When History Becomes Controversial (by Karmel Wong)

"Now, my gakusei, please turn with me to page 128, where we will read about Japan's fascinaaating history. We will focus espeeecially on the important eveeents of the mid-1900's, before and after the Seeecond World War. You will noootice that many of…"

The sensei speaks loudly—assertively, though he is really as boring as ever, with that fluty voice. He continues, nevertheless, to detail the various events featured on page 128, while she nods (they all nod, in their well-pressed shirts and knotted navy ties).

She looks down now at her textbook, with its pages flipped out like a stack of brochures. "…After the Battle of Shanghai, the Japanese troops advanced further into China. In late 1937 they succeeded in capturing the former capital of the Republic of China: the city of Nanking. Some of the soldiers, so traumatized by the war efforts, proceeded to kill and rape many citizens of this key city. After this incident, the Army moved towards…"

And while she glances at these words, they have painted their faces with grim expressions…

These young adults live in China, and today they assemble together in the city streets. Some are clutching red flags spotted with yellow stars, while others are holding up signs that say things like "Down With The Japanese" and "History Should Be Told, Not Covered." This collective fervency is beginning to catch on elsewhere: the storekeepers clear their shelves of Japanese electronics, the pedestrians attempt to vandalize Japanese-manufactured cars, and other zealots scale the Japanese Embassy building to plant Chinese flags. The police force arrives, but the crowd is firm. Someone yells: "I don't like Japan!" An egg is thrown out of nowhere, and it splats next to the shoe of a fellow who is flicking a cigarette lighter against a Japanese flag.

As the bell rings, the students gather their book-bags and dance out of the classroom, relived that the sensei's lecture is finally over. "Remember, class," he calls after them in futile urgency, "remember to read over page 128. There will be a test next week."

The feeling of enmity between East Asian countries, particularly between Japan and China, has existed for many decades—if not centuries. Recently, however, the tension has become more tangible. The account of the Nanjing massacre in textbooks is a key issue that has perpetuated the disputes between the Japanese and Chinese at various levels, from the heated discussions between government officials to the rallies of regular citizens.

More fundamentally, Chinese critics are holding to the claim that Japan has never apologized adequately for the Nanking 'incident' which, according to both Asian and Western media sources, was a massacre on a grotesque scale. They see the apologies made by Japanese officials as ones drawn out of a sense of expediency, rather than true remorse; they refer to the Prime Minister's visit to the Yasukuni shrine (that bears memory to those who died for their country, including several convicted war criminals), and view those visits as a symbolic act of respect for those who committed 'wrong' deeds against the Chinese people.

Since last year, ill sentiments have broken out on all sides (even in Korea, which has similar issues), rehashing the conflict over the subject of the textbooks approved by Japan's Ministry of Education. Chinese and Korean dissidents believe that the editing of textbook information will pass an unresolved problem to the next generation.

In a broad sense, the Japanese feel that justifiable apologies have been made about the past, and that it is time to move on. People claim, furthermore, that any such demands are hypocritical on China's part, given the country's value system and the way each country surely has its own way of rewriting history and tweaking information in their textbooks. This last statement should be particularly alarming, considering the way we normally accept what we learn as an accurate, encompassing account of the past.

So, while this controversy has polarized the perspectives of citizens, it also holds implications for the youth of any country, when they are faced with opportunities to weigh the past and present behaviours of their society. It seems that what matters truly is the 'now' shaping the future, working towards development and an equitable world—but again, our actions cannot be purposeful if we do not understand our history, or each other.

Regarding the record of the Nanking Rape, it is impossible to forget the past, fraught with some of the ugliest of human emotions and acts. But can one imagine only the tiniest, horrific bit of what truly happened? War, though centred about politics and invasions and victories, is an infinitely intense human struggle. We can describe which troop went where on what coast, but we cannot forget the common struggle for survival, for life. For every civilian survivor who lives to tell the story of fear, and death, there were countless others who were just…gone...like that. Why do some people survive, while others don't? Why are some marched off and thrown into pits, while others scramble and suffer and bleed, but make it through? Is it chance? Is it fair?

No, it's not fair and we don't understand it. That is why we don't know how to solve these problems that hinge on events we've never experienced. Very few people today, if any, can be blamed for the events of the past. The past is over, done, and today's youth are not responsible for it. In that way, it is essential to release our grip on a perhaps sordid past. On the other hand, youth are responsible for learning and understanding the world, and they can only do so if they can have a sense of the immense, poignant gravity behind the events in history, to which all humans (with our obsession with self, gain, and pleasures) are in fact accountable.

Yes, education is needed, not in order to poke at a particular country, but to generate an accurate acknowledgement of man's recognizably craziest moments. Insightful education is a future peace investment that requires a great deal of genuine humility on the part of both countries. Though national pride is much valued in Asian culture—holding the head up high no matter what the cost—when humans are the subject of discussion, maybe we should all drop our heads and evaluate what is wrong with our hearts, and how remarkable it is that we are still alive.

The realities of the past are similar to the realities of tragedies that occur today: they seem so far away that they can be ignored. But they are there, and as youth we are called to take responsibility not only for our own lives, but also for the past, present and future of the Earth.

Sources

“China to discuss Japan tensions.” BBC News Online. 21 February. 2006. 22 February. 2006. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/4735138.stm.

“History.” Nanking 1937. 9 November 1997. 22 February. 2006. http://www.princeton.edu/~nanking/html/main.html.

"Nanking Massacre." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. 23 Feb. 2006. 23 Feb. 2006. http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Nanking_Massacre&oldid=40788100.

“Uneasy neighbours: History and analysis of China and Japan's difficult relationship.” BBC News Online. 21 February. 2006. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/shared/spl/hi/asia_pac/05/china_japan/html/introduction.stm.

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