A private museum to house historical documents on the War of
Resistance Against Japanese Aggression (1937-45) is to open free of
charge this July in Nanjing, capital of east China's
Jiangsu Province.
Wu Xianbin, a 42-year-old owner of a Nanjing-based manufacturing
factory, is the sole founder of the museum.
The two-storey hall covers 1,000 square meters and occupies the
northeast part of Wu's factory. The exhibition space will comprise
four rooms displaying hundreds of pieces of weaponry used by
Japanese troops in Nanjing, 2,000 books on the war in various
languages and 30,000 photographs taken during the period.
"It took me three years and 3 million yuan (US$375,000) to
collect all those materials related to the war," Wu was quoted by
the Beijing-based China Daily.
"I have spent a long time finding and convincing those former
Japanese army journalists to sell me the photos they took during
the war."
Wu, initially a book collector, bought an English book on the
1937 Nanjing Massacre by chance in 2002, which turned out to be of
high historical value.
Wu began investigating the war and decided to set up a museum so
that people could remember and learn more about the tragedy and the
war itself.
Wu plans to provide free entry to the museum for all visitors.
He welcomes academics from both China and overseas.
"In addition to experts from China and Japan, I also want to
invite those from other countries. I want them to join the research
and demonstrate their findings to the world in an unbiased way,"
said Wu.
Wu will donate about half a million yuan (US$62,500) to
accommodate academics from all over the world to conduct research
in his museum.
He said experts from both Japan and China have assisted him to
establish the museum.
Local culture authorities have paid close attention to the
development of the museum and support Wu's work.
Wu has exhibited his collections many times in the city.
(Xinhua News Agency April 4, 2006)
