With its traditional ceremonial solemnity, the Memorial Hall of the Victims in Nanjing Massacre by Japanese Invaders’ annual recognition of the ransacking of Nanjing in 1937 took place today. But more clouds now loom; that soon no one will be here to remember it.
今天，以传统的隆重仪式，侵华日军南京大屠杀遇难同胞纪念馆举行了一年一度的纪念1937年南京大屠杀的活动。但现在更多的乌云笼罩着；很快就没有人会记得这件事了。
Traffic came to a halt in downtown Xinjiekou and elsewhere in Nanjing at 10:01 this morning, 13 December, 2024, as air-raid sirens wailed citywide, reminding of the events that began to unfold in our City some 87 years ago.
2024 年 12 月 13 日上午 10 点零 1 分，新街口市中心和南京其他地方的交通陷入瘫痪，全城响起防空警报，让人回想起大约 87 年前在我们城市开始发生的事件。
It’s a tradition born in 2014 and passed by the Standing Committee of the 12th National People’s Congress; several thousand members of the armed forces, medical profession, children, officials, specially-invited guests and of course, survivors of the Nanjing Massacre, all gathering in the Memorial Hall for a ceremony carefully choreographed with military precision that lasts a mere half hour.
这是2014年诞生的传统，并经第十二届全国人大常委会通过；数千名军人、医务人员、儿童、官员、特邀嘉宾，当然还有南京大屠杀的幸存者，齐聚纪念馆，参加一场以军事精确度精心编排的仪式，持续时间仅半小时。
However, those survivors’ numbers continue to dwindle; just 32 officially recognised as such now remain. Hence, this year has also become the year in which the role played by those survivors’ descendants is acknowledged. They will now be the ones to pass on the memories and tell the truth as to the atrocities of 1937.
然而，幸存者的人数仍在持续减少。现在只剩下 32 个被正式承认的国家。因此，今年也成为幸存者后代所发挥的作用得到认可的一年。他们现在将是传递记忆并讲述 1937 年暴行真相的人。
Those families of the victims were therefore in the spotlight when an annual commemoration for victims’ families was enshrined on 1 December, as they paid tribute to their loved ones in front of the “wailing wall” outside the Memorial Hall.
因此，当12月1日举行一年一度的遇难者家属纪念活动时，这些遇难者家属就成为人们关注的焦点，他们在纪念馆外的“哭墙”前向亲人致敬。
Among those in attendance was Chang Xiaomei. His father, Chang Zhiqiang, experienced the Nanjing Massacre by witnessing six family members tortured and killed.
出席的人中有常小梅。他的父亲常志强亲眼目睹了六名家人被折磨和杀害，经历了南京大屠杀。
As Global Times has reported, Xiaomei said his father used to regard the Memorial Hall as his “second home”, on account the names of those he missed are inscribed on a wall therein.
据《环球时报》报道，小梅说，他的父亲曾经把纪念馆视为他的“第二个家”，因为纪念馆的墙上刻着他想念的人的名字。
Also among the mourners was survivor Xia Shuqin, who has for many years been a visible figure at events related to the Nanjing Massacre. Now 95, Xia remembers her mother and 1 year old sister who were pulled from their hiding beneath a table to be slaughtered. In defiance, she said, “I will come as long as my health permits. It’s hard not to be here”.
哀悼者中还有幸存者夏淑琴，她多年来一直是南京大屠杀相关事件的重要人物。现年 95 岁的夏还记得她的母亲和一岁的妹妹被从藏身的桌子底下拖出来准备被屠杀。她挑衅地说：“只要我的健康状况允许，我就会来。不在这里很难”。
Zhou Feng is Curator of the Memorial Hall. “Inheritors are the main force in passing on historical memory, and they have a deeper understanding of the mission and various ways of doing it”, said Zhou in reference to the family members upon whose shoulders this responsibility now lies.
周峰是纪念馆馆长。 “传承人是传承历史记忆的主力军，他们对历史记忆的使命和传承方式有了更深刻的认识。”周在谈到现在肩负这一责任的家族成员时说。
Xiaomei has even gone to the lengths of documenting his father’s life in a book. Revealing the impact the Nanjing Massacre had upon him, the work has been published in Chinese, English and Japanese.
小梅甚至不遗余力地在一本书中记录了父亲的生活。该书揭示了南京大屠杀对他的影响，已出版中文、英文和日文版本。
