Loud air-raid sirens today

[abcdefg]

This morning about ten a.m. we had loud "air-raid" type sirens 防空警报 going on for several minutes and then repeating in a short while. My maid 阿姨/家政 was here at the time doing the weekly cleanup. I asked her what this meant and she said they were commemorating the Nanjing Massacre 南京大屠杀。Every year on the 18th of September. 

 

Found this on-line: 

 

Quote

发生于1937年12月13日，日军占领南京后开始了长达几个星期的大屠杀，死难者约30万人，有约8万名妇女惨遭强奸。

9·18事变是指1931年9月18日日本关东军以演习之名对东北军发动进攻，一夜之间占领了沈阳城，三个月之内占领了东北三省。

 

Here's more: https://baike.baidu.com/item/南京大屠杀/26188?fr=aladdin  

 

Has anyone else heard them where you are? (in China) Was wondering if this observance was widespread. Don't think I've noticed it in years past. 

[vellocet]

They always used to sound them for the Mukden Incident.  Just the CPC keeping old hatreds alive to distract from their own misrule.  .  

[abcdefg]

Maybe that's actually what that was today. The date matches up. (Neither my cleaning lady nor I are very good historians.)

 

Quote

On 18 September 1931, Lt. Suemori Kawamoto of the Independent Garrison Unit (独立守備隊) detonated a small quantity of dynamite^[4] close to a railway line owned by Japan's South Manchuria Railway near Mukden (now Shenyang).^[5] The explosion was so weak that it failed to destroy the track, and a train passed over it minutes later. The Imperial Japanese Army accused Chinese dissidents of the act and responded with a full invasion that led to the occupation of Manchuria, in which Japan established its puppet state of Manchukuo six months later.

 

The bombing act is known as the Liutiaohu Incident (simplified Chinese: 柳条湖事变; traditional Chinese: 柳條湖事變; pinyin: Liǔtiáohú Shìbiàn, Japanese: 柳条湖事件, Ryūjōko-jiken), and the entire episode of events is known in Japan as the Manchurian Incident (Kyūjitai: 滿洲事變, Shinjitai: 満州事変, Manshū-jihen) and in China as the September 18 Incident (simplified Chinese: 九一八事变; traditional Chinese: 九一八事變; pinyin: Jiǔyībā Shìbiàn).

 

 

(Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mukden_Incident) 

[DavyJonesLocker]

Is amazing how many Chinese have a warped version of history. So many have told me that the Chinese defeated the Japanese during WW2 with the Japanese surrending directly to them. 

 

The tourist guide boards in the nanjing massacre museum say pretty much the same thing. 

 

Er no.....

 

[vellocet]

31 minutes ago, DavyJonesLocker said:

the Japanese surrending directly to them. 

They didn't?

 

http://cubanexilequarter.blogspot.com/2015/09/ww2-ended-in-china-with-japanese.html

 

Japanese forces in China formally surrendering to Nationalist army commander He Ying-qin at a ceremony in Nanjing on Sept. 9, 1945.

[889]

The technicalities of the surrender ceremony apart, how and why the Japanese suddenly decided to up and leave China is no mystery: they were routed by Mao's and Chiang's forces. Waste of time expecting any other answer.

 

[Lu]

6 hours ago, vellocet said:

Just the CPC keeping old hatreds alive to distract from their own misrule.

Other countries don't do things like this? The Netherlands celebrates the end of the German occupation/WW2 every year on May 5, and the day before that is Remembrance Day when all the dead are remembered. My city, Leiden, still celebrates its liberation from the Spanish some 400 years ago, every year on October 3. It's a huge party. I wouldn't be surprised if Rotterdam has a remembrance day for the bombing of that city by the Germans in the beginning of the war. Or is that not the kind of thing you mean?

 

Obviously there are all kinds of things warped about how the Chinese government sees (or teaches) the recent history of China, but remembering bad stuff that happens is not in itself a problem, if you ask me.

[DavyJonesLocker]

6 hours ago, vellocet said:

Japanese forces in China formally surrendering to Nationalist army commander He Ying-qin at a ceremony in Nanjing on Sept. 9, 1945.

 

That was a mere formality to end hostilities with china. They surrendered on 15th August 1945 to the  American lead allied forces. It was formally signed on 2nd September on the USA Missouri.  The reason why the Japanese surrendered was due to massive enslaught from America lead allied forces and two atomic bombs dropped on them . Naturally the Chinese army and Russians pouring in played an important part but it's just not correct to assume that "china defeated Japan" as the Chinese museums , movies, propaganda like to suggest  and allied forces as a backup .

 

3 hours ago, 889 said:

The technicalities of the surrender ceremony apart, how and why the Japanese suddenly decided to up and leave China is no mystery: they were routed by Mao's and Chiang's forces. Waste of time expecting any other answer.

 

No I totally disagree. The Japanese forces were spread far too thin so naturally Mao forces had the upper hand 

 

Put it this way no USA forces and Japan being able to  fully concentrate on China, Chinese forces wouldn't have won 

USA would have defeated Japan with or without Chinese forces. 

 

 

[Shelley]

At the moment the UK is in the midst of WW2 breaking out remembrance, all sorts of things and activities going on. It is the 80th anniversary of it starting and this June was the 75th anniversary of it ending.

 

It feels like it has been non stop commemorations for the last few months. One reason I think it is because very soon there will not be anyone who fought in the war left.

We need to remember so that hopefully it never happens again.

 

And remember history is always written by the victors. 

[889]

I was positing you were asking the question in China, where it is indeed a waste of time looking for any other answer.

 

As fruitless as looking for someone who was a Red Guard.

[somethingfunny]

This was standard when I was in Shenyang.

 

As for how tasteful it is, it all depends on the spin.  Most remembrance day stuff in the UK seems to have very little to do with how great we were to win the war, and mostly to do with how fucking terrible it was and why did so many people have to die.  Remembrance day in the UK is a big deal.  These Nanjing klaxons always seemed to take most people by surprise.

 

Anyway, maybe people would be more sympathetic to China paying remembrance to bad stuff happening if they commemorated June 4th.

[vellocet]

18 hours ago, DavyJonesLocker said:

with the Japanese surrending directly to them. 

The Japanese surrendered to them.  

 

Really weird seeing all these people suddenly break out in defense of the CPC's continual bashing of wartime Japan in order to create an enemy that everyone can unite against (that's not the CPC).  

[mungouk]

Although this thread has somewhat escalated since the initial post, those in Beijing might like to know that there will be a test of public sirens Sat 21st September at 10.00-10.23am, apparently due to "National Defence Education Day"... so possibly in other cities too.

 

Right in the middle of my teaching, but hey-ho.

 

 

 

Screenshot from theBeijinger WeChat feed.

 

In other news, my condo's entrance has now suddenly sprouted Chinese national flags and for the first time I had a red-armband person follow me into the lift today...

 

 

 

 

 

 

[suMMit]

Had it this morning in my neighborhood (Guangzhou)