Recalling My Visit to the Lushun Russo-Japanese Prison

"A single city of Lushun holds half of modern Chinese history." As the saying goes, when visiting Northeast China, you must go to Dalian, and when visiting Dalian, you must go to Lushun. This small city of Lushun has already become an indispensable cultural and historical site of Dalian. And within this city, the Lushun Russo-Japanese Prison is a historical relic that no visitor can miss. Lushun has a long history, but the period that truly made it famous was a century ago. The war between the Japanese Empire and the Russian Empire here, along with nearly half a century of colonial rule, made this place remembered by the world. Not only in China, but Lushun also enjoys a great reputation internationally. Because it is a memory of an era, a tragic time when China was internally and externally troubled and bullied by foreign powers, and also a barbaric time when international powers fought desperately for colonial hegemony. In fact, the author visited this place several times during university, not only for sightseeing, but more to recall, to mourn, and to pray. Lushun, this small city at the southernmost tip of Dalian, even now has a sparse population and slow development. The city was renamed "Lushun" during the Hongwu period of the Ming Dynasty. To recover Liaodong, Ming Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang sent generals Ma Yun and Ye Wang to land here with troops. Because the journey was smooth, the place was renamed "Lushun" (meaning smooth journey). Due to its unique geographical location and terrain, it has always been a strategic battleground. Lushun Port faces south, with an entrance width of only over 300 meters, Gold Mountain to the east, and Tiger Tail to the west. The entire port is surrounded by mountains, with numerous coastal batteries and artillery fortresses of various sizes on the surrounding hills, making it easy to defend and difficult to attack. During the Russian occupation, the Japanese Imperial Navy attempted to invade Lushun by sea, but was met with fierce bombardment from Russian coastal batteries and coastal fortresses, suffering heavy casualties before even starting the battle and forced to retreat in disarray. Among them, Gold Mountain Battery and Electric Rock Battery have now become famous historical sites for tourists to commemorate the Russo-Japanese War. Russia valued this place to seek hegemony in the Asia-Pacific region and to obtain an ice-free port in the Far East for its Pacific Fleet; Japan valued it to establish a base by occupying Lushun, then advance from south to north, forming a pincer attack with the Japanese army advancing south from Korea, thus fully occupying Northeast China and then invading all of China. Their wolfish ambition was clear for all to see. The shamelessness and despicability of the great powers are evident. Lushun was occupied by the Russian Empire for seven years and colonized by Japan for nearly forty years. This half-century of colonial rule left the people of Lushun destitute and starving. Especially the Russo-Japanese War that broke out in 1905 caused countless civilians in Lushun to become homeless, die unnatural deaths, and fill the fields with the wailing of the bereaved. To strengthen colonial rule and impose strict surveillance and cruel punishment on the Chinese people, it was deemed extremely necessary by the great powers. Thus, a killing lair was born. This is the Russo-Japanese Prison, a hell on earth stained with the blood of the Chinese people and international revolutionary fighters. The Lushun Russo-Japanese Prison played an extremely important role in modern Chinese history. To talk about the Russo-Japanese Prison, one must talk about Lushun's modern history. After the First Sino-Japanese War, the Qing Beiyang Fleet was completely annihilated, and China's northern coast had no naval defense left. The Japanese army could invade the Liaodong Peninsula by sea, doing whatever they wanted as if in an unguarded land. The situation on land was equally grim. The Japanese Imperial Army's Second Army landed at Zhuanghe's Huayuankou and then split into two routes to invade Dalian. When they arrived at Lushun, the garrison commander and the superintendent of the dockyard, Gong Zhaoyu, fled without fighting. High and low-ranking officers also scrambled to seize civilian boats and fled in panic. Only Zhengding General Xu Bangdao led his troops to resist the Japanese at Huoshiling, dealing heavy blows to the Japanese. However, due to the vast disparity in strength, after bloody fighting, few Qing soldiers remained and they had to retreat north. The Japanese finally entered Lushun city. To avenge the Huoshiling battle, they massacred the city for four days and three nights, killing over 20,000 innocent civilians, from elderly in their eighties and nineties to infants less than a month old. Only about thirty people from the corpse collection team survived. To destroy evidence of their crimes, the Japanese piled the bodies of our deceased compatriots on iron racks, poured gasoline on them, burned them, and buried the ashes at the eastern foot of Baiyu Mountain. In 1895, with the "Triple Intervention" by Russia, France, and Germany, the Japanese withdrew from Lushun, and Lushun returned to the Qing Empire. The burial site of the deceased compatriots was built into a cemetery by Gu Yuanxun, a waiting appointee of Zhili Prefecture, who personally inscribed the words "Wanzhong Tomb" (Tomb of Ten Thousand Loyalties) to express remembrance and mourning. But