![](\"https:\/\/ajia.site\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/\u706b\u57ce1938-300x300.jpg\")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
\u201cDeep in my mem\u00ado\u00adry, there is a city that trea\u00adsures my child\u00adhood\u2026 Please allow me to describe the ancient city of my mem\u00ado\u00adry in my own way. When it appears before my eyes, it is always beau\u00adti\u00adful and sad, and it has unfor\u00adget\u00adtable mem\u00ado\u00adries.\u201d \u2014 When Cai Gao wrote this open\u00ading state\u00adment in the form of a let\u00adter in \u201cFire City: 1938\u201d with deep affec\u00adtion, her writ\u00ading brought out not only her per\u00adson\u00adal traces, but also includ\u00aded many mem\u00ado\u00adries that far tran\u00adscend\u00aded her indi\u00advid\u00adu\u00adal\u00adi\u00adty.<\/p>\n
It was the mem\u00ado\u00adry of a city burned down, blend\u00aded into the painful war mem\u00ado\u00adries of hun\u00addreds of mil\u00adlions of peo\u00adple. Per\u00adhaps because it was too painful, or per\u00adhaps because it seemed insignif\u00adi\u00adcant com\u00adpared to the greater suf\u00adfer\u00ading, it was grad\u00adu\u00adal\u00adly for\u00adgot\u00adten\u2026<\/p>\n
There were also cities that were burned down dur\u00ading the war. Even if we don\u2019t read his\u00adto\u00adry books, we may read about them in lit\u00ader\u00adary works. For exam\u00adple, we read about the burn\u00ading of Moscow dur\u00ading Napoleon\u2019s inva\u00adsion in Tolstoy\u2019s War and Peace, the burn\u00ading of Atlanta dur\u00ading the Civ\u00adil War in Mar\u00adgaret Mitchell\u2019s Gone with the Wind, and Dres\u00adden, which was razed to the ground in the heavy bomb\u00ading before the end of World War II, in Kurt Vonnegut\u2019s Slaugh\u00adter\u00adhouse-Five\u2026 But it was not until I read City of Fire, co-authored by Cai Gao and his daugh\u00adter Aozi, that I real\u00adized that Chang\u00adsha, where I had passed by many times, also had a sim\u00adi\u00adlar mem\u00ado\u00adry.<\/p>\n
The pre\u00advi\u00adous ver\u00adsion of this book, \u201cCity of Fire \u2014 1938\u201d, was pub\u00adlished in 2013. It was born in the \u201cPray for Peace\u201d series of pic\u00adture books co-cre\u00adat\u00aded by Chi\u00adna, South Korea and Japan. It is the sev\u00adenth book joint\u00adly cre\u00adat\u00aded and pub\u00adlished by artists from Chi\u00adna, South Korea and Japan. It has been pub\u00adlished in three coun\u00adtries suc\u00adces\u00adsive\u00adly. For exam\u00adple, the Japan\u00adese ver\u00adsion was pub\u00adlished by Tongx\u00adin Pub\u00adlish\u00ading House in 2014. The trans\u00adla\u00adtor of the Japan\u00adese ver\u00adsion, Yumiko Naka (1948\u20132022), intro\u00adduced it like this: \u201cThere are rows of hous\u00ades full of his\u00adto\u00adry, docks where chil\u00addren play, street cor\u00adners where you can shop and watch plays, streets lined with shops\u2026 From peo\u00adple\u2019s expres\u00adsions, you can feel the tran\u00adquil\u00adi\u00adty of this ancient city. How\u00adev\u00ader, sud\u00adden\u00adly, the kites fly\u00ading in the qui\u00adet sky were replaced by dive bombers, and peo\u00adple\u2019s expres\u00adsions changed from uneasi\u00adness to fear. When you see peo\u00adple flee\u00ading in pan\u00adic from the fire and the city turned into ruins in the sea of fire, you will be sur\u00adprised to find how dif\u00adfer\u00adent these pic\u00adtures are from Cai Gao\u2019s pre\u00advi\u00adous paint\u00adings with an excel\u00adlent sense of col\u00ador.\u201d Per\u00adhaps it is not entire\u00adly a coin\u00adci\u00addence that this Japan\u00adese trans\u00adla\u00adtor who has been com\u00admit\u00adted to cul\u00adtur\u00adal exchanges between Chi\u00adna and Japan for many years was born in Nagasa\u00adki, which was once bombed by an atom\u00adic bomb. She will also have a unique res\u00ado\u00adnance with that painful mem\u00ado\u00adry.<\/p>\n
