Singapore ex-politician presents new book about China

Singapore ex-politician presents new book about China


 
 
Lee Khoon Choy, a former politician and diplomat of Singapore, presented a new travel book about China on Monday.
“Passage Through China”, launched by Singapore President S.R. Nathan and the author, was written in English and its Chinese version will be published in China next year.
The 83-year-old Chinese Singaporean has over the years continuously pursued his interest in China through his readings, writings, paintings and travel.
He has visited China more than 70 times since 1975, as a politician, ambassador, businessman and traveler. In this book, he wrote about the sights and sounds of the different places he visited in China.
“The Olympic games are coming and there are very few English language literature about places of China, and the Chinese versions are not so good. So I decided to write something to keep the world informed,” Lee told Xinhua.
He added that he believes this book gives invaluable insights to China’s landscapes, culture and traditions.
The president wrote the foreword to the book, saying that he hopes the new book will give readers a glimpse of various parts of China, the sights and sounds the author experienced and through them the readers can gain an appreciation and understanding of China. 

2007 wealthy writers list unveiled

2007 wealthy writers list unveiled

The 2007 Wealthy Writers List was jointly released by Chengdu Business Daily and its partner website on November 6. Young writer Guo Jingming, born in the 1980s, has secured a place at the top with an income of 11 million yuan (US$1,475,381).

Academic authors Yu Dan and Yi Zhongtian came in second and the third respectively, and some Web writers are also among the list, according to China News Service.
It took more than 40 days to work out the list with the makers visiting almost a hundred book stores as well as book wholesale bosses, publishers, writers, Web copywriters, and some printing plants managers in anonymity.
Writers born in the 1980s grow up
Publishing books is a kind of luxury for many writers as a result of name recognition or other popularity factors. However, recently publishers have been chasing after writers for books, particularly those born in the 1980s.
“The works of writers born in the new generation are popular not necessarily because their books are well written, but because they write about the lives of teenagers, which are not familiar for writers of other ages,” said He Sanpo, a well-known literature critic.
Web writers gain both fame and wealth
The rise of Web copywriters in recent years has also caught much public attention. Many Web copywriters set their goals as writing books, winning distinction, and earning money.
“Thousands of average people will become copy writers through the Internet, which has provided an open and wide platform for Chinese literature to integrate into the world,”said Chen Tianqiao, literature fan and president of Shanda Interactive Entertainment Limited.

Pride, courage and battle on the goldfields

Pride, courage and battle on the goldfields

On the weekend of Feburary 6, 1885, scores of Chinese were expelled from Eureka, a small town of Humboldt in northwest California. They were put on two steamships bound for San Francisco. When they arrived on Monday, a group of 52, under the leadership of a man named Wing Hing, announced a joint lawsuit against the town.
They sought reparations for property damage, for their struggle to obtain land, and other claims such as the right for their children to enter the public education system.
This was the first collective lawsuit filed by Chinese in the United States.
“This (lawsuit) also protected several thousand other Chinese, forcing other towns which wanted to do the same thing to think twice,” says Jean Pfealzer, a history professor of the University of Delaware.
Pfealzer has just published a new book: Driven Out: The Forgotten Wars Against Chinese Americans, which reveals a chapter of history that has been largely forgotten.