Russia had long coveted the Lushun and Dalian area. Soon after the Triple Intervention, Russia, using the excuse of "meritorious service in returning Liaodong," forcibly sailed warships into Lushun Port and forced the Qing court to recognize its colonial legitimacy. Finally, on March 27, 1898, it forced the Qing government to sign the "Sino-Russian Treaty for the Lease of Lushun and Dalian," forcibly leasing Lushun and Dalian and renaming the area "Guandongzhou." Russia's meddling made Japan resentful, and hatred for the Russian Empire grew. So Japan actively reorganized its military, expanded its army, and prepared for war. Finally, between 1904 and 1905, the two sides fought a fierce bloody battle centered around Lushun and Dalian. Ultimately, the Japanese Empire, after paying a heavy price, recaptured the Lushun-Dalian area, and Russia completely withdrew. After the Japanese succeeded, they implemented military-civilian integrated colonial rule in Lushun. Soon after, they reformed the military-civilian institutions and established the "Guandong Governor-General's Office" in Lushun. In 1916, the Japanese Empire announced the abolition of the "Guandong Governor-General's Office" and established the "Guandong Government-General." Later, to separate the military and civilian institutions, it was changed to the "Guandong Agency" in April 1919, while the military department established the "Guandong Command." In 1934, it became the "Guandong State Agency," under the jurisdiction of the "Guandong Agency." With the victory of the War of Resistance against Japan, the Japanese colonizers withdrew from China, the Guandong Agency completely dissolved, and the Lushun-Dalian area returned to the motherland. The history of the prison began with the Russian colonial period and did not completely end until the end of the War of Resistance. Now, the author will briefly introduce the history of the Russo-Japanese Prison. Time goes back to 1902. Alekseyev, the uncle of Tsar Nicholas II, who held supreme power in Guandongzhou (Lushun-Dalian area) as the highest Russian official, was anxiously waiting for a reply from his nephew the Tsar. He had already controlled this vast territory. Although Guandongzhou was just a colony in the eyes of the Russian government, he had become the emperor here, and the Qing Emperor far away in Beijing was nothing but a little yellow monkey in his eyes. But what could cause such a big figure to have such emotional fluctuations? It might be hard to believe: his prison had no more space... As colonial rule progressed, criminals, regardless of the severity of their crimes, and civilians, whether or not they had broken the law, would be arrested and jailed if they were even slightly suspected of being "not friendly." As a result, the number of "criminals" increased, but fewer were released. Death row prisoners and exiles could not even be housed. Although they were colonizers, they had to make a show of providing a decent place for these prisoners, so that they wouldn't feel too wronged when they were executed, and it would be inhumane to send them off without enough food and clothing. So Alekseyev petitioned the Tsar to expand the "Guandongzhou Prison" to accommodate about 120 people. He also reported that funds had been secured and the design was complete, with construction expected to start that year. Everything was ready except the Tsar's approval. As Alekseyev paced anxiously, a subordinate presented a telegram. Opening it, the official's face lit up with joy. The Tsar had approved the report to expand the prison. So, with Alekseyev's order, the prison broke ground. A year later, the first phase was completed, including an office building, 85 cells, and 4 secret rooms. But the Russo-Japanese War in 1904 interrupted the construction. As the Russian army retreated step by step, large areas of colonies in southern Liaoning fell into Japanese hands. By 1905, the Russian army had fully surrendered, and the Lushun-Dalian area was completely occupied by the Japanese. The former Guandongzhou Prison suffered the same fate. Initially, it was not used as a prison. The office building served as the office of the Guandong Government-General, and the cells were left idle. In 1907, the Prison Department of the Guandong Government-General officially renovated and expanded the cells and put them into use. The prison department transferred prisoners originally held elsewhere and initiated detention work projects. Prisoners began working in the prison, usually making straw sandals and firing bricks and tiles. By 1920, the Japanese colonial authorities renamed the prison the "Guandong Agency Prison" and later changed its name twice to "Guandong Agency Penal Affairs Office" and "Guandong Penal Affairs Office." In 1939, the "Guandong Penal Affairs Office" was last renamed "Lushun Penal Affairs Office." This name was used until Japan's defeat and surrender. Okay, the historical part about Lushun and the Russo-Japanese Prison is roughly introduced. Now let's talk about my specific feelings when visiting the "Russo-Japanese Prison"! Driving from Lushun Bus Station to the Russo-Japanese Prison didn't take long. But maybe it was psychological; as I got closer to the destination, I felt an inexplicable panic, sometimes even a sense of oppression. This feeling grew stronger, and when I reached the prison gate, the oppression peaked, almost making it hard to breathe. Older generations of Lushun locals, when talking about the prison, always say that the yin energy here is too strong, and too many