December 13th (AMSP/CGTN) – – China holds the 11th national memorial ceremony on Friday to mourn the 300,000 victims of the 1937 Nanjing Massacre committed by Japanese invaders in Nanjing, the provincial capital of Jiangsu Province.
The memorial ceremony began at 10:00 in front of the Memorial Hall of the Victims in Nanjing Massacre by Japanese Invaders, with the playing and singing of the Chinese national anthem.
Then, all the attendees observed a moment of silence for the massacre victims, when air-raid sirens sounded across Nanjing, vehicles halted with horns blaring, and pedestrians paused in remembrance.
Eight large wreaths were presented to the memorial altar by the Guard of Honor.
At the memorial ceremony, 87 youth representatives from Nanjing recited the Declaration for Peace – a poem authored by late writer Feng Yitong (1941-2023) in 2014 in memorial of the victims of the Nanjing Massacre, and six citizen representatives struck the Bell of Peace.
In three deep tolls of the bell, 3,000 white doves, symbolizing hope for peace, were released to fly over the square of the Memorial Hall of the Victims of the Nanjing Massacre.
Commemorations were also held simultaneously in 17 burial grounds of the Nanjing Massacre victims, 12 communities, and six education bases in Nanjing.
The National Memorial Day for the Victims of the Nanjing Massacre was formally established on Feb 27, 2014, by the 7th Session of the 12th National People’s Congress Standing Committee, designating December 13 as the annual observance day through legislative action.
The Nanjing Massacre, which lasted for more than 40 days following the Japanese capture of Nanjing, the then Chinese capital, on Dec 13, 1937, killing more than 300,000 Chinese civilians and unarmed soldiers in Nanjing with 20,000 women raped.
amsp/cgtn-abp
CGTN