89 representatives from all walks of life attended a commemorative event marking the 89th anniversary of the July 7th Incident at the Memorial Hall of the Victims in Nanjing Massacre by Japanese Invaders on Tuesday.

On July 7, 1937, Japanese soldiers attacked Chinese forces at the Lugou Bridge, marking the beginning of Japan's full-scale invasion of China and China's whole-nation resistance against the Japanese invaders.

During the ceremony, six representatives from different groups struck the Bell of Peace. Xia Yuan, granddaughter of Nanjing Massacre survivor Xia Shuqin was one of them. She recounted her grandmother's wish to see the Japanese government acknowledge the historical facts of the massacre, and said that she would take up her grandmother's mantle to help people understand that chapter of history.

Flowers were presented to mourn innocent victims of the Nanjing Massacre, the compatriots who were brutally killed by Japanese aggressors, the revolutionary martyrs and national heroes who sacrificed their lives for the victory in the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression (1931-1945), and the international soldiers and friends who sacrificed their lives fighting alongside the Chinese people.

After the event, international Purple Grass volunteers from Southeast University read excerpts from The Diaries of John Rabe and The Diaries of Minnie Vautrin, in memory of the foreigner friends who saved Chinese civilians during Nanjing Massacre.

Tang Yining contributed to this story.