The movie Dawning was officially released across the country yesterday. "云上日出" means "suffering is like dark cloud, and the sun/hope will rise finally".
"My feeling about the movie is that finding another possibility that goes beyond heavy expression," said one netizen who watch the movie. As we gazing upon these war-era children, the abyss of history is also staring at us.
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Xia Jiajun is leading role in the movie. A group of children hiding in the reeducation centre and no positive contact with the invaders, where they could learn and play in the reeducation centre. They were also unfortunate, because they couldn't avoid germ warfare, that is invisible to scratching, but a real existing death.
In the movie, little Xia Jiajun looks at his friends, one after another, they get sick and finally lost their breath. Looking at the instructor who go to Changsha for finding medicine and vaccination, also died from the plague... Bacteria devour living creatures. Changde became a dead city.
Japanese soldiers wearing gas masks
That seemingly carefree and happy childhood, torn apart by the pain of separation, formed a strong contrast, making audiences in this film, through heaven and hell, met angels and demons, seperately.
The Golden Childhood Under The Bacterial War
Xia Jiajun said that the only "golden childhood" in his life was in the reeducation centre.
Religion makes Noah's ark as a symbol of refuge and solidarity in western literary works. In fact, Noah's ark also exists in China: during the second world war, in order to protect the children in the war, Chinese social workers raise money to set up children's education centers all over the country, which known as the "cradle of war".
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According to historical records, the reeducation center in the film has built a home for about 1,000 children in a war-torn environment. Social workers/teachers tried their best to create a good living and learning environment for the children, so that they could avoid being used as children labor by the Japanese army, enslaved education or being killed directly.
In the movie, children are not a image of the weak, they also have their own power and dreams. They fold paper boats to pray for their relatives on the front lines of the war. They accompany and warm their companions with their small bodies. They are no different from normal children.
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Remember The Dead Children & Speaking For The Survival Elders
Dawning tells a reality that Chinese don't want to face and recall, it is one of the most unforgettable and suffering memories: From 1997 to 2007 year, the survivors family of the germ war sued Japan 28 court sessions in total, but Japanese courts eventually declared that they would not admit the crimes and would not apologize or compensate the victims, and the following appeals were also rejected. In May 2007, China lost a lasting 10-year civil bacterial war lawsuit. Until today, the Japanese government still has not publicly apologize and compensate to the victims.
On August 11, 1997, the first bacterial warfare lawsuit was filed
China was the only country attacked by a large scale of bacteriological weapons, and also the biggest victim of human bacteriological weapons during World War II.
The old survivors who sued Japanese government, now only 18 remain. I was shocked and angry, at the same time I was also worried: Would this period of history disappear with the old victims pass away? Would they wait until all they died but the Japanese government didn't apologizes to the them?
I hope more people know the history about Changde Bacterial War, because there are still a group of old victims (only 18 people left today) are waiting for a justice, an apology. I do not know how long they could live in the world? Could they wait for an apology and compensation from the Japanese government before pass away?
Deployment map of Japanese bacterial warfare
Those survivors today are the children who suffered from bacterial warfare yesterday. Some surviving children have suffered from the legacy of the bacterial war, while others have been deprived of the right to grow up forever.
This film is not only a voice for that era, but also a voice for the victims. At the same time, it has a profound educating meaning for the healthy growth of modern children.
"We should not be consumed by the pain of the past, nor can we exchange tears for cheap sympathy. Salvation should be through ourself not others." We should have the courage to face up to the past, be soberly aware of the responsibility we shoulder, and speak up for the only 18 elderly survivors.
History is a mirror. If you forget history, you would repeat it.
电影《云上日出》昨天在全国正式公映。这部影片名字的含义是 "苦难如同乌云，终将迎来日出” 。
"我感觉这部电影就在于找到一种超越沉重表达的另一种可能性”，这是一位网友在观看电影之后的感受。当我们凝望这些战争年代的孩子时，历史的深渊也在凝视着我们。
Dawning-Bacterial War in Changde
电影以主角夏家骏展开，这批躲在教养院的孩子们，没有与侵略军有正面的接触，他们可以在教堂中学习和玩游戏，但他们也是不幸的，因为他们无法躲避细菌战的毒手，那是看不见摸不着，却又真实存在的生死恐惧。
电影里，小夏家骏看着自己的小伙伴们，一个又一个的染病不起，最后没了呼吸。看着去长沙寻找药品和防疫针的教官，也命丧于鼠疫……细菌吞噬着一条条活生生的生命。常德成为了一座死城。
戴防毒面具的日军
那看似无忧无虑的美好童年，被撕裂的分离痛楚，形成了强烈的对比，让观众在这部电影之中，分别走过了天堂与地狱，遇见了天使和魔鬼。
战火下的"金色童年"
夏家骏老人说, 在儿童教养院生活的经历，是他人生中唯一的“金色童年”。
宗教，让“诺亚方舟”在西方文艺作品中一直都是避难所与同舟共济的象征。事实上中国也有“诺亚方舟”的存在: 二战期间，为了庇佑战争中的儿童，中国社会爱心人士四处筹资在全国各地建立了儿童教养院，这些教养院在日后被称为 “烽火中的摇篮”。
Dawning-Bacterial War in Changde
根据历史记载，电影里两江儿童教养院已为近1000名儿童构建了一个战乱环境下的家。教工们尽力为儿童创造一个良好的生存学习环境，让儿童避免了被日军充当劳力、奴化教育甚至直接被杀害。
电影中，儿童并不是一个被戕害的弱者形象，他们也有自己的力量和梦想。他们折一只只纸船为抗战前线的亲人祈福，用小小的身躯陪伴、温暖同伴，他们和我们的童年并没有太大的区别。
Dawning-Bacterial War in Changde
缅怀逝去的孩子，为幸存老人发声
电影讲述的是中国人不愿意回忆，却也是最难忘的记忆：从1997年到2007年， 细菌战幸存者们对日本进行诉讼，经历了28次开庭，但日本法庭最终宣布，不承认罪行，对受害者不予赔偿，随后的两次申诉也均被驳回。一场跨时10年的中国民间细菌战诉讼案，于2007年5月以中方败诉告终。直到今天，日本政府也没有公开对这些受害者道歉和赔偿。
1997年8月11日，第一次细菌战诉讼起诉
中国是二战中唯一一个被大规模地进行过细菌武器攻击的国家，也是人类细菌武器最大的受害国。
而当初上诉的61名老人，如今仅存18人时。我感到非常震惊和悲愤，同时也隐隐地担忧：这段历史难道要随着老人们的逝世而消失吗？难道要等到幸存者全都离世了，日本政府再来向受害者道歉吗？
我希望用自己的力量让更多人知道，在中国常德，还有一群老人(今天仅仅只剩下18人) 正苦苦等待着一份公道，我不知道他们还能活多久？他们还能不能等到日本政府的道歉和赔偿？
日军细菌战的部署图
现在幸存下来的老人就是当年遭受细菌战的孩子。有些孩子一直饱受细菌战后遗症的折磨，另一些孩子则被战争永远剥夺了长大的权利。
这部电影不仅是在为那个时代发声，也在为受害者发声，同时也对现代儿童的健康成长具有非常深刻的教育意义。
“我们不应该被往昔的痛苦耗尽生命的火花，更不能用眼泪换取廉价的同情，救赎应该通过自我，而不是别人”。我们要有正视过去的勇气，清醒地意识到肩负的责任，为仅存的18位幸存老人发声。
忘记历史，必将重蹈覆辙。
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