Preface:
Recently, a French friend, Marcus, came to China and donated 622 historical photos of World War II to China free of charge, which was warmly welcomed by China.
However, with the explosive development of the news, many people questioned the purpose of Marcus's donation of historical photos, believing that he wanted to obtain the same national gift porcelain as Evan Kyle, and some commented that he was an avenger who saw the right time.
Why did the Marcus Donation have a different impact than Evan Kyle? And what is Marcus's plan for revenge? Why has Guoli porcelain become the standard for judging international friends?
622 photos
In 2021, when Marcus was packing his grandfather's garage to find a photo album about his grandfather, he accidentally found a black waterproof box, and when Marcus opened the box, there was a carefully guarded photo album inside.
Later, Marcus opened the album, only to find that most of the photos in it were some horrors: the crimes of the Japanese invasion of China.
According to Marcus, most people's impression of World War II in France was that of a war centered on Europeans and Americans.
Including the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, the United States' Roosevelt entering World War II in revenge, and the two atomic bombs dropped by the United States on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan.
Regarding the role and suffering of the Chinese people in World War II, Western education did not publicize or even mention it, resulting in Marcus not even knowing about the various crimes committed by the Japanese army in China.
When Marcus opened the box, he was completely unaware of the contents of this history, and out of surprise at the cruelty in the photograph and curiosity about the source of the photograph, Marcus asked his mother about the story of all this.
It turned out that Marcus's maternal grandfather Lawrence had lived in the French Concession in Shanghai, China for business reasons, and these photos were taken by Lawrence in China around 1937, including Lawrence's daily life, as well as a large number of Japanese invasion atrocities in Shanghai, Hangzhou and other places.
Lawrence also annotated the brutality of the Japanese army behind these photographs, and later these brutality became almost like breathing, and Lawrence's annotation was simplified.
However, for the Marcus family, the photographs were seen as taboo, as Lawrence had been retaliated against for photographing these atrocities.
Marcus's uncle and others were persecuted by the Japanese army, and his family was frequently threatened with their lives. It can be seen how much courage and price Lawrence paid to photograph these crimes at that time.
After learning about this history, Marcus discussed with his mother that he wanted to donate these photos to China, and contacted his friends in China, Shijie and Zhong Haosong.
Under the unanimous discussion of the three people, Marcus and the others took a plane to Shanghai. On the morning of February 20, the three of them donated all these photos to the Songhu Anti-Japanese War Memorial Hall in Shanghai.
Marcus then travels to the place where his grandfather lived, and tells the story of his photographs in front of the Sixing Warehouse Memorial Hall.
Marcus sees it as a sense of mission that he continues to walk in his grandfather's footsteps and does the same thing as him.
Shijie, who loves Chinese culture, wants more Western countries to know the suffering that China has suffered, hopes that the real history will not be buried, and hopes that the education of Western countries will face up to this history.
As a Chinese, Zhong Haosong believes that when he sees these things, he is bound to them and shoulders the mission of uncovering this history.
Marcus's mother also wanted Marcus to maintain a long-term relationship with China and maintain a close relationship with him.
To this day, there are still remnants of militarism and some Western capitalism that is resistant to China in foreign countries, and Marcus and others as far away as France may be in danger.
However, Marcus resolutely sent precious historical materials to China and was a true hero.
However, as the Marcus incident continued to ferment, Marcus did not usher in the same support and encouragement as Evan, but many people speculated whether Marcus gained popularity with the help of the incident, or got the national gift porcelain, and some people even used the horse bones of Qianjin City to describe this as the Evan effect.
Don't make heroes cry
First of all, what raises this question is the time lag between Marcus, who many believe that Marcus got the photo in 2021 but donated it until 2025 because he decided to donate it because he had a very high salary after seeing the photo donated by Evan in 2022.
When Evan announced that he had obtained the photos, some Western governments and militarist remnants began to put pressure on him, and some extremists also threatened Evan with his life.
At that time, Evan even had to wear body armor to work in the store, which shows that donating these photos is very costly.
Some people, as spectators, live in the safest China, and do not empathize with the environment of their international friends.
For the historical photographs donated by Marcus, instead of focusing on his compatriots who suffered in World War II and Marcus's friendship, it is really chilling to utilitarianize Marcus's behavior.
Moreover, in 2021, when Marcus discovered the photos, the world was in a special period, and many Western countries, led by the United States, were in a-for-tat confrontation with China and came to China to donate photos, which is not something that can be described in two simple words.
It can be said that the protection that Evan received in China gave Marcus more courage and opportunity to donate his photos. It's not that Marcus has to risk his life for some utilitarian purpose.
Secondly, it is important to know that Marcus's maternal relatives have been harmed for trying to protect and take these pictures, and Mr. Lawrence and his family are great, who have paid a heavy price for revealing the secrets of Chinese history, and they should have been Chinese heroes.
Today, Marcus is following Lawrence's footsteps, only to be met with many denigrations and questions that are an insult to the hero and a disregard for China's compatriots who have suffered.
Some also believe that Marcus is taking revenge on his loved ones at the right time, apparently misinterpreting his true sense of purpose.