Cai Gao, born in Chang\u00adsha in 1946, did\u00adn\u2019t actu\u00adal\u00adly expe\u00adri\u00adence the Wenxi Fire that destroyed the ancient city. How\u00adev\u00ader, she heard her uncle and aunt talk about it many times, and she believed it was nec\u00ades\u00adsary to use pic\u00adture books to record these dev\u00adas\u00adtat\u00ading trau\u00admas, which might oth\u00ader\u00adwise be for\u00adgot\u00adten, so that chil\u00addren could feel and under\u00adstand the hor\u00adrors of war. Per\u00adhaps this was the path to last\u00ading peace. How\u00adev\u00ader, the process of cap\u00adtur\u00ading that mem\u00ado\u00adry was dif\u00adfi\u00adcult, and the paint\u00ading felt so heavy that it was left unpaint\u00aded. It was a city\u2019s sor\u00adrow, unfold\u00ading in a sin\u00adgle, long scroll. The ear\u00adly part of the scroll depicts a once pros\u00adper\u00adous and bustling scene of peace, some\u00adwhat rem\u00adi\u00adnis\u00adcent of the paint\u00ading Along the Riv\u00ader Dur\u00ading the Qing\u00adming Fes\u00adti\u00adval. How\u00adev\u00ader, as the two young sis\u00adters in the pic\u00adture pass by the Dasheng Silk Shop on their way home from school, the scene shifts to a streetscape shroud\u00aded in the shad\u00adow of war. Below the large slo\u00adgan \u201cFight the War of Resis\u00adtance and Save the Nation\u201d, there are sev\u00ader\u00adal notices post\u00aded \u2014 which actu\u00adal\u00adly explain the time back\u00adground of the sto\u00adry: \u201cGuangzhou fell\u201d on Octo\u00adber 21, 1938, \u201cWuhan fell\u201d on Octo\u00adber 25, and the Japan\u00adese army invad\u00aded north\u00adern Hunan on Novem\u00adber 8. The peo\u00adple of Chang\u00adsha were informed of the emer\u00adgency evac\u00adu\u00ada\u00adtion after Novem\u00adber 10, and the fire start\u00aded at two o\u2019clock in the morn\u00ading on Novem\u00adber 13.<\/p>\n
Imag\u00adine Zhang Zed\u00adu\u00adan\u2019s paint\u00ading, Along the Riv\u00ader Dur\u00ading the Qing\u00adming Fes\u00adti\u00adval. In the first half, he depict\u00aded the pros\u00adper\u00adi\u00adty and peace\u00adful life of Bian\u00adjing, while in the sec\u00adond half, he set fire to that beau\u00adti\u00adful city and its beau\u00adti\u00adful life. What kind of feel\u00ading would that be? This is exact\u00adly what Cai Gao and his daugh\u00adter Aozi did, and nei\u00adther of them had ever seen Chang\u00adsha before the burn\u00ading! They had to col\u00adlect and orga\u00adnize a wealth of graph\u00adic and tex\u00adtu\u00adal mate\u00adri\u00adals about old Chang\u00adsha, and based on this, they recre\u00adat\u00aded the Chang\u00adsha as remem\u00adbered by the elders. What a mas\u00adsive under\u00adtak\u00ading! And while com\u00adplet\u00ading this project, they also had to cre\u00adate a coher\u00adent and com\u00adplete sto\u00adry, as this was a pic\u00adture book for chil\u00addren.<\/p>\n
