Around Nanjing

Today was our day off. Elizabeth and I visited several tourist sites in Nanjing including the Sun Yetsen Mausoleum, the Purple Mountain, and the Nanjing Massacre Memorial. It was a very cold rainy day so we did the best we could with limited time and the desire to not get too cold.

Sun Yetsen was the father of modern China. He made China a republic (before the Communist revolution). He is comparable to Washington, Lincoln or FDR. When he died, they created a huge memorial. It is an entire park. Hundreds of steps lead up to his grave. His marble casket is on display in a marble room. A life-size marble image of him lies on top of it. It is quite a spectacle. I put some pictures up if you click on the photo link.

Purple Mountain is so named because it is covered with plum trees. It is a huge area containing many historical sites. To amuse myself and a medium-sized crowd of strangers, I tried on a queen’s dress from the Qing dynasty. At 5’5, I was the tallest person in the courtyard, not to mention the only blond one. I put on a very entertaining show by trying on a queen’s dress

The visit to the Nanjing memorial well suited to the rain. The Japanese invaded China in 1931. Their occupation was brutal and mercilessness. In the city of Nanjing, over 300,000 people were massacred. The memorial is built over a mass gravesite. The graves have been excavated but the remains have not been removed. The skeletons are encased in a glass room and visitors walk around the outside of the room to view them as they lay. There are several skeletons of small children. To say that it is moving is an understatement. The museum part of the memorial contains pictures and artifacts from the massacre. It is similar to a visit to Auschwitz or Dachau. There are pictures of many, many bodies, executions, and rape victims. Many are gruesome. One famous picture is of a decapitated head sitting on a log. I wonder how often I have seen images like that in movies… yet, it feels very, very different seeing a real picture.

I encountered a woman who told me her family’s story. Her father was a leader in a political party. When the communists came, they wanted to arrest him. He fled, walking for three months to safety. He had to leave his wife and children behind in order to protect their lives. His parents were murdered as punishment for his escape. Time passed. He started a new family in his country of exile. After his children were grown, he received a letter telling him that his first wife and children were still alive. He arranged for them to visit. Apparently, this is a common story in the chaotic political history of China. I cannot imagine my dad sitting me down and telling me he had another family in another country and then telling me they were on the way to visit.