After the 1949 establishment of the PRC, China held 1,109 Japanese war criminals at Fushun and Taiyuan. In 1956, the government investigated their crimes and then divided them according to the seriousness of their offenses and their conduct in detention.
1,017 Japanese war criminals — those considered to have relatively lesser crimes and who had shown repentance — were not prosecuted and were released/repatriated in three groups in 1956.
45 more serious offenders were actually put on trial before special military tribunals in Shenyang and Taiyuan in June–July 1956.
All 45 pleaded guilty and received 8–20 year prison sentences; there were no death sentences.
The remaining 47 had died in custody before the proceedings.
By March 1964, the last of those Japanese prisoners had been released and repatriated.
Did Mao personally pardon them?
This is where the wording needs care.
The decision was made by the Chinese government and legal institutions, not simply by Mao personally walking into the prison and pardoning everybody.
On April 25, 1956, the National People's Congress Standing Committee adopted the decision governing the Japanese war criminals. Mao, as Chairman of the PRC, promulgated it that day.
So it is reasonable to say:
The Mao-era Chinese government adopted an extraordinarily lenient policy toward most Japanese war criminals.
But it is less accurate to say:
“Mao personally forgave all Japanese war criminals.”
Why was China so lenient?
There were several factors.
Rehabilitation and repentance
Chinese authorities deliberately tried to educate and reform the prisoners rather than simply punish them. Many prisoners eventually confessed to their crimes and expressed remorse.
Political/diplomatic considerations
Historical scholarship argues that the 1956 trials and mass releases were also influenced by China's broader geopolitical objectives and its desire to improve relations with Japan.
China wanted the former prisoners to become witnesses against Japanese militarism
This actually happened. Many of the released prisoners later formed the Chinese Returnees Association (中国归还者联络会 / Chūkiren) in Japan and publicly described Japanese wartime atrocities and promoted China–Japan reconciliation.
And this connects to your previous photo
This is particularly interesting regarding Saburō Endō.
The general historical story is not that China simply forgot Japanese war crimes. Rather, the Chinese government investigated the crimes, publicly tried the most serious offenders, but deliberately treated many others with extraordinary leniency after they confessed and demonstrated repentance.
The 1956 policy is therefore better described as “宽大处理” — lenient/merciful treatment, rather than simply “Mao forgave everyone.”
And there is an important distinction: the 45 who were tried were not simply pardoned in 1956; they received prison sentences, although those sentences were relatively light by international war-crimes standards.
毛泽东时代的中国采取了什么行动？
1949年中华人民共和国成立后，中国在抚顺和太原关押了1109名日本战犯。1956年，政府在调查其罪行的基础上，根据罪行严重程度及在押期间的表现对他们进行了分类处理。
1017名罪行相对较轻且已表现出悔意的日本战犯未被起诉，并于1956年分三批获释遣返回国。
另有45名罪行较重的战犯于1956年6月至7月在沈阳和太原接受了特别军事法庭的审判。
这45人全部认罪，被判处8至20年不等的有期徒刑；无人被判处死刑。
其余47人在审判程序开始前已在关押期间死亡。
到1964年3月，最后一批日本战犯也已获释遣返。
是毛泽东亲自赦免了他们吗？
这一点在措辞上需要严谨。
相关决定是由中国政府和司法机构作出的，并非毛泽东仅仅亲自走进监狱赦免了所有人。
1956年4月25日，全国人民代表大会常务委员会通过了关于处理日本战犯的决定。毛泽东作为中华人民共和国主席，于同日颁布了该决定。
因此，这样说是合理的：
毛泽东时代的中国政府对大多数日本战犯采取了极其宽大的政策。
但如果说“毛泽东亲自宽恕了所有日本战犯”，则不太准确。
中国为何如此宽大？
这其中有几个因素。
中国当局有意对战犯进行教育和改造，而不仅仅是单纯的惩罚。许多战犯最终承认了自己的罪行并表示悔悟。
历史学界认为，1956年的审判和大规模释放战犯的举措，也受到了中国更广泛的地缘政治目标以及改善对日关系意愿的影响。
事实证明，情况确实如此。许多获释的战俘后来在日本组建了“中国归还者联络会”（Chūkiren），公开讲述日军战时暴行，并致力于推动中日和解。
这与你之前提到的那张照片也有关联。
关于远藤三郎（Saburō Endō）的情况，这一点尤为值得关注。
从宏观历史角度来看，并非中国简单地遗忘了日本的战争罪行。事实上，中国政府不仅调查了这些罪行，还公开审判了罪行最严重的战犯；但对于其他许多战犯，只要他们供认罪行并表现出悔意，中方则特意给予了极大的宽大处理。
因此，用“宽大处理”一词来形容1956年的政策更为恰当，而不应简单地概括为“毛泽东宽恕了所有人”。
此外，还有一个重要的区别：那45名受审者在1956年并非仅仅获得了赦免，而是被判处了刑罚——尽管按照国际战争罪行的量刑标准来看，这些刑期相对较轻。
What China did under Mao
After the 1949 establishment of the PRC, China held 1,109 Japanese war criminals at Fushun and Taiyuan. In 1956, the government investigated their crimes and then divided them according to the seriousness of their offenses and their conduct in detention.
1,017 Japanese war criminals — those considered to have relatively lesser crimes and who had shown repentance — were not prosecuted and were released/repatriated in three groups in 1956.
45 more serious offenders were actually put on trial before special military tribunals in Shenyang and Taiyuan in June–July 1956.
All 45 pleaded guilty and received 8–20 year prison sentences; there were no death sentences.
The remaining 47 had died in custody before the proceedings.
By March 1964, the last of those Japanese prisoners had been released and repatriated.
Did Mao personally pardon them?
This is where the wording needs care.
The decision was made by the Chinese government and legal institutions, not simply by Mao personally walking into the prison and pardoning everybody.
On April 25, 1956, the National People's Congress Standing Committee adopted the decision governing the Japanese war criminals. Mao, as Chairman of the PRC, promulgated it that day.
So it is reasonable to say:
The Mao-era Chinese government adopted an extraordinarily lenient policy toward most Japanese war criminals.
But it is less accurate to say:
“Mao personally forgave all Japanese war criminals.”
Why was China so lenient?
There were several factors.
Chinese authorities deliberately tried to educate and reform the prisoners rather than simply punish them. Many prisoners eventually confessed to their crimes and expressed remorse.
Historical scholarship argues that the 1956 trials and mass releases were also influenced by China's broader geopolitical objectives and its desire to improve relations with Japan.
This actually happened. Many of the released prisoners later formed the Chinese Returnees Association (中国归还者联络会 / Chūkiren) in Japan and publicly described Japanese wartime atrocities and promoted China–Japan reconciliation.
And this connects to your previous photo
This is particularly interesting regarding Saburō Endō.
The general historical story is not that China simply forgot Japanese war crimes. Rather, the Chinese government investigated the crimes, publicly tried the most serious offenders, but deliberately treated many others with extraordinary leniency after they confessed and demonstrated repentance.
The 1956 policy is therefore better described as “宽大处理” — lenient/merciful treatment, rather than simply “Mao forgave everyone.”
And there is an important distinction: the 45 who were tried were not simply pardoned in 1956; they received prison sentences, although those sentences were relatively light by international war-crimes standards.