New | China's younger generation conflicted over Japan as second world war trauma lingers
The Chinese still feel strongly about the invasion, but are pragmatic in their dealings with modern-day Japanese
The awkwardness of arriving in Tokyo three years ago is still fresh in Zheng Xiaohui's mind. She had come across a sign that read "please refrain from speaking loudly" in simplified Chinese characters, she recalled.
"I was shocked and embarrassed. I immediately knew it was aimed at the notoriously noisy Chinese tourists," said Zheng, 19, a university student majoring in the Chinese language.
"At first I thought Japanese generally despise Chinese because of the war and its less-advanced stage of development. But most Japanese are actually quite nice."
Zheng grew up in a family that has conflicting feelings towards Japan. Her mother is still resentful of Japan because of China's wartime trauma, but her father, who is more liberal, owns a trading company with many Japanese clients, she says.
"My mother takes a harsh stance against Japan as my grandfather was assaulted by Japanese soldiers in Zhongshan during the invasion. Hundreds of thousands of people were murdered in Nanjing," Zheng said. "But I don't project these negative feelings on modern Japan and its people. History is history; now is now."
War between Japan and China started on July 7, 1937, in what is now known as the Marco Polo Bridge incident. Japanese forces had opened fire on Chinese troops stationed at the bridge in Beijing, and the incident sparked an all-out Sino-Japanese war that went on to merge into the greater conflict of the second world war.