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“Comrade, are you from the new China?”

A man in a blood-stained 1940s PLA uniform sits in the grass beside a modern Chinese soldier in full combat gear, staring at him with quiet intensity. When told he is indeed from the “new China,” the old soldier leans closer and asks: “So… did we win?”

“We did,” the soldier replies, reaching for his phone to show China’s victory over Japan. But before he can reveal the proof, the old soldier has already transformed — his body bursting into a cloud of red dust from which dozens of pigeons rise into the sky

This short video was posted on Douyin earlier in August by a creator and ex-serviceman named “Comrade Pang Gangqi” (@彭港琦同志), together with “Combat Team’s A Sheng” (@战斗班阿生), a former firefighter. They are part of a growing nationalist circle of online creators producing videos with military and patriotic themes, often incorporating AI elements to stage imagined encounters where wartime fighters get to see modern-day China.

A recurring motif in these videos is that today’s soldiers “free” the spirits of those who fought in the 1930s and 1940s—either by telling them of China’s victory or by taking up their flag to continue the struggle.

Using AI, they merge past & present, tagging their content with the hashtag “Dialogue with New China Across Time” (跨时空对话新中国) (see some of the videos here).

Although the exact content of the videos vary, the format rarely does: WWII soldiers meet present-day servicemen or ordinary citizens and find release in the knowledge that their sacrifice helped build a prosperous China.

While it is unclear whether some of these creators post entirely independently or with official backing, their videos nonetheless became part of the state propaganda apparatus this month when major outlets — such as People’s Daily and Global Times — reposted them and promoted related hashtags onto Weibo’s hot lists.

One such hashtag, “Netizens Use AI to Talk Across Time and Space with Revolutionary Martyrs” (#网友用AI与先烈跨时空对话#), is just one among dozens of war-related topics dominating Chinese social media over the past two weeks.

This summer, memories of World War II—more specifically, the Second Sino-Japanese War (1937–1945), known in China as the War of Resistance Against Japan (抗日战争)—have occupied a central place in online narratives. Discussion peaked on August 15, the 80th anniversary of Japan’s surrender announcement.

The year’s weight in China’s collective memory is reflected not only in state media narratives but also in popular culture and online discourse.

The last time that the war was so ubiquitous on Chinese social media was probably in 2015, when the 70th anniversary of the end of the World War II in Asia was commemorated with a parade at Tiananmen as the first national, large-scale public commemoration of China’s role in the Second world War (Mitter 2020, 3).

Over the past two weekends, overnight drills for another major Tiananmen Square commemoration of the 80th anniversary of the end of WWII went viral. Spectacular videos of the military parade were widely shared by state media ahead of the official event scheduled for September 3, 2025, the day Japan formally surrendered. Around 22,000 people took part in the initial rehearsal, and the upcoming parade will be livestreamed to millions of viewers.

Further fueling online discussions about wartime history are two major new Chinese blockbusters centered on the Japanese invasion of China.

Although the Second Sino-Japanese War has long played a significant role in Chinese popular culture, it is rare—if not unprecedented—for two major WWII films to see an overlap in theatrical release. Over the past two weeks, both films have trended on Chinese social media, focusing on some of the most gruesome episodes of Japan’s full-scale aggression against China.

Nanjing Photo Studio: Painful Proof of a Massacre

Dead to Rights (official English title) or Nanjing Photo Studio (南京照相馆) revolves around the Nanjing Atrocities, commonly referred to in China as the Nanjing Massacre (南京大屠杀, Nánjīng Dàtúshā).

On December 13, 1937, after weeks of intense fighting in Shanghai, Japanese troops invaded Nanjing, then China’s capital, and over several weeks unleashed unprecedented violence: massacring civilians, including children and the elderly, raping women, looting, and burning the city. During those winter weeks of 1937–1938, an estimated 300,000 Chinese people were killed.

Nanjing Photo Studio, directed by Shen Ao (沈嚣), follows a group of young Chinese civilians and soldiers who seek refuge in a photography studio during the Japanese invasion and brutal occupation of Nanjing.

The story centers on Ah Chang, a postman (played by Liu Haoran 刘昊然) who assumes the role of a photo developer for the Japanese army to survive. When a Japanese military photographer requests him to develop film, Ah Chang and the others uncover the horrific atrocities happening beyond the studio walls, capturing war crimes through their own darkroom.

Dead to Rights/Nanjing Photo Studio Film promotion material

Although the photo studio storyline is fictional, the film is inspired by the real story of a Nanjing teenager named Luo Jin (罗瑾), who was only 15 or 16 years old in 1937–1938.

