RON+Peter

**Social Class:** Low class **Financial situation:** Awful due to father's debt. **Appearance:** I am an ordinary Chinese man who has average height and weight. **Location (** [|**map**]  **): Nanking** (Map is wrong; it's of France) **Habitual locations:** I always go to work to pay my debt. **Daily routine:** I wake up early, go to work, work for 10 hours and come back home to sleep. **Personality/Quirks/Unique Personality Traits:** I am a generous, kind man who likes to help people. Different than others, I don't deceive people to get mor e money. **Past/individual-family history:** My grandfather has been in military during his 30s. My father was once a successful merchant, but one mistake made his failure. **Family:** I am the only child of my family, and my parents have died leaving only debts. **Social relations with your own and other classes (people you deal with or know about in other classes, AND your opinions and feelings about them):** I respect all the people regarding social stances. I usually deal with my co-workers and help them if they need help. **Religion:** Confucianism/Buddhism **Education:** I didn't get educated since our family had no money to educate me.
 * Name:** Kong Bao tai
 * Age:** 20 years old
 * Occupation:** Soldier

__//** Diary Entry 1 **//__

Diary # I: Calm Before the Storm

 * //__December 7th, 1937 12:00 A.M. __//**

Today, I woke up at 7:00 A.M. preparing to go out and work. My boring life begins now. Due to my parent's unimaginable debt, I have to work in the paper factory for my entire life. Or, maybe I can recover before 90s.... In the factory, I heard something that I never imagined of. My co-workers talked about the invasion of Japan. According to the rumors, Japan has already taken over Tientsin-Peking region and planned to invade China. I first took this as a joke since they usually joke around. However, after more than a group of people talking, I became serious. I heard that Japan’s power has grown ever since they modernized their country. They were even successful to defeat the powerful Russians. I thought, “Why not China?”  Yet, I am relieved by the fact that it’s just a rumor, but if it comes true, I’ll be one of the recruited soldiers who have to fight for the country. I never thought of the word “death” and “kill” in my entire life. “ What should I do? Nanking is placed near the coast line and Japanese will probably use battle ships to invade our country..... Should I runaway??” With a shudder of horror, I couldn’t work properly. However, in the other hand , by going into the army, my meaningless life can change. I have been working in the factory for 10 y ears, didn’t experience any marvelous things in my life. At least I can die in honor if I fight for the country. With a positive mind, I fell a sleep.

Diary # 2: A Knock at the Gate
__**//December 15th, 1937, 8:00 P.M.//**__

As I expected, Japan finally declared war against us.... Actually, it has been 4 days since they started to massacre Chinese soldiers. We just lacked information. Chinese army begun recruiting men to fight for the country. However, thousands of young men were drafted to fight in the war. When I was assigned into the troop, I was surprised by the age of young soldiers. Most of them were teenagers who didn’t even know what’s happening. Tang Shengzhi, the commander of the army gathered about 100,000 soldiers, largely untrained. He announced that Japanese troops already arrived at Nanking, but the city would not surrender and would fight to the death. I thought, “at least I had some-what mind to join the army....but what about these poor young people?” I know the fall of Nanking would be simply a matter of time. Think about it! Modernized weapon, large army and unique strategy. These are what Japanese have  for an  advantage over us. Why can’t we just surrender and save our lives? Why are we fighting even though we know that we’ll lose? I couldn’t think any more, since we had no time to waste. Japanese troops had already passed the three gates on the eastern side when we arrived. I vomited after looking at the scene that they made. It was horrendous and bloody scene I never saw in my life. I can see that they fired indiscriminately at Chinese people; wether they were baby or women. It was hard to say, but some of the women were killed after being raped. I questioned myself, “Is this what people do during war? Violence and sexual harassment?” My sadness and hopelessness turned into anger and resentment. They seem to kill people without feeling any kind of sympathy. “ Does idiot emotionless murderers!” I thought, and promised to revenge toward them . By this event, I became more cold-hearted person. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Another command was ordered from the officials, which was to defense the western walls of Nanking. We headed to the walls, and waited them. When the troops came close to the wall, we attacked them fiercely to survive. However, the fight was hopeless. By lack of training, majority of us couldn’t even shoot well and didn’t know how to reload the guns. Some of the teenagers tried to run away and were shot by the Chinese supervisory. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Japanese already knew our plan and their predominating weapons swept our troops. We fought until Tang Shenzhi ordered us to retreat back to the base. In a melancholy mind, half of the soldiers retreated back. Even half of the soldiers couldn't survive in healthy body. Most of them were injured and immobile to fight. After eating some food, our troops fell a sleep to prepare the next fight.


