This July 7 will mark the 74th anniversary of an incident that ultimately led to the killing of over 20 million Chinese and the additional wounding of over 10 million Chinese. This incident is known as the Marco Polo Bridge Incident, or Lugouqiao Incident (盧溝橋事變, or 七七盧溝橋事變). This is an important date for all Chinese, historians, and peace-loving people of the world, because this incident marked the beginning of the Eight Year War of Resistance that China fought against the invasion and occupation of China by Japan, or the beginning of the Asian part of World War II.
Taiji Helps Depression in the Elderly
April 2011
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Recently a medical study indicated that practicing Taiji [1] can help to relieve depression among the elderly. The study was published in the March 6, 2011 issue of the American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry [2]. According to the study’s first author Dr. Helen Lavretsky, a UCLA professor-in-residence of psychiatry, “This is the first study to demonstrate the benefits of tai chi in the management of late-life depression.” A summary of the study was published recently in Science Daily [3].
Jewish-Chinese Connection During WWII: How a Chinese Diplomat Saved Thousands of Jews
April 2011
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Tens of thousands of Jews living in Austria wanted to leave their country after Germany annexed Austria in March 1938 and started persecuting the Jews. The persecution of Jews in Austria (and in Europe in general) came to a peak on November 9-10, 1938 with a series of attacks on Jews known as “Kristallnacht” (also known as the Night of Broken Glass). During Kristallnacht, Jewish homes, shops, towns and villages were ransacked, as SA stormtroopers and civilians destroyed buildings with sledgehammers, leaving the streets covered in pieces of smashed windows—the origin of the name “Night of Broken Glass.” In Vienna alone, 95 synagogues or houses of prayer were destroyed. However, in order for Jews to leave Austria, they needed to have a visa from a foreign country. This was not easy, especially after the July 6-13, 1938 Evian Conference. This was a conference initiated by President Franklin D. Roosevelt to discuss the issue of increasing numbers of Jewish refugees fleeing Nazi persecution, but the result of the conference was that 31 countries (out of a total of 32, with the Dominican Republic as the only exception) refused to increase or even allow Jewish immigrants due to their fear of Nazi Germany. Dr. Ho Feng-Shan, the young Chinese consul-general in Vienna from May 1938 to May 1940, risked his life and career and acting against the orders of his superior, Chen Jie, the Chinese ambassador to Germany, issued visa to any Jew who requested one.
Review of Ying-Ying Chang’s Memoir “The Woman Who Could Not Forget”
“To give a voice to the voiceless and to live her life for others” was the essence of Iris Chang’s life. In her beautiful memoir The Woman Who Could Not Forget: Iris Chang Before and Beyond “The Rape of Nanking,” Dr. Ying-Ying Chang, Iris’ mother, used her intimate knowledge of her daughter and extensive collections of letters, emails, and conversations between mother and daughter to reconstruct Iris’ short but courageous life and her tragic death. Iris’ book The Rape of Nanking: The Forgotten Holocaust of World War II almost single-handedly retrieved the Rape of Nanking from the forgotten attic of history and placed it in the forefront of international political discourse. She gave voice to the thousands and thousands of victims who either died forgotten or survived in shame and misery. She endured suffering in her own life and unjustified attacks from the ultra-right wing in Japan, as well as in the U.S. Ultimately she gave her own life so that others’ lives can be enriched.
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