History Of Tragedy:A Study On Yichang Society During Japanese Occupation

During the Chinese People's War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression,Yichang,a city located in western Hubei province and of long history,was occupied by Japanese invading army at the end of “Zao Yi Battle”.Because of its key location along with special political and military meaning to both sides,the Japanese army decided to confirm their occupation as a long term one.Thus from June 1940 to August 1945,Yichang suffered five occupying years.Before Yichang was occupied,the Japanese air forces have already bombed it several times;and during the “Zao Yi battle”,the Japanese ground forces madly pirated and destroyed the city.Then soon after they confirmed their occupation,they established a terrifying system of governing assisted by Japanese controlled puppet regime,in order to enslave Chinese people and pirate their wealth,so that Japanese invading army could maintain their crime act of war.After all these disasters,the city and its social life was seriously damaged.In some certain aspects,the status was still worse than it was before the occupation,even when the time has already gone into early 1950 s.In the meanwhile,if we put Yichang along with other Japanese occupied areas in Hubei province together,we could find that the Japanese occupied Yichang has two particularities: One is that during the war Yichang was specially treated by both sides due to its key location acting as the guardian city of Chongqing,the temporary Capital of China under the war;Another one is,after the Japanese troops occupied Yichang,they found their selves may not have the ability to go further.Thus Yichang hasn't lost its whole territory,which spontaneously became the frontline of the Chinese and Japanese main army forces.These particular points inevitably influenced the social conditions of Japanese occupied Yichang areas,and made it has some different appearances.By teasing out the backgrounds and processes of how Yichang was been occupied,as well as analyzing the particular points on that;and of course,enumerating the system of puppet regime,the way of governing,the pirating of economy,and the education of enslavement,this study would show a general view of the status of society of Japanese occupied Yichang,and the great tragedy along with it.