At the time, he worked as a clerk at the Huadong Photo Studio when a Japanese officer brought in two rolls of film for development. As Luo processed them, he discovered shocking images of Japanese soldiers looting and killing Chinese civilians. Luo secretly made a duplicate set of the atrocity photos and preserved them in a small booklet, which remained hidden until the end of the war. These photographs later served as “Evidence No. 1” (京字第一号证据) at the Nanjing Tribunal (Berry 2011, 117).

Dead to Rights premiered in late July, and this week it was announced that its theatrical run would be extended until September 24 (#南京照相馆密钥延期#). The film currently holds an 8.7 rating on Douban, where many commenters not only praise the production but also express strong anti-Japanese sentiments.

Dead to Rights is by no means the first film centered on the Nanjing atrocities. The first major feature film about the Nanjing Massacre was released in 1987: Massacre in Nanjing (屠城血证), directed by Luo Guanqun (罗冠群). That film also included a subplot about a photo studio owner who secretly developed photographs of atrocities and ultimately sacrificed his life to smuggle the evidence out.

As Michael Berry has noted in his discussion of the film, much of the Chinese discourse on the Nanjing atrocities has revolved around the need to “prove” that the massacre actually happened. Evidence—particularly photographs—plays a central role because since the 1970s, Japanese revisionists have actively disputed or outright denied what occurred in Nanjing.

Some deny the death toll of 300,000, claiming that as few as 10,000 perished, while others argue the entire event was fabricated. The emphasis on death tolls, photographs, and “evidence” has thus become a persistent thread in Chinese narratives about Nanjing, aimed simultaneously at domestic audiences, Japanese revisionists, and the international community.

Regarding the 1987 film, Berry wrote in 2011:

📰✍️ “The true tragedy of the film is that just as the characters struggle to prove that the massacre actually happened, so Massacre in Nanjing (..) is still struggling with the same issues—only now the film itself replaces the photographs as the chosen vehicle.”

This observation remains strikingly relevant for a movie made nearly forty years later, as so much discussion of the atrocities still focuses on the evidence—above all, the photographs—and how they were preserved to show the world the unimaginable violence and destruction that occurred in Nanjing.

Never Forget “731”

The second film fueling online discussion this month is 731 (七三一), directed by Zhao Linshan (赵林山), which focuses on the atrocities committed by Japan’s biological warfare Unit 731.

The film has already had a lot of online buzz and some anger over its original preview date of July 31st being postponed (delayed due to failure to obtain official approval, allegedly due to some gruesome scenes); but it is now officially scheduled for nationwide release on September 18.

That premiere date of September 18 carries great symbolic significance, as it marks the 94th anniversary of the Mukden Incident in 1931. That event—an explosion that damaged a section of Japanese railway—triggered Japan’s invasion of Manchuria and, rather than July 7, 1937, is regarded by many Chinese historians and officials as the true starting point of the Second Sino-Japanese War, making it a 14-year battle that merged into World War II after Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941.

Japan’s bacteriological activities that are at the center of this story are a particularly grim part of the Second Sino-Japanese War. The Japanese had a number of military units specialized in biological weapon research, of which Unit 731, based in Harbin, was the most notorious.

Established in 1936, the unit consisted of 150 different buildings and a staff of 3,000 that conducted research using both animals and imprisoned human subjects.

It is estimated that around 10,000 people in China and Manchuria died in these experiments. Apart from the research conducted in the units, the Japanese were also involved in ‘field tests’ that included large-scale contamination of water and food supplies. There were outbreaks of plague, cholera, and typhus due to aerial spraying and the dropping of bombs that consisted of infected fleas (Klietmann & Ruoff 2001; Koetse 2012).

Two film posters for 731, one announcing the original release date and the other the new release date (September 18).

The 731 movie, produced by Changchun Film Group in collaboration with the Propaganda Departments of Shandong, Jilin, Heilongjiang, and Harbin, will focus on ordinary people becoming victims of the Unit 731 experiments, and carries a strong message on its poster: “Never forget” (绝不遗忘).

Similarly, some of the film posters for Dead to Rights show a big slogan saying: “Remember history, never forget national humiliation” (铭记历史 勿忘国耻).

“We Are Not Friends”

Emotional AI videos, WWII blockbusters, and spectacular rehearsals for an unprecedented victory parade — what to make of this summer’s national remembrance of the Second Sino-Japanese War?

There are a few things I’ve noted while following the media campaigns and online responses to WWII discussions on Chinese social media these weeks.

