Remembrance of the Nanjing Massacre in the globalised era: the memory of victimisation, emotions and the rise of China

Victimisation is a pivotal theme in China’s new remembering of its War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression. While much of the world is talking about the rise of China, why are the Chinese still looking back to the nation’s sufferings in the past? This article investigates the development and dissemination of China’s collective memory of wartime victimisation, through a case study of the Nanjing Massacre Memorial. The article examines the ‘presentist’ use of the collective memory of victimisation in China’s era of opening up. It argues that the collective memory of victimisation is an emotional memory, evoked by new nationalism thinking, and is therefore a contextual dimension of China’s self-presentation today. The development as well as the dissemination of this memory parallels the path of China’s rise to become a world power. The Nanjing Massacre Memorial showcases the way in which the collective memory of victimisation is shaped and disseminated under the Communist Party to promote China’s national aspirations and legitimise China’s claims in the contemporary world.