Journal of Japanese Invasion ofChina and Nanjing Massacre

No.3, 2020

1.OntheRiotsofCaoxiexiaduringNanjingMassacre

SunZhaiwei(4)

During Nanjing Massacre, a large-scale riot occurred in Caoxiexia. It is of crucial importance to discuss the basic facts, time and space, the main groups of the riots as well as the Japanese troops that suppressed the riots to fully understand Chinese military and civilians’ struggle during the Massacre. The fallacy of “being ready to release the prisoners” claimed by the Japanese invading army was purely a fabricated lie. The riots of Caoxiexia has a symbolic and representative status in terms of its way and scale amid the resistance that occoured during Nanjing Massacre.

2.From“Response”toMemorize:ThePreparationandFunctionalExpansionoftheMemorialHalloftheVictimsinNanjingMassacrebyJapaneseInvaders

ZhangJianjun(16)

The “Textbook Incident” in Japan in 1982 aroused the strong discontent among the Chinese people. In response to the Japanese right-wing forces’ attempt to deny Nanjing Massacre and the general public’s call to compile the history of Nanjing Massacre and set up monuments as well as the memorial hall, Nanjing initiated the preparation of building a memorial hall and monuments related to Nanjing Massacre, and compiling the history of Massacre with great support from both Jiangsu provincial and Nanjing municipal governments as well as from all walks of life. During the investigation and visit to Nanjing, the Japanese Society for Nanjing Incident Investigation and Studies also communicated with Chinese scholars and provided Japanese materials and research findings. During the preparation for the memorial hall, Nanjing also carried out a general survey of “l(fā)iving witnesses” and a number of survivors and witnesses of the Massacre was found, retaining precious oral history of Nanjing Massacre. On August 15, 1985, the Memorial Hall of the Victims in Nanjing Massacre by Japanese Invaders was completed and opened. Although the name of the memorial hall had been changed many times, it was finalized before its opening and inscribed by Deng Xiaoping. Over the past 35 years, the memorial hall has its function greatly expanded, playing an important role in laying the foundation for the historical narrative of Nanjing Massacre, the patriotic education and the construction of Nanjing as a city of peace.

3.StudiesonNanjingMassacreanditsDisseminationinthepast70years

ZhuTianleZhuChengshan(28)

Over the past 70 years since the founding of PRC, Nanjing Massacre has gradually become a hot issue in historical research with the relevant studies from being spontaneous and individual to being organized and systematic. The studies can be roughly divided into four stages, namely, from the early days of the founding of PRC to 1970s, 1980s, 1990s and since the 21st century. The symbolic events that promoted studies on the Massacre and its dissemination mainly include the Japanese textbook incident, the Japanese lawsuit of Azuma Shiro,TheDiariesofJohnRabeand the discovery of the video camera and film about Nanjing Massacre by John Magee. Realistic political and diplomatic factors have influenced, restricted and promoted the studies and dissemination of Nanjing Massacre. With the discovery, collection and sorting of relevant historical records the studies on the Massacre have been deepened, and the designation of Dec.13 as the National Memorial Day and the successful application of “Documents of Nanjing Massacre ” for the Memory of World speed up its worldwide dissemination.

4.TheConstructionofCollectiveMemoryofNanjingMassacreinFrance

ChenPujun(35)

Image expression, writing in foreign language and joint exhibition are the three main forms of French society to construct historical memory of Nanjing Massacre. The images related to Nanjing Massacre in France have rich expressions such as documentaries, self-media videos and Internet TV programs; writing in foreign language includes not only academic research by French scholars, independent publication by French publishers, but also the exchange and cooperation between Chinese and French publishers; the Caen Memorial Museum in France and the Memorial Hall of the Victims in Nanjing Massacre by Japanese Invaders in China jointly wrote a new chapter in the historical memory of the Massacre by means of joint exhibitions.With joint efforts from both sides, these diversified forms of dissemination have covered French audiences of different classes, enabling more and more French people to understand the historical facts of Massacre, and thereby continuously constructing its historical memory in France.

5.TheSummaryofPostwarReceptionofJapaneseBooksandCulturalRelicsinChina

MengGuoxiang(42)

After the Sino-Japanese War of 1894—1895, to compete for and resist the cultural influence of Western countries on China and strengthen their colonial education in the occupied areas, Japan had successively established many libraries, museums, schools, cultural education and scientific research institutions in China. During the full-scale invasion of China, most of the above-mentioned Japanese institutions participated in the plunder of Chinese books and cultural relics and became crucial tools for cultural aggression. After the war, to settle the account with Japan’s war crimes and confiscated Japanese assets in China as a compensation to China’s war losses, Chinese government promulgated the regulations and established implementing agencies to receive Japanese books and cultural relics in China. However, due to the complexity of the reception work , there is no specific research on the subject in the academic circle. This article, based on historical archives, sorts out the basic facts about the reception of Japanese books and cultural relics in the liberated areas, focusing on and analyzing the reception and distribution work in Shanghai, Peiping and Northeast China and reveals the wartime chaos of destroying Chinese books and cultural relics in the hope that experts will give an in-depth study in this subject.

