HARBIN, April 21 (Xinhua) -- For over 60 years, Song Jinhe, a resident of Jiamusi City in northeast China, has single-handedly waged a war against historical denialism and oblivion.
Song, 76, has collected and made public more than 10,000 pieces of physical evidence left by Japanese invaders during their aggression in China.
Now housed in an exhibition hall in Jiamusi, his collection is a powerful testament to the atrocities committed by the Japanese during the period. It covers a wide range of materials, including a full set of geology and mineral distribution map of Manchuria, Japanese magazines whitewashing the war of aggression, and photos documenting the brutal killings of Chinese soldiers and civilians.
Among them, Song considers the "September 18 Combat Order" as one of the most valuable pieces of historical evidence in his possession.
"This is ironclad proof that the Japanese invaders launched the September 18 Incident," he said, referring to the event marking the start of Japan's invasion of China.
Song was born into a poor family in northeast China in 1947. During childhood, he often listened to wartime stories recounted by the elderly.
In the early 1960s, after coming across items left by the Japanese invaders such as broken steel helmets and old bayonets, Song began to keep hold of them out of curiosity.
At school, meanwhile, he received history lessons from teachers and war veterans, who often discussed the Japanese army's atrocities of burning, killing, looting and pillaging in China.
"It dawned on me that these items left by the Japanese invaders are criminal evidence. If not collected and well-preserved, they will be neglected over time," Song recalled.
This thought prompted him to dedicate more time and effort to collecting evidence of war, which eventually became his life-long endeavor.
As a young man, Song often rode his bicycle to local thrift markets to search for items left by the invaders. During business trips, he would also visit local markets after finishing his work.
As his collection grew, Song became more well-known and well-connected in this circle. Many people sent Song their wartime items to enrich his collection.
In 2015, with the support of local authorities, Song put his collection on display at the local exhibition hall dedicated to evidence of Japanese aggression in China. The exhibits attracted a large number of visitors and realized his long-time wish to turn his personal collection into a public resource.
At the exhibition hall, he offered presentations on the exhibits. He also took items from his collection to lecture tours in military bases, enterprises, schools and communities. Over the years, he has given over 1,000 lectures to the public.
To reach a wider audience, Song also live streamed presentations on his collection. Once, he taught an online class to more than 200,000 teachers and students in Jiamusi.
At the end of each lecture, Song would often talk about his life-long mission.
"As long as there are people in Japan who deny the history of the war, I will never cease collecting evidence and exposing the truth of the history."