From 1849 to 1906, violent incidents against Chinese occurred in about 250 cities and towns across California and the Northwest and the Mid-west of the United States. Many thousands of Chinese Americans were forced out of their homes, some were deported and some were even beaten to death.
Professor Pfealzer, who spent over seven years preparing for the book, has been studying Chinese Americans for more than 30 years.
In the 1970s, Pfealzer landed a teaching job at the California State University in Humboldt. There were no Chinese students in her class.
“I was born in Los Angeles and I thought ‘this is not how it should be here’,” she says.
When she asked about the absence of Chinese faces, a woman told her that Chinese families wouldn’t send their kids here, because 100 years ago, they were driven out.
This piqued Pfealzer’s interest in finding out more about her beloved Humboldt. “The more you love it, the more you desire to look into its history,” she says.
In the library of the University of California Berkeley, Pfealzer looked for 19th century newspapers and microfilms. “I discovered that this was not a story about one town, but 250 towns,” she says.
Even though Pfealzer was shocked by what she regards as “ethnic cleansing”, she was even more moved by the indomitable Chinese spirit.
“They fought back with everything. They were so courageous,” she says.
After the Californian gold rush began in 1849, Chinese immigrants started to arrive the following year. As more and more made the journey across, violent acts against Chinese became a regular occurrence.
In protest, Chinese organized strikes, refused to sell vegetables and brought arms from home. In 1893, more than 100,000 Chinese refused to wear their photo ID, as required by American law.
“My book is not merely about this shameful history, it is also about pride and courage,” Pfealzer emphasizes.
“I think Chinese won this war, because they stayed. They even returned to Eureka, they never left Los Angeles, they did not move out of San Jose even though the Chinatown there was burnt down five times.”
Pfealzer also recited the story of Yoke Leen, a 36-year-old woman, who was bought and sold many times to be a prostitute. She was the first Chinese woman to front an American court to claim her rights. “I am a free person, my husband is in jail, but I have come here to say, no man will ever own me again, ” Yoke said during her address.
In November 2004, Pfealzer studied briefly at the International Study University in Xi’an of Northwest China’s Shaanxi Province. There, she couldn’t find anyone who knew about this period of history, nor could she find much relevant material for her book. Pfealzer hopes her latest work is helpful for Chinese to understand the history of Chinese Americans.
Pfealzer says Chinese Americans have made great contributions to the United States. They paved railroads, assisted in the development of agriculture, and constructed Chinatowns.
They were also involved in political organizations, and helped shape legislation. Over 80 years ago, the breakthrough case of “Tape vs Hurley”, saw the parents of Mamye Tape, a half white, half Chinese girl, sue the San Francisco Board of Education and push for public schools to accept Chinese children.
Last year, the Canadian government apologized for the “exclusion act”, does the American government need to do the same thing? Pfealzer says that an oral apology isn’t as important as bridging the gap between the races.
“The apology is complicated. For some, it is the first step but for others, the apology is a quick ’sorry, let’s move on’. For instance, this year, Maryland and Virginia states apologized for slavery, but have the lives of African Americans children really changed?”
In the town of Tacoma, Washington, a Chinese community plans to use four acres of waterfront land to build a park called “The Chinese American Reconciliation Park”. There, details about the expulsion from 100 years ago will be on display.

Thai Princess records Qinghai-Tibet trip in new book

Thai Princess records Qinghai-Tibet trip in new book

A Thai Princess has released a pictorial album in Bangkok today. The album records the Princess’ train journey in her own words along China’s Qinghai and Tibet. A launch ceremony was held to mark this occasion because it symbolizes an ongoing and intimate bilateral relationship mutually enjoyed by the nations of Thailand and China.
The pictorial album, Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn’s Visit to Qinghai and Tibet, was conceived and published by the Beijing-based China International Publishing Group (CIPG). The volume honors the goodwill and good deeds of Thai Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn and specifically memorializes her 2007 journey to Tibet ¨C her 24th visit to China.
In attendance at the launch ceremony, the Princess recounted some of the highlights of her visit, including traversing the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau via the recently completed Qinghai-Tibet Railway (QTR) ¨C now one year in operation.
Principal attendees also included Cai Mingzhao, Vice Minister of China’s State Council Information Office and CIPG President; Zhang Jiuhuan, the Chinese Ambassador to Thailand; diplomatic envoys from other countries to Thailand; well-known personages from the world of Thai culture and religion; and high-profile Chinese nationals residing in Thailand. 
The ceremony was jointly sponsored by China’s State Council Information Office, the Embassy of the People’s Republic of China in the Kingdom of Thailand, CIPG, and the Thailand-based Nan Mee Co., Ltd.

Thai Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn (R) and Cai Mingzhao, Vice Minister of China’s State Council Information Office and CIPG President, visit the book booth to see her new pictorial album on display during the cermony,  Bangkok, November 14, 2007.
During the Princess’s April 2007 travels through Qinghai and Tibet, a reporter and a photographer with the CIPG’s subsidiary magazine publication, China Pictorial, accompanied the official entourage. For posterity, recording in word and image the goodwill tour and personable cultural exchange, production of the high-quality volume was timed to complete upon occasion of the 32nd anniversary of the formal establishment of Sino-Thai diplomatic relations, and upon the first anniversary of the QTR commencing operations.
In following the Princess’s journey via the QTR, the colorful pages also offer a vivid view into Tibet’s fascinating history, colorful culture, unique customs and remarkable scenery. Further described are particulars of the remarkable feat of engineering and development necessary to create the 1,956-kilometer railway, now known to many as the “Road to Heaven”.

