Remember Nanjing Massacre to better embrace peace

China observed the first National Memorial Day for Nanjing Massacre Victims on Saturday. It is a day to reflect on the past and look forward to the future, and a day to make people more aware of the significance of peace.

Invading Japanese troops captured Nanjing, then the capital of China, on Dec. 13, 1937 and started a bloody campaign lasting more than 40 days. More than 300,000 Chinese civilians and unarmed soldiers were killed and about 20,000 women were raped.

Seventy-seven years later, the deep wound may be healed, but the scar has always been there. Chinese people cannot and should not forget those dark and miserable moments in their history.

That is why in February, China's top legislature decided to designate Dec. 13 as the National Memorial Day for Nanjing Massacre Victims, along with Victory Day of the Chinese People's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression on Sept. 3.

The memorial day is no different from how Americans remember the attack on Pearl Harbor and the Allies mark the D-Day invasion of Normandy.

Observing the day is of great significance, especially as some people in Japan, which committed the brutal crime, are still trying to deny the facts. It urges Japanese right-wingers to stop distorting the country's history of aggression.

History will not change due to the changing times. Facts will not disappear because of clever denial.

The remembrance of the massacre victims is a warning to the world about the brutality and destructivity of war. Peace cannot be achieved and maintained by a single party. What Japan should do is reflect on its history of aggression, correct its mistakes and change its course.

The day is meant to remind the Chinese people and all peace-loving people around the world to be cautious about Japan's history of militarist aggression and safeguard the WWII victory and post-war international order.

Overcoming one and a half centuries of humiliation by invaders dating back to the Opium War (1840-1842), China is sober-minded that it must become stronger through remembrance of the massacre victims in order to avoid stepping on the old path.

People who experienced the torment of war are deeply eager for peace. The Nanjing homage day also gives China determination to pursue the road of peaceful development and contribute to, rather than threaten, regional and world peace.

The Chinese remember history not out of hatred, but of love -- the love of peace, and love for humanity.