Fighting as One: Reminders of the War of Resistance in Guangdong and Hong Kong
22.5.2015 – 4.11.2015
Jointly presented by
Leisure and Cultural Services Department
Administration of Culture, Radio, Film, Television, Press and Publication of
Guangzhou Municipality
Jointly organised by
Hong Kong Museum of Coastal Defence
Guangdong Museum of Revolutionary History
Thematic Exhibition Gallery, Hong Kong Museum of Coastal Defence
Buoyed by its victory in the First Sino-Japanese War of 1894-95, Japan continued its drive to acquire more territory and influence in China. In 1931, the Japanese forces used the Mukden Incident as a pretext to occupy China's three northeastern provinces. When Japan later launched a full-scale invasion of China following the Marco Polo Bridge Incident on 7 July 1937, it triggered a nationwide resistance effort against the occupiers.
Realising the national threat facing their country, people from all walks of life joined hands to support the war effort. Residents of Guangdong and Hong Kong not only raised funds and donated medical and food supplies for the resistance campaigns, but also actively helped guerrilla forces that attacked Japanese strongholds and rescued the British and other Allied soldiers who had been left stranded by the Japanese advance. The guerrillas also gathered important intelligence for the Allies by spying in areas under Japanese control, making a significant contribution to the war effort. China eventually emerged victorious from the struggle when Japan surrendered to the Allies on 15 August 1945 to end the War of Resistance.
The year 2015 marks the 70th anniversary of the victory of the War of Resistance Against Japan. Jointly organized by the Hong Kong Museum of Coastal Defence and the Guangdong Museum of Revolutionary History, this exhibition, supplemented with historical photos, features 65 sets of invaluable artefacts, including map, declarations, correspondences, propaganda materials, as well as military banknotes and identity card issued during the Japanese occupation of Hong Kong. We hope that visitors to the exhibition will leave with a better understanding of how Guangdong and Hong Kong people jointly lit the beacon of struggle in the War of Resistance against Japan.
