- The Nanjing Massacre -

Chapter IV: Slaughter in the Outskirts of the City

When the Japanese forces reached Purple Gold Mountain2, they gathered up the more than 2,000 refugees in the area, marched them to the foot of the mountain, and buried them alive.

Before the Japanese invaded Nanjing, the Chinese army staged a resistance at Misty Flower Terrace. The battle caused many refugees to scatter to the relative safety of the nearby rural villages and countryside; they dared not move from their hideouts. When the fighting had subsided, large groups of wounded and routed soldiers mixed themselves in among the refugees. But the Japanese ferreted out the soldiers and gathered them together at Misty Flower Terrace. The crowd, about 20,000 in total, was divided into groups and systematically murdered.

Another site of the massacre was a stretch of land on a sandbank just outside of Hanxi Gate. After the Japanese had occupied Nanjing, there were hundreds and thousands of refugees, disarmed soldiers, and policemen who were tied up and marched off, one group after the other, to be brutally murdered on this sandbank. On one occasion, six or seven thousand people were disposed of in this manner all at once, without one machine gun being fired. Group after group was marched to the site, doused with kerosene, and burned to death. The Japanese soldiers stood in clusters surrounding their victims and, amidst the harrowing cries of desperation, laughed and derived pleasure from the scene.

Wu Changde was one of the fortunate survivors of these murderous games. He and more than 2,000 others were bound, hands behind their backs, divided into three groups, and driven outside Hanxi Gate. As they advanced, soldiers wielding machine guns kept close watch over them from all sides. After arriving at an area adjacent to the site of the slaughter the advance was temporarily halted. Wu Changde was in one of the rear groups and was able to hear distinctly the guns firing up front. A short time passed and his group was forced into the killing area. Facing the river with the Japanese behind them, the guns began to ring out. As soon as Wu Changde heard the gunfire he hit the ground, avoiding the flying bullets altogether. The gunfire subsided and a group of Japanese approached the bodies, their rifles leveled. To ensure there were no survivors, the soldiers used their bayonets to stab ruthlessly the bodies of the fallen men. Wu Changde sustained a stab wound about five inches in length; as the blood flowed from the wound Wu was sure he would die. Subsequently, kerosene was poured over all of the bodies and they were set ablaze. Unable to stand the heat of the fire, Wu managed to roll himself into the river, hoping to speed up his death by drowning himself. It was wintertime, so the level of the river was low and he was not drowned. Quite to the contrary, the fire burning all over his body was extinguished. Although Wu's injuries were serious, they were not fatal. He struggled to make his way back onto the banks of the river and, taking cover in the black of night, sought refuge in a cow shed not far from the site of the massacre. An old beggar woman took Wu in and cared for him. After a while, he was able to escape from the area, skirting many obstacles along the way. After a long period of treatment for his injuries Wu managed to pull through. (Note: After the war, Wu Changde testified at the "International Military Tribunal for the Far East."3 After 1949, he became a bean curd maker and moved back to Nanjing where he lived at 96 Sugar Mill Bridge on Yangtze Road.)

On December 23rd, the Japanese once again used dozens of large trucks to ferry more than 1,000 young and old men and women down to the sandbanks. The entire group was pushed into a pre-dug pit and buried alive. The victims of this crime had their hands bound tightly behind them and could not put up any resistance except for their screaming and cursing.

Amongst the many sites where the massacre occurred around the city of Nanjing was Shangyuan Gate. On December 14th, the Japanese massacred in succession eight or nine thousand people on this very spot. One refugee named Yin Youyu was left lying in pools of blood during this episode, but was fortunate enough to survive. Situated at Precious Pagoda Bridge was the Nanjing Egg Factory, quite a large establishment. When Nanjing was occupied, as many as 10,000 people sought refuge within this factory. After the Japanese discovered these people, they were tied up, divided into groups, and murdered. The Shangxin River, which runs along Phoenix Street, also became one of the sites of the massacre. On one occasion, the Japanese took several thousand wounded and sick soldiers, as well as old and feeble refugees whom they had captured, tied them up, and pushed them into the river. They threw straw doused with kerosene into the river and burned them all to death.

The events recorded above are merely some of the larger scale slaughters which occurred in the first week or so after the occupation of Nanjing. Numerous other murders occurred involving fewer numbers, such as ten or several dozen people at a time, for which we have no record. It would have been impossible to record them all.