| Japanese soldiers shout Tenno Heika Banzai! (“Long Live the Emperor!”) on top of the Sun Yat Sen Gate (today Zhongshan Gate) of the Nanking city walls. The Japanese inscription states that it is Showa 12 (December 13, 1937), 1,126 rifles, captured by the Ōno Detachment. The city wall of Nanking (Nanjing) was built from 1360 to 1386 under the founder of the Ming dynasty, the Hongwu Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang (October 21, 1328 – June 24, 1398). 13 gates were built into the Nanking Wall. Jubao Gate (“Gathering Treasure Gate”) was renamed Zhonghua Gate (“Gate of China”) when the Kuomintang Nationalist Party made Nanking the capital in 1931. The easternmost gate of Nanking, the Sun Yat Sen Gate, was within sight of the heavily fortified Purple Mountain. The Imperial Japanese Army 16th Infantry Division stormed the Gate starting on December 10, but the Chinese beat back repeated attacks atop the 600-year-old wall. The entrance was reinforced with sandbags and concrete. Faced with a nearly vertical city wall, the Japanese commanders resorted to the wasteful tactic of trying to blast holes big enough to allow their soldiers to enter. Artillery and air bombardment caused part of the wall to collapse. As Chiang Kai-shek’s order to abandon the city gradually trickled down, directly or indirectly, to the troops handling the wall around Nanjing, things began to move quickly—all along the front, the Japanese advanced in groups, and sometimes individually. Near Sun Yat-sen Gate, Japanese soldiers scaled the wall in the early hours of December 13, taking advantage of a spot that had caved in during the shelling. 1 pulled a Japanese flag from his rucksack, which had been donated by the citizens of 2 neighborhoods back home. Together with 2 other soldiers, he reached the top of the wall about 800 feet from the gate. They moved cautiously towards the gate, but didn’t see any sign of activity, Chinese or Japanese. They entered what appeared to be a guardroom. The smoke inside was so dense that they briefly couldn’t breathe, but it was smoke from a kitchen fire. On a stove, a pot was bubbling. Inside was a stew of sweet potatoes, carrots, and turnips. Someone had been cooking just moments before. The 3 Japanese soldiers didn’t bother to investigate further. Having gone without a proper meal for days, they had their priorities straight. They sat down and filled their bellies with the hot food. The Japanese artillery may have been the most critical factor in bringing the battle of Nanjing to a conclusion within days. Zhongshan Gate was repaired after the war and is a tourist attraction today. This photo appeared in the February 1, 1938, issue of Gahō Yakushin No Nihon (“Illustrated Report: Japan’s Progress”) | |
| Image Filename | wwii1543.jpg |
| Image Size | 3.30 MB |
| Image Dimensions | 4690 x 6149 |
| Photographer | |
| Photographer Title | Imperial Japanese Army |
| Caption Author | Written or Adapted by Jason McDonald |
| Date Photographed | December 13, 1937 |
| Location | |
| City | Nanking |
| State or Province | Jiangsu |
| Country | China |
| Archive | |
| Record Number | |
| Status | Caption ©2026 MFA Productions LLC Please Do Not Duplicate or Distribute Without Permission; Image in the Public Domain |
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