- The Nanjing Massacre -

The slaughter committed by the Japanese outside the city and in the various districts neighboring Nanjing was even more savage and cruel than that which occurred within the city. Refugees fleeing from all over, wounded and sick soldiers, and family members of the military men died in even greater numbers and under even more cruel circumstances.

As the Kuomintang troops had already seized control of every sort of boat available in order to save their own lives, the refugees from Nanjing who were trapped on the banks of the river could do nothing but gaze helplessly across the Yangtze. On December 13th, the sounds of gunfire emanating from within the city caused a stir among the refugees gathered along the river as they came to realize that the Japanese had already occupied the city. The situation along the river became extremely chaotic. Those with even a little strength left, whether they were routed soldiers or fleeing refugees, used every last bit of energy to put up one last fight. In a desperate attempt to flee across the river, some people went to houses and shops and removed wooden doors, planks of wood, bathtubs, long benches, logs, and even old, rotten pieces of wood to serve as make-shift flotation devices. There were too many people and too few adequate implements. In the end, only a small number of people were lucky enough to cross the river successfully, while the majority were left behind in an entirely hopeless situation.

On the afternoon of December 14th, the Japanese troops suddenly threw open Yijiang Gate and charged forward from the city towards Zhongshan Wharf and Xiaguan Station. Wielding machine guns and rifles, they recklessly fired upon the refugees and indiscriminately tossed grenades into the crowds. Panic-stricken, angry and in despair, thousands upon thousands of refugees were toppled. Some refugees who were still able to put up a struggle and were unwilling to allow themselves to be killed by the Japanese tossed themselves in the river and committed suicide. In the end, those left standing on the banks of the river were forced into the water by the Japanese and drowned en masse. After a short while, tens of thousands of people had lost their lives under the murderous blades of the Japanese soldiers.

On December 16th, more than 5,000 people who had taken refuge in the Overseas Chinese Center (now 81 North Zhongshan Road) were bound together in groups and transported on large trucks to Xiaguan Station to be killed. The corpses were disposed of in the river.

There were various places along the river where the killings occurred on a larger scale. These areas included Straw Sandals Gorge, Swallow Cliff and Goddess of Mercy Gate. [These and most other massacre sites discussed in this document may be located on the map of major massacre sites in Nanjing located in Chapter I.] Prior to the occupation of Nanjing, those unable to escape to far-off areas scattered in groups to the outskirts of town. Moreover, those fleeing from the frontlines (amongst whom were a large number of wounded and sick soldiers) increasingly attempted to squeeze into the suburban districts and the area along the Yangtze River. For a short while, those without the means to cross the river organized themselves into a refugee village in order to maintain some semblance of order necessary for their survival. But soon after the Japanese forces occupied Nanjing, they began to scour the countryside. They rounded up and bound large numbers of refugees, about 50,000 in total, who were detained for several days without provision of food or drink. A large number of the sick and wounded starved or froze to death. Finally, those who survived the ordeal were driven to Straw Sandals Gorge where they were brutally slaughtered.

Straw Sandals Gorge was formerly the location of a fortress which housed the Kuomintang headquarters as well as a torpedo boat base. The Yangtze River and a nearby highway ran parallel from east to west, and in between them was a piece of farmland referred to as Straw Sandals Gorge. It was to this area that the refugees were driven to be executed by the Japanese army. A government official was there on the day in question to witness the scene, and he recorded detailed notes describing what he saw.

On a certain evening, I had been sleeping in Damao Cave on Tiger Mountain, an area where there were many refugees. . . . On this particular evening, I heard the sounds of dense machine gunfire emanating from Straw Sandals Gorge. There must have been about twenty machine guns firing. I suspected that our army might be staging a counter-offensive. The next day, before dawn, two bloodied men appeared: Squad Leader Feng of the instructional unit; and Mr. Guo, a member of the security unit. They described for me what had happened. After the Japanese invaders entered the city, they rounded up more than 57,000 people, including prisoners, men, women, young and old, and refugees, and imprisoned them in several small hamlets at the foot of Mufu Mountain. On the evening of December 16th, lead wire and rope were used to tie everyone up in pairs. Subsequently, they were lined up in four rows and driven to Straw Sandals Gorge where they were riddled with machine gunfire. The victims of this atrocity summoned all of their courage and yelled out, "Seize the guns! Seize the guns!" . . . The dead fell on each other and accumulated into a mountain of corpses. The enemy then set upon the corpses with their bayonets, stabbing away randomly. Finally, the bodies were doused with kerosene and set ablaze. Feng and Guo, pretending to lie dead on the ground, pulled the corpses over them. Feng's right arm had been wounded from a bayonet stab and both men's clothing had been burned.

The area around Swallow Cliff has many ancient temples, a modest rural town, and a small hill facing the river. Ascending this hill, one can see the Yangtze River. Since ancient times, the "setting sun over Swallow Cliff" has been one of Nanjing's most famous scenic attractions. Before the occupation of Nanjing, over 100,000 people fled to this area hoping to cross the river and seek refuge north of the Yangtze. But due to a serious shortage of boats there was no way to traverse the river. Prior to the Japanese invasion of Nanjing, this section of the Yangtze had already been patrolled by enemy ships and planes which had opened fire upon fleeing civilians. Thus, these refugees were forced to flee to neighboring villages. While the Japanese army stormed into Nanjing, unexpectedly a group of enemy soldiers was making its way to Swallow Cliff. They forced the fleeing refugees to a nearby beach and gathered them together. Dozens of machine guns were set up and the refugees were shot to death. Some of the corpses were just left to float away along the river, creating a blood-red tide. Other corpses were piled up on the beach and left to rot in the falling rain and hot sun. No one bothered to do anything about the decaying corpses until the end of spring or the beginning of summer of the next year, even though the foul stench spread for miles and miles around.

North of Zhenjiang [a city northeast of Nanjing], in the vicinity of Dragon Pond and Qixia Mountain [two outskirts of Nanjing], the Japanese captured over 30,000 routed soldiers and refugees. They were bound and transported to a low-lying depression in a small forested area of Central University near Goddess of Mercy Gate. They were left there, freezing and without food, for several days. Subsequently, the Japanese set the trees ablaze and the soldiers and refugees were all burned to death.

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