BEIJING, Sept. 30 (Xinhua) — In Shanghai, a Chinese metropolis of hovering glass towers and a shimmering skyline, an outdated warehouse pockmarked with bullet holes nonetheless stands. Before its partitions, 10-year-old Lu Yucheng quietly laid down his favourite candies.
“This is my way of paying tribute to the heroes,” mentioned Lu, a neighborhood pupil. “They suffered so much during the war. I wanted to bring them something sweet.”
This 12 months marks the eightieth anniversary of victory within the Chinese People’s War of Resistance in opposition to Japanese Aggression and the World Anti-Fascist War. On Sept. 3, a grand navy parade in Beijing stirred passions nationwide, inspiring many, together with Lu, to revisit historical past.
Accompanied by his dad and mom and grandfather, Lu visited the Sihang warehouse, the place in 1937 just a few hundred Chinese troopers held off invading Japanese forces in a siege that grew to become a defining image of China’s resistance throughout the battle.
After touring the memorial, he wrote within the visitor ebook: “Without these heroes, there would be no country; without the country, we wouldn’t have the happy home we have today.”
Lu’s go to got here simply days earlier than Martyrs’ Day on Tuesday, a nationwide observance established by China’s prime legislature in 2014 to honor those that gave their lives for nationwide independence and prosperity, together with fallen troopers throughout the War of Resistance.
On Tuesday morning, leaders of the Communist Party of China (CPC) and the state attended a ceremony to current flower baskets to fallen nationwide heroes at Tian’anmen Square in central Beijing.
Across the nation, commemorations of the battle victory proceed, as extra individuals search to reconnect with that unforgettable chapter of historical past, leaving handwritten reflections in memorial halls and museums and voicing their aspirations for a stronger nation.
At the Shanghai Sihang Warehouse Battle Memorial, guests arrive day by day with small items for the fallen — mooncakes, biscuits, sausages, liquor and flowers. “Since the parade, visitor numbers have risen sharply,” mentioned Ma Youjiong, the memorial’s director. “People have come from all over the world, such as Malaysia, Russia, the Republic of Korea and even Japan.”
Among the 700 pages of visitor ebook entries this month, recurring phrases stand out: “never forget,” “peace” and “rejuvenation”. One customer, Wang Qingling from Shanxi Province, wrote: “Today we came to the Sihang warehouse and truly felt the weight of history. My heart is heavy. May our country be prosperous and our people live in peace.”
Others expressed sentiments of obligation; as an illustration, instructor Wang Keman mirrored on his expertise after visiting a memorial corridor in northeast China’s Liaoning Province. “A nation cannot exist without heroes, and a people without heroes have no hope,” he wrote. “If the younger generation cannot understand the spirit of those who came before, they will lack the courage and perseverance to strive. As a teacher, I feel a profound sense of responsibility.”
At the Memorial Hall of the Victims within the Nanjing Massacre by Japanese Invaders, 26-year-old graduate scholar Tang Mingshan was deeply moved. “The Nanjing Massacre was a human tragedy, not only for the city but for the entire country and even the world. As the younger generation, we are fortunate to live in an era of peace, an era safeguarded by countless predecessors,” she wrote within the visitor ebook.
On Dec. 13, 1937, Japanese troops captured the then-Chinese capital Nanjing, unleashing six weeks of devastation that claimed the lives of an estimated 300,000 civilians and unarmed troopers.
For Tang, who had seen the September parade on tv, the pull of historical past was too highly effective to disregard. She modified her journey plans to go to the location for the primary time.
“The first thing I saw was a statue I had only previously read about in textbooks,” she mentioned. “A ragged mother held her dead child helplessly in her hands. You could feel her grief. History tells us that backwardness leaves one vulnerable to attack. That is why I feel we must work hard to make our nation stronger.”
The memorial receives about 5 million guests every year. In 2024 alone, guests left 109,208 messages in its visitor books.
For Zhou Feng, the memorial’s curator, the change is evident. “Visitors’ emotions are deeper, more measured,” he mentioned. “There is a stronger thirst for knowledge. They want to understand the details, the background and the international impact of that history.”
The War of Resistance was the Chinese individuals’s longest and largest battle in opposition to overseas aggression in fashionable occasions because the Opium War of 1840. It got here with the best sacrifice — 35 million navy and civilian casualties — however ended within the individuals’s first full victory in nationwide liberation.
“The victory marked a great turning point for the Chinese nation, from decline to rejuvenation,” mentioned Hu Yongheng, a historian on the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.
Wartime resilience and perseverance proceed to encourage as we speak’s China. According to its improvement blueprint, the nation’s second centenary objective is to remodel China into a terrific fashionable socialist nation in all respects by the center of the century.
In simply over a month after the navy parade, China will convene the fourth plenary session of the twentieth CPC Central Committee to review the proposals for formulating the fifteenth Five-Year Plan (2026-2030) for nationwide financial and social improvement. The plan interval will probably be a vital part to consolidate the muse and make all-out efforts for the objective of principally realizing socialist modernization.
An article in People’s Daily highlighted that as China progresses in the direction of high-quality improvement, it’s going to create broader market, funding and progress alternatives for the world.
After WWII, China emerged as a UN Security Council everlasting member and an unbiased energy, serving to form the postwar world.
Over the previous few years, China has proposed the imaginative and prescient of constructing a neighborhood with a shared future for humanity, together with the Global Development Initiative, the Global Security Initiative, the Global Civilization Initiative and the Global Governance Initiative, sharing knowledge and options for navigating world transformations and overcoming urgent challenges.
In Shenyang, capital of Liaoning and the place the place the War of Resistance started, remembrance lives alongside fast change.
As a member of Siasun Robot Automation Co., Ltd., a number one robotics agency in Shenyang, Ha Enjing has come to really feel extra deeply that technological innovation is an important pillar of nationwide power.
Today, the corporate’s merchandise are offered in additional than 40 nations and areas, with manufacturers like Rolls-Royce amongst its shoppers. “Drawing strength from history, what I can do is to contribute to technology,” she mentioned.
For Guan Jixiang, a freshman at Shenyang Urban Construction University, the lesson lies in examine and perseverance.
After visiting the 9.18 Historical Museum, he left a message: “We will cherish today’s good life and turn the spirit of the martyrs into motivation to move forward. By remembering history, we can create a better future.”