A series of memorials in the city of Nanjing began with a candlelight vigil on Thursday evening to mark the 76th anniversary of a massacre that claimed the lives of 300,000 Chinese civilians and disarmed soldiers.

Nanjing witnessed mass murder, massacre and war rape following the Japanese capture of the city on December 13, 1937, during World War II.

Memorial events scheduled on Thursday and Friday include a candlelight vigil, a prayer assembly for peace, as well as press conferences and seminars, according to Zhu Chengshan, curator of the Nanjing Massacre Hall.

At 7:30 p.m., 3,000 candles were lit in the hall to mark the start of the vigil, which was attended by locals, students, monks from China, the Republic of Korea, Japan and others from home and abroad.

This was the fifth time the vigil has taken place since it was initiated in 2009 to pray for the war victims.

As part of this year's event, a report on protection of survivors' oral histories of the atrocity will be presented and a Sino-U.S. collaborative project on oral history studies will be announced, Zhu said.

"This is about expressing sorrow for those perished, and more importantly reminding people to remember history and to cherish peace," he said.

Meanwhile, two survivors, 82-year-old Wang Jin and 89-year-old Cen Honggui, will leave for Japan to attend Nanjing Massacre testimony gatherings on invitation from Japanese non-governmental organizations.

Held every year since August, 1994, this activity has seen a total of 47 Chinese survivors join gatherings across Japan.

"Survivors have told how cruel the Japanese invaders were in their personal experience, revealing the truth for most Japanese and delivering powerful rebuke to a handful of Japanese right wingers who were wantonly denying the atrocity," according to Zhu.

The testimony activity will help promote peaceful interaction between China and Japan based on the consensus of the history, he added.