Cai Mingzhao, Vice Minister of China’s State Council Information Office and CIPG President, gives speech at the book launch ceremony, Bangkok, November 14, 2007.
It is the world highest railway. Beginning in Xining, the capital of Qinghai Province, the railed pathway leads to Lhasa, the capital of the Tibet Autonomous Region. The line reaches its highest point at the Tanggula Mountains, at 5,072 meters, higher than any other line in the world.
Perhaps the most sentimentally rich scene shared within the volume is the Princess’s happily emotional meeting in Tibet’s capital of Lhasa with a group of Tibetan students, whom she sponsors and supports. 
Also exhibited at the ceremony were photographs the Princess personally shot during her visit to Qinghai and Tibet. 
During the ceremonial proceedings, upon presenting the Princess with the volume and additional souvenirs of her trip, Vice Minister Cai Mingzhao said: “Also intended as a token of friendship between China and Thailand, this album is symbolic of the real and ever stronger friendship that exists between our two nations.”

Vice Minister Cai Mingzhao presents the Princess with the volume and additional souvenirs of her trip during the ceremonial proceedings, Bangkok, November 14, 2007.
Since 1981 to this date, Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn has experienced 24 separate journeys through China, traveling to many regions, provinces and municipalities. By extensively recording in writing those travel experiences, including her personal insights into and impressions of the nation and the people, the Princess has become known as something of a Sinologue. Formally recognizing her well-known expertise in things Chinese, as well as her dedicated research on Chinese culture and history, in recent years the Chinese government presented the Princess with the “Chinese Language Culture Friendship Award,” and the “Understanding and Friendship International Literature Award.”
One of the largest publishing concerns in China, the CIPG acts as an administering umbrella organization for nine book publishing houses and five periodical publishing houses. Each year three thousand diverse volumes and 24 periodicals in 20 languages are published and distributed to more than 100 countries and regions. Nearly 30 websites in 10 languages are operated by the CIPG.

First dictionary for HSK candidates makes a debut

First dictionary for HSK candidates makes a debut

A Chinese-English dictionary based on standardized proficiency vocabulary is quite necessary for any foreigner learning Chinese who wishes to pass the Han Yu Shui Ping Kao Shi (HSK). Until now all other existing dictionaries were compiled for native Chinese users according to the 8,000 Chinese characters needed for proficiency with entries translated into English in some of these dictionaries. Before the debut of this new dictionary, all the others were designed for Chinese users to be used as tools for English translation
To fill the gap, the Foreign Languages Press organized more than 20 editors and translators to labor on this Chinese-English Dictionary. In October 2007, after five years, the dictionary has been published.
The new dictionary comprehensively covers “Chinese proficiency vocabulary”, plus all the first letters are arranged alphabetically, in Pinyin, while homophones are arranged according to strokes and homophones with the same strokes are ordered based on the first stroke.
In terms of interpretation, not only commonly used meanings but also some rare and dialectal meanings are included in the dictionary. Interpretations are brief and to the point with less explanation of basic knowledge and more focus on vocabulary pertaining to Chinese culture.
Given that Pinyin is the most convenient method for foreigners to learn Chinese, all the first letters, example words and sentences are marked with Pinyin, which is quite different from other dictionaries. The example words and sentences are vivid and collocations are carefully designed. The dictionary also includes common idioms, proverbs and slang, as well as the explanation of words literally difficult to understand.
Due to the complexity of Chinese, quantifiers and several parts of speech designated for a single character in the Chinese language are not easy for foreigners. Thus, parts of speech have been marked according to the words covered in the dictionary along with appropriate quantifiers that may accompany them as well.
This dictionary is well designed and comprehensive, making it quite helpful for foreign Chinese learners. Xiao Xiaoming, Qian Wangsi, Yao Naiqiang and Wu Xunnan, along with the Chinese and English editors in chief, including Qian Wangsi, Wu Xunnan, Yao Naiqiang and Li Zhenguo, designed the dictionary.
The tome has about 1,500 pages, covers 2 million words and costs 79.00 yuan (US$10.64).