6.ShiratoriKurakichi’sMultipleShapingof“Manchuria”ImageandItsPoliticalMetaphor

SunZhipeng(54)

Shiratori Kurakichi reached the height two times in terms of the study of “Manchuria” by successively shaping a variety of “Manchuria” images. During the Russo-Japanese War(1904—1905), under the dualism of Asia, in view of Japan’s limited strength, Shiratori advocated the “Open Door” policy, namely the “opened Manchuria”; then, in order to adapt to the postwar situation, Shiratori proposed the “apart area of Manchuria”. Around the Mukden Incident, Shiratori first replaced “apart area” by “neutral zone”, and later illustrated the rationality of “Manchuria State” by proving “the natural unity of Manchuria” in its landform, or in other words,“neutral Manchuria”and “integrated Manchuria”. The basic research approach of Shiratori is to guide the academic issue with politics, aiming at echoing and promoting Japan’s invasion to Northeast China.

7.ImpactandResponse:TheWartimeJapaneseBlockadeoftheBritishConcessioninTianjin

FengChengjie(63)

After the fall of Tianjin, the British concession was used by the Nationalist Government as a base to resist the Japanese invasion, which led to growing tensions between Britain and Japan until the Japanese army blocked the British concession. Local citizens’ daily life was seriously affected, the commercial and financial center moved from the British concession to the Japanese-occupied area. Over the concession blockade issue, Britain and Japan started the game. In order to force the British to back down Japan implemented a strategy of extreme pressure and did not hesitate to fight a protracted war. As a puppet fostered by Japan, the puppet regime followed suit. Limited by its situation in Europe, Britain was tough at the beginning, and then sought a moderate compromise with Japan. All the concerned parties paid close attention to the dispute between Britain and Japan. The Nationalist Government actively carried out diplomatic mediations to reduce the extent of damage to China’s rights and interests. The United States tried to keep the balance of power in China, and turned from a bystander to the partner of Britain against Japan. France tried to maximize its interests. The differences and evolution of all parties’ responses and countermeasures were deeply affected by the changes in the European situation and the attitude of the United States, reflecting the complicated interaction of the powers and the evolution of the world pattern.

8.TheJapaneseNavy’sSpyingontheBeiyangFleetbeforetheSino-JapaneseWarof1894—1895——anAnalysisBasedontheJapaneseNavy’s“IntelligenceMaterials”

WangHe(74)

Before the Sino-Japanese War of 1894—1895, Japan not only accelerated the expansion of its naval armaments, but also prepared for operations against China and strengthened the intelligence-gathering and investigation of the Beiyang Fleet. After 1889, due to the limited funding and policy changes, the armament expansion of the Beiyang Fleet came to a halt. This information was gathered by the Japanese and used as a basis to judge the growth and decline of the two countries’ naval power. The Japanese Navy also worried about its own lack in the military training, and was eager to get the information about the Beiyang Fleet on the military training, fleet management, the quality of officers and soldiers. Japan not only sent warships to the parade of Beiyang Fleet, but also conducted a close “observation” during the Fleet’s visit to Japan in 1891. The Japanese Navy later compiled the information and included them in the “intelligence materials” for the Japanese Ministry of Navy. Through those materials, one can learn more about the actual situation of the Beiyang Fleet before the Sino-Japanese War of 1894—1895, and how the Japanese Navy spared no effort to spy the Beiyang Fleet and prepare for the war.

9.AStudyontheEpidemicPreventionoftheJapaneseInvaders’ArmyHorses

FengYulin(83)

The army horse is an important part of the Japanese invaders’ combat force. Due to the widespread and frequent occurrence of zoonotic diseases such as glanders and anthrax in the Chinese battlefield, it’s necessary for the Japanese army to construct an effective epidemic prevention system for the army horses. Even before the Mukden Incident, the Japanese army had already started to establish this system and carried out the research on glanders and anthrax. During the full-scale war of aggression against China, the epidemic prevention for the Japanese army horses was further strengthened, and the related epidemic prevention agencies were set up throughout the occupied areas. On the one hand, the Japanese army actively carried out the epidemic prevention system to ensure its own hygienic security. On the other hand, the Japanese army launched the bacterial warfare with anthrax and rotzbacillus susceptible to army horses as the bacterial weapons, reflecting its bacterial warfare’s offensive-defensive integrated characteristics.