🔹 War memory as nationalism. The memory of war, as an important part of popular culture, is being used as a vehicle for China’s new nationalism. This is not unique to China — it can also be seen in other countries, most famously in the US. But the focal points of remembrance shift with the times, as do the main messages surrounding these narratives. Right now, it is increasingly clear that painful war memories are being tied to positive messages about China’s bright future and its role as a great power, moving the emphasis from collective suffering to collective victory.

🔹 From national to transnational memory. There is an increasing emphasis on “letting the world know” (让全世界知道那段历史真相) about the Second Sino-Japanese War, especially gruesome chapters such as the Nanjing Atrocities and Unit 731. This reflects frustration that, in the West, the Sino-Japanese War is often taught as “China’s war with Japan” rather than part of the global conflict. As China’s international role grows, so does the drive to reframe these memories as part of world history.

🔹 From memory to justice. Hand in hand with the focus on collective suffering, victory, and China’s role in the Second World War, there is also a strong emphasis on past injustices and future justice. These narratives are closely tied to Japan’s official handling of the postwar era, as well as the ongoing denialism and revisionism among Japanese right-wing politicians and netizens.

Playing into all of these elements — nationalism, transnational memories of the Sino-Japanese War, and the search for justice — is actually a third Chinese WWII movie this summer titled Dongji Island (东极岛).

Dongji Island premiered in cinemas on August 8 and is based on the 1942 Lisbon Maru Incident. The Lisbon Maru was a Japanese cargo ship carrying — in terrible conditions — 1,816 British POWs from Hong Kong to Japan for forced labor. En route, the ship was torpedoed by a US submarine near the waters of Dongji Island, Zhejiang.

As the vessel slowly sank, the Japanese left the ship but sealed the prisoners inside the holds to die. Even those who managed to escape and jump into the sea came under Japanese gunfire. Despite this, Zhoushan fishermen risked their lives in small boats to rescue about 384 British prisoners of war. In total, 828 POWs died.

Chinese and international film poster of Dongji Island.

In a recent interview, the film’s director Fei Zhenxiang (费振翔) said: “Some Japanese even claim that it was they who rescued the British soldiers. History should be verified, so that the whole world knows the truth!”

China’s current heightened focus on the Second Sino-Japanese War right now is not exactly improving Sino-Japanese relations.

“We are not friends, and have never been” (我们不是朋友，一直都不是) is a line delivered by Liu Haoran in Nanjing Photo Studio while speaking to his Japanese enemy (in Japanese: 私たちは友達じゃない,絶対に).

The line has since gone viral, taken up by countless netizens who use it not just as a reckoning with history but also as a nationalist slogan and an expression of anti-Japanese sentiment.

It is clear that while China’s past is increasingly being remembered by bringing past fighters and present-day citizens together through the power of cinema and AI, and grand parades, the distance between Chinese and Japanese only seems to grow.

As long as the ways the war is remembered remains worlds apart, history will never bring them closer.

– By Manya Koetse

References:

Berry, Michael. 2011. “A History of Pain: Trauma in Modern Chinese Literature and Film.” United Kingdom: Columbia University Press.

Klietmann, Wolfgang F. and Kathryn L. Ruoff. 2001. “Bioterrorism: Implications for the Clinical Microbiologist.” American Society for Microbiology 14(2): 364–381.

Koetse, Manya. 2012. The ‘Magic’ of Memory – Chinese and Japanese Re-Remembrances of the Sino-Japanese War (1937-1945). Mphil Thesis, Leiden University.

Mitter, Rana. 2020. “China;s Good War: How World War II is Shaping a New Nationalism. Cambridge, Massachusetts: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press.

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When one film breaks a record in China, the previous champion often celebrates with a playful and creative congratulatory poster. It’s a uniquely Chinese mix of solidarity, box-office success, and internet culture.

China’s 2025 summer box office season has been a success, surpassing 10 billion yuan (~US$1.4 billion), driven by record-breaking domestic films that have also made waves on Chinese social media.

Somewhat unexpectedly, the Chinese 2D animated feature Nobody (浪浪山小妖怪) has emerged as the season’s breakout hit.

On August 11, Nobody overtook the total earnings of the 2016 hit Big Fish & Begonia (大鱼海棠), also a domestically produced animation, becoming the highest-grossing domestic 2D animated film in Chinese history.

In keeping with industry tradition, Big Fish & Begonia celebrated the milestone by releasing a congratulatory poster on its official Weibo account.

The poster shows the quirky characters of Nobody sitting on top of a giant red flower, while the protagonists of Big Fish & Begonia cheer them on from below. Written in bold calligraphy (“浪浪山冲鸭!”) is a playful phrase to cheer the movie on (translatable as: “Go, Langlang Mountain!” [Langlang Mountain is the original Chinese title.])

