Date of Letter:1993-03-17
Address of Author:Wuhan City, Hubei Province
Date of Event:1938
Location of Event:Wuchang, Wuhan City, Hubei Province
Name of Author:Tang Shikai
Name(s) of victim(s):Tang Yijing(uncle), Tang Yihe(father)
Type of atrocity:Air Bombings (AB)
Other Details:The school established by my uncle Tang Yijing and father Tang Yihe caught the attention of the Japanese because it was an activity base for the Communist Party. It was bombed in 1938.
Mr. Tong,
Hello!
From the newspaper I have learned that, on behalf of millions of Chinese victims from the Japanese war of aggression against China, you are proposing civil reparation claims against Japan. Your raising the issue has attracted the attention of people home and abroad. Your action to call for justice for the Chinese people is indeed admirable.
My family was also the victim of the Japanese war of aggression. Like Nankai University, my uncle Tang Yijing and father Tang Yihe personally financed and established the only art academy around the upper and middle Yangtze River region in 1920 – Hubei Private Wuchang Art School (predecessor of Hubei Institute of Fine Arts). Compared with other national art schools at the time, this school was second to none. The school had cultivated a lot of talented artists for the country. He Luding, Ai Qing and Tian Han all taught at this school. At some point, it also served as the operational base for the CPC (Communist Party of China).
The teachers and students of this school shared the same hatred toward their common enemy during the war against Japan. They took active parts in anti-Japanese publicities, which drew the attention of Japanese invaders. Thus, the school became a key target of their bombings. In 1938, the school was razed to the ground by Japanese bombers. Buildings destroyed included two three-story instructional buildings (marble structure) and two student dorms, East and West. In addition, innumerous instructional materials and musical instruments (mainly pianos) were burnt and destroyed.
Today I write to get in touch with you with the hope that we can unite all families and descendants of the victims to form a social force that cannot be ignored; so we can put forth our rightful claims to the current Japanese authority because the invaders must pay for what they have done to us. Since the meeting of NPC (National People’s Congress) is taking place now, I hope this unresolved historic issue can be raised in the Congress and attain the government’s support. I look forward to your instructions on how to advance this matter further.
Sincerely,
Tang Shikai
Shuiguohu Secondary School, Wuchang, Hubei Province
March 17th, 1993
