Remembering Nanjing 87th Anniversary: 12/13/2024

by Judy Liang

December 13, 2024, marks the 87th anniversary of the Nanjing Massacre, a tragic event in history that deeply impacted the city and its people. During six weeks of violence, the city of Nanjing experienced widespread destruction, including acts of arson, torture, sexual violence, theft, and mass killings. By the end of the massacre, it is estimated that approximately 300,000 Chinese civilians had lost their lives (Iris Chang, The Rape of Nanking: The Forgotten Holocaust of World War II).

Remembering Nanjing 

Eyes closed, limbs aching 
walking along a burning path 
Body shivering, gasping for air
Under the sky, now ashened of gray. 

Fire ignites the butchers knife
My heart is torn from the monstrous sight 

For the first time, Qinhuai River does not carry water 
Carrying sorrowful cries from Zhonghua to the rest 
Fu zi’s eyes are wet with grief 
For his crying eyes are yearning for peace.  
 
Places of laughter have turned into screams 
Children once playing, now lie in limbs 
Echoes of girls searching for escape
Bodies hung and treated like worthless prey 
The futures lost, hope seems to have disappeared 

The old dream of Jinling turns into a mindless routine 
Wake up! 
Wake up! 
Wake up!

Look in a mirror and see what you did
300,000 souls seem to have never exist 
What lies around burns in desecration 
Buried by hunters and the hunted  

Yet from ashes and ruins, the spirits rise, 
Their voices, their tears, are calling for justice
Don’t lose your conscience and hide forever, 
When have words healed unmendable destruction?

What has been done cannot be erased 
For pages of history have already been stained. 
Their blood and tears will not be in vain 
Let their legacy live and speak to us today

Works Cited
Wikimedia Commons contributors. A 16-year-old girl raped by Japanese soldiers during the Nanjing Massacre. Wikimedia Commons, commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:A_16-year-old_girl_raped_by_Japanese_soldiers_during_the_Nanjing_Massacre.jpg. Accessed 24 Dec. 2024.
---. Bodies of Chinese massacred by Japanese troops along a river in Nanjing (Murase Moriyasa's photo) 01.jpg. Wikimedia Commons, commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Bodies_of_Chinese_massacred_by_Japanese_troops_along_a_river_in_Nanjing_(Murase_Moriyasa%27s_photo)_01.jpg&oldid=901101571. Accessed 24 Dec. 2024.
---. Bodies piled on the shore of Yangtze River, Nanking Massacre.jpg. Wikimedia Commons, commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Bodies_piled_on_the_shore_of_Yangtze_River,_Nanking_Massacre.jpg&oldid=949149511. Accessed 24 Dec. 2024.
---. Contest To Cut Down 100 People.jpg. Wikimedia Commons, commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Contest_To_Cut_Down_100_People.jpg&oldid=867839606. Accessed 24 Dec. 2024.

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