Haunted By History - The Truth of Nanjing Massacre

Below is my comment on the article of "Haunted By History", TIME dated on March 12, 2007.

Having read your article on some new films about the Nanjing Massacre by the Japanese Army, I wondered why this historical event has drawn so much attention for such a long time. Is that because of an estimated number of Chinese people massacred? Or is that because of the best seller book entitled “The Rape of Nanking” once sensationally picked up by famous western media? Or is that because of tremendous number of harsh photographs as hard fact of the Japanese army’s cruelty?

I assume that Nanjin is, in a sense, the symbol of the still uneasy feelings in the minds of both Chinese and Japanese irritated by sensationalism. I am not the exception. But what we should not forget as the citizens of both nations as well as those of other countries is that the war tends to make human beings crazy and be cruel even though they are ordinary citizens before it starts. To remember this precious lesson, we should seek for the truth of Nanjing without being overly emotional.