This is a unique “tradition” in China’s film industry: whenever a movie breaks a box-office record—no matter the category—the previous record-holder pays tribute by releasing a specially designed “congratulatory poster” in a gesture of camaraderie.

These posters are usually shared through the official Weibo accounts of the former champions, as it is common for Chinese film and TV drama productions to have their own accounts on Weibo.

 
Origins of the Poster Relay in China
 

The tradition of the so-called “box-office champion poster relay” (票房冠军海报接力) in China dates back to 2015, when Xu Zheng’s hit Lost in Thailand (泰囧)—which had held the record for highest-grossing domestic film since 2012 with a box office of 1.267 billion yuan (~US$200M)—was overtaken by Monster Hunt (捉妖记), which went on to gross 2.44 billion yuan (~US$340M).

Director Xu Zheng, who also starred in Lost in Thailand, took the initiative to release a humorous congratulatory poster for Monster Hunt. In the image, the little monster Huba (胡巴) is shown dancing on Xu’s bald head, accompanied by the text: “Lost in Thailand congratulates Monster Hunt on topping the Chinese box office.”

The poster that started a tradition.

Then, in 2016, Stephen Chow’s The Mermaid (美人鱼) surpassed Monster Hunt with a box office take of over 2.44 billion yuan (~US$340M). In response, the Monster Hunt team also released a congratulatory poster showing its main character Huba transformed into a mermaid, gazing up at the tail of The Mermaid.

The text on the poster reads: “Xing Ye (星爷) reaches the top, and Huba comes to congratulate him” — Xing Ye being Stephen Chow’s well-known nickname in Chinese. The vertical text on the right quoted lyrics from The Mermaid’s theme song: “You ask if this mountain is the highest in the world — there are always mountains higher than the other.”

Monster Hunt had been congratulated for its own win; now it was its turn to congratulate The Mermaid.

The relay continued in 2017 when Wolf Warrior 2 (战狼2) became the first Chinese film to cross the 5-billion-yuan mark (~US$700M), topping the chart. The Mermaid sent its congratulations with a poster featuring the Mermaid placing a crown on Wu Jing (吴京), the director and star of Wolf Warrior 2.

Caption: The Mermaid’s congratulatory poster for Wolf Warrior 2 in 2017. The text at the top reads: “When the nation is prosperous and the people are strong, the Mermaid shares in the honor.”

 
Beyond the Championship
 

Over time, the tradition expanded. Films that were overtaken in the rankings, even if it was not a change of the championship, also began releasing congratulatory posters.

In 2019, the animated sensation Ne Zha 1 (哪吒之魔童降世) surpassed a string of blockbusters, including Monster Hunt, Operation Red Sea (红海行动), and The Wandering Earth (流浪地球), to become the second-highest-grossing Chinese film at the time. Each of these films then sent their own tribute to “Little Nezha.”

A hand-drawn congratulatory poster by Xu Chengyi (许诚毅), the director of Monster Hunt, said: “We are all little monsters, free and easy together,” as a slight twist on Nezha’s classic line from the movie.

Congratulatory posters by Monster Hunt and Operation Red Sea to celebrate the success of Ne Zha in 2019.

The congratulatory poster by Operation Red Sea to Ne Zha 1 in 2019 also included a reference to The Bravest (烈火英雄), another film from the same producer, Bona Film Group, released at the same time as Ne Zha 1. In doing so, Bona used the popularity of Ne Zha 1 to promote its own new film at the same time.

Congratulatory poster by Guo Fan(郭帆), director of The Wandering Earth.

In 2019, Guo Fan (郭帆), the director of The Wandering Earth (流浪地球), hand-drew a congratulatory poster for Ne Zha. The illustration featured playful artwork accompanied by the text: “Little Nezha, now it’s your turn!”

Ne Zha also set a milestone for Chinese animation in an international context, earning 1.834 billion yuan (~US$260M) within nine days and reclaiming the animated film box office record in China from Zootopia.

Coloroom Pictures, the producer of Ne Zha and other Chinese animated hits, marked the achievement with a poster that both celebrated the unity of China’s animation community and acknowledged the challenges that still lay ahead, writing: “Chinese animation has taken a big step forward, but it is still just starting out.”

The poster features dozens of Chinese anime characters in formal dress, with Little Nezha standing in front of them and looking back.

These kinds of online congratulatory wishes, resonating with netizens, continued in 2021 when Hi, Mom (你好,李焕英) climbed to second place in China’s all-time box office.

