Source 2: Ma Yingbiao (1937) Shanghai Refugees over the Garden Bridge to the Bund
Refugee influx into foreign concessions during the Sino-Japanese War.
After the bombing of Shanghai, over one million people sought refuge in the city's international settlement and French Concession. This aerial view depicts the thronging masses of refugees making their way over Shanghai's garden bridge. This photograph was reproduced in the US-based Life Magazine.
Ma Yingbiao
https://www.virtualshanghai.net/Photos/Images?ID=833
Virtual Shanghai copyright@virtualcitiesproject
1937
Source 6: 2. Anon (1938) Chongqing: Building air raid shelters in caves
Wartime Chongqing
This photograph depicts the construction of air raid shelters built out of caves. Not only did these cave dugouts provide a vital security measure during instances of aerial bombardment, but they also functioned as everyday shops, businesses etc. as Chinese citizens demonstrated extraordinary resilience and adaptability during the Sino-Japanese War.
Anon.
https://kuaibao.qq.com/s/20180819A192LX00?refer=spider
天天快报
Source 9: John Stanfield (1945) Hiroshi Nemoto signing the Japanese surrender documents 10th October 1945 , Forbidden City, Beijing.
Japanese Surrender
This image depicts Japanese commander in chief, Hiroshi Nemoto formally signing the surrender agreeement at the Forbidden City in Beijing. This marked the end of the Sino-Japanese war. Weapons were also surrendered, some of which the Soviets in the north gave the Chinese Communist Party - this would be of use in the forthcoming civil war.
John Stanfield
Historical Photographs of China, University of Bristol.
Source 8: US Military Assistance United China Relief Poster
US aid to China during the Sino-Japanese War.
This poster forms part of an appeal to donate aid to China, aimed at US citizens. It also sought to change the negative stereotypes of Chinese in the US who had suffered from racism. There is a dubious assertion of China as a country 'struggling victoriously towards democracy' invoking Sun Yat-Sen's three principles. Chiang Kai-Shek would not carry though Sun's stated aim of creating a democratic nation.
United China Relief
https://sino-american-relations.weebly.com/home/sino-us-relations-during-world-war-ii
Source 7 : Communist Party Guerrilla Warfare Agnes Smedley (1930s) ‘Night welcome meeting. New 4th Storm Guerrilla Detachment in Central China, North Hankou'
Communist Party Guerrilla Warfare
This is an idealised depiction of Communist Party forces from a western sympathiser named Agnes Smedley. Smedley had applied for membership of the CCP during the 1930s but was rejected due to her 'independence of mind' which may be apparent in this more intimate, staged but resolutely human portrayal of combatants, strategising over candlelight.
Agnes Smedley
Arizona State University Agnes Smedley Collection
https://www.asu.edu/lib/archives/smedforeign.htm
Source 5: Harrison Forman (1938) China, Men and Boys Digging Ditches China Yellow River Flood
Yellow River dam burst
In 1938 Chiang Kai-shek decided to break the dams of the Yellow River in order to halt the rapid advance of Japanese forces. Scientist Steven Dutch dubbed the event “the largest act of environmental warfare in history.” Many surrounding areas were destroyed with estimates ranging from between 400,000 to 1.5 million deaths. Here, war photographer Harrison Forman depicts a small community of Chinese Jews in the city of Kaifeng digging ditches in an attempt to protect themselves from the expected floodwaters. Notice the rudimentary nature of the tools used and the lack of any official presence to support this community.
Harrison Forman
American Geographical Society Library University of Milwaukee
Source 5: Anon (1938) Changsha Fire
Changsha Fire
In November 1938, several cities having been besieged by the Japanese army, the Nationalist party leader Chiang Kai-Shek decided to deliberately set the city of Changsha ablaze. This meant the Japanese army made no tangible gains from its occupation. Prior to this decision, thousands of refugees from Wuhan had entered Changsha, swelling its population to over 500,000 people. Circa 30,000 Chinese perished due to the largest man-made fire in Chinese history. This fire would alienate many ordinary Chinese citizens from the Nationalist cause.
Anon
Wikimedia Commons
Source 4 : The Nanjing Massacre Ernest Forster (1938) Photograph of the Nanjing Massacre March 13th 1938
The Nanjing Massacre
The Nanjing massacre refers to the Japanese Army’s mass-murder and rape of inhabitants residing in this former capital city of China. Estimates as to the death toll vary between 50,000 to over 300,000, but the accepted figure is now in the range of 200 to 300,000. This particular image was photographed by the American missionary Ernest Forster who witnessed atrocities perpetuated by the Japanese first-hand. Here, Forster depicts the ruins of a house and shops owned by two brothers. According to Forster, their father died of fright when threatened with a sword by a Japanese soldier. Forster chooses to depict a microcosm of the impact of Japanese soldiers' behavior at the level of a single family. Imagine how many times this scene must have been multiplied across Nanjing.
Ernest Forster
Yale Divinity, The Nanjing Massacre Project
Yale Divinity, The Nanjing Massacre Project
Source 3: British Movietone (1937) The Fall of Shanghai (Film)
Battle of Shanghai
This is a British-made newsreel documenting the fall of Shanghai to Japanese forces. We can see colonialist images such as the flag of Britain still flying, but pierced by a bullet alongside graphic images of fighting and aerial bombardment. The narrator expresses admiration of Chinese forces but ultimately allied nations would not intervene in the Sino-Japanese war until 1941 and the bombardment of Pearl Harbour.
British Movietone
Youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bm0pp7yrAko
British Movietone
Source 2 Anon (1937) Refugees massed behind at the Porte du Nord iron gate (French Concession)
Battle of Shanghai
This photograph depicts the swell of refugees seeking refuge in the French Concession after Shanghai was turned into a battlefield in the early stages of the Sino-Japanese War. The French authorities, overwhelmed by the masses of refugees decided to close the gates to the French Concession. A solution, however, was found by Father Jacquinot, a Jesuit priest who negotiated a demilitarised safe zone in the city to host refugees.
Copyright @ Virtual Cities Project (Institut d’Asie Orientale).