THE RAPE OF NANKING

The Rape of Nanking

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Introduction3

Discussion4

Campaign-specific Factors7

Conclusion8

References9

The Rape of Nanking

Introduction

The purpose of the book is to highlight the criminality of the Japanese and, at the same time, eclipsing the brutality that the Chinese themselves were capable of. American writer Iris Chang has become a mythical figure on both sides of the Pacific Ocean. Like many legendary tales, her story offers up various interpretations. The daughter of Taiwanese-immigrant academics, Chang blossomed into a best-selling author in her late 20s with a shocking 1997 book, The Rape of Nanking: The Forgotten Holocaust of World War II, which chronicled an unimaginable slaughter by the Japanese imperial army in 1937. According to her detailed research, between 260,000 and 350,000 people perished in the Chinese city. Torture and gang rape of civilians were commonplace.

Furthermore, the author's main argument was that people should be aware that how brutal the Japanese were with the people of China, as it is a crucial issue which guides the people to respect the life of others. Moreover, Iris Chang's exploration of this sordid and little-known history began after she saw a 1994 photo exhibit in Cupertino, California, on Japanese war crimes in China in the 1930s. Because she could speak Mandarin, Chang was able to interview numerous survivors in the city now known as Nanjing. In the Yale University archives, she also discovered a 500-page diary by an American missionary named Minnie Vautrin, who set up a refugee camp for thousands of Chinese women fleeing the massacre. In addition, Chang made numerous visits to other archives in China and the United States. The cornerstone of her research was a detailed diary by a German Nazi who was stationed in Nanjing and who tried to stop the carnage.

Discussion

During the second Sino-Japanese War, (1937-1945) there were many incidents of brutality and massive bloodshed. The series of incidents which stand out amongst these as particularly horrific and which have come to exemplify the worst excesses of Japanese treatment of Chinese are known as 'The Rape of Nanking'. There has been much debate and controversy over what actually occurred during these events, due to differing cultural and ideological viewpoints and the vested interests of the parties involved. Nonetheless documented evidence, eye-witness reports and documents allow us to have some idea of the extent and type of brutality perpetrated during this period. Even more difficult than pinpointing what actually occurred, understands what could explain such brutality. It is possible to gain some understanding of what gave rise to such behavior by examining background factors such as Japanese cultural beliefs and ideologies, as well as military conditions and practices within the Japanese army (Yamamoto, 1990). There are also factors specific to the Nanking conflict, such as failures of leadership within both the Japanese and Chinese military, which can be seen as influential in the occurrence of such extreme levels of cruelty.

Throughout 1937 conflict between Japan and China escalated rapidly. By December, Japan had successfully conquered both Shanghai and Beijing, the two largest ...