10.ControlandDemands:TheJapanesePuppetGovernment’sResponsetotheFoodProbleminGuangzhouduringtheOccupation

HuangJialiang(93)

During the fall of Guangzhou, the contradiction between the Japanese puppet authorities' food control policy and the people’s continuous demand for food was always an issue. In the early days of Japanese occupation, the original channels for the food trade were basically interrupted, and Japanese army even publicly seized food. The Security Maintenance Committee of Guangzhou’s Puppet Government and its Chamber of Commerce survived the initial difficult days by selling the reserved food at a fair price and purchasing rice from foreign countries through the Japanese . In 1940, the puppet regime of Wang Jingwei established a special food regulation agency in Guangzhou, which more or less strengthened its response to the food problem. After the outbreak of the Pacific War, the channels of importing food from overseas had somewhat recovered for a short period of time. However, as the war situation deteriorated for Japan plus Guangzhou encountered another drought, the food crisis in Guangzhou worsened. At the end of the occupation, the puppet regime implemented the rationing of food with focus on some particular groups in Guangzhou, causing a greater problem to meet the food demand. The failure of the Japanese puppet government’s response to the food issue in Guangzhou fully exposed the colonial nature and fragility of the social order in the occupied areas under the violent rule.

11.AMulti-playerGame:AStudyontheSurrenderProcessofJapaneseTroopsinChina’sTwelfthTheaterofOperation

LiuXiaotangLiuJingjing(101)

After the Japanese surrendered in August 1945, the General Headquarters of the Chinese Army appointed General Fu Zuoyi, the Commander of the 12th Theater of Operation, as the Chief Commander for accepting the surrender of the Japanese troops stationed in the provinces of Rehe, Chahar and Suiyuan. The surrendered Japanese troops were stationed in Mongolia. The surrender process of the Twelfth Theater of operation was carried out under the background of a multi-player game among the KMT, CPC, the Soviet Union and the United States. Due to the frequent movement of the various units under the jurisdiction of the Japanese army stationed in Mongolia and the rapid changes in the situations of the Chinese theater, the surrender-accepting area of the Twelfth Theater and the Japanese surrendered forces changed successively. On September 24, 1945, the 24th Independent Garrison Infantry Brigade, Baotou Military Police Detachment, the 198th Army Service Station Hospital, and the Second Platoon of the 21st Independent Garrion Infantry Battalion as well as the soldiers’ supplementary education team all formally surrendered to the Twelfth Theater of Operation. On September 28, the surrender ceremony of the Twelfth Theater of Operation was held in Guisui. With the takeover of the Japanese army’s weapons and the repatriation of Japanese captives and nationals, the work of surrender by Japanese army in the Twelfth Theater of Operation also completed.

12.The“JingjiangIncident”fromthePerspectiveofDisintegratingtheEnemy

YeMing(109)

During the war of resistance against Japan, while fighting against the Japanese puppet government, the armed forces against Japan led by CPC also attached great importance to disintegrate enemy. In the process of consolidating and developing the resistance bases against Japan in the rear area, it is an important means of fighting against the enemy by effectively using the method of obtaining intelligence and disintegrating the forces of the Japanese puppet government. In 1943, Tao Mingde, Chief of the puppet government police at Jingjiang County of Jiangsu Province, had a conflict with Cai Xinyuan, Commander of the 19th Division of the Puppet Army, which triggered the “Jingjiang Incident”. The New Fourth Army used this opportunity to disintegrate the enemy, finally won the Tao Mingde’s uprising and therefore controlled Jinjiang area. The work of disintegrating the enemy played an important role in the “Jingjiang Incident”, creating conditions for regaining Jingjiang and strengthening the New Fourth Army’s force in this area.

13.EducationthroughWar:WartimeChildren’sEducationintheShanxi-SuiyuanBorderArea

ZhangXiaoling(119)

During the total war of resistance against Japan, children’s education in the resistance bases was an important concern of CPC. Despite the severe war situations, the CPC still insists on the education for children. The purpose of children’s education in Shanxi-Suiyuan Border Area was mainly to serve the War of Resistance. Children’s education in this area is therefore closely linked to the War, and the War of Resistance has become a part of children’s education and the wartime life. Based on the education through war, the government of border area adhered to the concept of combining children’s education with reality and attached importance to children’s participation. The education included both specific cultural knowledge and political ideological morality. Through education, children had not only improved their cultural quality, but also made positive contributions to the war of resistance, the construction of border area and even their families. In the learning process, children obtained relatively an all-round development. The CPC’s philosophy of resistance against Japanese invasion was also widely spread among children.

14.SavetheNationbySaving:TheWartimeGasoline-savingCampaignintheRearArea

LiangKun(127)

During the total war of resistance, China’s gasoline supply was severely insufficient. For this reason, the National Government promoted a gasoline-saving campaign to guide the people to be economical. Although the gasoline-saving campaign aimed at all citizens, it actually focuses on the public officials of the party, government and military who owned cars or access to service cars (also known as “military & public officials” or “class of military & public officials”). They were also called the “automobile class” by the media. Compared with the endless corruption in the wartime official circles, the behavior of the “automobile class” was more likely to become the focus of public opinion. Although major cities in the rear area actively promoted that campaign, the actual effect was not that good, and there was still no fundamental change in the practice and custom of waste, which caused widespread dissatisfaction in the public opinion and made the image of the Kuomintang regime in the minds of the people increasingly negative. In a sense, the phenomenon of waste and extravagance of the “automobile class” was not just a personal issue, but related to the group climate and the image of the “party state”.