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fang li is an idealist.

at the beijing premiere of "the sinking of the lisbon maru", he said "we can't wait for history to fade away", which shows that he has always been holding on to a belief:

"salvage" history.

don’t let history be forgotten as the old people pass away.

therefore, the significance of "the sinking of the lisbon maru" to fang li is to confide, through a tragedy, to give it a profound meaning. this meaning is by no means hatred, but remembrance. remembering those who have passed away on the british isles, remembering those fishermen who drove light boats to rescue people from the sea under the gunpoint of the japanese invaders.

"dongji island" also adds a sense of pride in the eyes of the chinese:

under the bayonets, no matter how dazzling the rising sun was, the fishermen did not abandon their conscience.

thanks to the fishermen’s bravery, the three british soldiers who had risked their lives to hide were able to return to their homeland and reveal the truth about the sinking of the lisbon maru to the world:

in 1942, the "lisbon maru" was loaded with more than a thousand british prisoners of war and was escorted by the japanese army from hong kong to the japanese mainland. during this time, the freighter was mistakenly identified and sunk by the uss perch submarine of the us navy.

in the more than 20 hours from the time the ship was hit to the time it sank, british prisoners of war held in three compartments on board fought for survival and resisted, were killed by the japanese army, and were rescued by chinese fishermen. in the end, 828 people sank to the bottom of the sea, and 384 were brought ashore by fishermen.

many years later, these 90-year-olds were all in tears under fang li’s camera. they tried to remain rational and said:

"we all do our part in the war."

to this end, fang li embarked on an eight-year-long investigation, piecing together a complete story from survivors and their families in britain, china, the united states and japan.

one

bushido, sea of ​​blood

the children of the captain of the lisbon maru said many things that made the chinese feel relieved:

the "child" who is already in his seventies said:

"after he (the captain) returned to his country as a war criminal, he was out of work for two or three years. i thought he was a 'weird uncle'. only now do we know the truth of the matter."

the japanese army committed a great crime on the lisbon maru. if they had not been defeated, they might have become heroes and "pride". fortunately, they were defeated, which caused regrets for the living.

the american submarine sailors who attacked the lisbon maru also concealed their father's nightmare from their children. many years after his death, their children learned about their father's nightmare from fang li.

after sinking a freighter full of british prisoners of war, the sailor suffered from post-war stress and had to be discharged from the army.

guilt and self-blame haunted him until his death.

the british put it very clearly:

this has nothing to do with the americans, because the japanese army deliberately mixed civilians and military supplies together, causing many tragedies.

as for the old japanese imperial government, it responded to accusations when it was in high spirits;

"this is slander. we have always been very nice."

after the war, as a lot of information was exposed, the world gradually learned about the atrocities committed by the japanese army during the war. when the lisbon maru was hit, facing the cargo ship that was doomed to sink, the japanese army naturally chose to evacuate all soldiers and japanese crew members, leaving behind a few "suicide squads" to seal the hatch where the british prisoners of war were held. when they saw the british fleeing, they immediately shot and killed them until they were outnumbered and thrown into the sea.

but the ship sank anyway.

the prisoners in warehouse no. 3 tried their best to rescue in order to buy time for everyone, but missed the best time to escape, and more than 200 people sank to the bottom of the sea.

the remaining people who jumped into the sea had to face the continuous shooting of the surrounding japanese soldiers. some people collapsed and chose to loosen the wooden planks and sink into the sea...

this is the memory that the surviving veterans later told fang li.

i think i need to explain:

the old japanese imperial army was never a "samurai", but a group of cowards armed to the teeth. they had no sense of honor and shame, let alone the "samurai spirit". as temporary winners and inevitable losers, from nanjing to bataan, the "red deer" of the army and navy have always perfectly interpreted shamelessness and barbarity.

therefore, there is a detail in "the sinking of the lisbon maru" that is worth noting:

the japanese army shot british prisoners of war on the sea, and chinese fishermen came to rescue them in sampans. when the japanese realized that the chinese wanted to fish out the british, they stopped shooting and even joined the rescue team.

the reason is simple——

someone witnessed their crime and will make it public.

two

seeing old things makes me sad

a sinful man will not be ashamed of a good deed.

a brave man will not be afraid or cowardly because of evil deeds.

