Number of registered Nanjing Massacre survivors falls to 24

NANJING -- Tang Fulong, a survivor of the Nanjing Massacre, passed away at the age of 90 on Thursday, reducing the number of living registered survivors to 24, the Memorial Hall of the Victims in Nanjing Massacre by Japanese Invaders said on Saturday.

The Nanjing Massacre refers to a period of history that started when Japanese troops captured the then Chinese capital on Dec 13, 1937. In the space of six weeks, the Japanese invaders killed approximately 300,000 Chinese civilians and unarmed soldiers in one of the most barbaric episodes of World War II.

In 1937, Tang's father, cousin and three uncles were captured by the Japanese invaders. Except one of the uncles, who narrowly escaped, the other four were all shot dead by Japanese soldiers.

Eight survivors, including Tang, have passed away since the beginning of 2025, according to the Memorial Hall in Nanjing, capital of east China's Jiangsu Province.

In 2014, China's national legislature designated Dec 13 as a national memorial day for the victims of the Nanjing Massacre.

The Chinese government has preserved the testimonies of survivors, recorded in both written and video transcripts. These documents about the massacre were listed by UNESCO in the Memory of the World Register in 2015.