Zhu Chengshan (original) (raw)

As the curator of the Nanjing Massacre Memorial Hall, Zhu Chengshan is an influential figure in the study of the Nanjing Massacre. But he is also distinguished as one of the most prominent scholars of Chinese history, museum studies and peace-building.

Zhu has held leadership positions at many research institutions, including the Nanjing International Peace Research Institute, the Chinese Association of Museums, the Historical Society of the Nanjing Massacre, Chinese Writers Association, and the Historical Society of the Chinese People’s War Against Japanese Invasion. He is a master advisor at Nanjing Normal University and the chief editor of Japanese Invasion of China History Research.

Zhu has published over 50 million words in books, anthologies, newspapers and journals about the Nanjing Massacre and other topics, and has consulted on many museum designs and monuments, such as Shaoshan Mao Zedong Memorial Hall, Xibaipo Revolutionary Memorial Hall, Tianjin Zhou Enlai and Deng Yingchao Memorial. He has spoken all over the world at research seminars and peaceful exchange activities.

At Nanjing Massacre Memorial Hall, where he has been for over 20 years, Zhu oversees the museum’s exhibitions and public ceremonies. One special exhibition in 2010 featured sketch portraits of 30 Nanjing survivors – each accompanied by a 20-line poem telling his or her story, written by Zhu himself.

“I was thinking about the poems all the time during those 10 days [that it took to write the poems]. During that time my mother-in-law passed away, but I didn't stop thinking about the poems when preparing for her funeral," Zhu told China Daily in 2011. "The images just kept appearing in my mind even when I closed my eyes."

Today’s ceremony at Nanjing Massacre Memorial Hall commemorating the 76th anniversary of the massacre, and the announcement of the partnership with USC Shoah Foundation’s Visual History Archive to integrate 12 testimonies of Nanjing survivors, is an opportunity to honor the victims, Zhu said.

“This is about expressing sorrow for those that perished and more importantly reminding people to remember history and to cherish peace," Zhu said.