Chinese version of Sarkozys new book published

Chinese version of Sarkozy’s new book published

The Chinese version of Nicolas Sarkozy’s new book has been published in China ahead of his first state visit to the nation since he became French president in May.
More than 5,000 copies of the book, entitled Testimony, are to go on sale in major bookstores in Beijing and Shanghai starting Tuesday or Wednesday, said Gu Jinliang, a distribution manager of the Shanghai Lexicographical Publishing House, the Chinese publisher of the book.
“We hope Chinese readers can learn more about the new French president and France through the 215-page book,” Gu said Monday.
Five thousand copies of the book have been produced ahead of the visit.
“If the book sells well, we’ll publish more,” Gu said.
The book was translated by Cao Songhao, a senior Chinese translator who has previously rendered into Chinese the biographies of three former French presidents: Charles de Gaulle, Francois Mitterrand and Jacques Chirac.
Sarkozy will pay a state visit to China from November 25 to 27 at the invitation of Chinese President Hu Jintao, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao announced last week.
Liu told a regular press briefing that the visit will be an important event for China-France relations.
Since the original version of Testimony was published in July 2006, the book has sold more than 300,000 copies in France alone.
In the book, the 52-year-old Sarkozy recounts how he pushed through difficult reforms as a minister, describes his plans for further reforms during his presidency, talks about his political opponents, and discusses his relationships with Chirac and Cecilia, Sarkozy’s briefly estranged wife.

Fighting off the wolves

Fighting off the wolves

Liu Zhenyun is one of the most misunderstood novelists in China. Each time his latest novel is released, he is buried with boos and catcalls. “But later, I’m bombarded with cheers, even from the same bunch of folks,” he says.

 
“Perhaps my attempt to try new tricks fails to impress my readers and critics. Or, it is just that they are getting used to my style and unwilling to watch me taking risks and making a fool of myself,” explains Liu during a book launch for his latest novel I Am Liu Yuejin (Wo Jiao Liu Yuejin).

Nonetheless, the 49-year-old writer, who often crosses over to movie script writing and even acting, never yields to criticisms.
“I always move on amidst heaps of criticism over my 25-year writing career. But when a new novel is completed, I have to turn to a new direction since I am no longer in the same mood. I must turn a deaf ear to my critics when I trek on a new path,” he says.
Hailed by critics as a “Neo-realist writer”, Liu refuses to be pigeonholed and claims I Am Liu Yuejin, his fourth full-length work of the genre, marks “a new turn”.
Liu’s new novel hit the bookshelf early this month, with at least 200,000 first-edition copies printed, according to Jin Lihong, the publisher of the book with the Changjiang Literature and Arts Publishing Group. Jin anticipates a good harvest from this “insightful yet dark-humored novel”.
Liu says his story is a subversive parable about a sheep that eats wolves.
It is how the weak and downtrodden unexpectedly get an upper hand. “Only in my novels I can make the impossible possible. ”
The plot involves a countryside chef searching for his lost bag and dealing with different bands of deadly killers.
“Sheep and wolves are metaphors I make use of to express a new angle we look at today’s world,” he says.
Liu believes the world is full of uncertainties and endless accidents and coincidences. “The world is out of the control of human kind. In addition, that is where drama comes from and I want to explore in my novels.”

His protagonist Liu Yuejin “exposes the absurd, irrational logic of some people in today’s world”.
Liu’s characters are true to life, critics say. “No matter if they are a he or she, a nobody, a superrich, or a high ranking official, each has his or her weaknesses, worries, fears, hopes and whimsical dreams,” says Yang Xuemei, an editor with a publishing house in Beijing.
Chef Liu is a mild-natured migrant worker who is tortured by his broken marriage. The chef tries every means to safeguard his own interests. He is smart but powerless.
In his search for his lost bag of money, Liu Yuejin breaks promises, playing a deadly game with dangerous enemies, including a real estate tycoon, corrupted officials, the mafia, vendors, prostitutes, private eyes, and subcontractors.
“Life looks smooth and perfect. However, when looking underneath, one may find holes, cracks and misfit joints. I intend to do a justice to the incongruity of life in my stories,” explains Liu who prefers to call all his novels “comedies” instead of “tragedies or tragic-comedies”.
“For centuries, playwrights, writers, and scriptwriters are fond of writing about tragedies. But in my eyes, all tragedies are comedies,” says Liu.
Readers may find Liu’s short stories and novels characterized by a restrained, matter-of-fact narration that also conveys strong satire and humor. His compassion for ordinary people at grass-root level of society, his disgust with abused power, and the out-fashioned mentalities shines throughout.

