Editor's Note: An honest understanding of World War II is essential to preserve peace today and shape a more stable future. In an article in People's Daily, Zhu Chengshan, a professor at Changzhou University and former curator of the Memorial Hall of the Victims in Nanjing Massacre by Japanese Invaders, explores this idea through the lens of Dead to Rights, a movie about the Nanjing Massacre which has become a box office hit in China. Below are excerpts from the article. The views don't necessarily represent those of China Daily.

Major historical events have a penetrating power and influence that transcends their time. The film Dead to Rights is based on real events. Luo Jin, a 15-year-old apprentice working in a photo studio in Nanjing, after Japanese troops captured the city on Dec 13, 1937, was shocked to see images of Japanese troops killing, raping and brutalizing Chinese civilians when he developed a film handed in by a Japanese officer.

Risking his life, he secretly made copies of the photographs and compiled some of them in an album to preserve the evidence of these crimes. The album later came into the hands of a young man in Nanjing, Wu Xuan, who guarded it at great personal risk. The album ultimately became key evidence in the war crimes trial of Hisao Tani, a Class-B war criminal. It proves that no matter how hard Japanese right-wing forces or historical nihilists try to distort it, the historical truth will not be denied.

The Nanjing Massacre is a well-documented historical fact recognized by the international community.

The Chinese People's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression (1931-45) was the longest and costliest national liberation struggle of the Chinese people against foreign invaders in modern history. During the war, over 35 million Chinese soldiers and civilians were killed or injured. Based on 1937 conversion rates, China also suffered over $100 billion in direct economic losses and more than $500 billion in indirect losses.

Victory in the war belongs to the Chinese people as well as people around the world.

This painful chapter of history is significant today because patriotic education remains an enduring theme. The massacre by the Japanese invaders was a shocking crime against humanity and a very dark page in human history. Written in blood and tears, it sent a powerful message: if a nation is weak, the right to life of its people cannot be guaranteed. This lesson must never be forgotten and the tragedies of the past must never be allowed to be repeated.

A correct understanding of World War II history is the cornerstone for building peace in today's world and in the future. By opening up the main Eastern front in the global battlefield, Chinese soldiers and civilians made an immeasurable contribution to the victory in the war against fascism. Their prolonged and determined resistance forced the Japanese military into a strategically passive position, delaying and disrupting Japan's plans to attack, and ultimately shattering its strategy of joining forces with German and Italian fascists to dominate the world. Then US president Franklin D Roosevelt remarked that if China had fallen to Japan, numerous Japanese divisions would have been available to fight elsewhere.

Today, the world is undergoing profound changes unseen in a century, with rising hegemonism, power politics and the resurgence of Cold War mentality. Now more than ever, China must confidently expound on its victory against the Japanese invaders and highlight the decisive role the Chinese people played in the global war against fascism.