The Paper's reporter Wang Yu
Today is the eighth National Day of Commemoration for the Victims of the Nanjing Massacre. At exactly 8:00 a.m., the ceremony of raising the national flag and lowering the flag at half-mast on the National Day of Commemoration for the Victims of the Nanjing Massacre was held at the rallying place of the Memorial Hall of the Compatriots Killed in the Nanjing Massacre of the Japanese Army invading China.
On the streets of Nanjing, 287 electronic screens simultaneously lit up the purple gold grass pattern. The Memorial Hall of the Compatriots Killed in the Nanjing Massacre of the Japanese Invasion of China also launched an online participation activity of "Lighting up the Purple Golden Grass" on its official Weibo, so that friends who could not go to the scene could jointly commemorate the compatriots killed on the "cloud".
Many people in Nanjing know that purple gold grass symbolizes peace. In the Peace Park of the Memorial Hall of the Nanjing Massacre victims of the Japanese invasion of China, there is also a purple gold grass garden, in which stands a bronze statue of the "Purple Flower Girl".
But do you know why comfrey is called the "Flower of Peace"? What is the moving story behind the park and the "Purple Flower Girl"?
"Light up the purple golden grass" online participation activity @ Nanjing Massacre Victims Memorial Hall of the Japanese Invasion of China Weibo screenshot
Purple goldgrass, also known as "February orchid" and "Zhuge Cai", is a genus of Zhuge cai in the family Cruciferous family, native to eastern China, and is a common wildflower. Every year in early spring, small lilac flowers bloom outside Nanjing, and the purple flower sea attracts many people to linger.
In 1939, a Japanese man named Makoto Yamaguchi came to Nanjing. Before the war, he was a medical research expert, and after the outbreak of the war, he was conscripted into the army and became the director of the sanitary materials factory of the Japanese army invading China, and accompanied the army health inspection team to Nanjing. However, he did not think at all that this trip to Nanjing had completely changed his life.
At this time, Nanjing was already devastated by the brutal ravages of the Japanese army, and Shotaro Yamaguchi saw with his own eyes the deep disasters and traumas brought by the massacre to the innocent Chinese people, and his heart was greatly impacted. Not long after, he was ordered to be repatriated by the military for his dissatisfaction with the atrocities of the Japanese army and for making anti-war remarks.
The day before he left, he came to the foot of the Purple Mountain on the eastern outskirts of Nanjing, and saw a large area of purple February orchids blooming on the grass, and Shotaro Yamaguchi was surprised: in this war-torn city, there were still such beautiful flowers blooming! The flowers were densely clustered, the faint purple color revealed a few sadness, and with thousands of emotions, he picked 12 seeds of February orchid and brought them back to Japan.
Purple goldgrass, also known as "February orchid", is a very common wildflower. Visual China figure
In the spring of 1940, the courtyard of the Yamaguchi family was full of small purple flowers. Makataro Yamaguchi renamed it "Purple Grass", and with introspection on the war and his wish for peace, he took a train every year for more than 20 years and threw the seeds of purple grass along the road. Purple goldgrass is hardy and drought-resistant, and can grow tenaciously no matter how barren the land is.
He also distributed the seeds to relatives and friends, and later, year after year, he and his family and neighbors gave the seeds of purple grass to schools, parks, and communities across Japan for free, widely promoting the idea of anti-war peace. Gradually, purple gold grass began to grow all over Japan.
In 1966, When Seitaro Yamaguchi died, he left a last word to his son Yamaguchi Yu on the occasion of his death, hoping that he could continue the cause of spreading peace to the purple golden grass, and he told his son that each purple gold grass represented a Chinese soul and should be remembered by all who saw the flower that the cruel war of aggression could not be repeated.
In front of Makoto Yamaguchi's back are the ruins of Nanjing Castle. Xinhua News Agency WeChat public number picture
In the 1980s, Japanese composer Takako Daimon accidentally saw the story of "Purple Grass" in the newspaper and was deeply touched. She adapted it into a chorus suite "The Story of Purple Grass" and established the Purple Grass Choir, whose members are peace lovers from all walks of life in Japan, including teachers, students, housewives, and even many elderly people who have experienced World War II, who have a deep understanding of the cruelty of war, and some people are even old and still insist on singing in wheelchairs. The choir traveled to many places in Japan to perform, spreading the concept of peace, and purple gold grass began to be known as the "flower of peace". In 2001, the Purple Grass Choir came to Nanjing for the first time to perform, and the story of "Purple Grass" spread in China and was known to more people.
The Tokyo Purple Grass Choir founded by Takako Daimon
In March 2007, when the memorial hall of the compatriots killed in the Nanjing Massacre of the Japanese invasion of China was expanded, Mr. Hiroshi Yamaguchi, who had always remembered his father's last wish to insist on planting flowers, raised 10 million yen to build a "purple gold grass garden" in the Peace Park of the Memorial Hall, in order to express the desire of the Chinese and Japanese peoples for friendship and common hope for peace. In 2008, Japanese peace and friendship people once again proposed and donated funds to create a bronze statue of "Purple Flower Girl" in the Purple Herb Garden to further enrich the connotation of "Flower of Peace".
In 2009, Zhu Chengshan (right), curator of the Memorial Hall of the Compatriots Killed in the Nanjing Massacre of the Japanese Army invading China, presented a bronze statue of Hiroshi Yamaguchi," the head of the Japanese Purple Grass Visiting Group, as a model of the "Purple Flower Girl". Xinhua News Agency Photo
On April 18, 2009, the bronze statue of "Purple Flower Girl" was inaugurated in the Peace Park of the Memorial Hall of the Compatriots Killed in the Nanjing Massacre of the Japanese Invasion of China, and more than 20 people from the Japanese Purple Grass Visiting Delegation led by Mr. Hiroshi Yamaguchi and Ms. Takako Daimon came to attend the unveiling ceremony. The 1.17-meter-high bronze statue depicts a seven- or eight-year-old Nanjing girl during the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, looking at the war-torn world with wide eyes, with a faint layer of sadness on her childish face, holding a bouquet of purple gold grass in her hand, symbolizing the yearning for and wishing for a better peace.
Purple Flower Girl Visual China Figure
On December 12, 2016, in recognition of the kindness of foreigners who helped Chinese during the Nanjing Massacre, Jiangsu Province awarded the International Peace Medal for the first time to the descendants of six international friends, including John Rabe and Robert Fitch. The shape of the commemorative medal is inspired by the purple gold grass, which conveys to the world the flower language of "not forgetting history, cherishing peace".
On August 31, 2017, Nanjing became the 169th international city for peace in the world. Every spring, a sea of purple grass flowers blooms in all corners of Nanjing.
In March, the purple gold grass on the campus of Nanjing Forestry University blooms. Visual China figure
In an interview, Yamaguchi said that his father saw the flowers he brought from Nanjing as a memorial and apology for the innocent victims, and now the purple gold grass is all over Japan, and even grows near the Japanese Imperial Palace. "We are doing this as a silent protest against the crimes of Japanese militarism in the past. It is also to remind them not to forget history. ”
Editor-in-Charge: Ying Xu
Proofreader: Yan Zhang