Nanjing Massacre Memorial Day, Chinese Netizen Reactions

Yesterday was China’s first National Nanjing Massacre Memorial Day. Major media and especially state-media all published content marking the day and its significance. Below is state-broadcaster CCTV News’s contribution that topped Chinese microblogging platform Sina Weibo.

From Sina Weibo:

@央视新闻 [CCTV News]: #Today is National Memorial Day# Today, No Matter Where You Are, Let Us Use the Resharing of Microblog Posts to Pay Our Respects to Our Compatriots! — 77 years ago, starting from 1937 December 13, the Imperial Japanese Army carried our a massacre in Nanjing that last over 40 days! Shooting dead, burying alive, cutting people down. Over 300,000 of our compatriots were murdered, as Imperial Japanese soldiers applauded and wildly laughed. To this day, some in Japan who want to restore [Japanese] power still vainly try to deny history! Today, the Nanjing Massacre once again rings the alarm. Forward/reshare this, and let even more people know the truth! Never forget history!

Comments from Sina Weibo:

贝壳小翘：

What the Japanese people launched against China was not a war but the genocide of a nationality by another nationality. The War of Resistance Against Japan should not be called a humiliation [disgrace, shame], and the government’s propagation of this is wrong. Japan’s invasion of China is Japan’s disgrace/shame, as it was the Japanese who lost their humanity. Vautrin wrote in her diary: Militarily, the occupation of Nanjing may be considered a victory for the Imperial Japanese military, but in terms of morality, it is a defeat, the shame of the Japanese people.

屌丝和泡面：

A strong country is not realized through the resharing of microblog posts.

乌苏里北望：

Only two modes have existed for Japan historically: Invading China and preparing to invade China. Sino-Japanese friendly relations has not existed in the past, does not exist now, and will not exist in the future!

迎春花_笑：

Please stop the promotion of the national humiliation narrative, as no one was our shame. For our happiness, our forefathers chose sacrifice, yet we again and again use so-called “national humiliation” to discount our forefathers’ war. On one hand saying you shouldn’t hold a grudge against Japan because that’s all in the past, and on the other hand shouting to never forget [our country’s] national humiliation. So the Japanese who started the war can bear absolutely no responsibility but the Chinese who were victimized have to bear all the humiliation/disgrace/shame? When will this strange public notion stop?

妙榧：

To solemnly commemorate those who died is not about unburdening ourselves or about advocating nationalistic vengeance but about reminding every single one of us that we are more than just individual selves, our families, and our friends, more than our bloodlines, our social circles, and our native soil, that we are a collective, and that avoiding a repeat of a historical tragedy is our collective responsibility and duty. –National [Nanjing Massacre] Memorial Day

骑马的乌龟：

No matter how much we respect each others’ culture, as before we have not been able to erase the seething history within our blood. There are no ifs in history. For the first National Memorial Day, let us remember [the dead] with the honor of the country that prevailed, and have the hundred years of humiliation be our wake-up call. Let us struggle for the rise of China!

瓶中的丑小鸭：

To forget the massacre is paramount to a second massacre!

沫璐之茧：

What’s the point of posting these things every day? Patriotism is not something you just pay lip-service to. Right now, how many of our countrymen are buying Japanese products? If you love your country, then you should refuse to buy Japanese products, and those in the country’s Product Quality Bureau should be diligent in monitoring the quality of domestic products.

圆圆安vv：

Hearing the national anthem, seeing the national flag being raised and then lowered, I actually teared up… 1213 never forget national humiliation.

瞳小曈：

Japanese people, sons of bitches.

和风Jason：

Who should those that died in the Cultural Revolution turn to??? Just who is not facing history?

惊鳄之鱼：

War is the best test of the spirit of a nation’s people. In every war, the very first to be sacrificed are all the people who form the backbone of the nationality. History is solemn and tragic, but the spirit of our people is to never be defeated and never to vanish quietly. This is why Japan attacked China and went eight years without defeating it, whereas Japan was quickly vanquished in 1945 after the Allied counterattack.

圈大哥：

Our countrymen must strive for self-improvement, as falling behind/being backwards will result in being bullied and insulted! Remembering the Nanjing Massacre is not about passing on a resentment/grudge/hate but to have ourselves remember that it was backwardness and weakness that allowed the humiliation of being invaded, massacred, and tyrannized by others. So let us not allow a repeat of history!

西湖赏雪：

Soon there will be Chinese traitors bringing up the civil wars in Chinese history, sparing no effort to whitewash little Japan.

It is worth noting that some of the above highly-upvoted comments were made by accounts with little past activity.