Data of Japanese invasion of China on August 28th, 1937.

This photo is more famous than Wang Xiaoting himself. In the eventful autumn of 1937, 65438+300 million people all over the world have seen this photo.

1937 After the "August 13th Incident", the Battle of Songhu broke out. On August 28th, Japanese planes bombed Shanghai South Railway Station. More than 200 waiting women and children were killed and the whole station was in ruins. Wang Xiaoting, a photojournalist from China who worked for Hearst News Agency in the United States, witnessed at the scene: a child covered in blood was sitting on the railroad track crying. He captured this moment with the last point of the film. These films and pictures only lasted for more than ten seconds, and he intercepted one of the shots and became the photo above.

The film was sent to Manila by a US Navy warship and then to new york by plane. Two weeks later, it appeared on the cover of the influential American Life magazine.

According to the analysis of communication scholars, such a publicly published photo strongly influenced American public opinion at that time and aroused strong international repercussions. Since Shanghai South Railway Station is far away from the war zone and has no military facilities, Japan's bombing is completely aimed at innocent civilians. President Roosevelt immediately protested to Japan, and countries also condemned Japan's actions.

Faced with the pressure of international public opinion, the Japanese lied that the pilot mistakenly thought that the platform was China's army being mobilized, so there was a "mistaken bombing". At the same time, the Japanese offered a reward for the capture of Wang Xiaoting. He was forced to flee to Hong Kong.

In addition to this picture of "Children under Japanese Air Attack in Shanghai South Railway Station", most of the video materials that people can see today are also from Wang Xiaoting.

Wang Jianlong, his son, recalled that Shanghai was bombed by the Japanese almost every day, sometimes several times a day. My father takes a movie camera to shoot news documentaries every day. He still has four or five cameras hanging on him, running around the war zone. At that time, most of the battlefield photos published in Shanghai newspapers came from his lens.

Wang Xiaoting said in his later memoirs: I ran around shooting all day. Try to use the lens to record the turbulent China society.

Wang Jianlong remembers that his father went out early and came back late every day. Sometimes he is very excited when he comes back, and sometimes he doesn't want to talk when he comes back. "He is photographing the dead and dying people he sees on the ground every day, and his heart is very sad."

One day, Wang Xiaoting was in a bad mood when he came home, because he went to film a bloody battle in eight hundred heroes and saw soldiers falling down one by one.

This historical fact is: 1937, 10/0. On October 27th, Xie Jinyuan, the head of the 524th regiment of the 262nd Brigade of the 88th Division, was ordered to lead the main force of the regiment into the four-lane warehouse on the north bank of Suzhou Creek to carry out the sniper task, and fought bloody battles with the Japanese for four days and four nights. At that time, Chinese and foreign people watching the war on the other side found that there was a man with a camera in the rain of bullets. This is Wang Xiaoting.

However, this is already a vague name.

The author first asked a famous photojournalist. He patted his forehead and said, Wang Xiaoting, the photo he took of Japanese bombing Shanghai Railway Station is very famous. But he went on to say, no matter how much, I don't know.

He recommended an old gentleman of news photography to the author. On hearing Wang Xiaoting's name, the old man just said, "I don't know him either. However, Wu Qun, who specializes in the history of photography in China, has passed away. He published an article in the magazine History of Photography, entitled' Wang Xiaoting, the most active battlefield photographer in the early days of the Anti-Japanese War'. "

He published this issue of the magazine. Read it to the reporter. This article is short and has no personal background about Wang Xiaoting. The key point is to introduce this famous photo by quoting the records in the History of Photography edited by Jiang Qisheng.

"Anyway, my information here is very limited. There is very little about Wang Xiaoting. I think Wu Qun has collected as many things as possible, that's all. " He finally said.

A senior personage of the China Photographers Association told the reporter that there is really not much information about Wang Xiaoting in the mainland at present, even if you inquire from various aspects, "it is estimated that it will be enough". Because Wang Xiaoting later went to the United States and died in Taibei.

"The photo of Wang Xiaoting was taken so well that we know it today. In fact, we have not seen many photos of the anti-Japanese war at that time. " He said loudly.