 * //__<span style="color: #6e4ae3; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 150%;">Diary Entry 3 __//**

Diary # 3: The Gates Come Tumbling Down

 * //__December 16th, 1937, 11:00 P.M.__//**

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Only an hour has past since our troops fell a sleep; we heard <span style="color: #ff0000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">a gunfire <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">. In an instant, a Japanese soldier shouted, "Ambush the filthy Chinese!". Yes, it was Japanese's surprise attack against us. Hurriedly, we tried to pick our guns to fight them back, but we had no chance. Their enormous troops obligated us from fighting. I saw some of our men running away from the scene, but they were brutally killed by our supervisors. So, I fold my mind of joining the Awol. Instead, I lied down on the pile of dead fellow soldiers, acting as a corpse. My plan was to wait until the arduous fight end. As I lied down for a couple minutes, I figured out that I wasn’t the only one who was acting. He was right beside me, looking for chance to flee from the event. In a low voice, I asked his name. His name was “Zheng Jian han”, who actually had same life pattern as me. He was born in a poor family and had to work in a factory to feed them. When he was drafted from the army, first thing he concerned about was his family. He was the only source of money, and his family relied on him. In a shattered voice, he said, “I hope my family is still alive...” I felt sympathy for him. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">As the battle ended as Japan’s victory, two Japanese soldiers tried to recheck the corpse. They tried to shout out loud after finding out our situation, but we stopped them by shooting their chests with the gun. Simultaneously, I felt thrill and depression. Thrill of revenging our fellow soldiers, but depression of killing people. I thought, “Japanese and us have no difference. We both are just victims of competition among nations...” Zheng Jian han and I quickly ran away from the scene.

__//** Diary Entry 4 **//__

**Diary # 4: Through the Gates into Hell**

 * Due**: Wednesday, December 1, 2010

__//**December 19th, 1937 8:00 A.M.**//__

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Blood, dead bodies everywhere. This war is getting worse and ridiculous............. Not only chinese soldiers, but Nanking citizens were violently massacred by those evil Japanese. As we walked through the street, it was hard to tell how many times we vomited by the events that they made. I see no mercy from their action. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">They just kill people at random; wether they are children or women. My resentment went straight to the Chinese government. I thought, “What are they doing when we are dying here uselessly? Why can’t they support us with supplies? <span style="color: #ff0000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Did they lost hope of our city? <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">” <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I couldn’t even think more. We first threw our military uniform into the river to act like one of the innocent citizens. And then, we planned of escaping the city by heading west to Chongqing. According to the rumors, Nanking will be in the hands of Japan less than 3 days. We should at least escape here before they take over the city. Satisfying our hunger with water, we ran continuously until we sank down onto the ground. I was delightful that we ran much as we planned, but we couldn’t even barely talk by the hunger. In desperate mind, we started to search through the dead bodies for food. Like barbarians, we ate anything in sight. This showed how many days we starved and suffered through the war. Before we could fulfill our stomach, Japanese sent out scouts to look for the enemy. Fortunately, we were camouflaged by the darkness of night and therefore, we urgently restarted to run toward north to accomplish our goal of Chongqing. As we were running, I felt some guiltiness of fleeing away from the army, but it was my instinct that moved my body.

**Diary # 5: A Survivor**

 * Due**: Wednesday, December 1, 2010


 * //__June 20th, 1950, 12:00 P.M.__//**

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">20 years have been passed since the unforgettable war broke out. This will be my last journal in my entire life. The letter proves that Zheng Jian han and I were successful in running away from Nanking. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">When we arrived at Chongqing, we found out that most of the armies were assembled- fortifying the headquarter of the country. As we expected, they didn’t give a care of Nanking, busy doing their own jobs. I felt aggrieved toward the government, but I couldn’t do anything about it. All we could do were watching the Japanese movements by hearing the news from others. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">After the arrival of Chongqing, Zheng Jian han and I said goodbye to each other and separated. I rejoined the Chongqing army and helped protecting the government. T <span style="color: #ff0000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">he war took in place for 7 y <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">ears and our country fought aggressively to dominate over them. Fortunately, we were successful in driving out the Japanese from our country. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">My age of 27, the war finally ended. However, they left us huge amount of debt and casualties. The Nanking battle was named as “the massacre of Nanking” since 12 million people died out there. It was the most casualties in China’s history and the news reporters tried to search for survivors. When I was interviewed, I talked about my true feelings. I said that I have been dreaming nightmares since the incident ended. I couldn’t handle how I betrayed the city and chose to runaway. In the dream, I saw dead people blaming on me of my behavior. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Nowadays, I’m heading almost my 40s. I still regret what I did; fleeing away. I should of fought with my fellows until the death. I wish the God can forgive my sin.


 * //__<span style="color: #0095ff; font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif; font-size: 200%;">Works Cited __//**


 * //__<span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 32px;">"Portrait of a Chinese Soldier - Rights Managed - Corbis." __//__ Corbis Images – Premium Quality Stock Photography and Illustrations //. Web. 30 Nov. 2010. <http://www.corbisimages.com/Enlargement/U820487INP.html>.//__**

__<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 32px;">// Nanking Incident //. Digital image. Web. 30 Nov. 2010. <http://germanhistorydocs.ghi-dc.org/images/20012125-p%20copy.jpg>. __ __<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 32px;">// Nanking Massacre //. Digital image. Web. 30 Nov. 2010. <http://chinadigitaltimes.net/wp-content/uploads/mt-old/_thumbnail_nanjing-thumb.jpg> __

__<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 32px;">"Nanking Battles." // Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia //. Web. 30 Nov. 2010. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nanking_Massacre> __ __**<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 32px;">// Nanking Massacre //. Digital image. Web. 30 Nov. 2010. <http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_YxzIWDR56kY/SLLkfG1XbFI/AAAAAAAAAD0/iYfahHIM3N4/s400/Nanking+Massacre+by+Japanese+in+WWII.jpg> **__ __<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 32px;">Repent. Digital image. Web. 30 Nov. 2010. <http://ojsfile.ohmynews.com/STD_IMG_FILE/2008/0216/IE000870441_STD.jpg> __