LIU HONGBO
WUHAN, China, Dec. 20
In the Chinese city of Nanjing, thousands of people gathered on Dec. 13 to mark the 70th anniversary of the 1937 Nanjing Massacre. The mood was solemn, but the prevailing public attitude was, "Remember the history, not the hatred."
As a matter of fact, there is no question about whether or not to remember the history, in my opinion. Precisely speaking, there is only the issue of whether or not to hold onto the hatred. History should not be forgotten or twisted, while hatred should not be kept alive or strengthened. Considering the Nanjing Massacre, people should keep the history firmly in mind but put an end to the hatred.
For a race that was hurt and insulted, it is not difficult to fix the history in our minds, while to terminate the hatred is harder. But only in this way can the race demonstrate its noble and rational character. Our race should retain its dignity, not because we are Chinese claiming to possess a special timber, but because we are human beings and thus should have a real sense of the majesty of our civilization.
Butchering is insane and inhuman. It must be indicted rather than duplicated. Hatred is the poison that leads to butchering; if what is evoked by the memory of killing is hatred, this is to say that a crazy behavior evokes a crazy idea. I believe that such an expression is not righteous; it is rather irrational.
Air sirens sounded for a long time during the memorial event. But what were they for? They should not sound a warning about falling behind and being beaten. They should call attention to barbarity and civilization, to killing and to peace. It's not easy to raise all human societies to the same level of development, but being advanced doesn't give one society the qualification to beat up others. Preserving civilization and creating everlasting peace should not be subject to the different levels of societies, races or countries.
To remember history doesn't mean becoming addicted to sadness or building up anger or harboring hatred, waiting for a historic opportunity to take revenge. It means walking away from historic tragedy and creating human lives. To remember history is to persist in the truth. No matter the circumstances, a person of dignity should not hesitate to insist on the truth at whatever the cost.
Nevertheless, ending hatred should not depend on the attitude of the perpetrator. Mankind should live with dignity; a victim must not lower his or her own standard to that of an animal just because the injuring party has done so. In other words, if it is true that extinguishing hatred requires the perpetrator to admit his or her brutality, it means one cannot independently develop one's nobility and rationality and needs someone else, who may be normal or abnormal, to attain freedom and release.
The Nanjing Massacre was a specific incident that caused the deaths of nearly 300,000 civilians and those soldiers who put down their weapons to surrender. The perpetrator was the Japanese army. This incident was also part of humanity's history of butchering its own kind, using human intelligence to organize efficient killing. That is the failure of "the most superior of all creatures" and the utmost absurdity; such killing is not only a wound to humanity but also its shame. The wound of the victim is the shame of the perpetrator; the stain can never be removed.
The reason for the Chinese people to remember the Nanjing Massacre should not be that the Chinese especially like to indulge in suffering, but because the Chinese carry the responsibility to keep the memory for all humanity.
Unfortunately, I found that this year's memorial event could not count as a universal one, for it was still an outpouring of the grief of a specific race, rather than a human tragedy shared by the international community. Therefore the Chinese must, of necessity, carry the full burden of this memory.
As members of the human race we need to remember the Nanjing Massacre, and the other massacres that have occurred at Auschwitz and in Rwanda, and any other place in the world at any time. All massacres are evil; they cannot be divided into higher or lower levels.
Moreover, killing people of a different race is not more or less evil than killing those of a different religion. Massacring people of the same race, religion or ideology is not more or less rational than massacring those of different races, religions or ideologies. Thus so-called "honor killings" or "killing for a great purpose" do not exist in a real sense. Putting gold plating on evil deeds does not change their character.
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(Liu Hongbo is a noted writer and critic on current affairs. This article is edited and translated from the Chinese by UPI Asia Online; the Chinese original can be found at www.ncn.org and liuhb.blog.sohu.com . ©Copyright Liu Hongbo.)
As a matter of fact, there is no question about whether or not to remember the history, in my opinion. Precisely speaking, there is only the issue of whether or not to hold onto the hatred. History should not be forgotten or twisted, while hatred should not be kept alive or strengthened. Considering the Nanjing Massacre, people should keep the history firmly in mind but put an end to the hatred.
For a race that was hurt and insulted, it is not difficult to fix the history in our minds, while to terminate the hatred is harder. But only in this way can the race demonstrate its noble and rational character. Our race should retain its dignity, not because we are Chinese claiming to possess a special timber, but because we are human beings and thus should have a real sense of the majesty of our civilization.
Butchering is insane and inhuman. It must be indicted rather than duplicated. Hatred is the poison that leads to butchering; if what is evoked by the memory of killing is hatred, this is to say that a crazy behavior evokes a crazy idea. I believe that such an expression is not righteous; it is rather irrational.
Air sirens sounded for a long time during the memorial event. But what were they for? They should not sound a warning about falling behind and being beaten. They should call attention to barbarity and civilization, to killing and to peace. It's not easy to raise all human societies to the same level of development, but being advanced doesn't give one society the qualification to beat up others. Preserving civilization and creating everlasting peace should not be subject to the different levels of societies, races or countries.
To remember history doesn't mean becoming addicted to sadness or building up anger or harboring hatred, waiting for a historic opportunity to take revenge. It means walking away from historic tragedy and creating human lives. To remember history is to persist in the truth. No matter the circumstances, a person of dignity should not hesitate to insist on the truth at whatever the cost.
Nevertheless, ending hatred should not depend on the attitude of the perpetrator. Mankind should live with dignity; a victim must not lower his or her own standard to that of an animal just because the injuring party has done so. In other words, if it is true that extinguishing hatred requires the perpetrator to admit his or her brutality, it means one cannot independently develop one's nobility and rationality and needs someone else, who may be normal or abnormal, to attain freedom and release.
The Nanjing Massacre was a specific incident that caused the deaths of nearly 300,000 civilians and those soldiers who put down their weapons to surrender. The perpetrator was the Japanese army. This incident was also part of humanity's history of butchering its own kind, using human intelligence to organize efficient killing. That is the failure of "the most superior of all creatures" and the utmost absurdity; such killing is not only a wound to humanity but also its shame. The wound of the victim is the shame of the perpetrator; the stain can never be removed.
The reason for the Chinese people to remember the Nanjing Massacre should not be that the Chinese especially like to indulge in suffering, but because the Chinese carry the responsibility to keep the memory for all humanity.
Unfortunately, I found that this year's memorial event could not count as a universal one, for it was still an outpouring of the grief of a specific race, rather than a human tragedy shared by the international community. Therefore the Chinese must, of necessity, carry the full burden of this memory.
As members of the human race we need to remember the Nanjing Massacre, and the other massacres that have occurred at Auschwitz and in Rwanda, and any other place in the world at any time. All massacres are evil; they cannot be divided into higher or lower levels.
Moreover, killing people of a different race is not more or less evil than killing those of a different religion. Massacring people of the same race, religion or ideology is not more or less rational than massacring those of different races, religions or ideologies. Thus so-called "honor killings" or "killing for a great purpose" do not exist in a real sense. Putting gold plating on evil deeds does not change their character.
--
(Liu Hongbo is a noted writer and critic on current affairs. This article is edited and translated from the Chinese by UPI Asia Online; the Chinese original can be found at www.ncn.org and liuhb.blog.sohu.com . ©Copyright Liu Hongbo.)
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