In his view, our history of anti-Japanese war photography is "shortened by half" because "we pay more attention to the photography of the Eighth Route Army, but there is basically no photography in the Kuomintang-controlled areas".

Recently, a publishing house published a collection of historical photos. When he saw it, he found that many photos had never been seen before. As soon as the customer inquired, he knew that the editor was from Taiwan Province Province. Many photos were taken from Taiwan Province province.

People don't know Wang Xiaoting now, but they only know a little about him. Someone was moved by him and wrote the following words: "Please remember him, Wang Xiaoting. A photographer who records hell. Remember his greatness, his truth, his cruelty, and his unspeakable tenderness. "

Shanghai is the largest city in China, with developed industries and bustling streets. After the July 7th Incident, the Japanese aggressor troops launched the August 13th Incident in Shanghai to expand the war of aggression against China. The Japanese army has mobilized 200,000 troops to attack Shanghai, and at the same time dispatched 100 planes to repeatedly carry out destructive bombing of Shanghai. On the afternoon of August 1937, Japanese planes bombed Shanghai. Bombs landed on Nanjing Road on the Bund, and Huamao Hotel and Zhonghui Hotel were destroyed. Nanjing Road is a mess. In the ruins of the bombed building, the injured were pressed to the ground and groaned in pain. The bomber was bloody and mutilated. A few minutes later, the intersection of Yuqiliao Road and Aiduoya Road was also bombed. This area is also one of the downtown areas in Shanghai, and there are many refugees on both sides of the road. The bomb fell here, and most of the houses nearby were destroyed or collapsed. More than 20 cars parked on the roadside all caught fire, and the cables were blown off and fell to the ground, causing a fire, which made the disaster even more tragic. The victim's mutilated limbs were scattered everywhere, and the streets were covered with blood.

The bombing caused 65,438+0,742 innocent civilians to die, 65,438+0,873 people to be injured, and the houses and property destroyed and burned were incalculable. At noon on August 23rd, 1937, Japanese planes bombed Nanjing Road and Zhejiang Road. Shixian company was bombed, the wires were broken and many places caught fire. 2 15 people were killed, and a young mother was lying in a pool of blood, leaving only two bloody feet in her arms. In addition, more than 570 people were killed.

At 2 pm on August 28th of the same year, Japanese planes bombed Hainan Railway Station crazily. There are two stations in Shanghai, North Station and South Station. After "August 13th", the North Station was in a war zone, and the traffic was completely cut off. The South Station became the only exit for land traffic. At that time, refugees from Shanghai and its vicinity flocked to flee, and the South Station was crowded. The first batch of four Japanese planes bombed the South Station, killing more than 500 refugees. Soon, eight Japanese planes flew over the South Station and dropped bombs, killing more than 200 people. The overpass, platform and tracks of the station were blown to powder, and the ground was covered with charred and mutilated bodies. There are bodies scattered on the platform, and there are lead skins and boards on it. Many women who were killed in the square clung to their headless and limbless children. Molotov cocktails thrown by Japanese planes ignited the Waijieqi and Zhengjiaqiao outside the station. At that time, there was thick smoke and crying, which was terrible and terrible. Shanghai South Railway Station is far from the crossfire zone, and there are no military facilities at all. China's army bombed the South Railway Station, which was a planned brutal massacre.

On September 18, Japanese planes bombed Yangshupu and other places in the east of Shanghai, dropping several incendiary bombs, which covered the fire in factories and residential areas in this area and caused heavy losses. At 8 o'clock in the morning, the factory building of Yihe Cotton Mill was shot, and the beater immediately caught fire. Then, the office buildings on East Broadway Road and Fair Road were shot and the fire spread rapidly. In addition, industrial areas and residential areas, such as Zhaofeng Road Warehouse, a residential area east of Broadway Road, and Peilin Foreign Egg Factory, caught fire and burned to scorched earth.

Under the indiscriminate bombing of Japanese planes day and night, Shanghai was seriously damaged. Only 92 cultural and educational institutions and schools were attacked by Japanese planes (some of them were bombed and shelled), and 75% of them were completely destroyed. Many medical and health institutions were also bombed. For example, on August 18 and August 19, the Japanese bombed Zhiru Southeast Medical College and the Third Rescue Team of Nanxiang Red Cross successively.

