These days the territorial dispute between China and Japan was rife among front pages all around the world. And civilians from both sides have separately taken to the street in protest .
Chinese protesters were furiated by Japan’s claim to the Daiyu Island in the East China Sea. The Japanese far-right wing group set up picket lines outside the Chinese embassy in Tokyo and shouted “shina-jin” via megaphone, an insulting word equivalent to “chink”
The long history of China and Japan
Speaking of “Shina-jin”, the word makes me extremely uncomfortable and reminds me of the long-term relationship between China and Japan. It is known to the world that China has fighted for eight years to driven away the Japanese army during the World War Two, contributing to the final victory against the then Fascist Coalition by Germany, Japan and Italy. But the north eastern part of China, where I come from, was invaded by the Japanese army in 1931, long before the outbreak of World War Two. And my home town had been Japan’s colony for 14 years,
Unforgettable Hatred
My grandparents, who were teenagers back then, were forced to speak Japanese rather than Chinese. Every day before class they should stand up singng the National Anthem of Japan and bow down in the east direction to show respect to the Japenese emperor.Lots of Chinese people were kidnapped to Japan as free labor in minerals and factories owned by big companies like Mitsubishi, and most of them were missing, never came back home. Considerable natural resources were exploited and transported to Japan via the Manshu Railway for industrial use. The experience of losing one’s nationality and dignity is definitely bitter and anguished. Even now the elder in my hometown, including my grandparents cannot hold hatred towards the Japanese. They still call Japanese “Ri Ben Gui Zi”, which means the Japanese devils.
Chinese youth engulfed with Japanese cultural product. As far as I am concerned, I grow up with the Japanese animations. Japanese cartoons, mangas companied me during my childhood. As I grew up, Japanese TV dramas and films were all about my adolescence. Essetially, I find Japanese culture much closer to me than the Americans. Moreover, I like the peaceful beauty, harmony and resolute spirit, which are the core of the Japanese culture. Also, I have to admit that the Japanese people are patient, persist , never complacent and always willing to learn from others, we Chinese lack these characteristics and we must learn from our neibour, just as they have been doing all the time. I have learn Japanese for three years, and the more I get familiar with Japanese culture, the more admiring and respectable I feel about it. And I know that lots of Japanese people are Chinese fanasitics
Complicated complex So my feeling about Japan is so complicated that I confess that I can hardly express my point of view when I read recent news about the sino-Japan relation. China and Japan are absolutely not allies, but we should not be enemies, because culturally we are so close, and have so much in common.
christalzhong 