people died unjustly. I am an atheist, but I have to admit that there is indeed a gloomy feeling. Upon arriving at the prison gate, the first thing that came into view was the office building I mentioned earlier. It was a typical Russian-style connected single-family villa. If I hadn't known it was a prison, I would have thought it was a luxurious villa for a high-ranking Russian official. But now, the striking black and white colors interwoven made it look like a connected version of Black and White Wuchang (gods of death in Chinese mythology). The two largest windows above the gate on the office building were like the eyes of Black and White Wuchang, and the other small windows were like the eyes of other demons, staring at you with evil and ferocity. When the black gate opened, I really felt it was a mouth that devours people, licking its bloody lips, conveying a message to me: "Come on... come on... once you come in, you'll never get out..." I wonder if the people who were captured back then felt the same way? But indeed, many people went in and never came out, not even a trace. After entering the gate, we see a sign with a five-star scenic spot marker. Haha, how many lives and how much blood were exchanged for that sign... After entering the gate, turning right, we soon see the visiting room. My feeling is: this visiting room was purely a product of formalism. The small room could barely fit one person. Was it for the prisoner to sit or the family to sit? I have a bold guess: the jailer sat, watching the prisoner and family communicate, and after a few words, the family was sent away, that's it. If the family brought gifts for the prisoner? No need to ask. The Japanese guards just took them for themselves. The guards thought: Damn, are Chinese even worthy of eating and drinking well? I was conscripted all the way from Japan just to watch you bastards?! If I don't use the good things first and eat the good food first, I'll be at a loss... Thinking this, my impression of the Japanese became very bad. Although the Russian colonizers weren't good to the Chinese either, their attitude was relatively more polite. But the Japanese truly didn't treat people as human beings! Not far from the visiting room was the cellar, specially used for storing vegetables for prisoners' winter supplies. This cellar was very "interesting." The opening was almost vertical. In summer, it had no ventilation, accelerating vegetable rot; in winter, it had no insulation, freezing the vegetables like popsicles. Indeed, they didn't treat anyone other than Japanese as humans... I ask, what was the difference between the people here and those used for experiments in Unit 731? In their eyes, prisoners were just "maruta" (logs). In other words, these prisoners were no longer seen as human. Moreover, patriotic anti-Japanese fighters here were also "specially transferred" to Manchuria (the location of Unit 731 in Pingfang District, Heilongjiang Province) as materials for human experiments, ending up disemboweled and cut into pieces. Continuing along the path, we come to a red building. That was the "Eastern Inspection Room" of the prison. What is an "inspection room"? Of course, it's for body inspection! Rows of wooden racks hung with strips of rags. According to the guide, these were actually the prisoners' uniforms! My God, they were just strips of cloth sewn together. Our dishcloths at home were better than these uniforms! Even more unbelievable, at that time, before prisoners worked or rested, they had to take off all their clothes, completely naked, even in winter. You must know that the red building had no heating at all. Even the Japanese soldiers wore cotton-padded jackets, but the prisoners had to strip naked for this humiliating inspection. After lining up, everyone had to put their hands behind their heads, jump over a wooden bar one by one, and loudly shout their number in Japanese. Even the slightest slowness would incur a beating from the Japanese guards. Many elderly prisoners died from freezing because they couldn't grab clothes or had theirs taken, forcing them to wait for the last piece; or they were beaten to death by the Japanese guards for being slow. After passing the Eastern Inspection Room, we entered the cell block. The white brick cells were built by the Russian colonizers. As ordinary cells, the space was acceptable, but that was for one or two people. You must know that at that time, eight people were locked together in a cell meant for one or two. Guess what that felt like? Even now, the whole cell still had a moldy smell. Back then, prisoners ate, drank, and relieved themselves inside. Even decades later, you could faintly smell urine and feces. Each person had only one bowl of water per day, used for washing face, brushing teeth, and drinking. The light here was very dim. Prisoners could hardly enjoy the luxury of sunlight. During the day, Japanese guards patrolled back and forth. They detested prisoners lying down, crossing their legs, or even sitting slouched on the floor when tired. If caught, the lightest punishment was kneeling, scolding, and no food; the heavy punishment was being beaten to death with a whip until the guard got tired. Sometimes, the Japanese guards would hire Chinese or Korean people to beat the prisoners. If they saw these foreign overseers showing mercy, they would beat them again. If a guard called a prisoner's number and the response was slow or the Japanese was not fluent, a beating was inevitable. Speaking of personal hygiene, there was also the issue of