Regarding the destruction of Shanghai by bombing, it is clear at a glance to quote the report of Shanghai Miller Review Weekly on March 1938: "At least 65,438+10,000 shops were destroyed, including the owner's residence and property. These shops were either burned, blown up or destroyed or robbed. If we drive past Hongkou, Yangshupu, Zhabei and Heather, but see the streets on both sides, they are in ruins and often extend for miles. 1932 After the Battle of Songhu, the area about one mile wide and two miles long was seriously damaged. This time, it is not surprising that there are often no tiles left in the area over three kilometers. In many places, the damage is almost indescribable. Many small shops and houses near the two-way administration were blown up. "

More than 60 years ago, a photo entitled "Children under Japanese air strikes at Shanghai South Railway Station" shocked the whole world. In the picture, a child covered in blood is sitting on the railway track in the ruins of the railway station, crying in fear. This photo was taken by the famous news photographer Wang Xiaoting. It is highly respected in the press and photography circles at home and abroad and is regarded as a war classic. The connotation of the photo is very rich, and there are many stories around it that are worth remembering forever.

During the "August 13th" Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895 in Songhu, the Japanese successively dispatched 100 planes to bomb the downtown area of Shanghai, turning a large area of bustling blocks into broken walls, and countless people were displaced and became refugees.

With the war in Shanghai North Railway Station, South Railway Station has become the main channel on land. Chinese and foreign charitable organizations have been helping and repatriating refugees for days, with thousands of people every day. The station was crowded with refugees inside and outside.

On August 28th, 1937, the Japanese army claimed that it would bomb this area, because the Japanese army had gathered in heather. At 2 pm 10, six bombers flew over the south station under the guidance of two reconnaissance planes. Jiangxi Guild Hall is repatriating a large number of Jiangxi refugees, and other refugees are also flocking. About 65,438+0,800 people were waiting at the South Station, including many women and children. The plane kept diving and bombing, dropping more than 20 bombs, immediately killing more than 250 refugees, injuring more than 500 people and destroying the Shanghai-Hangzhou railway transportation hub. Shanghai's Li Bao recorded: "The station building, overpass, water tower and garage were blown up on the spot, and all the refugees waiting at the platform were in trouble, killing 600 to 700 people. The deceased was lying on the ground, the injured were sideways, the heads of the residual limbs were everywhere, and the blood was flowing ... The scene was terrible. "

After the incident, the overwhelming attack of international public opinion made the Japanese side at a loss. The south station is far from the crossfire zone and there are no military facilities. The reporter of Zilin Happy News patrolled the streets and lanes of Heather and confirmed that there were no China soldiers. The Japanese military argued that it was a "mistaken bombing", claiming that the pilots mistakenly regarded the railway station warehouse as an arsenal and the waiting refugees as mobilized troops. In fact, the repatriation of refugees from the South Station has long been well known, and the Japanese army knows the situation around the South Station like the back of its hand. The so-called "accidental bombing" can only be said to be shattered glass. The argumentative Japanese claimed that these photos were forged by Wang Xiaoting for anti-Japanese propaganda.

After the bombing, the children cried by the tracks because of fright and pain. Then the adults came with the boy, put the boy down and hugged him. The adults settled the boy and came back to hug him.

Of the three photos, the picture of the child crying is the most powerful, and it is a bloody accusation against the aggressor.

During the period of 1943, Song Meiling made a propaganda speech in the United States and Canada, which was very successful. Aid and materials flew like snowflakes, and a considerable part of them were marked as donations to children in need.

"Children under Japanese air strikes at Shanghai South Railway Station" is the witness of Japan's war of aggression against China. This tragic picture is the epitome of the Chinese nation's suffering from war disasters. This child is a typical example of thousands of suffering children in Qian Qian. Wang Xiaoting shot at the risk of his life in the war, which captured this shocking moment, nailed the invaders to the shame column forever, and revealed the far-reaching significance of human anti-fascist war. History will remember this moment.