"9.18"Historical Museum, Liaoning, China

5Gary T 5:00 PM Oct 13, 2015

9-18 "Mukden Incident" Museum
Warning: This is an historically significant museum, but it is not for the faint-hearted. Many of its depictions are quite graphic. The museum commemorates a minor explosion on the South Manchuria Railway on 9-18-1931 which the Japanese used as a pretext to invade north China, annex its four northern provinces, and create the puppet state of Manchukuo. War crimes and atrocities figure prominently in the displays, including a diorama of Unit 731 operating on victims stacked like cordwood awaiting a painful death in the name of "science." A similar museum in China is the Nanjing Massacre Museum, as well as the Unit 731 Headquarters in Harbin. "9-18" might compare with Dachau or other Nazi concentration camps now open to the public, or the various Holocaust Museums such as the one in Washington, D.C., or the International Museum of Torture which I saw in Mexico City, or the several museums in Vietnam displaying the torture devices used by the French and, yes, the Americans. It's hard to visit any one of these museums, let alone all of them, without coming away with a profound sense of human depravity. So I recommend avoiding this one unless you have a strong stomach. But the message it sends is one which all human beings need to hear, so I give it a high rating for its importance.

4Pengilld 5:00 PM Mar 1, 2015

Powerful and informative museum
Very powerful and moving display dedicated to "guarding against the rebirth of Japanese imperialist militarism" (the Japanese invasion in 1931). Well worth 2-3 hours. A must visit if you want understand more about the Chinese dislike of the Japanese, the spirit of the "Dong Bei" (north east) Chinese and how the Chinese communist party built such strong support. Before you enter there are a few displays. On the right, there are a number of memorials. There is a big bell on the left. The mayor rings the bell out the front every 18 Sept. It serves as a reminder to all in shenyang of the events - a sort of Chinese 'lest we forget'. Spend time looking at the sculpture on the face of the main building. If you look closely you'll make out shapes of bodies and buildings. The first room is also has a powerful sculpture taking all the room. There is a full translation in English. The rest of the exhibition involves very detailed displays and descriptions of the 14 years of the Japanese occupation and Chinese resistance. Unfortunately, very little of this detail is in English - you just get general biased opinions rather than any factual material. However, there is a wealth of visual material so you can work out the main points for yourself . If all else fails start talking English and you may find a student approaches you who will be keen to practice his English (as happened on our visit). The 9.18 incident was the result of a decades-long Japanese imperialist policy aimed at expanding its influence politically and militarily in order to secure access to raw material reserves and other economic resources in the area, particularly food and labour. Generally, the exhibition shows the degree of organised Japanese pre-planning, including encouraging destabilization of the local political environment and garnering support of the locals before any military action was taken (remember china was in the middle of a civil war between chiang kai shek and Maoc at the time - but the Japanese invasion brought them together to fight the common enemy) . Then in the morning of 18 Sept the Japanese assassinated the Chinese north east ruler by blowing up the bridge his train was on. Every year shenyang residents are reminded by the alarms ringing through the city for 3 minutes. The first few rooms document the systematic terrorisation of the local population (people with small kids should be warned of the graphic photos of beheadings and heads that were hung from posts) . Even prisoners were encouraged to rat on each other with a caste system - the display with a prison bowl and wooden cylinders with Chinese numbers actually shows how much food a class 1 got compared to a class 7 (which had a lot more wood talking up space in the food bowl). The germ experiments are also documented and make Dr gobles look like an amateur. But you should really go to Harbin to see unit 731 if you are into that. A comment was made that the Japanese pharmaceutical industry would not be what it is today without those live experiments on many prisoners. There is also a room which documents the 'traitor' last emporer who was instated as a puppet head of state, and his personal assistant who negotiated the arrangements with the Japanese. There are a few rooms which show the Chinese resistance and a few of the heros - e. G. the general who starved for days in the winter forest and the woman who was tortured to death but never gave away any information. The league of nation's inspection of the North East is also displayed, the turning point of the war in 1939 as well as the ultimate Japanese surrender and trials. Interestingly, there is also some material on why the Korean War was started (to rid the Peninsula of the Japanese kanto army). The final rooms show the communist party's plug - basically 'without the party this could all happen again'. Make sure you check out the gift shop for communist and war related souvenirs. Interestingly, even though there are photos of the post - war Chinese and Japanese leadership meeting and smiling, the Japanese donated sculpture to the museum is placed outside next to what looks like the sewer outlet (although I was assured it's a manhole to an electricity conduit).