Joseph Lo's studio: Traditional Chinese Poetry

Joseph Lo's Studio

Traditional Chinese Poetry

I wrote the following three poems to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the Nanking Massacre (1937-38). My sincerest thanks to Bernard Cleary for the English translation of these poems.

The Rape of Nanking

Part One

The traces of war have evaporated,
Luxurious buildings springing up in their place.
Nanking's new visage secretly sickens my heart.
The bandits of the Eastern Sea
who came a thousand li to ravage the city,
Who chopped off heads, buried bodies,
and raped our weak women,

Are the same shameless ones who have tampered with the history books.
Three hundred thousand wronged souls surround Japan,
Wanting only to report the facts around the world:
Their blood has not dried in sixty years.

Part Two
For sixty years, Japan has neither admitted nor formally apologized
to the war victims for the Nanking Massacre;
this poem is written as the result of feelings about it.

The principle of forgiveness and conscience
have been thus since ancient times;
It is regrettable that the desperate thieves
were not pursued way back when.
Yet now, the arrogance of the losing country is flaming;
Who will comfort and pity the 300,000 wronged souls?

Nanking was awash with blood at the hands of the devils,
The slaughter of the city,
the raping of our women,
the frenzied hacking of swords.
Let us not forget our national shame by sparing the dwarf bandits;
We must familiarize the children with this lesson in history.

Part Three
For sixty years, Japan has neither admitted nor formally apologized
to the war victims for the Nanking Massacre;
this poem is written as the result of feelings about it.

The dwarf bandits were fierce and relentless in their invasion.
It is uncountable for how many women being raped and Chinese being suffered.
What a race of head-chopping off!
Who will save those 300,000 wronged souls?
Angry! Angry!
The United Nation should hold the justice!

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