Culture
22:08, 13-Dec-2017
Nanjing holds candlelight vigil for massacre victims
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Candles held at chest high, heads down and eyes shut, hundreds of mourners gathered at a vigil in front of the Memorial Hall for Victims of the Nanjing Massacre in the eastern Chinese city of Nanjing on Wednesday evening.
Wednesday marks the 80th anniversary of the Nanjing Massacre. On December 13, 1937, Japanese invaders seized the city and started a six-week long atrocity that left more than 300,000 local civilians and demobilized servicemen dead.
CGTN Photo
CGTN Photo
In Wednesday evening's frigid cold, the vigil began with a sentimental melody "Memory of Nanjing" by a trumpet player. Altogether, 2,000 candles were lit. At the stage center, candles were arranged into the numbers of the date – "12•13", and the year of anniversary – "80".
The vigil was observed by survivors of the massacre and their families, pupils, nurses, military servicemen as well as foreign representatives from Japan, the US, Germany, Denmark, Australia and Russia.
CGTN Photo
CGTN Photo
"I signed up for the event voluntarily. As future medics, our job is to safeguard lives. To attend the memorial ceremony is not only remembering compatriots killed during the massacre but also inspiring myself to hold on to my ambitions," said Zheng Rui, a freshman of Nanjing Health School.
Crimson-robed monks from China and Japan took turns to chant mantras and lead prayers to pray their tributes to the deceased.
CGTN Photo
CGTN Photo
Nanjing has been holding candlelight vigils at the memorial hall every year since 2009.
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