A pair of young sis\u00adters appear through\u00adout the scroll, their sil\u00adhou\u00adettes vis\u00adi\u00adble even on the back cover\u2014the elder sis\u00adter, with her long braids, is eas\u00adi\u00adly iden\u00adti\u00adfi\u00adable. Their moth\u00ader spent most of her time with them, from the way home from school to the var\u00adi\u00adous prepa\u00adra\u00adtions for evac\u00adu\u00ada\u00adtion, pack\u00ading their belong\u00adings at home, sleep\u00ading togeth\u00ader under a table (to pro\u00adtect them from bomb\u00ading), and final\u00adly, after the fire broke out, lead\u00ading them to escape. The sis\u00adters\u2019 age at the time like\u00adly made it dif\u00adfi\u00adcult for them to com\u00adpre\u00adhend what exact\u00adly hap\u00adpened, and even their moth\u00ader, in her utter pan\u00adic, might not have under\u00adstood. Cai Gao\u2019s book, \u201cCity on Fire: 1938,\u201d does not attempt to inter\u00adpret the cause and effect of the events. As an artist, she strives to recre\u00adate the feel\u00adings of the peo\u00adple at the time, \u201ctelling the sto\u00adry as a child wit\u00adnessed it, with\u00adout adding any per\u00adson\u00adal com\u00admen\u00adtary.\u201d The sec\u00adond half of the scroll is filled with allu\u00adsions to war, sug\u00adgest\u00ading that this ter\u00adri\u00adble dis\u00adas\u00adter was caused by war. How\u00adev\u00ader, the accom\u00adpa\u00adny\u00ading text is told in a child\u00adlike voice, and this child\u00adish inno\u00adcence and naivet\u00e9 under\u00adscores the enor\u00admi\u00adty and heartache of the tragedy.<\/p>\n
Here, we should par\u00adtic\u00adu\u00adlar\u00adly note the dif\u00adfer\u00adences between the old and new edi\u00adtions. While the images appear sim\u00adi\u00adlar at first glance, the two ver\u00adsions, due to their dif\u00adfer\u00adent bind\u00adings, feel like two dis\u00adtinct books. The old edi\u00adtion pri\u00admar\u00adi\u00adly uti\u00adlizes a con\u00adven\u00adtion\u00adal folio lay\u00adout, with only a sin\u00adgle extend\u00aded page in the cen\u00adter, depict\u00ading the fire. The new edi\u00adtion, how\u00adev\u00ader, restores a con\u00adtin\u00adu\u00adous scroll, or accor\u00addion-style page, thus pre\u00adsent\u00ading the mem\u00ado\u00adry of the ancient city of Chang\u00adsha in an unin\u00adter\u00adrupt\u00aded sequence, stretch\u00ading from the moun\u00adtains and rivers out\u00adside the city to the docks and hous\u00ades on the out\u00adskirts, and then to the city\u2019s dense\u00adly packed streets and alleys, with the city gate tow\u00ader as its land\u00admark. This long scroll cre\u00adates a stark con\u00adtrast between the moments before and after the fire, height\u00aden\u00ading the sense of grief. The new edi\u00adtion\u2019s bind\u00ading also leaves a blank space on the back, where we see a series of pas\u00adtel-col\u00adored paint\u00adings of old Chang\u00adsha, con\u00adtrast\u00ading the peace\u00adful every\u00adday with the dev\u00adas\u00adta\u00adtion of war. How\u00adev\u00ader, per\u00adhaps due to this long scroll-like arrange\u00adment, a folio-like close-up of the dock in the old edi\u00adtion has been omit\u00adted from the new edi\u00adtion; if it had been includ\u00aded in the scroll, this close-up would have dis\u00adrupt\u00aded the con\u00adti\u00adnu\u00adity of the unfold\u00ading image.<\/p>\n
