Nanjing

Nanjing Massacre Memorial Hall - Part One

The Warmap team met up in March 2017 to discuss their recent visit to the Nanjing Massacre Memorial Hall. The team express their first impressions of the new annex and how it has transformed the site, as well as examine the ways the museum emphasises the role of the communist party in China's victory against the worldwide spread of fascism. Furthermore they discuss the aesthetics of the space and how the institution has attempted to be both nationalistic and diplomatic through its role as memorial, monument, museum and archaeological site.

Nanjing Massacre Memorial Hall - Part Two

The Warmap team analyse how the original dominant area of the Nanjing Massacre Memorial Hall, the Peace Park, has been overshadowed by the new annex and its politically charged messages of victory - a message not necessarily linked to the Nanjing massacre itself. Further to this, the group discuss how the architecture of the site no longer encourages peaceful contemplation, but instead moves the visitor through interpretive spaces which promote nationalism, military triumph and China moving towards a peaceful, global future.

The Warmap team discuss the narrative that underlies the new annex and how this differs dramatically to the rest of the site, especially in terms of how China has moved on from a century of humiliation towards the role of victorious global leader in modern times. Moving on from here, the team question who the intended audience of the new annex is - domestic, international or a combination of both. Finally, the group emphasises the ways in which the CCP (in the past and at present) are featured most triumphantly within the interpretive material on display - a message that has significantly influenced China's reinvigoration of red tourism and dark tourism.