The new novel has drawn mixed reviews from the readers. Some view the work “a long-winded story, sandwiched with self-satisfied social commentary, and psychoanalysis of the protagonists”, while others praised the novel for its “relentless revelation of the bare truth of contemporary life, convincing depiction of the characters, and breathtaking, humorous narration”. The Beijing-style language is colliqual and character names are borrowed from pop idols and classicals. Li Yuchun (Super Girls), pop legend Madonna and Green-faced beast Yang Zhi (Outlaw of the Marshes).
Han Sanping, head of China Film Group Corporation, is extremely confident about the appeal of Liu’s new novel and has invested about 10 million yuan (US$1.3 million), turning the book into a movie of the same title. It will open on Thursday .
“The movie appears more dramatic than the original novel. And the pace picks up quicker than the novel does,” Liu admits, adding that director Ma Liwen only made use of part of his novel.
Liu is script-writer, producer and plays a bit role in the movie, directed by Ma, an emerging female director, whose poetic, cozy low-budget flick You and Me won awards at the 18th Tokyo Film Festival in 2005 and Chinese Golden Rooster Film Festival in 2006.
Over the years, Liu has collaborated with director Feng Xiaogang, arguably one of the most successful blockbuster-makers in China alongside Zhang Yimou. One of the most eye-catching and commercially successful co-operations between Feng and Liu is Cell Phone.
In Cell phone, TV anchor Yan Shouyi lies to his wife and friends, but is eventually betrayed by his cell phone. Raking in more than 50 million yuan in box office, Cell Phone, became the China box office champion of 2003. Based on the film script, Liu wrote a novel of the same title, which sold more than 300,000 copies.
“Everyone utters thousands of sentences a day. Only a few sentences are true, useful and meaningful. In other words, people’s mouth betrays their heart. Cell Phone is to tackle this theme,” he says.
Unlike many of his peers, Liu believes writing TV and film scripts can only help sharpen his skills and offers new angles of looking at life.
“Script writing is as challenging as novel writing. So is acting. As a novelist, I have indeed benefited a great deal from my experiences in the filmmaking sector,” he says.

“A movie does not harm the original novel. Instead, it promotes people’s awareness of your novels,” he says.
“Did you notice that there are so many remakes of films based on good novels? In addition, usually people read the novels before watching the movies. I believe novel has a longer life span than movies. And you can read it anywhere you want,” he says.
In Liu’s view, watching a movie based on his novel is like eating spicy fast food but reading his original novel is like eating a rich feast.
“You need to slow down a little and pay attention to the refined taste. And after eating the meal, you could have a pleasant memory,” he says.
Due to his active involvement in filmmaking, critics have labeled Liu a “commercial” novelist. However, Liu does not feel ashamed.
“Not so many Chinese writers can earn a descent living by writing short stories or novels today. If their works do not sell well, how could they survive as writers?” he says.
“Due to the lack of money, a writer can no longer pursue lofty goals in his literary career. I hope more and more writer will be commercially successful. It is a good thing for both writers and their fans.”

Modern spin of Confucius to come in English

Modern spin of Confucius to come in English

An easy-to-understand interpretation of Confucius’ Analects will be translated and released in English-speaking countries next year, its publisher said on Monday.
Yu Dan, author of the top-selling book, and senior staff members from the Zhonghua Book Company were at a ceremony on Monday to mark the one-year anniversary of the book’s release.
Zhonghua Book Company said discussions with foreign publishers are coming to an end, and a contract is likely to be inked in March.
However, the publisher refused to give more details.
Last year, Yu Dan, professor from Beijing Normal University, China’s top university for teachers, rose to national fame by reinterpreting the Analects on television. She later turned the transcripts of her lectures into a book. The copyright royalties earned her the second spot on a list of Chinese writer millionaires released earlier this month.

