The mountains and rivers whimpered, and the whole country mourned. The pain of Nanjing, the eternal thought of the homeland. This year marks the 84th anniversary of the Nanjing Massacre committed by the Japanese invasion of China, and today is the Eighth National Day of Commemoration for the Victims of the Nanjing Massacre.
At 10 a.m., people from all over the city held chrysanthemums and looked solemn. They stood in Victory Square, the Songhu Anti-Japanese War Memorial Hall in Shanghai, silently mourning the fresh lives that had disappeared with the wind in the chaos of the war. On this day, dozens of anti-war memorial halls across the country held public memorial activities at the same time.
It was still a group of teenagers wearing bright red scarves. At this moment, their minds have injected a different kind of home and country feelings. Zhang Chenshuo, a first-year junior high school student, said that he finally knew where the bright red on the red scarf came from, "that is, thousands of revolutionary fighters who gave their precious lives." In front of the Monument to the Unknown Hero, wreaths are filled with endless mourning.
In the crowd, there were many elderly people with mournful looks and reddish eyes. The pain of history has always stirred up the memories of these witnesses. For those who have lived through those fiery years, the past is not like smoke.
Over the past ten years, the Shanghai Songhu Anti-Japanese War Memorial Hall has always insisted on excavating and sorting out the oral historical materials of anti-Japanese war veterans. The painful memories of the intertwining of the family and the country will be turned into the red historical materials of the young people who forge ahead. At present, it has successively published "Oral Songhu Anti-Japanese War I, II and III", collected "100 handprints of veterans", edited interview videos of anti-War veterans, and made the precious memories and stories of anti-war veterans become "history textbooks that live forever".
Just today, the "Youth And Blood To Protect Hometown - Exhibition of Oral Historical Materials and Cultural Relics of Anti-Japanese War Veterans" jointly organized by the Shanghai Songhu Anti-Japanese War Memorial Hall and the Nanjing Folk Anti-Japanese War Museum was officially launched. Oral accounts of 120 veterans, more than 200 historical photographs and 100 precious cultural relics depict the passionate years and bold loyalty of the anti-war veterans. From the high mountains and rivers to the river meadows, the warriors seem to be still in sight. The spirit of bravery and fearlessness they have built has allowed generations to draw from it the firm determination to overcome difficulties and the courage to move forward courageously.
Tang Lei, director of the Shanghai Songhu Anti-Japanese War Memorial Hall, said that most of the cultural relics in the exhibition are exhibited for the first time. The great right and wrong of history need to be remembered. The collective mourning of the National Day of Public Sacrifice and the "salvage" of that painful historical memory at such a special moment can better help us to re-understand the past of this country, learn from history, and create the future.
Author: Wang Jiayi
Photo: Wang Jiayi
Editor: Wang Wanyi
Editor-in-charge: Zhang Xiaoming
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