Iris Chang

The Rape of Nanking

1. IDEA 1

   A massacre was nearly forgotten

   Chang describes the events that followed Japan's capture of Nanking, then China's capital, in December 1937. Over several weeks, Japanese troops killed huge numbers of civilians and prisoners. Chang argues that this atrocity had been largely forgotten in the West.

2. IDEA 2

   Civilians and prisoners were killed

   Chang describes how soldiers carried out mass killings of disarmed Chinese soldiers and civilians. The violence was widespread and systematic. Few were spared during those weeks of terror. It was horrific.

3. IDEA 3

   Women suffered terrible abuse

   Chang describes widespread sexual violence against women during the occupation. She presents it as one of the worst aspects of the atrocity. Survivors carried the trauma for life. Their pain lasted.

All 8 ideas from The Rape of Nanking →