Diary comes home to commemorate the 70th anniversary

Diary comes home to commemorate the 70th anniversary

Manuscripts called The Fall of Zhenjiang were donated Saturday to Zhenjiang city’s museum to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the fall of the city on December 8, 1937.
The diary recorded what Zhang Yibo saw exactly 70 years ago when the Japanese invaded the town which used to be the capital of the Jiangsu Province.

the photo of the diary called The Fall of Zhenjiang is released by an aution company in Beijing on December 1, 2007. [Baidu.com]
The book was up for auction on December 1 in Beijing and was sold for 1.07 million yuan. Tong Caibao, a local entrepreneur, bought the diary and brought it back to Zhenjiang museum.
¡°We very much appreciate what Mr Tong did for Zhenjiang,¡± said Yang Zhenghong, director of the city¡¯s museum at a ceremony marking the event.
He also said the museum would set up special section to show the diary to the public free of charge for one month. The local library plans to publish this book around the new year.
The diary documents the atrocities committed by the Japanese invaders for two months from December 8, 1937. The book comprises nine chapters and 124,000 characters.
Zhang published 4,000 copies himself in order to inspire his compatriots to work together in their fight against the Japanese after he was forced to flee his war-struck hometown. But most of the copies have disappeared after 70 years.
According to the Yangzhou Times, there are only two copies left. The auctioned one was found at the Yangzhou Ancient Bookstore when the clerks cleaned up the store in early 1998. Then the diary was auctioned off for first time and a media company from Hong Kong had a winning bid of 126,500 yuan ($15,812) in 1998.
The owner recently put the diary back on the auction block and set the opening price at the same one that the company bought it for. That¡¯s because they hope a public library or museum will acquire the historical document.
Zhang handwrote the diary in 1946, a year after the anti-Japanese war was over. It is an example of a national first-level cultural relic according to the ¡°the Standards for Grading Ancient Books¡± by the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress in 2002. This means this diary cannot be bought by foreigners or taken outside the country.

China publishes historical series on Nanjing Massacre

China publishes historical series on Nanjing Massacre

On Monday the Chinese government published an eight-volume name list containing the names of 13,000 victims of the Nanjing Massacre. At this time more than 300,000 Chinese were slaughtered by invading Japanese troops during the period from December 1937 to January 1938.

The publication set contains information including the name, sex, age, occupation and residential addresses of the victims, as well as which Japanese army unit committed which crime and how the victims were killed. Sources for this information are also included.
The book set is the most comprehensive name list of all known victims of the slaughter to date and includes unarmed soldiers and civilians who were killed inside or near Nanjing city, the then capital of China.
“The publication of this name list is just a start. We will continue collecting information about the victims,” said Zhang Xianwen, editor-in-chief of the compilation.
The eight volumes of name lists are important components for the 27-volume series of historical materials on the Nanjing Massacre, concurrently published on Monday in Nanjing, the capital of east China’s Jiangsu Province.
In addition to the first 28 volumes that came out in 2005, the 27 new volumes consist of many first-hand historical documents and records, such as US news reports, diaries and official circulars of Japanese troops, diplomatic letters from the British and German governments, lists of casualties and economic losses, and signatures of over 600 Chinese civilians seeking refuge against the atrocity committed by the Imperial Japanese Army from December 1937 to January 1938.

Since 2000, more than 70 Chinese historians from universities and government archive departments have visited Japan, Britain, the United States, Germany and Taiwan, compiling and translating nearly 30 million words of original materials in different languages, leading to the production of a total of 55 volumes in the series.
“It is a combination of Chinese, Japanese and Western raw materials, objective and just. This material is able to stand the trial of history,” said Zhang Xianwen, at Monday’s issuance ceremony in Nanjing.
Many of the materials are published for the first time and have great historical value. “Everyone who reads the book will surely get a correct understanding of what happened at that time,” said Zhang, also a professor with Nanjing University.
The Jiangsu Provincial People’s Publishing House and the Fenghuang Publishing & Media Group jointly released the volumes.
Compilers said they are still working on many materials that may lead to the publication of another 25 volumes, totaling nearly 20 million words.

The release came before the 70th anniversary of the Massacre that falls on December 13. At this time a memorial hall for the Massacre will reopen after two years of renovations.
Some 3,000 pieces of historical items, including cameras, weapons and diaries of the Japanese troops and 3,500 photos taken during the period will be on display.
Japanese aggressors occupied Nanjing on December 13, 1937. They embarked on a six-week long orgy of destruction, pillage, rape and slaughter. Historical records show that more than 300,000 Chinese people, including both unarmed soldiers and innocent civilians, were murdered.
Controversial visits to a shrine in Japan, where war criminals executed for their part in the Massacre are among those honored, by former Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, as well as history textbook distortions written by the Japanese, have angered the Chinese people and government in recent years.