Teen donates to preserve war truths in Nanjing

A 15-year-old student from Xuzhou, Jiangsu province, has donated two valuable historical materials to the Memorial Hall of the Victims in Nanjing Massacre by Japanese Invaders.

Yu Ningpeng, a student at Hanxing high school in Peixian county, Xuzhou, has been collecting historical items for nine years. He said he is committed to gathering evidence of Japan's invasion of China to counter attempts by Japanese right-wing groups to distort history.

Yu's donation includes two historical documents that provide firsthand evidence of Japan's wartime activities in China.

One item is a battlefield letter, dated Dec 18, 1937, sent by a Japanese lieutenant to Fukushima prefecture in Japan. The envelope bears a clear "Nanjing Fall Memorial" postmark.

In the letter, the officer wrote, "Our destination, the capital Nanjing, was finally captured by us on the 13th. On the 17th, we held a grand entry ceremony for the military commander and received a review."

The second is a photo album from the Japanese military's Hanami unit, part of the Japanese North China Area Army, containing 44 rare photographs documenting the establishment of a field hospital in Tianjin.

The images show the hospital's layout, including its laboratory, supply room and patient wards, as well as the Japanese army's medical activities and the working conditions of hospital employees.

"From these artifacts, I truly feel the weight of history," Yu said. "Patriotism is not just a slogan; it must be translated into concrete actions."

He said donating the materials is his way of safeguarding historical truth.

The memorial hall held a donation ceremony on Dec 5. In addition to Yu's contributions, 13 historical items were officially archived and added to the collection.

Yu has visited the memorial hall six times since it reopened to the public in 2007.

"This donation marks my seventh visit, and I am very proud to enter as a donor," he said.

Yu said he hopes to continue passing on historical awareness in the future.

The teen history enthusiast began collecting historical items at age 6.

He said the two donated items were purchased through secondhand trading platforms at a cost of more than 20,000 yuan.

Yu said he received only verbal support from his parents and had no other financial support. "All the expenses for the collection were earned through my own insight and knowledge," he said.

In the latter half of this year alone, Yu has donated more than 100 historical artifacts to museums across China.

"I didn't buy these items just to collect them," he said. "I had already decided to donate them to the appropriate museums when I purchased them."

Data from the memorial hall shows a surge in donations this year, with the museum receiving 573 artifacts, an increase of more than 30 percent compared with previous years.

Yu said recent attempts by Japanese right-wing forces to distort or erase the history of Japan's invasion of China have strengthened his determination to protect historical truth.

He said remembering history is not about perpetuating hatred, but about learning from it. "As a middle school student, I hope for more exchanges between Chinese and Japanese youth, but these exchanges must be based on respecting historical truth, not blurring history for the sake of friendship," he said.

Yu said he hopes to apply to study archaeology in the future. "We must work hard to learn skills and make the country stronger so that historical tragedies do not repeat themselves," he said.