New Research on the Nanjing Incident

David Askew
Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University and Monash University
Japan Focus

1. Introduction

The Nanjing (or Nanking) Incident (also known as the Rape of Nanjing, the Nanjing Massacre and the Nanjing Atrocities) remains a highly controversial episode in Sino-Japanese relations.[1] Indeed, it remains so controversial, especially in Japan, that a neutral definition of the event, and even its name, has yet to be agreed upon.[2] However, most researchers would perhaps agree on the following. The Nanjing Incident refers to the killing and raping of large numbers of Chinese together with widespread looting and arson over a relatively short period of time (usually given as six to seven weeks) by the Japanese military prior to and following the capture of the city of Nanjing on 13 December 1937. Sadly for the historian, the Nanjing Incident is not only an important episode in Sino-Japanese relations, but is also emerging as a foundation stone in the construction of the modern Chinese national identity.[3] As a result, the historian's interest in and analysis of this event can be interpreted as an attack on the contemporary Chinese identity, while a refusal to accept the 'orthodox' position on Nanjing -- however defined -- can be construed as an attempt to deny the Chinese nation a legitimate voice in international society -- or, in Iris Chang's words, as a 'second rape'.[4] In the highly emotional and deeply politicised environment in which the history of Japanese imperialism is constructed, the temptation to vilify all who disagree with accepted orthodoxies has proved irresistible to those on both extremes of the debate -- extremes advocated by individuals who, here, will be labelled 'corpse minimisers' and 'corpse maximisers'.[5] On the one hand, to show too much scepticism is to risk being tarred as a nationalist revisionist or denier, an apologist for Japanese fascism and imperialism. On the other hand, any demonstrated interest in Nanjing can be viewed in some circles in Japan as 'Japan-bashing' or even anti-Japanese racism (in the case of foreign researchers) or 'self-flagellation' (in the case of Japanese). In this environment, the debate can become highly emotionally charged, and the historian's struggle to weigh the evidence can quickly fall victim to the demands of contemporary politics.

The importance of the Nanjing Incident to contemporary Sino-Japanese relations can hardly be overstated. Nanjing forms one of the core historical issues on which Japan and China cannot agree, and continues to bedevil the bilateral relationship. It contributes to, if not drives, the controversy over Japanese history textbooks. It certainly continues to poison Chinese opinion of Japan: for instance, one recent poll which received replies from over 100,000 young Chinese people showed that 83.9 per cent gave the 'great Nanjing massacre' as the issue they associated most with Japan.[6] Nanjing is also important in understanding contemporary domestic Japanese politics. The debate within Japan about Nanjing (and for that matter about textbooks) is also a debate about the legitimacy of the findings of the post-war military tribunals held in Nanjing and especially in Tokyo (the Tokyo Trial, or International Military Tribunal for the Far East). The broadly defined left in Japan is politically and ideologically committed to the tribunals and their findings, whereas those on the right reject the tribunals as illegitimate and the findings as 'victor's justice'. The debate in Japan is thus heavily influenced by a broader philosophical and ideological discussion of history and historiography, and in particular by a further debate over the legitimacy of the narrative on the history of pre-war and wartime Japan which emerged from the post-war military tribunals.

Nanjing is a topic that has attracted far more activists than historians, especially in the West, and especially on the web. It remains a hotly contested domestic and international political issue both in Japan and China. There are large organisations that seem to be involved solely in running anti-Japan and anti-Japanese campaigns about the Nanjing Incident; there are a number of academic associations, magazines and numerous websites devoted to Nanjing; and Iris Chang's polemic, The Rape of Nanking: The Forgotten Holocaust of World War II (1997), has enjoyed phenomenal sales.[7] Despite all the interest in Nanjing, however, the history of the incident remains a largely untold story. Indeed, one of the major problems with the public discourse on Nanjing in Japan, where the historical research is most developed, is that it has tended to collapse into largely meaningless semantics about whether the sum total of atrocities committed in and around Nanjing can be defined as a 'great massacre', or what the definition of 'Nanjing' is. Another problem is the obsession with numbers, where the moral and political implications of the discourse about, and events in, Nanjing are engulfed in a reductionism that focuses solely on the number of victims. There are, however, some encouraging signs that the situation is changing for the better. This paper will attempt to clarify the current state of research on this incident and identify future areas of research. First, however, the issue of semantics must be addressed.

2. Semantics

Any attempt to analyse either the historical events in and around Nanjing itself or the historiography of Nanjing must come to grips with, and attempt to clarify, the issue of definitions or semantics. It is only by acknowledging the semantics of the debate that the historian can hope to move away from the mutual vilification that characterises much of the dialogue between 'minimisers' and 'maximisers'. In this section, therefore, the various arguments about the major concepts that need to be defined will be summarised.

