Date of letter:1992-11-06
Address of author:Kunming City, Yunnan Province
Date of event:1938-09-17（lunar calendar）
Location of event:Hengshan County, Hengyang City, Hunan Province
Name of author:Ma Ningchang
Name(s) of victim(s):Ma Ningchang’s mother
Type of atrocity:Air Bombings (AB)
Other details:My father passed away when I was 5 years old. My mother alone raised our family of four (my mother, younger brother, younger sister and I). One day in the 9th lunar month of 1938, the Japanese bombarded Hengshan County. At that time my mother was washing clothes in the courtyard. Suddenly I heard a loud noise and lost my consciousness. Later I was saved from the rubble but only a strand of hair was what I last saw of my mother. My younger brother and sister survived because they were not at home then. I was seriously wounded all over with lifelong pain. I strongly urge the Japanese government to compensate for my family spiritually and financially.
Comrade and teacher Tong Zeng:
How have you been?
I am Ma Ningchang, 70, female and retired. I read the article History Is Not Forgotten excerpted by Hong Bo from Jinhua Daily of June 30, 1992 and learned that you are pursuing justice and collecting historical facts, and that you have done much research to support the requests of victims. I thank you so much. What you have done discloses the pain and hatred buried in my heart for over 50 years, a pain and hatred that I will not forget evenfor a moment. During World War II, the invading Japanese cruelly killed countless fathers, mothers, brothers and sisters of the Chinese people. My family was also broken apart and family members killed by them in the Japanese invasion of China. I myself was seriously injured. I am sending this letter to strongly demand and urge Japan to compensate for civilian losses and apologize to the Chinese victims.
Emperor Akihito did not apologize or mention compensation for civilian losses during this visit. We are deeply disappointed. It is a sign indicating that Japanese militarists’ ambition of invasion has been rekindled. Japan made quite a fortune from the war of aggression. Although it was defeated, it did not suffer any economic losses. As a victim, I strongly demand compensation against Japan for myself and other victims. Please help us.
Wishing you health and happiness!
Ma Ningchang
November 6, 1992
Mailing address: Jindian Pharmaceutical Factory, Kunming, Yunnan Province
Postal code: 650224
My name is Ma Ningchang, female, 70. I worked originally at Jindian Pharmaceutical Factory, Kunming as a medical assistant and now I am retired.
Recently, those in China and other countries have revealed and charged Japan with horrible crimes committed during invasion of China in World War II. As a victim myself who suffered cruel injuries, and the mental and physical pain that lasted for years, I charge Japan with crimes committed during invasion of China and demand compensation.
My father died of illness when I was 5, so my mother Ru Fengjiao did a grocery business to support me, my younger brother and younger sister. The 4 of us supported one another. When I was 14, we lived in a 2-storey building of brick and wood with 15 rooms at No. 46, Guanxiangmen in the capital city of Hengshan county, Hu’nan province. At about 9 a.m. on lunar September 17, 1938, Japanese planes bombed Hengshan when my mother was washing clothes in the courtyard of our house and I was leaning against the gate near the courtyard, talking to my mother. Suddenly a shrilling sound was heard and before I realized it, there was a loud explosion and I lost consciousness. A rickshaw driver surnamed Yang dug me out of the dirt and broken bricks near the bombing pit in the afternoon. I came to myself and found that the original courtyard became a huge bombing pit and the houses around the courtyard were blown away by the explosion. Only broken bricks, tiles, fragments of wood and heaps of rubble were left. My face, hands and body were bleeding all over and my worn clothes were soaked in blood. The wounds all over my body gave me terrible pain, but I suddenly realized that my mother was missing. I suppressed the pain and called for my mother until I was hoarse and ran out of tears, but I could not find her. When it got dark, the rescuer carried me to the hospital for treatment. The doctor checked my condition. In addition to my 15 wounds all over my body, my face, hands and feet were burned and blistered. There was a stick in my left forearm which could not be removed at that time. The bomb fragments in my chest could not be removed either. My left abdomen was burst open by the bomb and intestines could be seen. The doctor removed the bomb fragments, but he said the wounds could not be sewed up. There was a large hematoma on my right forehead and another one on top of my head on the left. The doctor wrapped my wounds in the left eye corner, left ring finger joint, left shoulder, right armpit, right abdomen and groin. Then, I returned to my home to look for my mother and I carefully observed that the location where my mother was standing before the bombing became a large bombing pit. During sundown on September 18, I helplessly walked slowly to my relative’s house outside the Southern Gate to stay for the night. On the way there, I saw many dead people and some hands, legs or flesh hung on the trees or broken walls. It was too horrible a sight to see. On September 19, Japanese planes bombed Hengshan and Nanyue. I and my relatives hid in a trench under a hill at Hengshan. A bomb was dropped on the hill. The flying soil buried me and my grandmother pulled me out. On September 21, Japanese planes bombed the railway station across the river. My relatives planned to flee to the countryside, but I wanted to look for my mother and younger sister. My third eldest maternal uncle dug the ruins of my house for days with a hoe, but we could not even see a glimpse of my mother’s corpse. We only found some hair in the bombing pit. My uncle held the hair, crying bitterly. We put the hair in a jug to take it back. When the bombing took place, my younger brother was at my uncle’s house and my younger sister was in a Primary School south of the city, and so they survived the bombing. Three days later, I went to the hospital again to change the dressing. The doctor removed the stick in my left forearm and told me that a relief shelter was established and introduced me to stay there for a few days. Then, Changsha asked for emergency help, and so the hospital and relief shelter all fled. I became homeless. As there was no hospital or medicine, my wounds became purulent. As the bomb fragments were still in my chest, the wound became bigger and the bomb fragments were exposed. I took them out with my hands. It was not until over a year later that the big wounds in my body healed. But I still feel the pain of aftereffects.
Japanese imperialism brutallyu invaded China and bombed my family’s 15-room building and other property such as stores, counters, shelves, goods, money, furniture, clothes, clove hitches and daily supplies. Not even a rag was left. My mother was bombed to death and we could not even find her corpse. We lost the source of income and her support. My younger brother got sick and died due to the lack of money and treatment. My younger sister was separated from us. She became a child bride and suffered great torture. I was wounded all over my body by the bombing. I suffer from lifelong aftereffects such as headache, convulsionsand numbness in my left little finger and ring finger. And I did scar repairs several times. For so many years, I have suffered from physical and mental pain. I will never, never forget the hate. Now I demand Japan to repay the blood debt and compensate for my losses in human suffering and property.
1. A compensation of 100,000 USD for the loss of our house is demanded.
2. A compensation of 100,000 USD for the death of my mother is demanded.
3. A compensation of 250,000 USD for my medicines, medical treatments and mental suffering is demanded
Claimant: Ma Ningchang
September 1992