bathing. Initially, the prison had a bathing system. But the so-called bath was just everyone lining up to walk through a pool. If anyone was caught scrubbing dirt off in the pool, they would be beaten. As time went on, the Japanese extended the bathing cycle indefinitely: every five days, then half a month, then a month, then three months. Eventually, the bathing system was quietly abolished... Walking forward a bit, we reached the dark cells. These were set up by the colonizers to punish political prisoners and so-called "hardliners." The dark cells had only a small hole, not even a window for delivering food. That hole was for surveillance. For these hardliners, don't even dream of eating or drinking! Moreover, the dark cells were very low, so you could only sit cross-legged, unable to stand. If it were me captured there, with no food, no water, no one to talk to, locked up for days, I would really go insane. Seeing this, I sincerely admire those unwavering fighters for human freedom and peace. They endured such brutal mental torture yet still held onto their beliefs without giving up until their heroic deaths. Climbing the dim stairs to the second floor, we arrived at the "Torture Room." This was a small room, but it was fully equipped with instruments of torture. The most conspicuous was a large wooden rack shaped like the character "大" (big). During execution, the Japanese jailers would tightly tie the prisoner's four limbs to the rack and then whip them vigorously with bamboo strips. This was called "flogging." By the way, the bamboo strips were specially made: two bamboo strips sandwiching a lead strip, all tied together with hemp rope. Before flogging, the whip was dipped in water. Not only were the bamboo strips sharp enough to tear the prisoner's flesh, but with the lead strip, the whip could make flesh fly. I can't even imagine what the prisoners looked like after such punishment. In a word, mutilated. And this punishment was specifically for Chinese people, clearly racially discriminatory. Koreans, Soviets, and Japanese were not subjected to such torture. It can be said that anyone who endured this flogging either died or was crippled for life. What surprised me was that there were also water hoses and buckets here. Those who have read the novel "Red Crag" know that after Jiang Jie was knocked unconscious by the特务, she was revived with cold water. But here, the water had even more uses. For example, for prisoners of "special value," to force them to reveal valuable information, they would connect one end of the hose to a water valve and insert the other end into the prisoner's mouth or anus, then open the valve. The prisoner's belly would quickly swell. Then the Japanese would place a wooden board on the prisoner's stomach and stand on it, stomping repeatedly until blood and water came out of the prisoner's mouth and anus, then repeat. Many could not withstand this torment and died miserably here. For example, the Korean patriot Lee Hoe-yeong, nearly seventy years old, was brutally tortured here and died a heroic death. Considering that physical punishment might easily provoke resistance among the colonized people, spiritual comfort was necessary. So beside the torture room, the Japanese also set up a "teaching room." In the large room, a Buddha statue was conspicuously displayed. It is said that every year, the Japanese sent some Japanese monks here to preach Buddhism, read newspapers to the prisoners, promote the Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere, and call on people to become compliant subjects. Utterly shameless. The prisoners sat neatly on benches and had to listen attentively to the "teachings." Next to them, Japanese guards held whips. Anyone who dared to be distracted would immediately be whipped. It can be said that almost no prisoner escaped the Japanese whip. Going a day without a few lashes was considered extremely lucky, as if they had burned incense for good fortune. With harsh living conditions and inhumane punishments, it was inevitable that prisoners would develop health problems. Thus, the so-called "infirmary" and "sick cells" were established. The so-called infirmary barely had any medicine. In the huge prison, only one Japanese prison doctor and one Chinese medical intern worked there. If a prisoner got sick, they were given an injection. If their condition improved, even if not fully recovered, they would be sent back to ordinary cells to continue hard labor. If your illness or injury left you unable to work, then "congratulations," your life was over. The doctor would give you an injection. This was not an injection to make you better, but definitely a lethal injection. How were the bodies disposed of? First, they were placed in the mortuary. The warden would call the Lushun Medical College: "...san, do you need a corpse? I have some here. Need thirty? Okay, I'll send them right away." "This batch of dead people has no use at all. How to handle it?" "Easy. Find a place to bury them." "What? No space? Find a wilderness and throw them to the dogs!" Walking along the stairs, we left the Russian-built part of the prison. Then we saw a separate small building, the "Special Cell," used to detain prisoners under "special care." Who were these prisoners who needed "special care"? Those who have studied history might remember: the Korean patriot An Jung-geun, who assassinated Japanese Prime Minister Ito Hirobumi at Harbin Railway Station. To keep constant surveillance, the Japanese even built a small house with special soldiers stationed