Tuesday, November 10, 1998
Chang details Chinese holocaust’s horrors
BOOK: Author will speak at UCLA about her novel, Japanese
invasion’s effect
By Terry Tang
Daily Bruin Contributor
Mutilated, gang-raped or buried alive, almost no man, woman or
child was spared. And most villagers ultimately ended up lying with
the thousands of bodies piled like sandbags along the Yangtze
River. For more than six weeks, the Chinese village of Nanking
transformed into a hell on Earth.
That very few people know of the city’s page in World War II
history served as plenty of reason for Iris Chang to hit the
books.
Author of "The Rape of Nanking: The Forgotten Holocaust of World
War II," Chang will be at the Grand Salon in Kerckhoff Hall today
to discuss her historical account of the 1937 Japanese military
invasion in one of many villages in China. UCLA is just one of many
stops for the best-selling writer, who has lectured throughout the
country since early October about the systematic slaughter in
Nanking.
One incentive for Chang to embark on a nationwide trek is the
emotion her book evokes in readers who have never heard of the city
itself.
"This one woman said she thought, after reading this book, that
she didn’t have any more faith in human nature," Chang says. "But,
then after seeing the heroism in this book, after thinking about it
and after seeing my willingness to tell the truth, she felt there
was some hope. And she just started crying."
The granddaughter of Nanking survivors, Chang often heard
stories in her childhood of the atrocities committed by Japanese
troops. Nothing could have prepared her, however, for the emotional
and physical stress from three years of researching and inspecting
photos of the demeaning torture and pain which thousands of Chinese
civilians endured.
Aside from losing weight and patches of hair, Chang was often
plagued by random visions of the victims.
"Sometimes I would be shopping or walking through the park, and
without any warning, some image from ‘The Rape of Nanking’ would
just flash in front of me," Chang says.
"I would tell myself, ‘Put it out of your mind.’ I didn’t want
the events to spill over and poison the rest of my life."
At times, even the author’s colleagues were too sickened by
pictures of scattered body parts and violated, naked women to
concentrate on finishing the book.
"When I was talking to the art director and showing him the
photos, my editor had to hold up a piece of paper between herself
and the photos so she wouldn’t even catch a glimpse of them by
accident. She lost 10 pounds just editing this book," Chang
says.
"She would talk about how in the middle of the night – she was
under a lot of stress anyway – she would go into another room and
start throwing up."
Although some of the photographs came from Chinese photo shop
employees who secretly duplicated the graphic images, other
pictures, ironically, stem from the Japanese soldiers’ desire to
create souvenirs of their murderous and sexual attacks.
In order to broaden the book’s Japanese perspective, Chang not
only watched documentaries that included interviews with former
soldiers, but she corresponded with the Japanese soldier who was
the first to publicly apologize for his role in the massacre. As a
result, he went into hiding in fear of retaliation.
"I imagine it must take tremendous courage for someone to come
out and speak openly about such things," Chang says.
"Most of them are very fortunate because Japan, as a whole, had
evaded the kind of moral and financial responsibility that Germany
was not able to do. But some of them are so remorseful that they
don’t care if they are ostracized or vilified in Japan. They still
have to talk about it."
A contributing factor to the lack of awareness surrounding
Nanking is the Japanese government’s refusal to acknowledge the
extermination of more than 300,000 Chinese or repatriate the
survivors, victims and their families.
"This is a country that still continues to worship their class-A
war criminals in the Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo. Many consider this
to be the moral and political equivalent of moving statues of
Hitler and his cronies into the biggest cathedral of Berlin and
honoring them as gods."
Although Chinese history Professor Benjamin Elman sees "The Rape
of Nanking" as a welcome edition to remind people of the tragedy,
he believes the book may give the wrong impression that all
Japanese lack remorse.
"There are some Japanese people who are sorry. Also, there is a
difference in response between the official government and the
Japanese universities. It’s also been discussed a little in the
Japanese media," Elman says. "No matter what, (the Nanking
massacre) is a very emotional issue for both Chinese and Japanese,
especially for the Chinese, who suffered the most."
Although Chang refers to the mass murders as the "forgotten
Holocaust," she asserts that her book is not about winning
popularity votes over the Jewish atrocities at the hands of the
Nazis. The author cares more about showing the degree to which
people can inflict cruelty on each other.
"’The Rape of Nanking’ is really just one small fraction of the
brutality that was inflicted upon the Chinese civilians by Japanese
soldiers during World War II," Chang says. "The 20th century has
been the bloodiest century of all time. And no race, no country has
any kind of a monopoly on brutality or genocide."
Chang, whose career path began as a daily print reporter for the
Chicago Tribune, appreciates the more in-depth fashion of writing
novels. Also, she has a new respect for people, such as her
grandparents, who faced the hardship of starting from scratch more
than 60 years ago.
"I was truly upset that this hadn’t been done 60 years ago. No
matter how painful it was for me to write this book, it was nothing
compared to what the survivors had been through or what the victims
had been through. I felt I had to do it for them."
BOOK: Chang will lecture on "The Rape of Nanking" Tuesday in the
Charles E. Young Grand Salon at Kerckhoff Hall at 4 p.m. and at the
Los Angeles Public Library at 7 p.m. For more information on the
library lecture, call (213) 228-7472.Penguin Books
"The Rape of Nanking" by Iris Chang
ASUCLA Bookzone
Iris Cheng, author of"Rape of Nanking."
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