diskusbooks Chapter 1223 Learning from History: Lessons for More Than Just Past Pains
Chapter 1223 Learning from History: Lessons for More Than Just Past Pains
In the entrance hall, a relief sculpture themed around the Changbai Mountains and the Heilongjiang River unfolds amidst blood-red light and shadow, while the central pyramid stele is inscribed with historical truths in Chinese, English, Japanese, and Russian.
In the glass case of the first exhibition hall, a replica of the Tanaka Memorial lies quietly. On this 1927 document, the words "continental policy" have been eroded by time, but the ambition of Japan to invade China can still be seen. The Japanese military swords and military maps on display next to it silently testify to that long-planned invasion.
Su Xing and He Xu moved slowly.
On a nearby display stand, a rubbing of the original monument at the site of the Liutiaohu explosion stands out. This relic, which the Japanese army fabricated as "evidence" back then, has now become irrefutable proof of their crimes of aggression.
They continued walking in.
The “Exile Hatred” sculpture group stands quietly in the dim light.
The old man, his back hunched, clutches his tattered bag tightly, while the mother protects her crying child in her arms. Every crease in the sculpture hides despair!
This is a series of works inspired by "On the Songhua River".
Just then, a mournful melody began, "From that tragic time, I was separated from my homeland..."
The visitors in the exhibition hall were breathing heavily.
The collars of the old Northeast Army uniforms next to me were covered with tiny ice flowers, probably condensed from the cold air brought in from outside. They looked just like the frost that formed on the collars of soldiers on the battlefield eighty years ago when the temperature was tens of degrees below zero.
In the restored scene around the corner, the "windows" of the thatched hut are covered with tattered paper, the cotton shoes of the wax figures of refugees are torn with large holes, revealing the dry grass inside, and the porcelain bowl on the table is covered with a layer of white frost, as if someone will wrap themselves tightly in a single layer of clothing and embark on a journey of escape in the wind and snow at any moment.
This realistic exhibition area recreates the scene of the Pingdingshan massacre. Under the glass cover, a pair of skeletons tightly clasped together are heartbreaking.
The words on the signboard are like needles: On September 15, 1932, in retaliation against the anti-Japanese armed forces, the Japanese army massacred more than 3000 people in the whole village within 3 hours, and even the infants in their swaddling clothes were not spared. This was the beginning of the "Three Alls" policy!
In a display case not far away, the experimental equipment of Unit 731 gleamed coldly, and the deep voice of the guide came through the loudspeaker: "They used 'research' as a pretext to conduct experiments on living people, and even refused to use anesthesia, claiming that it would 'affect the accuracy of the results.'"
These words made the chill of winter creep up my spine.
As you climb the steps, the atmosphere in the Northeast Anti-Japanese United Army exhibition area becomes increasingly profound.
General Yang Jingyu's leather overcoat hangs in the center of the exhibition hall, with an explanatory plaque that reads: "This overcoat accompanied the general through his last five winters, with cotton mixed with bits of tree bark and grass roots."
Su Xing and He Xu stared at the patch on the cuff of the coat for a long time.
General Yang Jingyu's pistol and belt are also on display in the showcase. In the photo next to them, he is standing in the snowy forest, his cotton-padded coat covered with thick frost.
The words on the sign made Su Xing clench his fists: After the general sacrificed his life, the Japanese army cut open his stomach and intestines, and found only undigested tree bark, grass roots and cotton wool inside!
The cry, "If all the Chinese people have surrendered, is there still a China?" seems to echo through the exhibition hall, transcending time and space.
In the old photos of the Northeast Anti-Japanese United Army on the exhibition wall, the soldiers are wrapped in thin cotton clothes, standing in waist-deep snow, their faces covered with thick frost, but none of them bow their heads. The light in their eyes is brighter than the snow outside the museum.
These photos vividly depict the harsh conditions of "a fire warming the chest while a wind chills the back."
The photos are mostly reproductions or copies of historical originals, displayed alongside actual items such as thin cotton-padded clothes and straw sandals, creating a strong visual impact on visitors.
In the adjacent display case, the handwriting on the original letter from Zhao Yiman trembled from torture:
"A mother doesn't need thousands of words to educate you; she educates you through her actions..."
Every word is written in blood, making people understand the meaning of "better to be a broken piece of jade than a whole piece of tile".
At the end of the exhibition hall, a sloping time tunnel connects the upper and lower floors, and the sloping ground makes every step a heavy one for visitors.
The years marked on the wall stretch from 1931 to 1945, mirroring the arduous journey of the 14-year War of Resistance against Japan…
As closing time approached, Su Xing and He Xu walked to the "Always a Warning" exhibition area.
The electronic screen displays images of recent peace commemorations or annual bell-ringing and alarm-sounding ceremonies.
Every year on September 18th, the bells here ring out throughout Fengtian City.
The message wall next to it was covered with sticky notes from visitors.
Some children wrote "I will remember today" in crooked handwriting; some middle school students wrote "General Yang Jingyu will live forever" with a fountain pen; and some elderly people wrote "Only by not forgetting the past can we live well".
Su Xing reached out and touched the message wall, his fingertips brushing against the still-wet ink on the sticky notes.
He Xu took a pen and a notepad and handed one to Su Xing.
The two of them also buried themselves in writing messages.
Su Xing wrote: "It turns out that those 'for the sake of future generations' are not just slogans. In the freezing winter of minus forty degrees, people have left us with the chance to live. What we should do is protect this peace that they risked their lives for."
He Xu wrote: "'Learning from history' means not only learning from the pain of the past, but also from the 'Chinese spirit' forged by our ancestors. The peace that our ancestors won with their blood must be carefully protected by every generation and never let down."
The two also posted the notes they had written on the message wall.
As Su Xing and He Xu left the museum, it started snowing again.
The snow on the Broken Calendar Stele had gotten thicker.
In this snowy January, amidst fragments of history, they came to understand the weight of the word "peace" in the cold winter.
Both of them took a deep breath of the cold air and exhaled puffs of white mist.
He Xu reached out one hand to his girlfriend.
Su Xing offered his hand.
He Xu held her hand tightly and put it into his pocket.
"let's go."
"it is good……"
The two walked to a convenient spot to hail a taxi, waited for a while, and then waved down a taxi that was coming.
After they got on the bus, they gave the name and location of the hotel.
The driver started the car.
Upon arriving at the hotel, the two retrieved their suitcases and then took a taxi to Fengtian North Station.
They booked the high-speed train for 6 p.m., arriving in Huludao around 7 p.m.
After passing through security, the two waited in the waiting room for a short while before ticket checking began.
After getting on the bus and finding a seat, Su Xing started sending messages to her grandmother.
Can't you stay asleep? "Grandma, let's get in the car!"
She had told her grandparents a few days earlier that she was going to visit them with He Xu.
She even texted her grandmother at noon today and chatted for a bit.
Ms. "Flowers Bloom and Wealth Arrives" quickly replied with a voice message.
Grandma said, "Your grandpa and uncle will be picking you up soon. Keep an eye on your belongings and don't throw anything away."
Can't we stay asleep? "Okay! We have great memories!"
Grandma Zhou sent a few more voice messages, giving her granddaughter and future grandson-in-law a few more instructions.
The train is starting to move.
Su Xing and her grandmother temporarily ended their conversation.
She gazed out the train window at the rapidly receding platform, her eyes slightly vacant, her fingertips unconsciously brushing against the windowsill, even the bustling noise of the platform shrouded in wind and snow gradually fading into the distance.
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