sunpuerh
November 22nd, 2004, 04:19 AM
It was Chang's book on the Nanjing massacre (the number killed around 350,000 (if memory serves) during WWII that catapulted her to prominence.
This lady, only 32 years old, made a tremendous contribution to
Chinese and world history.
Chronicling the massacre itself, she wrote, "As victims toppled to
the ground, moaning and screaming, the streets, alleys, and ditches
of the fallen capital [of Nationalist China] ran rivers of blood." As
for the many rapes committed, Chang quoted a Japanese veteran as
saying, "Perhaps when we were raping her, we looked at her as a
woman, but when we killed her, we just thought of her as something
like a pig." Apparently, many troops thought that raping virgins
would ensure them greater power in battle. She noted, "Soldiers were
even known to wear amulets made from the pubic hair of such victims,
believing that they possessed magical powers against injury."
The book won immense acclaim among journalistic reviewers in the
United States and elsewhere and it galvanized the movement for
redress. Chang was widely hailed for bringing to America's and the
world's attention an issue about which even well-educated people knew
little. American conservative pundit George Will famously opined that
thanks to Chang's efforts, a "second rape of Nanking", meaning the
denial of the truth, had been averted.
China Daily
This lady, only 32 years old, made a tremendous contribution to
Chinese and world history.
Chronicling the massacre itself, she wrote, "As victims toppled to
the ground, moaning and screaming, the streets, alleys, and ditches
of the fallen capital [of Nationalist China] ran rivers of blood." As
for the many rapes committed, Chang quoted a Japanese veteran as
saying, "Perhaps when we were raping her, we looked at her as a
woman, but when we killed her, we just thought of her as something
like a pig." Apparently, many troops thought that raping virgins
would ensure them greater power in battle. She noted, "Soldiers were
even known to wear amulets made from the pubic hair of such victims,
believing that they possessed magical powers against injury."
The book won immense acclaim among journalistic reviewers in the
United States and elsewhere and it galvanized the movement for
redress. Chang was widely hailed for bringing to America's and the
world's attention an issue about which even well-educated people knew
little. American conservative pundit George Will famously opined that
thanks to Chang's efforts, a "second rape of Nanking", meaning the
denial of the truth, had been averted.
China Daily