First, there is little consensus in the English-language discourse about what terminology is most appropriate when discussing the events in Nanjing in the winter of 1937-38. The Chinese term used almost universally is 'Nanjing datusha' (the great [as in large-scale] Nanjing massacre). The term 'datusha' or 'tusha' implies a systematic killing, as in an abattoir, and appeared at an early stage in the Chinese discourse on Nanking as a translation of H. J. Timperley's (1898-1954) word, 'slaughter'. In a reflection of the Chinese-language discourse, the debate in Japanese frequently uses the term 'Nankin daigyakusatsu' (literally 'the great Nanjing massacre', again 'great' as in 'large-scale') or 'Nankin gyakusatsu' (the Nanjing massacre). However, the most common term is 'Nankin jiken' (the Nanjing incident), which suggests a more neutral, objective tone, and helps distance the user from the more emotional connotations of 'massacre'.[8] This term will be used here.

Second, and far more importantly, there is no consensus in Japan about the definition of 'Nanjing'. Some of the 'corpse minimisers' define 'Nanjing' as the Safety Zone, a small area of a few square kilometers within the city walls. Others argue that since 'Nanjing' was a walled city, the area within the walls is an appropriate definition. Another group claims that a broader area that encompasses the suburbs of the city outside the walls should also be included (Xiaguan would therefore be viewed as part of 'Nanjing'). Yet others (the 'corpse maximisers') broaden the area to include the six xian (counties) surrounding the walled city of Nanjing. Finally, a smaller group of 'maximisers' broaden the area even further, some to Suzhou (190 kilometers away), others as far away as Shanghai (320 kilometers away). The size of 'Nanjing' can thus be defined as an area of only a few square kilometers or as an area of hundreds of square kilometers.

Of the various positions, the extremes that reduce Nanjing to a few square kilometers, or that exaggerate the size of the city out of all proportion, must be said to be definitions that have unfolded under the undue influence of political considerations. The temptation to define 'Nanjing' in very narrow terms is understandable; with a narrow enough definition, the massacre can be airbrushed from history. It is not surprising that no reputable historian has advocated this particular (mis)understanding of the geography of the Nanjing atrocities. At the same time, the larger 'Nanjing' is, the larger the population and hence the larger the potential death toll. What is surprising is that the second extreme is advocated not only by layperson 'maximisers', but also by some of the major Japanese historians working on Nanjing. Historians in Japan who advocate a large death toll (that falls within the 100,000 to 200,000 range) often base their arguments on a very broad definition of Nanjing, and fail to distinguish between deaths in battle and post-battle killings.

The problem with the existence of multiple definitions is that these differences are often not acknowledged, leading to debates that are largely meaningless, mutual accusations of refusing to accept known and established 'facts'. I am convinced that if a mutually acceptable definition could be agreed upon (or even several: 'Nanjing a', 'Nanjing b' and so on, for instance), many of the disagreements between historians would disappear.

A related (third) issue is that of the time-scale of the Nanjing Incident. Different definitions of the geography of 'Nanjing' inevitably produce different time-scales. The Japanese army rushed to Nanjing once Chinese resistance in Shanghai collapsed. The city itself fell after a week or so of fighting on 13 December, but troops did not enter the Safety Zone until 14 December. The larger the geographical definition of 'Nanjing', the earlier the Japanese entered 'Nanjing', and hence the earlier the atrocities began. No reputable historian argues that the events in and around 'Nanjing' began on 14 December, but some push the date back into November and even August.

A fourth major area of disagreement revolves around the word 'massacre'. Indeed, the discussion about whether or not there was a 'massacre' in 'Nanjing' relies, at least to a certain extent, on the definition of the term. Chinese people were without question killed. There is however no authorised and commonly accepted definition of 'massacre' for historians to call upon. There is no consensus about what type of death can or should be classified as part of a massacre, nor about how many deaths, or how many murders, make a massacre.

There were individual incidents where large numbers of Chinese people were killed in battle or captured and subsequently executed, but even here there is no consensus. On the one hand, some 'corpse maximisers' argue that the large numbers of Chinese military personnel who undoubtedly died in the fighting for Nanjing should be counted in any toll of the 'massacre'. On the other hand, some 'corpse minimisers' argue that the deaths in battle of Chinese military personnel and even 'legal' executions should be distinguished from massacres, and that only 'illegal' killings can be counted as 'massacres'. It could also be argued that the term 'massacre' is misleading in that it suggests an organised and/or planned effort, and thus distorts the fact that many of the murders were committed by individual Japanese army units on the battle-field, and were small-scale and sporadic.

In other words, a broad definition of 'massacre' counts all Chinese deaths as part of the Japanese 'massacre', and so includes in the final figure given for the 'massacre' of Chinese in and around Nanjing those Chinese soldiers who died in battle, even those soldiers who were shot by Chinese military units for abandoning their positions. In theory, a very narrow definition might demand proof that an organised, planned (and illegal) effort to kill civilians was ordered by the Japanese military, in which case the final figure would shrink to zero. In practice, however, the 'corpse minimisers' claim that only illegal executions of military personnel and civilians can be counted as part of any 'massacre'. They argue both that the execution of the 'plain-clothes soldiers' (bianyibing, ben'ihei) used by the Chinese military was legal and that most of the men in civilian clothes who were executed were in fact plain-clothes soldiers, and so conclude that the scale of the 'massacre' was relatively small. Here it is important to note that the first extreme counts all deaths as 'massacres', while the second counts only a small proportion of deaths as 'massacres'.

