At the Memorial Hall, there is a group of special volunteers. They are inheritors of the history of the Nanjing Massacre. At the Mourning Square of the Memorial Hall, they tell visitors their family stories.

On the “Survivors’ Footprints” copperplate road at the Mourning Square of the Memorial Hall stand the bronze statues of two survivors of the Nanjing Massacre. One of the survivors rolls up her right pant leg. That’s Peng Yuzhen. On March 4, Guan Ruoxin, Peng’s great-granddaughter, came to the Memorial Hall and told visitors Peng’s unfortunate experience.

Guan Ruoxin cleans the bronze statue for her great-grandmother Peng Yuzhen

During the Nanjing Massacre, Peng was hit by the Japanese soldiers in the knee of her right leg so hard that she developed a permanent disability. She was tormented by the pain all her life. “When my great-grandmother was alive, I accompanied her to the Memorial Hall to leave her footprints here. Although she has left us, the bronze statue and her footprints will pass on the spirit of staying true to the history. The footprints provide irrefutable evidence of the history, and they will forever record and relate the truth and offer a warning to future generations,” Guan recalled.

Xia Yuan is also an inheritor of the history of the Nanjing Massacre. She has listened to years of stories about the unfortunate childhood of her grandmother Xia Shuqin since she was young. Standing beside the bronze footprints of her grandmother, Xia Yuan spoke about her misfortune to the visitors. Today Xia Yuan, together with her thirteen-year-old son, acts as an inheritor of the historical memories of the Nanjing Massacre and has taken up the baton to preserve the memories of the massacre.

Ma Wenqian is another inheritor of the history of the Nanjing Massacre. Ma Wenqian is the great-granddaughter of Ma Xiuying, a survivor of the Nanjing Massacre. In 2019, Ma Wenqian became a Zijin Cao volunteer at the Memorial Hall. During the Chinese Lunar New Year this year, Ma Wenqian and her father Ma Jun volunteered at the Memorial Hall as guides. “A large number of people visited the Memorial Hall, which moved me a lot. My great-grandmother told us to ‘testify as long as we live’. Although she has left us, I will pass on that history and consider it the best consolation for my great-grandmother," Ma Wenqian said.

Ma Wenqian and her father Ma Jun work as guides

Nowadays more and more young people like Xia Yuan and Ma Wenqian are taking over the role of carrying forward historical memories and spreading historical truth from their parents, grandparents and even great-grandparents.