I have learned about Nanking Massacre since I was very young. Elders, at summer nights, often told us stories about holocausts committed by Japanese armies. Many of elders were witnesses. So, I did not come to The Rape of Nanking, the book about Nanking Massacre, without preparations. Nonetheless, I was still shocked when I read the book, and it was not a pleasant reading experience.
Although it is not pleasant to read the book, it does not say that it is not worthy to do so. On the contrary, it is not only very important to read the book, but also essential, for being a Chinese, to read to not forget about that dark past.
Why would the horrible Nanking holocaust even happen is the question naturally comes to a reader's mind. It is easy to blame Japan's armies for all of these horrible things. Indeed, they were the murders. However, why would Chinese armies, as well as people, allow those butchers slaughter them so easily? In the book, I did not find a lot of resistances from Chinese people. Instead, few Japanese soldiers managed to slaughter a lot of Chinese people by ordering them to dig holes for themselves. Why would Chinese people be so tame and so weak like this? To me, it is not an honor to announce that Chinese people are peaceful if the result of being peaceful is to be slaughtered like pigs.
高希均說“國家不富強，終遭欺負； 政府不廉能， 終被揚棄； 人民不爭氣，終被輕視“。誠哉斯言！