A fifth issue emerges when the deaths are counted. If there is no consensus about the definition of the term 'massacre', there is also little agreement about how to calculate a final death toll. On the one hand, it might be argued that each death must be confirmed by written documentation, or by genuine and reliable eyewitnesses to insist in other words on a narrowly forensic approach to counting deaths. This would serve deliberately or otherwise to minimise the final estimate. On the other hand, others uncritically accept all accounts as genuine, adding together all figures to produce a total that can be substantiated by nothing in the primary sources. Both extremes are problematic, but there is no consensus on which middle position to adopt. Oral history can also be treated in two different ways to demand solid corroboration for each account gained from oral history would be in effect to deny the victims of Japanese atrocities in and around Nanjing a voice, but at the same time to accept uncritically all accounts derived from oral history is problematic because many can easily be shown to be false. There is no happy answer to this dilemma. In determining which of the many various positions on Nanjing is legitimate, or more legitimate, it is necessary to examine carefully the sources that are given, to scrutinise the credentials of those informants who claim to have been in the city, and to compare the emerging narrative against as many primary materials as possible. 

3. Current Research

Academic research on the Nanjing Incident is mainly conducted in Chinese, English, and Japanese. Of the three language groups, Japanese has produced the most advanced research, with the debate in English lagging years if not decades behind. In both Japan and China, however, polemical writing has been driven by nationalism, and especially in China by state priorities. The discourse in Taiwan has produced research of a high quality, but the indigenisation of history that has occurred from the 1980s, together with the emergence of democracy and a new national identity, has had a negative impact on research on China, including Nanjing. The discourse in Taiwan has been further undermined by the inflow of research from mainland China.

3.1 Chinese-language Research

The most valuable Chinese language materials are the collections of various primary sources, including the recollections of many of the Chinese military personnel in Nanjing.[9] However, these collections show no evidence of any vigorous critical attempt to distinguish between valid and legitimate primary materials and other materials; photographs, for instance, which are known to be fabricated, or from different areas and different times, continue to be used to 'prove' Japanese guilt in the winter of 1937-38 in and around Nanjing.[10] Moreover, because of the limitations on free speech in mainland China, much of the secondary material merely parrots the government line of the day, and it would be difficult to describe the situation as a 'debate'. Thus, for instance, a group of researchers at Nanjing University in the 1960s condemned the members of the Western community who remained behind in Nanjing to run the humanitarian Safety Zone for turning a blind eye to the Japanese atrocities in the city, and 'misused' the primary sources to suggest that they co-operated in the Japanese slaughter of Chinese.[11] It is true that the Westerners in Nanjing did work with the Japanese, but it was a reluctant co-operation, and there is absolutely no evidence whatsoever that it extended to helping directly the Japanese kill anyone.

As Chinese concerns about 'American Imperialism' diminished, and as Japan became the target of official vitriol (partly at least because of the highly politicised and contentious issue of Japanese textbooks), Westerners came to be depicted as resistors rather than collaborators. In another work that is frequently based on a vivid imagination rather than primary sources and which demonstrates the influence of the Chinese literature on some sections of the English literature, Iris Chang claims that members of the international community jumped 'in front of cannons and machine guns to prevent the Japanese from firing' on unarmed civilians.[12] However, although there is not a shred of evidence that this happened the only documented case of a killing witnessed by any of the Westerners who remained in Nanjing after the journalists left on 15 and 16 December is that of a single man who was executed by Japanese soldiers the work of the international community is today highly lauded in all the literature on Nanjing and is one of the few areas about which all researchers of the Nanjing Incident can agree.[13]

Despite the fact that there seems to be little sign of internal debate in China, there are indications of an emerging discourse. Several Japanese works including Hata Ikuhiko's Nankin jiken -- 'Gyakusatsu' no kozo (The Nanjing incident: The structure of a 'massacre') (1986)have been translated into Chinese, so readers have access to non-official points of view.[14] In addition, the web provides a forum in which all points of view can be discussed, and the liberal world of free debate is open to those who can read and write English.

3.2 English-language Research

Although the research in Japanese remains superior to that in English and Chinese, this was not always the case. Surprisingly, perhaps, much of the primary material on Nanjing was originally written and published in English. The two central collections of primary materials -- given the discussion of the Chinese literature, it is ironic to note that both these works were products of GMD (Guomindang) propaganda -- consist of works published in English very soon after the incident itself: H. J. Timperley ed., What War Means: The Japanese Terror in China -- A Documentary Record (1938), and Hsu Shuhsi ed., Documents of the Nanking Safety Zone (1939). This head-start has not however been maintained. The first major monograph on Nanjing to be published in English after Hsu was the problematic work by Iris Chang, The Rape of Nanking ,(1997), a work that can only be described as frequently fabricated and/or fictitious. Following the publication of Chang, historians have at last started to write in English about this important event in Sino-Japanese history. Joshua A. Fogel's edited work, The Nanjing Massacre in History and Historiography (2000), is by any standard an impressive work, albeit one that focuses on the historiography rather than the history of Nanjing. Although flawed, both Honda Katsuichi, The Nanjing Massacre: A Japanese Journalist Confronts Japan's National Shame (1999) and Hua-ling Hu, American Goddess at the Rape of Nanking: The Courage of Minnie Vautrin(2000), are important contributions.[15] One of the latest in the long run of recent publications in English includes Masahiro Yamamoto, Nanking: Anatomy of an Atrocity (2000), a work that is easily the most objective historical account of Nanjing in the English-language literature to date.[16]

