia]

With that said, the Rape of Nanking is, perhaps, the single worst act of genocide to have occurred in the Pacific War. It is the very reason why, even after some 70 years later, the citizens of Nanjing continue to bare a hint of animosity towards the Japanese.

Within the past two weeks, our tour guides seized every opportunity to convey their knowledge about the massacre. Even the professors that taught us have each given their own lectures concerning the topic.

However, none of their words were expressed in resentment. I believe that their stories function more as a way to honor those who've lost their lives and, to a greater extent, prevent history from once again repeating itself.

"My dear mother in the [sic] eighties, hurry up! Run away from the bloody hands!"

Thus, I wasn't particularly surprised when, on the last day of the Dragonboat Festival weekend (Chinese holiday), we went to the museum and found ourselves amongst a massive crowd of Chinese tourists.

Built atop a mass burial site unearthed in 1985, the museum contains an immense collection of pictures and artifacts from the war, as well as paintings and sculptures exhibiting the crimes committed by the Japanese forces. In two locations, one in the exhibition hall and another, much larger one within the Graveyard Square, the skeletal remains of around 10,000 victims (known as the "pit of ten thousand corpses") can be seen by visitors.

Even though the issues at hand would seem too taboo to present on display, this memorial, in its entirety, was a more tasteful tribute than a gruesome one.

One thing I noticed was that the museum did not, by any means, even attempt to hold back from excessively bashing and humiliating the Japan of a bygone era. It serious makes you wonder how the world became such a dark place during those days.

And when I finally saw the haunting remains of those who suffered, knowing that every single one of them met with an untimely death, it became extremely difficult not to get afflicted with the feels.

But despite all of this, through a heartbreaking tale of the tragedy that befell this city so long ago, the Nanjing Massacre Museum effectively portrays a message of peace and hope, and a better future for all of mankind.

Peace Square

"History must not be forgotten. The Nanjing Massacre is a true tragedy for the Chinese nation, a national humiliation that must be remembered, and a fascist atrocity of bestiality strangling humanity and brutality smothering civilization. It should be forever inscribed in Nanjing's Memory..."