The Nanjing Memorial

The Nanjing Memorial, also known as the “Memorial for compatriots killed in the Nanjing Massacre by Japanese Forces of Aggression” is a monument commemorating the horrific Nanjing Massacre.

The Nanjing Memorial history

The Nanjing massacre took place in 1937 when the Japanese captured the city. Rather than advising their citizens to flee, as they did, the Chinese government asked that people remain in Nanjing.

Facing little to no resistance from the government of the Republic of China, the troops of the Japanese aggressor occupied the three provinces of northeast China within a period of five months. Marching southwards, they launched all-out offensives on Shanghai and Nanjing. The result was mass murder, in which around 300,000 civilians were killed by soldiers of the Japanese Imperial Army and many thousands were subjected to other atrocities.

The Memorial Hall to the Victims in the Nanjing Massacre was built by the local Municipal Government in 1985 and extended in 1995, covering an area of 28,000 square meters. It is located in Jiangdongmen, one of the execution sites and mass burial places of the massacre.

Solemn and imposing, the Memorial Hall to the Victims in the Nanjing Massacre consists of three parts: the outdoor exhibits, the remaining bones of the victims and the exhibition hall for historical documents.

The outside of the Memorial Hall to the Victims in the Nanjing Massacre exhibit all vividly represent grief and indignation, life and death. Statues, group sculptures and relief carvings stand solemnly among green pines and cypresses, together with the monument upon which is engraved the dates of the tragic events while two marble walls are engraved with the name of the hall. The site is a permanent and moving record of the tragedy.

The Nanjing Memorial today

Still the subject of controversy between the Chinese and Japanese, the Nanjing Memorial is a moving, if harrowing, site where visitors can read about the events of the massacre in English, Japanese and Chinese inside its memorial hall. Visitors can also see remains from excavated mass burial sites.

Getting to the Nanjing Memorial history

The Nanjing Massacre Memorial Hall is conveniently located at Jiangdongmen Street in Jianye District in the western Nanjing downtown area. Visitors can take metro Line 2 and get off at Yunjinglu Station to Nanjing Massacre Memorial Hall. Multiple public buses such as the number 7, 61 and 63 will make stops at the Nanjing Massacre Memorial Hall.

Taking a taxi is very easy in Nanjing, but you have to speak a little Chinese or know the exact address of the place you want to go.