American Missionary Eyewitnesses to the Nanking Massacre, 1937 - 1938 (1997), Timothy Brook ed., Documents of the Rape of Nanking (1999), and Zhang Kaiyuan ed., Eyewitnesses to Massacre: American Missionaries Bear Witness to Japanese Atrocities in Nanjing (2001), are all collections of primary materials long unavailable in English. Finally, John Rabe's diary, Der gute Deutsche von Nanking (1997) -- translated into English as The Good Man of Nanking: The Diaries of John Rabe (1998) -- is a crucial piece of evidence.

3.3 Japanese Language Research

The Japanese language literature is even more impressive. Unlike the debate in English, Japanese researchers have been debating -- and truly debating -- the incident for decades rather than only the past few years, so the Japanese language materials can only be summarised here.[17] This debate has ebbed and flowed over the years, but has been steadily building up steam since the mid-1980s. If the post-war period from 1945 to 2003 is divided into three periods of 20 years each -- 1945-1964, 1965-1984, 1985-2004 -- and if we look at books published in Japanese with Nanjing in the title or sub-title, during the first period no books, during the second 17, and during the third over a hundred books were published. Moreover, the 1980s in particular saw a collapse in the perceived legitimacy of the Illusion School, with, for instance, Kaikosha, a support group of individuals from the pre-1945 Military Staff College, which had previously denied that massacres occurred in Nanjing, expressing regret for the killings on behalf of those directly involved.[18] Recent popular Japanese interest in the Nanjing Incident in particular has triggered a flood of books that could well be described as a publishing industry. I believe that this was stimulated by the publication in English of Iris Chang's book, together with the publication in Japanese of John Rabe's diary in 1997.[19] Moreover, a neo-nationalist political movement, the Japanese Society for History Textbook Reform,[20] together with the Association for the Advancement of a Liberal View of History,[21] has helped to foster an intellectual environment in which many Japanese reject interpretations of the colonial and wartime epochs its critics describe as the Tokyo Trial View of History. Chang's work in particular is unashamedly based on this view of history and, as is often the case with this particular historical ideology, is fatally flawed. The intellectual environment in Japan has changed to such a degree that Chang's work has found very little support there, even among the corpse maximisers, left-wing advocates of the validity of the Tokyo Trial, who argue that a 'great (or large-scale) massacre' did occur. The reception of Rabe's diary has been, in general, much more positive. Together, these two works have served to reopen the debate in Japan on the Nanjing Incident.

Although the best introductory work on Nanjing in any language probably remains Hata Ikuhiko's Nankin jiken (1986), recent work in Japan has moved far beyond what was possible in the mid-1980s, principally because so many primary sources have since been published. The debate has also moved firmly into the mainstream. Although lay authors continue to write on Nanjing, the early debate was largely between a journalist (Honda Katsuichi) and a free-lance writer (Suzuki Akira), but now is also a debate between large groups of academics.[22]

One of the blemishes of much of the research on Nanjing in English to date is that frequently it has been based on secondary materials. Indeed, one of the great differences between the research in Japan and that in the English-speaking world, and one of the great strengths of the Japanese-language literature, is that it has relied heavily on primary sources. Ironically, perhaps, a large amount of material originally written in English is in fact far more readily available today in Japanese than in English. For instance, the first volume, Amerika kankei shiryohen (American materials), of a two volume set, Nankin jiken shiryoshu (Materials on the Nanjing incident), edited by the Nankin jiken chosa kenkyukai (1992), contains 85 newspaper and magazine articles originally printed in English at the time of the Nanjing Incident but now readily available in English only to the researcher with access to a good library. In addition, this collection contains over 150 primary documents that shed much light on the events in Nanjing during the winter of 1937-38. Both Timperley and Hsu have long been available in Japanese. Rabe's diary appeared in Japanese before an English edition was published, and while a Japanese-language edition of Minnie Vautrin's diary exists, researchers are still waiting for an English-language edition.[23] Kasahara has in fact recently noted that '[n]ine different collections of historical materials on the massacre have been published [in Japan]. Rarely has so much documentation been compiled and published with regard to a single historical event'.[24]

