Toronto, September 9, 2025 – Shaoren Gou, World Chinese Media , Pincheng Zhao, Canada & World Report, Lixia Ma, Health & Life Report—On September 9, 2025, with the crisp autumn breeze and gentle sunlight, Richmond Hill’s Boynton House in the Greater Toronto Area appeared solemn and majestic amidst green lawns and maple trees. Here, an eighty-year-old memory was being vividly revived—the 80th Anniversary of the Victory over Japan Historical and Archival Exhibit.
This exhibition is not just a look back at history; it is like a mirror, reflecting the shared spirit of overseas and local Chinese communities. It also serves as a bridge, connecting collectors, scholars, and ordinary visitors from China, Canada, the United States, the U.K., and Australia.
1. From Nanjing to Toronto: Rare Artifacts on Display Overseas for the First Time
The exhibition runs from September 9 to 14, coinciding with the anniversary of China officially accepting Japan’s surrender. Nearly a hundred precious artifacts are quietly displayed, each radiating the weight of history.
Visitors are immediately drawn to three thematic sections:
Section One: International Cooperation
From the Flying Tigers’ armbands in the U.S., to wartime reports published in the U.K. and France, to stories of Canadian medical personnel in China, these exhibits bear witness to the global support extended to China during its most challenging moments of the War of Resistance.
Section Two: China’s Struggle
General Luo Zhuoying’s personal collection, photographs of the construction of the Burma Road, and images of civilians paving airstrips with their bare feet… all vividly convey the sounds of footsteps in the soil, the sweat and blood interwoven into the years of resistance.
Section Three: Victory and Trials
Original photographs of Japan’s surrender, draft indictments from the Nanjing Massacre trials, and documents detailing how Zhou Yiyu and the Chongshan Hall buried 120,000 victims’ bodies, present a sobering reality. Frank Duan, the primary collector, insisted on keeping these originals overseas: “The real value lies in allowing more international audiences to understand this history.”
This is not a performance or a photo exhibition—it is a fully artifact-based historical display. With bilingual Chinese-English annotations, visitors can feel the warmth behind the artifacts and read the stories of international collaboration, sacrifice, and the cost of war, as well as the preciousness of peace.
2. Frank Duan: A Nanjing Youth’s Collection and Mission
The soul of the exhibition is Frank Duan, a thirty-one-year-old from Nanjing.
He began engaging with wartime artifacts at the age of fifteen or sixteen. During dredging of the Qinhuai River in his hometown, he personally saw relics related to the Battle of Nanjing, including large machetes. From then on, he realized this land held history that could never be forgotten.
“My home is close to the Nanjing Massacre Memorial. Every year on the anniversary, air raid sirens sound across the city, reminding us not to forget,” Duan recalls.
From collecting photographs and testimonies in Nanjing to continuing his search after moving to Canada, his collection has grown to over 2,000 items. These include original U.S. archival negatives, Flying Tigers materials from the Chennault family, publications from French antique markets, and manuscripts donated by descendants of Canadian soldiers. Each item embodies both chance and inevitability across borders.
He remembers a Canadian veteran’s family member entrusting him with relics just before passing away, hoping they would go to someone who truly understood their value. He also collected photos smuggled from Japan, many stamped “Not Permitted,” stark reminders of historical truth.
Today, he is not only a collector but a transmitter of history. As he says at the exhibition: “This is an initial step toward creating the Museum of Far East Remembrance. Only by sharing this history with more people can we fulfill our responsibility.”
3. Voices Across Oceans: A Response from Zhijiang
At the exhibition, Zhao Pincheng of Canada & World Report and Ma Lixia of Healthy Life Report, both originally from Zhijiang, Hunan, made a special video connection with Director Wu Jianhong of the Zhijiang Surrender Memorial in Hunan.
On screen, Director Wu emotionally said: “China’s victory in the War of Resistance was the result of the efforts of all Chinese people, as well as the Allied powers including Canada, the U.S., the U.K., and Australia. It was a people’s war; without the support of the people, victory would have been impossible.”
He emphasized that global victory in the war was inseparable: “Without the triumph in the Asia-Pacific theater, there would be no victory in Europe. China’s resistance against Japan was an essential part of the worldwide fight against fascism.”
The voices across oceans resonated in the Toronto exhibition hall, moving the audience deeply.
4. Visitors’ Reflections: The Cost of Remembrance
Ms. Ge, an immigrant from Nanjing, stood long in front of the exhibits, her eyes glistening with tears.
“My grandmother fled to Chongqing during the war. My youngest uncle was killed there in a Japanese air raid. My father joined the revolution in 1938. These stories have been passed down in our family,” she shared.
She continued: “Now that our country is strong, we must never forget. The Nanjing Massacre Memorial serves as a warning. This exhibition reminds me and my children that remembering is our duty.”
5. Visit by the Asia-Pacific Peace Museum
On the same day, Flora Mei-Ling Chong, executive director of the Asia-Pacific Peace Museum, brought eight volunteers to visit.
“Online photos aren’t always reliable, but today’s exhibition made me feel truly immersed,” Liu said.
She introduced that the Asia-Pacific Peace Museum, seven years in the making, has become the world’s first comprehensive museum showcasing Asia’s WWII history. It documents not only Chinese experiences, but also the roles of the Philippines and Canada during the war.
“I hope more people will visit—it is history, but also education.”
6. Museum of Far East Remembrance: A Cross-National Vision
Frank Duan, together with collectors, scholars, and educators from Mainland China, Taiwan, the United States, Canada, and Australia, is preparing to establish the Museum of Far East Remembrance (MOFER).
This will be the only non-profit institution overseas dedicated to preserving Far East historical memory, based in Toronto. It will showcase original photos, private letters, wartime documents, and military artifacts, revealing histories long overlooked in Western narratives.
The museum’s themes go beyond WWII, covering Chinese railway laborers, missionaries, early Chinese students abroad, and the Chinese Exclusion Act. MOFER plans to use a “pop-up exhibition + cross-institutional collaboration” model, bringing artifacts to communities and classrooms, helping young generations learn history beyond textbooks and fostering cultural identity and pride.
Epilogue: The Flame of Memory
In September evenings, Boynton House glows warmly through its windows. Visitors move slowly among the exhibits, gazing, reflecting, silently contemplating.
This is more than an exhibition—it is a spiritual journey. Eighty years on, the wounds of history remain, but because people collect, tell, and listen, memory endures.
As Frank Duan said: “History is not for hatred, but to help the world understand the preciousness of peace.”
In this foreign land, the story of victory over Japan is illuminated once again, a flame connecting past and future.
Exhibition Information
Date: September 9–14, 2025
Opening Hours: Daily, 10:30 AM – 7:00 PM
Guided Tours: September 9, 13, 14 (11:00 AM / 2:00 PM / 4:00 PM)
Location: 1300 Elgin Mills Road East, Richmond Hill, ON L4S 1M5
Admission is free. Bilingual Chinese-English labels and commemorative postcards are available on-site.
Media contact:
Steven Zhao
Canada & World Report
zhao@canadanewsreport.com