The Rape of Nanking

The Rape of Nanking is a historical nonfiction book published in 1997 by American author and journalist Iris Chang. Subtitled The Forgotten Holocaust of World War II, the book chronicles the 1937 Nanking massacre, during which the Imperial Japanese Army, over a six-week period, killed between 260,000 and 400,000 Chinese noncombatants and raped between 20,000 and 80,000 women. The Rape of Nanking was enormously influential in drawing attention to Japanese wartime atrocities, earning Chang numerous honorary degrees and a National Woman of the Year award from the Organization of Chinese Americans.

This study guide refers to the 2011 edition published by Basic Books.

The author begins by tracing the historical events that lead up to the Nanking massacre. Following a period of sustained economic growth during World War I, Japan falls into a deep recession. Resentful of both the West and its Asian neighbors, Japan embarks on a strategy of imperial expansion that begins with the 1931 occupation of Manchuria, a region in Northeast China. In the summer of 1937, after six years of tensions between the two countries, Japan launches a full-scale invasion of China’s biggest cities, starting with Shanghai. Following a three-month battle, Shanghai falls to the Japanese Imperial Army, which proceeds inland toward Nanking, looting and killing everything and everyone in its path.

The author employs a three-part structure in telling the story of the Nanking massacre. First, she narrates the incident from the perspective of the Japanese. In early December, days before the Imperial Army reaches Nanking, General Matsui Iwane—the commander-in-chief of military operations in the Shanghai-Nanking region—falls ill. He is replaced by Japanese Emperor Hirohito’s uncle, Asaka Yasuhiko, whose headquarters issues a “KILL ALL CAPTIVES” (40) order to his troops. After a four-day battle, the city falls, and the Japanese begin to round up surrendered soldiers for execution. The author estimates that up to 90,000 Chinese soldiers are executed in less than a week. With no soldiers left to protect the civilians, the Japanese embark on a campaign of rape, murder, and torture unprecedented in modern history.

Next, the author describes the Nanking massacre from the perspective of the Chinese. By the December invasion, half of Nanking’s 1 million residents evacuate the city, leaving behind only those who lack the means to flee. After the fall of Shanghai, Chinese president and military leader Chiang Kai-shek orders Commander Tang Sheng-chih to mobilize 90,000 troops to defend Nanking. On December 9, as the Japanese Imperial Army closes in on the city, Tang attempts to negotiate a three-day ceasefire to allow the citizens and soldiers of Nanking to retreat peacefully, but Chiang rejects this proposal. Then after only two days of fighting, Chiang orders Tang to abandon the city, even though the Chinese army has enough troops to sustain a five-month siege. Only a fraction of the troops manage to escape before Japanese soldiers break through the city walls.

Once inside Nanking, the Japanese troops’ behavior is unspeakably sadistic. The Japanese make a game of the slaughter, engaging in killing contests to sate their appetite for brutality. Women are raped indiscriminately, young and old alike. Men too are victims of sexual violence, as the Japanese force fathers and sons to commit incest at gunpoint, and Buddhist monks are castrated for refusing to break their vows of celibacy. The author estimates that up to 377,400 Chinese citizens and soldiers are killed in the first six weeks of the occupation.

Finally, the author depicts the massacre from the perspective of the two dozen Americans and Europeans who risk their lives by remaining in the city throughout the initial occupation. Following the fall of Shanghai, a coalition of Christian missionaries, hospital workers, and even Nazis sets up the Nanking International Safety Zone. The de facto leader of the Safety Zone Committee is John Rabe, the head of the Nazi Party in Nanking. With the authority conferred by his swastika armband, Rabe repeatedly intervenes to stop individual incidents of rape and murder. He also houses dozens of women on his property, staying up all night to beat back Japanese soldiers who attempt to climb the walls of his yard and abduct his guests. In all, the author estimates that Rabe and his colleagues on the Zone Committee save the lives of between 200,000 and 300,000 people.

After the war ends, fewer than 40 Japanese officers and soldiers are tried for war crimes, and less than 10 are tried for atrocities related to the Nanking massacre specifically. These include Matsui, who serves as a scapegoat for the Imperial family’s crimes. Meanwhile, both Hirohito and Asaka are granted immunity as part of Japan’s surrender agreement with the United States.

While the United States initially plans to bar Japan’s wartime leadership from continuing to serve in government, this calculus changes with the Cold War and the rise of communism in East Asia. Unlike in Germany, where ex-Nazis are unilaterally ejected from public life, members of Japan’s political and military leadership—including some who are convicted as Class A war criminals—are permitted to continue serving in government. This has the effect of minimizing the Japanese people’s collective responsibility for wartime atrocities. Even as late as the 1990s, when the author publishes her book, denialism surrounding Japanese atrocities during World War II is prevalent. The author challenges the current generation in Japan to confront these atrocities and to admit that the world is better off now than it would be if their country had won World War II.