4. Schools of Thought

Since the Japanese discourse on the Nanjing Incident is the most sophisticated, the following discussion about various schools, methodologies and sources will focus on the situation in Japan. Interpretations of the Nanjing Incident in Japan are usually divided into three schools of thought, defined by the number of people each school argues was massacred in Nanjing.[25] They are the Nanjing Incident as Illusion School (maboroshi-ha), which argues that at most several thousand were 'massacred' in Nanjing; the Middle-of-the-Road School (chukan-ha), which argues that between 13,000 (in the case of Itakura Yoshiaki) and 38,000-42,000 (in the case of Hata Ikuhiko) were massacred; and the Great Massacre School (daigyakusatsu-ha), which argues, in the words of one of its leading advocates, Kasahara Tokushi, that 'over 100,000, perhaps nearly 200,000 or even more', were killed in Nanjing.[26] (Note that the three schools have differing views on what constitutes a 'massacre'.) The English language debate does not have so great a range of opinion, although Masahiro Yamamoto clearly falls within the Middle-of-the-Road School, and Iris Chang even more clearly argues for a massacre on a far greater scale than any member of the Great Massacre School. Chinese language sources are closer to Iris Chang than any of the three Japanese groups.

An introduction to the three schools was recently provided by the conservative Japanese opinion magazine, Shokun!, which sent out a questionnaire to which almost every important researcher of the Nanjing Incident in Japan replied.[27] The questionnaire was sent to both academic and lay members of all three groups, and responses were received from 23 individuals: Ara Ken'ichi, Oi Mitsuru, Takaike Katsuhiko, Fujioka Nobukatsu, Fuji Nobuo, Watanabe Shoichi, Tanaka Masaaki, Matsumura Toshio and Kobayashi Yoshinori (all from the Illusion School), Suzuki Akira (not clear, but given here as a member of the Illusion School), Unemoto Masaki, Nakamura Akira, Okazaki Hisahiko, Sakurai Yoshiko, Tanabe Toshio and Hara Takeshi (all of whom Shokun! places in the Middle-of-the-Road School), and finally Eguchi Keiichi, Fujiwara Akira, Himeta Mitsuyoshi, Inoue Hisashi, Yoshida Yutaka, Kasahara Toshushi and Takasaki Ryuji (from the Great Massacre School). By any standard an impressive and comprehensive list, it includes almost every researcher actively working on the Nanjing Incident in Japan. The major omission, apart from Hata Ikuhiko and Higashinakano Shudo, who were involved elsewhere in the Shokun! project, is Honda Katsuichi (Hora Tomio and Itakura Yoshiaki have recently died, while Kitamura Minoru's book on Nanjing first appeared after this survey was published).

The researchers and writers were asked to reply to a number of questions, including how many Chinese each believes the Japanese killed illegally ('killed illegally' is a narrow definition of 'massacred') in Nanjing, how the Nanjing Incident should be defined in terms of both time and geography, whether the execution of soldiers who shed their uniforms and hid among the civilian population of Nanjing should be included in any count of a massacre, and whether the Japanese execution of plain-clothes soldiers was forbidden by international law.

The answers to the first question about the scale of Japanese atrocities in and around Nanjing are hardly surprising -- the various schools are after all defined by their views on the issue. Members of the Illusion School answered that the number was zero (Fuji Nobuo), almost zero, or, in the case of Watanabe, 40 to 50. The Middle-of-the-Road School, which is given a broader definition than the one I use, ranges from 'several thousand' (Nakamura and Unemoto) through about 10,000 (Okazaki, Sakurai, and Tanabe) to about 20,000 (Hara). I would place all but Hara in the Illusion School: the Middle-of-the-Road School as I understand it gives a death toll that ranges from Itakura's estimte of 20,000 to Hata's estimate of 38,000-42,000. The Great Massacre School ranges from at least 100,000 (Eguchi), more than 120,000 (10 suman), a figure that has become the orthodox position of this school and which is advocated by Himeta, Inoue, Kasahara and Yoshida, to the older orthodoxy, 200,000, which is still advocated by Fujiwara and Takasaki.

Table 1. The number of Chinese 'victims' in and around Nanjing: The three schools as defined by Shokun! and Askew

8. Conclusion

In this paper, I have attempted to shed some light on the state of research of the Nanjing Incident today.

First, to put it mildly, Nanjing is a controversial topic. Although our understanding of the events of Nanjing does not even begin to approach our understanding of the holocaust, in both instances there have been tendencies to demonise anyone who budges from the orthodox position. The problem is that the orthodox position is completely different in China and Japan, and within Japan itself three distinct orthodoxies have emerged. Although there is real debate in Japan, no one there now accepts the figure of 300,000 victims as plausible, while in China the figure is set in concrete (both figuratively and literally) at the entrance of the Memorial for the Compatriot [Chinese] Victims of the Japanese Massacre in Nanjing. It would be unfortunate if the debate were to continue to run on parallel lines, never to come together to produce a deeper, more complete and transnational understanding of this historical event. How to overcome the obstacles, on the other hand, poses a dilemma. As long as much of the debate is dominated by ideologues, the sensible option for historians may well be to keep their heads down and research other topics.[62] That, however, cannot be a desirable outcome. Historians surely have an obligation to combat the tendency to use Nanjing as a weapon in contemporary ideological and international contests.