the veterans who were still alive (at the time when the sinking of the lisbon maru was filmed) recalled the days after they were rescued by the chinese. some said it was a "kind act from heaven." what accompanied them throughout their lives was what their children told fang li:

he talked in his sleep and said "hi..." in japanese, woke up and screamed in the middle of the night, became sensitive and irritable, stole food and hid the horse feed...

the children don’t understand why their fathers have become like this, and the fathers have always been reluctant to tell their children about their experiences.

it wasn't until fang li saw a note in the home of a surviving veteran's family that he found out that it was a note he left for his younger brother.

fang li said:

"i'm going to smoke a cigarette, i can't stand it anymore..."

then he walked out of the house to smoke, his eyes looking forward, and i don't know what he was thinking.

compared with the veterans who were able to reunite with their families, those who died after the sinking of the lisbon maru may have left their families with only a yellowed photo or a letter. an old man said, "i never saw my father again..." he cried as he spoke.

that was on the banks of the thames. london, like tokyo, was full of the atmosphere of modern civilization.

but more than seventy years ago, many people could no longer see how the world was changing.

at that time, the invaders mistakenly believed that "military destiny would last forever", and the ravaged people clung to their last dignity.

at this time, fang li has turned his attention to the living, especially the children of veterans——

no one understands the meaning of peace better than them.

the former prisoners of war recalled their comrades who fought bravely on the lisbon maru. they were willing to sacrifice for their comrades, but they left regrets to their families.

maybe war can make people crazy. only when everything is over can the survivors tell others:

"that day, i watched a man sink into the sea. that was the last thing i saw of him. and then... i lived in the shadow all my life."

three

goodbye, dad!

"the sinking of the lisbon maru" is precious and unique to the audience. it has no interpretation or embellishment, and no one-sided praise of "the invincibility of the benevolent". what is presented to the audience are memories, relics and the restoration of a large number of animation scenes.

"maru" is often used as a pet name in japanese, and it means "round" or perfect. in ancient times, japanese people often used "maru" on ships to express a blessing. but the "lisbon maru" obviously did not receive a blessing. it carried a ship full of sins and sorrows.

this kind of support continued until 2019, when a group of elderly people who had traveled thousands of miles from the uk to dongji island gathered together to thank the only chinese elderly man who had participated in the rescue. they then recited their own words of gratitude, and they still cried as they recited. these "children" stood on the boat and scattered flower petals into the sea to commemorate their fathers whom they would never see again.

i saw a sentence in chinese on the background board:

"goodbye, dad!"

at this time, some audience members around him began to sob.

human emotions are always universal, i think.

even after 1945, when the iron curtain fell, the former "british empire" became our bitter enemy several times, but i still believe that on that blood-stained sea, the kind-hearted chinese did not think too much. they fished out the hope of life, and also made the british still appreciate the dawn of heaven when they were in hell.

on september 1, 2024, "the sinking of the lisbon maru" held its premiere. the film finally stated that the surviving veterans and old fishermen passed away one after another from 2020 to 2021.

this is what fang li meant by the significance of “salvaging” a piece of history.

the world we live in has not yet escaped the shadow of war, and both the east and the west have various reasons to defend their own values. but i hope that those who watch this documentary can remember the tears of all the old people, which are regrets for their fathers and extravagant hopes for the future:

don't worry about hatred, cherish peace.

although i know this is the ravings of an idealist, like fang li. that year, he went to film "see you tomorrow" and heard this story in zhoushan. then he went to explore and pursue a piece of history on behalf of the chinese people. he believes that this history contains the courage of compatriots and the light of humanity.

mr. lin agen (center), one of the zhoushan fishermen who participated in the rescue

the old fisherman who was the only one alive when the filming was taken spoke calmly about the rescue scene. fang li was not the first person to record it. before him, the british government had thanked them and given them gifts, but the fishermen refused.

at that time they did not take credit or accept grants.

the old fisherman sat on the chair facing the british who came from afar. his former companions had long passed away. that generation had experienced too many things, and the history they witnessed had also been covered in dust.

where is london? where is tokyo?

maybe the old fisherman will never know it in his life.

but he certainly knew that everyone in the world, no matter what language they spoke or what clothes they wore, always had emotions.

just like the children of veterans, sailors, and the captain of the lisbon maru, i can see in my mind. their common memories are a farewell to the past, either sad or ashamed.

"goodbye, dad!"

this is the common sorrow of all mankind.