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Bearing witness to the past, for living together
in the future: International conference Remembering Nanjing On the 70th anniversary of the Nanjing Tragedy November 22 - 25, 2007 at the Nanjing Normal University and Nanjing University, Nanjing, China |
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This conference is for people from China,
Japan, and other parts of the world,
who
have had different war experience and
education
in war. Its purpose is to open their
hearts
and listen deeply to one another. Participants
will hear the testimonies of survivors,
visit
historic sites, join in moments of
silence,
and share thoughts and feelings in
large
and small groups. The guidelines for dialogue are: 1) to put aside preconceived notions and open
one’s heart for other points of view;
and 2) to bear witness by listening deeply.
Conference participation fee: US $250 (students: $125)
Considering the diversity of historical interpretations, the conference will not make a unified statement. Participants are encouraged to express their points of view.
HISTORICAL REFERENCES ON THE NANJING TRAGEDY
Description of a Japanese textbook, 1: On the evening of July 7, 1937 , an incident
that someone shot at the Japanese troops
in exercise took place at Hugouqiao
in the
suburb of Beijing. On the following
morning
they were in combat with the Chinese
Nationalist
Party troops (the Hugouquiao Incident).
A
solution was sought on-the-spot, but
the
Japanese side ordered a large-scale
dispatch
of troops, and the Nationalist Party
Government
also ordered mobilization of troops.
Following
this, the Japan-China War went on for
eight
years. In August of the same year, an incident that
two Japanese soldiers were shot to
death
took place in Shanghai where foreign
reservations
are concentrated. Ignited by this occasion,
a total war between Japan and China
started.
Hoping that taking Nanjing, the capital
of
the Nationalist Party Government, would
make
Chang Kaishek surrender, the Japanese
troops
occupied Nanjing. (At this time a large
number
of people were killed and injured by
the
Japanese troops: the Nanjing Incident.)
[Note:
The Tokyo Trial determined that the
Japanese
troops killed a great number of Chinese
civilians
when they occupied Nanjing in 1937
during
the Japan-China War. Furthermore, some
points
of doubt based on evidences have been
presented
regarding reality of this incident,
and debate
continues even today.] ?Atarashii Rekishi Kyokasho (New History Textbook), Mikiji Nijio, et al. Tokyo: Fusosha. 2001. Description of a Japanese textbook, 2:
On July 7, at Hugouquiao in the suburb of
Beiping (Beijing) an incident that
Japanese
and Chinese troops clashed with each
other
(the Hugouquiao Incident). A truce
was reached
on-the-spot, but with the intention
to give
a strike on China, subdue the movement
to
resist Japan, and obtain resources
and market
in Northern China, the Konoe Cabinet
decided
to dispatch troops, and called it “Northern
China Incident.” After the battle
spread
to Shanghai in August (the Shanghai
Incident),
it was renamed “China Incident” in
September,
and Japan went into total invasion
war against
China without declaring war (Japan-China
War). In spite of the Japanese expectation that
China would be subdued with a single
strike,
the resistance of China, forming a
unified
racial front-line against Japan, was
strong.
Japan poured a large number of troops
and
occupied Nanjing, the capital of Nationalist
Government, in December. At that time,
the
Japanese troops killed a great number
of
Chinese people, including surrendering
soldiers
and prisoners of war, engaged in depredations,
arsons, and criminal assaults, and
were internationally
accused for the Nanjing Massacre. The
number
of those, including combatants, who
were
killed, during the weeks before and
after
the occupation, is estimated as at
least
ten or more thousands. ?Japanese History B, Kojiro Naoki. Tokyo: Jikkyo Publications,
1997. After the Hugouqiao Incident, the Japanese
army amassed a great number of reinforcing
troops and launched a large-scale campaign
toward Beiping, Tianjin, Shanghai,
and other
regions. Japan depended on its military
power
and intended to fight and win quickly,
destroying
China in three months. At this critical
time
for the survival of the Chinese race,
people
in the entire country united and launched
a collaborative campaign against invasion,
which was unprecedented in modern Chinese
history … In December 1937, the Japanese army occupied Nanjing. At that time, they killed unarmed citizens and prisoners of war by cruel methods, including shooting, burning, burying, cutting, and military dogs biting. This created extreme human misery?the Nanjing massacre… According to statistics the the number of unarmed Nanjing residents and Chinese soldiers who had laid down weapons Japanese army slaughtered during the six weeks of its occupation of Nanjing, reached more than 300,000. The Nanjing massacre is one of the atrocities that the Japanese invading army inflicted on Chinese people. ?History, vol. 1, the eighth grade. Beijing Normal University Press, 2001.
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