Second, too many Japanese authors are insensitive to the fact that Nanjing for better or for worse has become a central plank in the construction of the modern Chinese identity. To discuss Nanjing is to threaten this self-identity. Those who participate in the debate, therefore, need to show some sensitivity to it. I am not arguing that the Chinese orthodoxy needs to be accepted without question. Indeed, my own position is that it is more dangerous (at least in the long term) to found national identity on a lie than to discover the truth and live with it. However, some effort does need to be made (at both extremes of the debate) to avoid the use of violent and inflammatory language, and to show a much greater awareness of and sensitivity to the moral implications of historical inquiry.

Third, historians are obliged to examine calmly the primary materials and reconstruct the history of Nanjing on the basis of what those materials say. Some who write on Nanjing clearly want to absolve the Japanese of all blame, while others want to depict the Japanese as a uniquely brutal and ruthless race. Neither position should form the starting point of any discussion of the events in Nanjing -- although, of course, either might be the conclusion of any such examination. The publication of as many primary materials as possible is clearly an essential condition to this approach, so the discovery and publication of as much as possible must be encouraged.

Finally, a dialogue among historians working on the Nanjing Incident needs to be promoted. One such forum can be provided by the English language, where researchers from both Japan and China can debate with researchers from third-party countries such as the USA, Canada Britain and Australia. The problem with the Chinese and Japanese language discourses is that they are both so insular and the political environments are so charged. It is in the market of ideas and through constant debate (including, perhaps, the mediation provided by third-party historians), that the truth will be approached.

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Notes

[1] My own views of Nanjing have evolved in part through a long-running e-mail conversation with Bob Wakabayashi. I would like to take this opportunity to acknowledge the impact Bob has had. I would also like to express my gratitude to A. G. Geddes and Peter Kirby. Both read through and commented on drafts of this paper. An early version of this paper was published as Askew (2002b), and is reprinted here with the permission of the editor of the Electronic Journal of Contemporary Japanese Studies.

[2] Even the terminology for the incident itself is controversial. Of the various terms that have been used, 'Nanjing Incident' is, I believe, the most neutral, and one that is particularly beneficial in combating the arguments of the deniers. While it is possible, after all, to deny that a 'great massacre' occurred (depending on one's definition of 'great' and 'massacre'), it is impossible to deny that an 'incident' occurred.

[3] On this point, see, for instance, Buruma (1999). The Chinese diaspora has played a major role in bringing the Nanjing Incident to international attention. There is no simple explanation for the fact that overseas Chinese in countries such as the USA have felt the need to place such an emphasis on the atrocities at Nanjing. The desire for a strong national identity is understandable, but it is unfortunate that victimhood should play such a crucial role in the construction of this identity. It is possible that a shared sense of outrage and victimhood helps create links between members of the community. It is perhaps even possible, as at least one American journalist has speculated, that within a system of preferential treatment, there are social, political and economic gains to be had from being defined as a member of an ethnic group that has suffered a large-scale atrocity. See Vallace (1998).

[4] Chang (1997: chapter 10).

[5] For the terms 'corpse minimiser' and "corpse maximiser', see Askew (2004), Manne (2002) and Sandall (2002).

[6] Anon. (1997). Also cited in Yang (2001: 50).

[7] For an example of the anti-Japan and anti-Japanese sites that exist, see Hate Japan (http://www.hatejapan.com), cited in Hoffman (2001). For other organisations, see, for instance, the Chinese Alliance for Commemoration of the Sino-Japanese War Victims (http://www.ww2.org.hk/index.html), the Society for Studies of Japanese Aggression against China (Riben qin-Hua yanjiu xuehui), and the Alliance for Preserving the Truth of the Sino-Japanese War (http://www.sjwar.org/home.htm). Japan boasts several associations, including the left-wing Nankin jiken chosa kenkyukai (The Nanjing incident survey and research association) and the right-wing Nankin jiken gakkai (The Nanjing incident studies association). For journals, see, in addition to the various publications of the Nankin jiken gakkai, including Higashinakano ed. (2002, 2003b), Kang-Ri zhanzheng yanjiu (The journal of studies of the Chinese War of Resistance against Japan) and Riben qin-Hua yanjiu (Studies of Japanese aggression against China), both of which frequently publish papers on Nanjing. One of the best sites on Nanjing (authored by a Japanese) is Nankin jiken shiroshu (Materials on the Nanjing incident) (http://members.at.infoseek.co.jp/NankingMassacre/), while another superb site is Masato Kajimoto's 'Online Documentary: The Nanking Atrocities' (http://journalism.missouri.edu/~jschool/nanking/). Also see Nankin daigyakusatsu wa uso da (The great Nanjing massacre is a lie!) (http://www.history.gr.jp/nanking/index.html) and Nankin jiken shiro (Materials on the Nanjing incident) (http://www.ne.jp/asahi/unko/tamezou/nankin/). For major Chinese sites, see the WWW Memorial Hall of the Victims in the Nanjing Massacre (1937-1938) (http://www.arts.cuhk.edu.hk/NanjingMassacre/NM.html). Also see The Nanjing Massacre (http://www.cnd.org/njmassacre) and The Association for Victims of Japanese War Crimes (http://members.tripod.com/~AVJWC/index.html). For Iris Chang as a best seller, see for instance anon. (1998), an article in an issue of the Reader's Digest with a photograph of Chang on the cover. The article is available on Chang's 'official' home page (http://www.irischang.net/index.cfm).