Ne Zha 1 then released a hand-drawn poster showing Nezha sitting on the back of his mother’s bicycle, vowing to make something of himself—a promise fulfilled four years later when Ne Zha 2 actually surpassed Hi, Mom in early 2025.

Ne Zha 1’s congratulatory poster to Hi, Mom in 2021. The poster depicted a scene in front of Chentangguan Cinema where Hi, Mom is being shown, with Nezha sitting on the back seat of his mother’s bicycle (a classic scene in Hi, Mom’s promotion poster), vowing, “Mom, I will surely make something of myself when I grow up.”

In return, Hi, Mom published a poster in a matching style to response Ne Zha’s congratulatory poster in 2021.

Hi, Mom’s congratulatory poster to Ne Zha 2 in 2025, in which Nezha’s mother and the mother from Hi, Mom sitting together and applauding for the success of Ne Zha 2, saying, “Look! Our children are all promising.”]

All these exchanges have created unexpected interactions between vastly different movie genres.

In November 2021, when the war epic The Battle at Lake Changjin (长津湖) surpassed Chinese animation feature Ne Zha 1, the congratulatory poster released by Ne Zha 1 depicted Nezha alongside volunteer army soldiers, gazing at rockets, fighter jets, and satellites.

Ne Zha 1’s congratulatory poster to The Battle at Lake Changjin in 2021.

In 2025, when Ne Zha 2 seized the all-time box-office crown, The Battle at Lake Changjin also responded with a creative image.

The Battle at Lake Changjin’s congratulatory poster to Ne Zha 2 in 2025.

In that image, Nezha’s magical weapon the Hun Tian Ling (混天绫) was ingeniously linked to the red scarf thrown to soldiers in The Battle at Lake Changjin. At the bottom, a soldier’s large hand is shown in a lifting gesture, holding Nezha up.

The concept of such a serious war movie interacting with a humorous animated film sparked some excitement among Chinese netizens at the time. They saw the exchange as a dialogue between traditional mythology and modern history, and as a symbol of the continuity and success of China’s film industry.

 
A Unique Chinese Tradition?
 

The custom of one film “passing on the torch” to the next hit film through a congratulatory message is not entirely unique to China. The practice can actually be traced back to Hollywood.

In 1977, when Star Wars dethroned Jaws at the North American box office, director Steven Spielberg congratulated George Lucas with a full-page ad in Variety, humorously depicting R2-D2 reeling in the great white shark.

When Star Wars was dethroned by Titanic at the global box office in 1998, George Lucas sent a famous congratulatory message to James Cameron, again as a full-page ad in Variety.

Star Wars meets Titanic, famous congratulatory message to James Cameron .

In May 2019, when Avengers: Endgame officially overtook Titanic’s worldwide box office total to become the second-highest-grossing film of all time (behind Avatar), James Cameron — director of both Titanic (1997) and Avatar (2009) — posted a congratulatory image to salute Marvel Studios.

James Cameron on Twitter in May 2019.

So, although the practice of “passing the torch” among box office record-holders is not uniquely Chinese, the way it has developed in China is very distinct:

🔹 In Hollywood, box-office champions often hold the crown for years, and the ‘changing of the guards’ is relatively rare. In China, however, the industry has flourished mainly in the past decade, and records are broken far more frequently.

🔹 Social media has become central to promotion and marketing. Virtually all major Chinese films run active official accounts that not only post promotional material but also engage in playful interactions with other productions.

🔹 In Hollywood, congratulatory notes tend to come from individual directors, who salute each other as “friendly competitors.” In China, the messages are sent from the films’ official accounts, presenting it more as team-to-team recognition.

🔹 In that sense, it’s not just “movie versus movie,” but rather the Chinese film industry collectively measuring itself against Hollywood and other foreign hits. Each congratulatory poster is therefore not only a celebration of a new record, but also a statement of pride in the broader success of Chinese cinema.

🔹 Participation is not limited to the very top box-office leaders; other productions often join in, creating a ripple effect of collective celebration.

In China, the frequent turnover of box-office leaders combined with the creativity of these posters has turned the practice into a beloved feature of both film culture and the social media landscape.

In an earlier online poll, a majority of respondents described the tradition as “encouraging, and a demonstration of solidarity in China’s film industry.” Others called it a form of “romantic etiquette” unique to Chinese cinema.

Most importantly, it simply feels good — a win-win for both older and newer productions. As one netizen wrote after seeing the congratulatory artwork from Big Fish & Begonia’s official account: “I was inspired and hope that these little monsters can give everyone the courage to set out on their journeys, as well as the strength and passion to pursue their dreams. I hope domestic animation will keep getting better and better!”

By Wendy Huang
Edited by Manya Koetse

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