The star-studded big-budget epics dominating Chinese cinemas this summer are about the country’s fight against the Japanese during World War II. In movie theaters, audiences have risen to sing the national anthem. Children have been moved to tears, vowing to become soldiers when they grow up.

今年夏天，中国影院由群星云集的大制作抗战题材史诗片主导。在电影院，观众起立高唱国歌。孩子们被感动得流下了眼泪，发誓长大后要当兵。

One film, “Dead to Rights,” about Japan’s 1937 invasion of the Chinese city of Nanjing, follows a group of Chinese who smuggle out photographs and help document the killing of tens of thousands of civilians, an event known as the Nanjing Massacre. During an interactive showing in southwestern China, an actor dressed as a soldier shouts at moviegoers, “The Japanese want to destroy our country and exterminate us! Will you let them?”

其中一部电影《南京照相馆》聚焦1937年日本入侵中国城市南京，讲述一群中国人如何冒死送出照片，并帮助记录一场数以万计的平民遭到杀害的事件，即南京大屠杀。在中国西南部的一场互动放映中，一名演员装扮成士兵对着观众大喊：“日本人想摧毁我们的国家，消灭我们！你们能容忍吗？”

The audience, shown in a social media video pumping their fists, shouts back, “We will not!”

在一段社交媒体视频中，可以看到观众挥舞着拳头，高喊：“不能！”

The films are part of a broader effort to rally the nation as the ruling Communist Party grapples with a sluggish economy, increasingly disillusioned young people, and an escalating rivalry with the United States. The centerpiece is China’s commemoration of the 80th anniversary of the war’s end next month, with a military parade overseen by China’s leader, Xi Jinping, and attended by President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia and Kim Jong-un, North Korea’s leader.

这些电影是一项更广泛的努力的一部分，目的是在执政的共产党努力应对低迷的经济、年轻人日益幻灭以及与美国的竞争日益升级之际团结全国人民。核心活动是9月举行的抗战胜利80周年纪念，届时中国国家主席习近平将主持阅兵式，俄罗斯总统普京和朝鲜领导人金正恩将出席观礼。

The parade in Beijing — rehearsals of which have involved more than 40,000 soldiers, civilians and staff — is set to feature the country’s latest fighter jets, missiles and other weapons, in an elaborate display of China’s military might and organizational power.

在北京举行的阅兵式——彩排动员了4万多名官兵、文职人员和工作人员——将展示中国最新的战斗机、导弹和其他武器，精心展示中国的军事实力和组织能力。

Government departments are also holding events for surviving veterans and victims, unveiling new memorials dedicated to the war and issuing commemorative coins and stamps. China’s state broadcaster has rolled out multipart specials on everything from military tactics and wartime songs to the role the Soviet Union played. Television channels are playing nearly 100 movies related to the war through the end of the year.

政府部门还为幸存老兵和受害者举办系列活动，纪念战争的新纪念碑揭幕，发行纪念币和邮票。中国国家电视台推出了多集特别节目，内容涵盖从军事策略、抗战歌曲到苏联在战争中所扮演的角色。到今年年底，各电视频道将播放近100部与抗战相关的电影。

The campaign is about more than presenting China as a rising superpower on the right side of history. It is also about redirecting public dissatisfaction to a target other than the Chinese government.

这场宣传运动不仅旨在展现中国作为崛起中的超级大国站在历史正确的一边，也是为了将公众的不满转移到中国政府以外的目标上。

“In general, there is a strong push at the moment toward creating a sense of patriotic identity, much of which is defined as the idea that China is in danger from the rest of the world,” said Rana Mitter, the ST Lee Chair in U.S.-Asia Relations at the Harvard Kennedy School. “The opponent can change over time. It could be the U.S. It could be Japan. It could be forces not so clearly defined.”

“总的来说，目前有一股强烈的力量在推动一种爱国认同感的形成，这种认同感在很大程度上被定义为中国正处于世界其他地区的威胁之下，”哈佛大学肯尼迪学院美国-亚洲关系研究学者拉纳·米特说。“对手会随着时间的推移而变化。可能是美国，可能是日本。也可能是未明确定义的力量。”

8月在北京举办的纪念战争结束80周年展览上，名为《落日——1937年12月在南京》的艺术作品。

Based in part on true events from a war that killed as many as 20 million in China, the films focus on the bravery of everyday Chinese at the core of a nation that will not be bowed.