[8] Even left-wing historians in Japan use 'incident', though often first attempt to please all by stating that the term 'Nanjing incident' is short for 'great Nanjing massacre incident' (Nankin daigyakusatsu jiken).

[9] For some of the better collections, see, for instance, Zhongguo renmin zhengzhi xieshanghuiyi quanguo weiyuanhui wenshi ziliao yanjiu weiyuanhui 'Nanjing baoweizhan' bianshenzu ed. (1987), Zhongyang dang'anguan, Zhongguo dier lishi dang'anguan, and Jilinsheng shehui kexueyuan eds. (1995), 'Nanjing datusha' shiliao bianji weiyuanhui and Nanjing tushuguan eds. (1997), and Zhongguo dier lishi dang'anguan and Nanjing shi dang'anguan eds. (1997). For a representative collection published in Taiwan, see the two volume set, Zhongguo Guomindang zhongyang weiyuanhui dangshi weiyuanhui ed. (1987a, 1987b). Some of the English language material has also been translated. See, for example, Zhu et al. eds. (1998).

[10] This can also be said about many of the photographs used by Iris Chang in her work.

[11] See Gao et al. (1962). The word 'misused' is from Eykholt (2000: 25). The 'imperialist and fascist' members of the Western community had been accused a decade previously of helping the Japanese to massacre innocent Chinese. See Xinhua yuebao, 1951, cited in Yang (2000: 178, note 93). Also see Eykholt (2000: 24-25).

[12] Chang (1997: 139). Chang has not misused her sources here: together with a number of other events depicted in her book, this is pure fiction. The issue of Iris Chang requires further research. Her book has been used in Japan by corpse minimisers to discredit all those who argue that atrocities took place. Given that Chang is so obviously wrong on important questions of fact, the conclusion drawn by some is that if Chang is wrong, then all who argue that atrocities took place are equally wrong. As rhetoric, this methodology is very effective, but clearly inappropriate. For a hard-hitting example, see Higashinakano and Fujioka (1999). The most significant reviews of Chang have been written by Joshua Fogel. See Fogel (1998, 1999a, 1999b, 2000).

[13] For my own views of the International Committee, see Askew (2002a, forthcoming a). Also see Kasahara (1995).

[14] For representative translations, see Hata (1995), Higashinakano (2001), Hora (1987), and Suzuki (1982).

[15] I have discussed what I see as the major flaws of Honda's work -- in particular his over-reliance on and uncritical acceptance of oral sources -- in Askew (2000).

[16] In this paper, I have endeavoured to give the author's names as they appear in the works I cite: the work cited here by Masahiro Yamamoto, for instance, gives his name in this order, rather than Yamamoto Masahiro.

[17] For an overview of the post-war debate in Japanese on Nanjing, see Yoshida (2000). Wakabayashi (2000) provides a very good introduction to the early debate.

[18] On this point, see Katogawa (1985: 18).

[19] Rabe's diary was published in Japanese as Nankin no shinjitsu (The truth of Nanjing). See Rabe (1997b).

[20] For the Japanese Society for History Textbook Reform, see their web-site (in English), http://www.tsukurukai.com/eng/mokuji.htm. The Japanese version of the same (the Atarashii rekishi kyokasho o tsukuru kai) is at http://www.tsukurukai.com.html. For a critical discussion, see Hein and Selden eds. (2000).

[21] For the Association for the Advancement of a Liberal View of History, see http://www.jiyuu-shikan.org/e/index.html and, in Japanese, http://www.jiyuu-shikan.org.html.

[22] For recent monographs alone, see, for example, Azuma Shiro san no Nankin saiban o sasaeru kai ed. (2001), Hayase (1999), Higashinakano (1998), Higashinakano and Fujioka (1999), Higashinakano ed. (2002, 2003a, 2003b), Honda, Watanabe, and Hoshi (2003), Igarashi (2000, 2002), Itakura (1999), Kasahara (1999, 2002), Kitamura (2001), Matsuo (2003), Nankin jiken chosa kenkyukai ed. (1999), Suzuki (1999), Takemoto and Ohara (2000), Tomisawa (2003), and finally Yoshimoto (2001). Reflecting the high interest in Nanjing in Japan, several works have recently been republished. See, for instance, Tanaka (1987/2001), a work originally published in 1987 and no longer easily available, and Ara (1987/2002), again originally published in 1987.

[23] Timperley ed. (1938a) and Hsu ed. (1939) are both available in translation in Hora ed. (1973, 1985). Rabe (1997b). Vautrin (1999). Note that parts of Vautrin have been published in Zhang ed. (2001).