In addition, many unscrupulous media began to frantically build momentum for Marcus, believing that Marcus received gifts such as Chinese bronze swords, and continued to spread this utilitarianism.
So far, there is no official information showing that Marcus received the gift, and the photos donated by Marcus are currently subject to expert inspection, and then appear in the designated exhibition venues, which is a long and still arduous journey.
Finally, it is the story of the horse bones in Qianjin City.
Qianjin City Horse Bone is an allusion in "Warring States Policy", which tells the story of Guo Kui telling King Yan Zhao the story of spending thousands of dollars to buy a pair of horse bones, so that King Yan Zhao understands that if you want to get talents, you need to make an attitude of thirst for talent.
And what many people brought into Evan and Marcus was to use the national gift porcelain as gold to attract more foreign friends to find and help China obtain relevant historical materials.
China's comprehensive strength and international status, as well as its sincere attitude towards international friends, are the essence of "recruiting talents".
Most of the so-called talented people attracted by ancient monarchs using gold came for money, and their effectiveness was also measured by money, not really respecting and sincerely following the monarch.
Even if this kind of mercenary person is talented, he will eventually betray the original owner because of money, just like Lu Bu, a slave surnamed three surnames, who defected to Dong Zhuo for Chitu and betrayed Dong Zhuo for Diao Chan.
Obviously, it is extremely inappropriate and impolite to use such allusions to promote the stories of Evan and others.
Others compare the treatment and contributions that Evan and Marcus received.
Some believe that Evan Kyle's photograph is a travelogue of the U.S. military, with only a small part of World War II. Most of Marcus's photos are real content of the atrocities committed by the Japanese army, to compare the value of the two.
Some people also think that Evan Kyle is similar to a precedent, can encourage and attract more international friends, and is a well-deserved first person, so Evan Kyle's contribution is greater than Marcus.
There are a lot of nonsense similar to utilitarianism on the Internet, and even boast that the national gift porcelain given by the mainland is an iron scroll of Danshu, a life-saving charm, etc., to intensify the contradiction of this different treatment.
So does Marcus need national gift porcelain, and what does national gift porcelain represent?
National Gift Porcelain
The positioning of the national gift porcelain is a Chinese diplomatic gift, a symbol of the highest diplomatic honor, and is generally presented to the heads of state of friendly countries and important foreign guests.
The recipients of the national gift porcelain include Emperor Hirohito of Japan, Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom, Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher of the United Kingdom, President Clinton of the United States, and so on.
The styles of these national gift porcelain are different, and the public's default recipients of the national gift porcelain are Bethune's descendants, Rabe's descendants and Evan Kyle, and the styles of the three are all "Happy Eyebrows".
However, the most important position of the national gift porcelain is that it is a friendly country or an international friend recognized by China, rather than a recognition of meritorious service, such as Hirohito, Thatcher, Clinton and others, whose position is to represent friendly countries, not meritorious service.
Because of the contributions of Bethune, Rabe and others to China, many people think that the gift of national gift porcelain must be a recognition of their merits, which is a deep misunderstanding.
Bethune, a great communist party and international fighter, was also the most famous foreign doctor during the Anti-Japanese War on the mainland, selfless dedication, played an important role in the front-line medical treatment of the mainland during the anti-Japanese period.
Today, Bethune's statue still stands in many parts of the mainland, and if there is no national gift porcelain, Bethune's descendants will be in trouble, and China will definitely lend a helping hand.
Rabe, the author of "Rabe's Diary", during the Nanjing Massacre, traveled in many ways and mediated everywhere to provide a refugee shelter for Chinese compatriots on the mainland, exempting them from persecution by the Japanese invaders.
When Bella's descendants were in difficulty, the mainland resolutely extended a helping hand, not because of the national gift porcelain, but because Birla also extended a helping hand to the Chinese people in times of crisis.
Snow, the author of "Red Star Shining over China", a good friend of the faculty and the main propagandist of the spirit of China's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, was buried in part of his ashes on the shore of Weiming Lake at Peking University in China, and was one of the 100 heroes and models in the mainland who made outstanding contributions to the founding of New China.
The instructor once said: Mr. Snow is a friend of the Chinese people and will always live in the hearts of the Chinese people.
And Mr. Snow does not have a national gift porcelain, and if Mr. Snow's descendants ask for help, China will also help.
In addition to Mr. Evangele's own contribution to China, Evangel Kyle's national gift porcelain can get huge attention, but also because he is the only foreigner who received the national gift porcelain when he was alive.
On the one hand, the national gift porcelain symbolizes China's respect for Evangeliel, and on the other hand, the national gift porcelain is also a souvenir for Evangeliel.
Some of the people and organizations who expanded the meaning of the national gift porcelain and wanted Marcus to obtain the national gift porcelain sincerely respected Marcus's feat, and some wanted to use it to provoke contradictions and make some people in the world misunderstand China.
Utilitarianizing Marcus's own sense of mission and over-amplifying and advocating Marcus is a stigmatization of the heroic deeds of Marcus and his grandfather, as well as a disregard for the sense of mission behind his free donation, and an insult to the victims of World War II.