Want to learn the ideas in The Rape of Nanking better than ever? Read the world’s #1 book summary of The Rape of Nanking by Iris Chang here.
Read a brief 1-Page Summary or watch video summaries curated by our expert team. Note: this book guide is not affiliated with or endorsed by the publisher or author, and we always encourage you to purchase and read the full book.
Video Summaries of The Rape of Nanking
We’ve scoured the Internet for the very best videos on The Rape of Nanking, from high-quality videos summaries to interviews or commentary by Iris Chang.
1-Page Summary of The Rape of Nanking
The Rape of Nanking is a historical nonfiction book written by Iris Chang. It chronicles the 1937 Nanking massacre, during which the Imperial Japanese Army killed between 260,000 and 400,000 Chinese people and raped thousands of women. The book has been influential in bringing attention to wartime atrocities committed by Japan against China.
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 and embarks on an imperial expansion strategy in China. In 1931, Japan occupied Manchuria after years of tensions with China. Three months later they began their invasion of Shanghai, which fell after three months of fighting. They then moved onto Nanking and looted everything in sight before killing everyone who got in their way or stood against them.
The author uses a three-part structure to tell the story of the Nanking massacre. She begins by narrating from the perspective of Japanese soldiers, who were ordered to kill all captives. The Chinese army was defeated and surrendered after four days of fighting. Afterward, many Chinese soldiers were killed in cold blood; according to an estimate by the author, 90 thousand men died within a week. Since there were no longer any soldiers left to protect civilians from being raped and massacred, that’s what happened next: rape and massacre took place on an unprecedented scale.
The author then discusses the Nanking Massacre from a Chinese perspective. Half of the city (Nanking) had evacuated by December, leaving only those who couldn’t leave behind. After Shanghai was taken over, Chiang Kai-shek ordered Tang Sheng-chih to mobilize 90,000 troops to defend Nanking. On December 9th they were told that there would be a ceasefire for 3 days so that citizens and soldiers could retreat peacefully away from the Japanese Imperial Army. However, Chiang rejected this proposal and only gave them 2 days before ordering them to abandon Nanking even though they had enough troops to sustain a 5 month siege. Only a fraction of their troops managed to escape before Japanese soldiers broke through the walls into Nanking
The Japanese soldiers in Nanking engaged in sadistic behavior. They raped women and forced them to have sex with their fathers or sons, and they castrated Buddhist monks for refusing to break their vows of celibacy. The author estimates that as many as 377,400 Chinese citizens were killed during the six weeks of occupation.
Finally, the author describes the massacre from the perspective of a few brave foreigners who stayed in Nanking to help its citizens. They risked their lives by staying, and they saved many people’s lives. One of those heroes was John Rabe, head of Nazi Party in Nanking. He protected some women by housing them on his property and beating back Japanese soldiers who attempted to climb over the wall at night to abduct these women. In total, he saved between 200-300 thousand lives with his actions during this time period.
After the war, only a few Japanese officers and soldiers were tried for war crimes. These included Matsui, who was used as a scapegoat for the Imperial family’s actions. Meanwhile, Hirohito and Asaka were granted immunity because of Japan’s surrender agreement with the United States.
Initially, the United States bans Japanese leaders who were involved in World War II from continuing to serve in government. However, with the Cold War and rise of communism in East Asia, this changes because it’s believed that Japan is more important than Germany for U.S. interests. Even ex-Nazis are allowed to continue serving in government because they’re not as dangerous as communists at the time. This minimizes Japanese people’s responsibility for their atrocities during World War II since some war criminals are still able to serve in government despite being convicted of war crimes by Allied forces after WWII ended. The author argues that younger generations should confront these issues by admitting that everyone would be better off if Japan had won World War II instead of losing it and allowing other countries to occupy them without any resistance or retribution from those countries’ citizens or governments (e.g., South Korea).