这些基于造成中国约两千万人死亡的战争真实事件改编的电影，聚焦于平凡中国人的英勇壮举，展现一个民族不屈的脊梁。

By far, the most popular has been “Dead to Rights,” known as “Nanjing Photo Studio” in Chinese, which has made about $380 million at the box office and had its theater run extended.

到目前为止，最受欢迎的《南京照相馆》票房收入约为29亿元，并延长了影院放映时间。

Also generating interest is “Dongji Rescue,” which follows Chinese fishermen who rescued more than 300 British prisoners of war left to drown by their Japanese captors. A third movie, the release of which has been delayed to next month, is called “731,” after Unit 731, a secret biological warfare program of the Japanese Imperial Army that conducted horrific experiments on Chinese.

同样引起关注的还有《东极岛》，讲述中国渔民解救300多名被日军弃置溺亡的英国战俘的故事。还有一部电影是被推迟到下个月上映的《731》，以日本帝国陆军秘密生物战计划“731部队”为名，该部队曾对中国民众实施骇人听闻的人体实验。

The films are the latest in a long line of Chinese wartime movies that are part propaganda, part entertainment aimed at promoting the party’s agenda. An earlier generation of wartime movies focused on Beijing’s other main rivals — the United States and the Nationalist Party, or the Kuomintang, which governed China before it was defeated by the Communists and fled to Taiwan.

这些影片延续了中国抗战题材电影的传统，兼具宣传功能与娱乐效果，旨在推动党的议程。更早一代抗战电影关注的是北京的其他主要对手——美国和国民党。国民党曾经统治中国，直至被共产党打败后退守台湾。

In the 1980s and 1990s, Japan became a new focus as Beijing’s ties with the United States improved and new tensions arose with Tokyo over what Beijing saw as Japanese efforts to gloss over its invasion of China.

1980至1990年代，随着中美关系改善，日本成为新的叙事焦点。北京认为日本试图淡化侵华历史，由此引发了与东京新的紧张关系。

Altogether, Chinese studios have produced more than 300 movies about what is known in the country as the War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression. Such dramas tend to earn the approval of Chinese censors. And they are well received by the public, especially those angered by Japanese politicians who deny that the imperial army committed wartime atrocities or who visit the Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo — which honors Japan’s war dead, including war criminals.

中国的影视公司总共制作了300多部关于被中国称为抗日战争题材的电影。这类题材往往能顺利过审。它们也会受到公众的欢迎——尤其是很多观众对日本政界人士否认日军战争暴行、参拜供奉包括战犯在内的日本战死者的东京靖国神社感到愤怒。

8月，上海，《南京照相馆》拍摄地的游客。

“Dead to Rights,” which is sweeping and action-packed, has dominated social media discussion, with moviegoers posting videos of their theater experiences.

《南京照相馆》场面恢弘、动作戏密集，持续引爆社交媒体话题，影迷们纷纷上传自己在影院的观影体验视频。

In Jingdezhen, an ancient center of porcelain making, a basketball coach this month rented out a screening room for students and their family to watch “Dead to Rights.” The group rose to sing the national anthem before the movie began.

8月，在古老的瓷器之都景德镇，一名篮球教练包下了一间放映厅，让学员和家人观看《南京照相馆》。电影开始前，众人起立高唱国歌。

Tong Liya, a Chinese actress, wrote on social media that she had taken her young son to see the movie. She wrote: “For the younger generation, this is far more than a movie. It’s a history lesson etched into their lives.”

女演员佟丽娅在社交媒体上写道，她带着年幼的儿子去看了这部电影。她写道：“对年轻一代来说，远不止是部影片，更像一堂刻进生命的历史课。”

There is a risk that nationalist fervor goes too far. In a notice to overseas Japanese this month, Japan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs told citizens to be “especially careful about a rise in anti-Japanese sentiment” amid film screenings and other patriotic activities ahead of the military parade.