The biggest dif\u00adfer\u00adence between the old and new edi\u00adtions lies in the rela\u00adtion\u00adship between text and image. The old edi\u00adtion\u2019s text has been great\u00adly con\u00addensed and embed\u00added with\u00adin each folio, which helps under\u00adstand some of the details being nar\u00adrat\u00aded. How\u00adev\u00ader, the reduced text seems over\u00adly con\u00adcise, leav\u00ading a sense of lin\u00adger\u00ading mean\u00ading. The new edi\u00adtion\u2019s tex\u00adtu\u00adal treat\u00adment is very bold, and in my mem\u00ado\u00adry, it\u2019s a unique approach to pic\u00adture book text. Cai Gao, speak\u00ading in the voice of the old\u00ader sis\u00adter, writes a four-page let\u00adter describ\u00ading pre-war Chang\u00adsha, the hap\u00adpy life of her fam\u00adi\u00adly and class\u00admates, and then the events that fol\u00adlowed\u2026 \u201cThe fire burned for five days and five nights\u2026 Gone, our school, gone, my home, gone, the ancient city\u2026\u201d\u2014Because the text is not embed\u00added with\u00adin the paint\u00ading, the scroll becomes more free-flow\u00ading. Read\u00aders can read it as a long, word\u00adless book, nar\u00adrat\u00ading the sto\u00adry them\u00adselves. The let\u00adter, writ\u00adten by the young hero\u00adine of the sto\u00adry, can be under\u00adstood as a sep\u00ada\u00adrate let\u00adter writ\u00adten with\u00adin the con\u00adtext of the larg\u00ader sto\u00adry, with\u00adout hav\u00ading to cor\u00adre\u00adspond to the images page by page. This kind of read\u00ading has high\u00ader expec\u00adta\u00adtions for read\u00aders, but also leaves more space for read\u00aders.<\/p>\n
The process of the fire is gen\u00ader\u00adal\u00adly clear, but many details have been lost in his\u00adto\u00adry for var\u00adi\u00adous rea\u00adsons. If read\u00aders are inter\u00adest\u00aded, they can con\u00adsult some his\u00adtor\u00adi\u00adcal books and doc\u00adu\u00adments. In 2006, the CCTV \u201cDis\u00adcov\u00adery\u201d pro\u00adgram team pro\u00adduced a four-episode doc\u00adu\u00admen\u00adtary \u201cChang\u00adsha Wenxi Fire\u201d, which detailed the begin\u00adning and end of this tragedy. Read\u00aders can alsoVis\u00adit the doc\u00adu\u00admen\u00adtary copy\u00adwrit\u00ading web\u00adsite to learn more<\/a>\u2026<\/p>\n Sim\u00adi\u00adlar to the Rus\u00adsians\u2019 burn\u00ading of Moscow in 1812 to resist Napoleon\u2019s unstop\u00adpable inva\u00adsion, Chang\u00adsha in 1938 was des\u00adtined to become a vic\u00adtim of the \u201cscorched earth\u201d pol\u00adi\u00adcy of the War of Resis\u00adtance Against Japan\u00adese Aggres\u00adsion. They chose to burn rather than allow the city to serve as a spring\u00adboard for the Japan\u00adese offen\u00adsive. This hero\u00adic act of self\u00adless sac\u00adri\u00adfice is tru\u00adly inspir\u00ading. Trag\u00adi\u00adcal\u00adly, the exe\u00adcu\u00adtion of the arson was a chaot\u00adic and chaot\u00adic acci\u00addent, result\u00ading in the unnec\u00ades\u00adsary loss of tens of thou\u00adsands of lives, not to men\u00adtion the untold loss of prop\u00ader\u00adty and cul\u00adtur\u00adal relics. Look\u00ading back, from any per\u00adspec\u00adtive, it\u2019s a cause for regret. Peo\u00adple should tru\u00adly con\u00adsid\u00ader how such tragedies can be pre\u00advent\u00aded from hap\u00adpen\u00ading again. There\u00adfore, sto\u00adries like these must be shared with chil\u00addren. First, they must under\u00adstand and feel them, and then they can grad\u00adu\u00adal\u00adly com\u00adpre\u00adhend, reflect, and explore them.<\/p>\n