inside, always guarding this place. Passing by here, we came to the Japanese extension of the cell block. It was a red brick building. Compared to the Russian-built part, the cells here were even more dilapidated. It could be said that even dog kennels and pigsties were better than this. Countless Chinese, Koreans, and Soviets lived a life worse than pigs and dogs here. Yet even so, some patriots and international fighters still held an optimistic attitude towards defeating the colonizers and invaders. In prison, they wrote magnificent poems, expressing their longing and expectations for a better world. But unfortunately, most of them never lived to see the final victory... Leaving the cell block and walking along a path, we saw countless factories and workshops. To exploit the prisoners' labor, Japanese guards forced them to engage in high-intensity physical labor, working over ten hours a day. Many prisoners either suddenly fell asleep while working and never woke up, or coughed up blood and collapsed from exhaustion while working with a sick body. Some prisoners who rested for a moment were beaten severely by the Japanese guards. Even so, they were not allowed medical treatment, until their wounds festered and they died. Such atrocities are too numerous to record. Under such high-intensity labor, the prison's output reached an unprecedented peak. But what about these exploited people? They ate moldy sorghum every day, drank smelly water, wore rags, and slept on the cold floor. It was truly infuriating, making one wish to kill all the Japanese invaders. Soon, we reached the prison's killing factory—the "Hanging Chamber." This place was truly horrifying. Several ropes hung from the beams. There was a wooden platform with two trapdoors, and a large wooden barrel underneath. According to the guide, everyone sentenced to death was brought here to be hanged. The jailer would make the prisoner kneel on the platform. The executioner would put the noose around the prisoner's neck and tighten it. Then the executioner would step back to the handle. At a command, the executioner would suddenly pull the handle, the trapdoors would open, and the prisoner would fall instantly. With a dull sound of bones breaking, the prisoner's neck would be snapped by the huge impact, causing instant death. Then the prison doctor would check to confirm death. After the relevant personnel signed the documents, the body would be removed. Initially, the Japanese prepared coffins for the bodies. Later, finding it too costly, they prepared wooden barrels. After execution, the body was stuffed into a barrel like a ball and taken to the back mountain to be buried casually. If a corpse "looked good," it would be quickly sent while still warm to the Lushun Medical College for dissection. Our compatriots, even in death, could not have intact bodies, but were cut up like chickens, ducks, geese, and dogs... Earlier, I mentioned burying bodies. How were they buried? The prison site staff reconstructed the scene. The situation was like this: after the execution, Japanese military police with guns forced other prisoners to carry the barrels containing the corpses on poles to a location. They were forced to dig trenches, place the barrels inside, and then cover them. Initially, the prison staff buried the bodies with the barrels. But later, to save barrels, they simply made a removable bottom plate in the barrel. When they reached the burial ground, they directly pulled out the bottom plate, and the corpse would fall out and roll into the trench, then be hurriedly buried. The burial ground was discovered because of this practice. In the 1990s, a farmer plowing near the prison accidentally dug up a skull. Later, more and more farmers unearthed various human bone remains there, thus discovering where the Japanese had hidden evidence of their crimes. Seeing this, I couldn't help but feel righteous indignation, deepening my hatred for the Japanese invaders. After passing here, continuing forward, we came to a low bungalow. This ordinary, plain bungalow gained fame at home and abroad because of the martyr An Jung-geun. This was the place where An Jung-geun heroically died. After assassinating Japanese Prime Minister Ito Hirobumi, An Jung-geun was imprisoned here. In prison, he wrote countless poems and created numerous calligraphy works. Before his execution, he was righteous and fearless, wearing a white Hanbok sewn by his mother, and walked firmly to the gallows, facing the end of his life without fear. An Jung-geun, your righteous act is destined to be remembered by the world, and will not be buried in the dust of history just because your body perished. After visiting the place where martyr An Jung-geun died, the journey was almost over. The following exhibition halls are specifically for introducing the Lushun Massacre and international friends. Some exhibition halls also display various historical artifacts from the Russo-Japanese War and the Japanese invasion of China. Each artifact silently recounts that period full of blood and tears, making one dare not look directly, with a heavy heart, unable to speak or cry, truly heart-wrenching. We mourn history not to remember hatred, but to better safeguard this hard-won peace. Lushun, this small city that bore the blood and tears of countless ordinary people, is destined to occupy its place in history. Let us remember those difficult years, honor the revolutionary martyrs who bravely sacrificed for our peace and freedom, and pray that humanity will never experience such atrocities again.