[24] Kasahara (2001: 266-67). This tradition of publishing collections of primary materials in Japanese is still thriving: for recent works, see Minnie Vautrin, Nankin jiken no hibi -- Minii x Botorin no nikki (Living the Nanjing incident: The diary of Minnie Vautrin) (1999), and Ishida Yuji ed., Shiryo Doitsu gaikokan no mita Nankin jiken (Materials: The Nanjing incident witnessed by German diplomats) (2001).

[25] Hata (1993).

[26] Kasahara Tokushi, unpublished paper distributed at the Nanjing Incident Symposium held at Princeton University on 21 November 1997, cited in Hata (1998a: 12). This paper has also been printed in Japanese in Kasahara (1999: 238-48). See Kasahara (1999: 240).

[27] Shokun! (2001) For a review of this questionnaire, see Askew (2001b), upon which the following is based.

[28] Kasahara's latest work (Kasahara 2002: chapter 2) contains a section that attempts to highlight the flaws in Higashinako's work. A translation is available in Wakabayashi ed. (forthcoming).

[29] Nankin senshi henshu iinkai ed. (1993a, 1993b, 1993c)

[30] For my own views on Kitamura, see Askew (2002c). Note that he publishes to a large extent in the Illusion School press, and shows signs of an inclination to move closer to the Illusion School.

[31] This is not to deny the inherent role ideology plays in all the social sciences, including historiography. For a stimulating work on the historian's approach to reconstructing history as compared with those interested in ideology and myths, see Cohen (1997).

[32] Honda Katsuichi's Nankin e no michi (The road to Nanjing) has recently been published in English. It may be that the Great Massacre School, having arguably lost the intellectual debate in Japan over the Nanjing Incident, has decided to concentrate on English. See Honda (1999).

[33] Kasahara (2001: 266).

[34] Itakura Yoshiaki, among others, has identified a number of cases where members of both groups have fabricated materials and stories on the incident. For representative work, see him on the 'corpse maximiser' Sone Kazuo in Itakura (1999: 233-283). Also see him on the 'corpse minimiser' Tanaka Masaaki in Itakura (1986).

[35] Nankin jiken chosa kenkyukai ed. (1999).

[36] For Kasahara's apology, see Kasahara (1998). Iwanami Shoten subsequently reissued this work with a different photograph.

[37] The following owes much to Cohen (1997).

[38] Hata (1998b, 1998/1999).

[39] I have interviewed and am corresponding with one surviving member of the Nanjing Special Services Organisation that was entrusted with the task of overseeing the Chinese collaborationist regimes in Nanjing, and am also interviewing a surviving member of the Sixth Division, but doubt that there can be many more individuals who were there and who are still alive.

[40] See Askew (2003b).

[41] See Smythe (1938). I utilised this survey in establishing the size of the civilian population of Nanjing from December 1937 when the city fell through to February the next year. See Askew (2001a, forthcoming b).

[42] The terms 'bystander', 'victim' and 'perpetrator' have been borrowed from Yang (2000: 138).

[43] See Askew (2002a). Kasahara (1995) is a good introduction to the international community and utilises many of the various sources that are available.

[44] For a collection of these recollections, see for example 'Nanjing datusha' shiliao bianji weiyuanhui and Nanjing tushuguan eds. (1997).

[45] Zhongguo renmin zhengzhi xieshanghuiyi quanguo weiyuanhui wenshi ziliao yanjiu weiyuanhui 'Nanjing baoweizhan' bianshenzu ed. (1987).

[46] Yamamoto (2000) and Askew (2003a, unpublished manuscript). Also see Itakura, 'Nankin senshi to Nankin jiken no suryoteki haaku' (Nankin senshi [A history of the battle of Nanking] and a mathematical grasp of the Nanking incident) in Itakura (1999), Kasahara (1992), and Nankin senshi henshu iinkai ed. (1993a).

[47] For a stimulating and highly sophisticated discussion of the Tokyo Trial as it related to Nanjing, see Brook (2001b).

[48] For a more detailed discussion of Rabe, see Askew (2002d).

[49] Gibney (1999: xiii).

[50] See Kasahara (1999: 239). The assumption that 90,000 soldiers died must be viewed with some scepticism, and there certainly is no basis whatsoever for the claim that eight out of nine who died were executed.

[51] Letter from John Rabe, included in 'Reports from the German Foreign Office in China to the German Foreign Office in Berlin', cited in Pritchard and Zaide eds. (1987: vol. 2, 4594).

[52] Honda (1999: 285).

[53] See Tanaka (2000).

[54] See Takemoto and Ohara (2000).

[55] Wakabayashi (2000).

[56] Brook (forthcoming).

[57] Brook (2001a).

[58] Askew (2002a, forthcoming a).

[59] Yang (2000) and Fogel (forthcoming).

[60] See Kanemaru (2000, 2002).

[61] I have started to examine this possibility and tentatively concluded that there almost certainly was some form of organised resistance. See Askew (2002d).

[62] This point has been forcefully made to me by a number of Japanese historians.

David Askew is Associate Professor, Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University and Monash University. This article was originally published by Japan Focus and is used by permission. Copyright Japan Focus, 2004. Click here for the original version, which includes diacriticals.

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