Make origami of peace flower "purple grass", make peace ceramics, and sing the song yearning for peace... The five-day Nanjing Purple Grass International Peace Summer Camp came to an end. On July 5, descendants of the international friends who protected refugees in the Nanjing Massacre held the closing ceremony at Gaochun Ceramic Museum. Zhang Jianjun, curator of the Memorial Hall of the Victims in Nanjing Massacre by Japanese Invaders, said at the ceremony that he hoped the descendants would pass on the spirit of fraternity of their ancestors.

Making Peace Flowers “Purple Grass” by Hand

In the morning, at Gaochun Ceramic Museum, international friends' descendants were interested to learn the art of origami from the world's origami master and designer Pei Haozheng: with a complete piece of paper and without any cutting, fold a symbol of peace "purple grass”.

Meghan Brady, the great-granddaughter of American doctor Richard Brady, comprehended well and folded quickly. When master Pei saw her work, he praised her in English: "Yes, perfect!"

The first to finish was Angelina Rinehart, a descendant of John Rabe.

Friendship Lasts Forever

In the afternoon, under the guidance of teachers, the descendants were hand-making peace-themed ceramic crafts in the ceramic art garden. Some were hand-painting glaze under the color, and some were hand-making casting.

The descendants of pastor John Magee and doctor Richard Brady painted purple grass as a symbol of peace, while John rabe's descendants painted the historical Nanking Safety Zone.

Chris Magee, a descendant of John Magee, painted purple grass as a symbol of peace.

He said yellow represented the sun, as well as the earth, and that green represented the leaves. He wanted to bring the purple grass back to nature.

John Magee's great-granddaughter Ruby Magee painted pictures of tadpoles swimming freely.

The little girl explained that the tadpoles were the seeds of the plant in her mind. “When they land, they will take root and sprout, and blossom into beautiful purple grass.

Megan Brady of doctor Richard Brady has painted a ship of peace.

She said she had looked it up and found that the memorial hall was shaped like a ship of peace. She wished: “It will lead us to eternal peace!”

After ceramic making, the descendants of international friends wrote their names on the two green-bodied vases.

These two vases will go through 8-9 hours firing of 1300 degrees before turning into vases with white background and blue words.

The words on the top will never fade out. They represent the descendants of international friends and Nanjing, and the lasting friendship between them and our memorial.

In the future, these two vases will each be treasured in our memorial and Gaochun Ceramic Museum.

Unforgettable Song

At 4:20 PM, the closing ceremony of the first Nanjing Purple Grass International Peace Summer Camp was held.

Megan Brady sang "the Goddess of Mercy," a song she wrote specifically for the camp.

"China is my great-grandfather's home and the Chinese people are his family," she says in fluent Chinese: “China is my second hometown and the Chinese people are my family. I wrote a song called 'the Goddess of Mercy' to express a tragic history and our desire for peace."

They say...

Christopher Rinehart, John Rabe's great-grandson, read a thank-you note at the closing ceremony. He thanked the staff of the memorial for their hospitality, looked forward to a peaceful world, and wished everyone a happy life.

Magee’s grandson Rick Magee said: "in my lifetime, I will pass on this memory to those around me.”

Julian Magee, John Magee's great-grandson said: “this camp will be a wonderful memory for me for the rest of my life. I have thought many times about the tragedies that happened to the people of Nanjing 82 years ago. Through this summer camp, I have a deeper understanding of that history. This activity made me feel fruitful. When I come back to my country, I will tell my friends more about this history."

"It was very meaningful for us to take my daughter to Nanjing to see where her grandfather lived," said Steve Brady, descendant of doctor Richard Brady.

Student volunteers from Nanjing Foreign Language School Feng Xinger and Yu Yan said that in peaceful time history should be remembered more and peace should be cherished. People should think what they can do to work together for peace.

Curator Zhang said: "over the past few years, we have met each other and become good friends. I believe by this time next year more families will be coming to this camp."

Finally, Curator Zhang awarded the Peace Envoy Certificate of Purple Grass International Peace School to all the campers.

Hope the descendants of our international friends will come often

 Visit the place where our ancestors dedicated their lives

 Tour around today’s Nanjing

 It will always welcome you

Together we will contribute to world peace