Date of letter:1993-04-11
Address of author:Wuxi City, Jiangsu Province
Date of event:Not mentioned
Location of event:Nanchang County, Nanchang City, Jiangxi Province
Name of author:Zhang Zhengping, Pan Wenjun
Name(s) of victim(s):Common people in Nanchang County and Nanjing City
Type of atrocity:Other Massacres, Others, Rapes, Nanking Massacre（OM, OT, RA, NM)
Other details:44 people were killed by one Japanese on average in Nanchang County, Jiangxi. More than 30 houses were burned down, a dozen women were raped, and a few were even raped to death. And the Nanjing Massacre was recorded, for which an eight-line mourning poem was written afterwards.
Comrade Tong Zeng:
I’ve recently read Weekly Digest about you and other comrades who are making efforts to demand compensation for Chinese people suffered from the burning, killing, raping and plundering committed by the Japanese army during the World War II. We admire you very much. We also feel deeply that this action will compensate our people for some of their losses. More importantly it is of great significance to curb the aggressive forces and to eliminate the militarism ideas.
I received a letter from my nephew Zhang Zhaoxiang recently who lives in a small village in Shihu, Gangshang, Nanchang, Jiangxi. During the World War II, the Japanese army killed 44 civilians in villages with over 100 households. They also burned down over 30 houses, along with the furniture and farm tools, valued at over 50,000 silver dollars. At that time, a silver dollar was 1/4 higher than a USD. As far as we know, the Japanese army also raped over 10 women. Several of them were raped and died later. The Japanese Army also looted pigs, cattle, chickens and ducks. It’s been over 50 years. It’s hard to make a clear estimate. So, I suggest our publicity organs such as newspapers and magazines launch a massive campaign to claim for compensation and curb the aggressive forces.
Take the Nanjing Massacre for example. 300,000 people were killed. Most of them died with all family members. The invading Japanese army implemented the Three Alls Policy (kill all, burn all, loot all), which are recorded in history.
Someone wrote a poem to mourn the victims of Nanjing Massacre:
In 1938 in Nanjing, the savage acts of the Japanese army shocked the world,
Chongming Island was flooded with the corpses of 300,000 Chinese people.
Too many people were killed and couldn’t be all buried or burned. These beasts threw the corpses into the Yangtze River. They even had a killing contest.
We’ve forwarded Zhang Zhaoxiang’s letter to the Bureau for Letters and Calls of the General Office of the National People’s Congress. Hopefully, your long-term efforts will have a far-reaching, great significance.
Yours faithfully,
Zhang Zhengping, Pan Wenjun
April 11, 1993