民族主义情绪存在失控风险。日本外务省本月向海外日侨发布通知，提醒公民在阅兵式前的电影放映等中国爱国活动中，要“特别小心反日情绪的上升”。

In 2012, anti-Japanese protests broke out in more than 100 Chinese cities, with demonstrators vandalizing Japanese restaurants and smashing Japanese-made cars. Last year, the stabbing and killing of a 10-year-old Japanese boy in Shenzhen and a knife attack on a Japanese woman and her son in Suzhou shocked Chinese citizens and raised questions over whether anti-Japanese sentiment was fueling violence.

2012年，中国100多个城市爆发了反日抗议活动，示威者破坏日本餐馆，砸毁日本制造的汽车。去年，一名10岁日本男孩在深圳被捅死，一名日本女性及其儿子在苏州遭遇持刀袭击，这两起事件震惊了中国公民，并引发了反日情绪是否助长了暴力的疑问。

2012年，抗议者在深圳破坏一家日本百货商店。

Today, some commentators question whether the movies are teaching the next generation to hate — and whether children should be watching such violent content. “Dead to Rights” features piles of corpses in streets and the killing of children, and depicts Japanese soldiers as gleefully taking bets on who can kill more Chinese people.

如今，一些评论人士质疑电影是否在向下一代灌输仇恨，以及孩子们是否应该观看如此暴力的内容。《南京照相馆》描绘了街道上成堆的尸体和对儿童的杀戮，并描绘了日本士兵以谁能杀死更多中国人取乐的情节。

Social media users have posted videos of children destroying collections of trading cards of the Japanese superhero Ultraman. In one clip, a little girl says through tears, “I want to kill all Japanese.” In another a young boy asks, “How can a country be so ruthless and cold?” A voice, off-camera, can be heard saying, “They’re animals.”

社交媒体用户发布了孩子们破坏日本超级英雄奥特曼收藏卡的视频。在一段视频中，一个小女孩流着泪说：“我想杀死所有日本人。”在另一段视频中，一个小男孩问道：“一个国家怎么能这样冷酷无情？”一个画外音说：“他们是禽兽。”

State media, while encouraging parents to take their children to see the films, tried to urge moderation. The outlets have quoted remarks by Mr. Xi that remembering the war is “not to perpetuate hatred but to awaken a yearning” for peace.

官方媒体在鼓励家长带孩子去看电影的同时，也试图敦促人们保持克制。这些媒体援引习近平的讲话称，铭记战争“不是要延续仇恨，而是要唤起善良的人们对和平的向往和坚守”。

“It’s a double-edged sword. You’re showing people the Japanese being so brutal,” said Yinan He, an associate professor at Lehigh University who studies national identity politics and China-Japan relations. Boycotts of Japanese products or violence against Japanese people or those connected to the country are all potential unintended consequences of fanning nationalist feelings against Japan, she said.

“这是把双刃剑。你向民众展示了日本人的残暴行为，”理海大学研究国家认同政治和中日关系的副教授何忆南说。她说，抵制日本产品或对日本人或与日本有关的人实施暴力，都可能成为煽动反日民族情绪的意外后果。

“As long as you encourage people to hate another nation, that’s the consequence you have to bear,” she said.

她说：“只要你鼓励人们仇恨另一个国家，那就是你必须承担的后果。”

Still, some residents say remembering the war is just about staying vigilant against humanity’s worst instincts. Ge Xiaoru, a 29-year-old travel blogger who lives in Suzhou, said she recently visited a memorial in Nanjing dedicated to the victims of the massacre. She acknowledged that it was difficult to not feel hate but said that learning about the episode was important.

然而，一些民众表示，记住这场战争只是为了对人类最黑暗的本能保持警惕。居住在苏州的29岁旅游博主葛晓茹（音）说，她最近参观了南京的大屠杀遇难者纪念馆。她承认，很难不产生仇恨，但她说，了解这段历史非常重要。

“We need to use the past events not to tell future generations to go and kill Japanese people, but to prevent such cruel wars from happening again,” she said. “Otherwise, what’s the difference between us and Nazi fascism or Japanese imperialism?”

“我们需要用历史警示后代，不是教育他们去杀害日本人，而是防止这种残酷的战争再次发生，”她说。“否则，我们和纳粹法西斯主义或日本帝国主义有什么区别？”