Nanjing Massacre survivors wish no more killing in the world

Commemoration ceremonies are underway in Nanjing this week ahead of the national memorial day, which is set to take place tomorrow.

CRI's Guan Chao has more.

In front of a wall with the names of the victims in the Nanjing Massacre, 88-year-old survivor Xia Shuqin pays tribute to her seven family members who were killed 80 years ago.

Her grand-daughter Xia Yuan is reading a letter to those departed on behalf of Xia Shuqin.

"Grandpa, grandma, father, mother, sisters, how are you. I have seen you many times in my dreams."

On December 13, 1937, invading Japanese military took Nanjing and began six-weeks of rampage that left 300,000 Chinese people brutally murdered.

Xia Shuqin managed to survive the massacre after being knifed three times on the back.

In the 1990s, Xia Shuqin went to Japan as the first survivor to charge Japan of committing the atrocities in Nanjing.

12 years later, she won a law suit against a Japanese right-wing writer who slandered her as a false witness.

As Xia Shuqin pays tribute to her family members, 91-year-old survivor Yu Changxiang, now in a wheelchair, reads a letter to his father who lost his life in Nanjing.

"Dear father, I never had the chance to find your body after you were murdered by the Japanese invaders. Eighty years have passed, and I still feel twisted thinking about it."

According to Yu Changxiang, as he never found his father's body, his father's name on the wall is his only attachment to his father.

"I come here every year. Paying tribute to my father and others gives me spiritual support. Eighty years have passed since 1937. Our country has never forgotten about us."

In 2014, China designated December 13 as the country's National Memorial Day.

Earlier this week, the oldest survivor of the Nanjing Massacre passed away at the age of 100. The number of registered survivors is now less than 100.

For CRI, I'm Guan Chao.