In the past two years, some high schools in Nanjing have offered a compulsory course for students who are going to study in universities around the world, aiming to enable more and more students to take over the baton of spreading peace to the world and become ambassadors of peace.

Since November 18, 2020, the international classes of 18 ordinary high schools in Nanjing have carried out peace education activities by organizing students to visit the Nanjing Massacre Historical Facts Exhibition, listening to the testimony of Nanjing Massacre survivors, participating in mourning, offering flowers, making purple gold bookmarks and origami handmade works symbolizing peace, and attending lectures.

Ding Zimu, a management major from the University of Sheffield, graduated from Nanjing Jinling Middle School Hexi Branch. He said that he still remembered the experience of participating in patriotism education with his classmates.

Ding Zimu shared that at that time, the understanding of war killings and deaths was actually very intuitive. From the historical materials on display, he was shocked to learn that the Chinese were brutally killed by the Japanese fascist aggressors.

David, born in the 1940s, is Ding Zimu’s good friend. One is an old man who experienced the reconstruction of Britain after World War II, and the other is a young man from China who learned about the history of the Nanjing Massacre. Everyone knows that peace is hard won. In order to pray that the flowers of peace will bloom forever, Ding Zimu also gave David the “Zijin Grass” origami he learned to make.

As of December 2022, more than 3000 students studying abroad have completed the education course of “One Lesson Before Departure”.

Wang Zhihan, a student of Imperial College, was quoted as saying that although they are in a foreign country, they cannot hear the alarm but the alarm is forever engraved in their hearts. The alarm not only reminded us not to forget history but also expect us to become self-reliant and learn from history.

Cheng Yufan, a student of University of Wisconsin-Madison, shared that she thought to understand and remember this history is to hope that people can cherish the peace and understand that peace is hard won.