A calendar of Chinese history
21 events
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Festival
Victory over Japan Day
Every 3 September, China marks the victory of the War of Resistance against Japan, the day after the Japanese surrender was signed on 2 September 1945. The date became a national day of commemoration in 2014, and a large military parade marked the seventieth anniversary on Tiananmen Square in 2015.
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War
Shelling of Quemoy
On 3 September 1954, the People's Liberation Army opens fire on the Quemoy islands, held by the Republic of China. The shelling starts the First Taiwan Strait Crisis.
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Birth
Birth of Eileen Gu
Freestyle skier Eileen Gu, also known as Gu Ailing, is born in San Francisco on 3 September 2003. Competing for China, she won two Olympic titles at the Beijing 2022 Games at the age of eighteen and, with six medals, became the most decorated freestyle skier at the Winter Games.
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Birth
Birth of Michael Hui
Hong Kong actor, director and screenwriter Michael Hui is born on 3 September 1942. The best known of the four Hui brothers, he was one of the leading figures of Hong Kong comedy in the 1970s and 1980s and a box-office champion.
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Death
Death of Fu Lei
Translator and art critic Fu Lei dies in Shanghai on 3 September 1966. He was born in 1908 in Nanhui district, near Shanghai, under the Qing empire.
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Death
Death of Chen Mengjia
Palaeographer and archaeologist Chen Mengjia dies on 3 September 1966. The foremost authority on oracle bones and a professor of Chinese at Tsinghua University, he took his own life at the start of the Cultural Revolution after being labelled a bourgeois intellectual and a rightist, and persecuted.
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Politics
Victory parade for the seventieth anniversary
On 3 September 2015, a military parade is held on Chang'an Avenue in Beijing for the seventieth anniversary of the victory over Japan. It was the first large parade staged in the capital for anything other than the national day: 12,000 Chinese soldiers and a thousand troops from seventeen invited countries took part.
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Politics
Victory parade for the eightieth anniversary
On 3 September 2025, a military parade is held on Chang'an Avenue in Beijing to mark the eightieth anniversary of the end of the Second Sino-Japanese War. More than 12,000 People's Liberation Army troops take part.
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Death
Death of Sun Xiu
Sun Xiu dies on 3 September 264. Born in 235, he was the third emperor of Eastern Wu during the Three Kingdoms period, known posthumously as Emperor Jing of Wu.
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Birth
Birth of Yao Lee
Singer Yao Lee is born in Shanghai on 3 September 1922. Active from the 1930s to the 1970s, she was one of the Seven Great Singing Stars and was nicknamed the Silver Voice.
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Death
Death of Zhang Zongchang
Warlord Zhang Zongchang dies on 3 September 1932. Military governor of Shandong from 1925 to 1928 for the Fengtian clique, defeated during the Northern Expedition, he had taken refuge in Japan before returning to China.
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Birth
Birth of Cai Zhenhua
Table tennis player Cai Zhenhua is born on 3 September 1961 in Wuxi, Jiangsu. He later became a sports administrator and was president of the Chinese Football Association from 2014 to 2019.
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Culture
Founding of China Television
The television broadcaster China Television is founded in Taiwan on 3 September 1968.
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Birth
Birth of Jiang Qinqin
Chinese actress Jiang Qinqin is born on 3 September 1975. Early in her career she was credited as Shui Ling, a stage name given to her by the Taiwanese writer Chiung Yao.
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Birth
Birth of Chen Jing
Volleyball player Chen Jing is born on 3 September 1975. A member of the national team, she competed at the 2000 and 2004 Olympic Games.
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Birth
Birth of Daniel Chan
Hong Kong singer, songwriter and actor Daniel Chan is born on 3 September 1975. He was one of the young talents of the 1990s music scene.
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Birth
Birth of Cai Yalin
Sport shooter Cai Yalin is born in Chengde on 3 September 1977. He is an Olympic champion.
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Birth
Birth of Huang Yuting
Sport shooter Huang Yuting is born on 3 September 2006. She won the mixed team 10 metre air rifle world title in 2022 with Yang Haoran and again in 2023 with Sheng Lihao.
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Death
Death of Zhang Zhen
General Zhang Zhen dies on 3 September 2015. Born in 1914, he had been a member of the Central Military Commission of the Chinese Communist Party.
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Death
Death of Zhang Renjie
Politician and businessman Zhang Renjie, also known as Zhang Jingjiang, dies on 3 September 1950. Born in 1877, he was known in the West as Curio Zhang.
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Death
Death of Lewis Morley
Photographer Lewis Morley, of Hong Kong origin and settled in Australia, dies on 3 September 2013. He was born in 1925.