Title: Introduction to Chinese Cultural History / Slides / 4. War against Japan

Front: How is the confrontation between China in Japan during World War II called?
Back: One of:
- The Second Sino-Japanese War,
- the War of Resistance against Japan (kang Ri zhanzheng),
- the Eight-year War of Resistance,
- in revised PRC textbooks 14-Year War of Resistance (starting from invasion of Manchuria, but resistance actually started later with United Front in 1936).

Front: When was The Second Sino-Japanese War?
Back: 1937 July 7^th–1945 September 9^th

Front: Give a timeline for the Second Sino-Japanese War.
Back: - 1931 (before the actual war): Japanese Invasion of Manchuria
- 1937 July 7^th: Marco Polo Bridge Incident marks beginning of war
- 1937 August 3^rd: Battle of Beijing (a.k.a Beiping at the time)
- 1937 August: beginning of Shanghai’s “Orphan Island” period (1937-41), under Japanese control except International Settlement and French Concession^1
- 1937 October 26^th: Battle of Shanghai^1
- 1937 December 1^st–13^th: Battle of Nanjing
- 1937 December 13^th–1938 January 31^st: The Nanjing Massacre (aka The Rape of Nanking, Nanjing da
tusha)
- 1938 October 25^th: fall of military HQ in Wuhan
- 1938: Chongqing air raids begin
- 1940: Japanese puppet government in Nanjing under Wang Jinwei: Reorganized National Goverment
- 1941: US  involvement in the conflict
- 1942–1943: Henan famine
- 1945: Japan surrenders
^1 Apparently the "Orphan Island" period begins before the Battle of Shanghai. I'm guessing Shanghai was in blockade in August, but the battle had not yet broke out, or the October date from the earlier slide gives the end date.

Front: What's to say about the legacy of the Second Sino-Japanese War?
Back: - War history still an open wound in Sino-Japanese relations
- War historiography and memorialization still contested
- Significant gap between history of the war and social/collective memory of the war both in China and in Japan
- One key issue of contention is the Nanjing Massacre of 1937

Front: What is The Nanjing Massacre and when?
Back: - Before: KMT government moved to Chongqing in November, leaving Nanjing defenseless
- 1937 December 13^th: Japanese Imperial Army takes Nanjing
- 1937 December 13^th–1938 January 31^st (6 weeks): Mass killings of unarmed civilians and prisoners of war, crimes of mass rape, mutilation, torture, looting, arson
- Number of victims (contested) ranges from 40,000 to over 300,000 (Chinese estimate)

Front: How many people are victims of The Nanjing Massacre?
Back: Number of victims (contested) ranges from 40,000 to over 300,000 (Chinese estimate).

Front: How was the Nanjing Massacre remembered in China during the Mao era?
Back: Mao era (1949-1976):
- Nanjing massacre not discussed publicly
- Emphasis on official narrative of CCP-led victory in the war against Japan (when China was ruled by the Nationalists) and civil war that followed (1945-49)
- Massacre perceived as shameful, sign of national weakness
- PRC interest in rebuilding relations with Japan (1972: re-establishment of diplomatic relations)

Front: How was the Nanjing Massacre remembered in China during the Reform era?
Back: Reform Era (post-Mao):
- official memorialization begins in the early 1980s (also) as a result of rise of Japanese nationalism and revisionism (e.g. rewriting of textbooks since 1982 and denialist publications by right-wing historians)
- Nanjing Massacre Memorial Hall inaugurated in 1985
- ongoing “history question” and “memory wars”
- Role of popular culture and media in (re)construction and circulation of historical memory (films, novels, comics/graphic novels, TV series, music)

Front: There is a controversial book about Nanjing Massacre from the late 1990s. Which is it?
Back: - 1997 bestseller The Rape of Nanking by US-born Chinese journalist Iris Chang (1968-2004) revives international attention toward Japanese war crimes in China
- Chang (controversially) describes Nanjing massacre as “the forgotten Holocaust of World War II”
- Divided reception: international acclaim vs. accusations of bias, exaggeration, inaccurate scholarship (e.g. historian Ezra Vogel)
- Despite its faults, Chang’s book has inspired films, plays, and documentaries
- Uses diaries of John Rabe and Minnie Vautrin while researching for the book

Front: Where did civilians in Nanjing try to find refuge and who tried to help them?
Back: In the International Safety Zone, formed by foreigners. It was a demilitarized area (est. 1937 November; dismantled 1938 February)
200,000+ refugees sheltered

Front: Who led the International Safety Zone?
Back: The Safety Zone International Committee. Slides give the following two members:
- John Rabe
- Minnie Vautrin and assistant Tsen Shui-fang

Front: Who is John Rabe? Under what names is he revered?
Back: John Rabe was:
- a German businessman (Siemens),
- chairman of the Safety Zone.
He has been called:
- "The Good Nazi"
- "Schindler of Nanjing"
- "Good Man of Nanjing"
- "Living Buddha"
In 1938 “Rabe was preparing to return to Germany with photographs and videos of the Nanking Massacre. He intended to convince Hitler to rise up in defense of the Chinese and go to war against the Japanese aggressors. Hitler, however, took the massacre as a laudable display of Japanese strength”

Front: Who is Minnie Vautrin? Under what names is she revered?
Back: Minnie Vautrin was a US missionary and had an assistant Tsen Shui-Fang (Cheng Ruifang), they were both active in the Safety Zone International Committee and sheltered 10,000 women in Ginling College.
She has been called:
- “Goddess of Mercy”
- “American Goddess”

Front: Who is John Magee?
Back: John Magee was a US missionary:
- Produced photographic and video documentation
- Testified at the Tokyo War Crimes Trial in 1946
- His materials also featured in US wartime propaganda film by Frank Capra Why We Fight (Part on “The Battle for China”)

Front: For the Massacre of Nanjing, give examples of Memorialization in Literature, Media Popular Culture.
Back: - Film: Lu Chuan: City of Life and Death (2009)
- Novel: Ye Zhaoyan: Nanjing 1937: A Love Story (1996)
- Novella: Yan Geling: The Flowers of War
- Graphic Novel: Nicolas Meylaender and Zong Kai: Nanking (2011)
- Graphic Novel: Ethan Young: Nanjing: The Burning City (2015)
- Music: Jeff Huang: Nanjing 1937 (2007)
- Music: Exodus: Nanking (2010)
- Music: Black Kirin: Nanking Massacre (2017)

Front: Summarize the war crime site where Japanese did Nazi-like experiments.
Back: Unit 731:
- Another infamous site of Japanese war crimes in Harbin (then in “Manchukuo”)
- Imperial Japanese Army unit in charge of secret biological and chemical warfare research
- comparable to Nazi experiments in concentration camps (Josef Mengele)
- Disease injections (anthrax, typhoid), vivisections, biological weapons
- Destruction of evidence in 1945
- US gave immunity to Japanese perpetrators in exchange of access to research data, which they concealed from war trials (BUT condemned Germans as well as Japanese who had carried out similar experiments on US prisoners > accusations of racism (Chinese victims less important than US ones)
- Also subject of films, documentaries, popular music

Front: In the Second Sino-Japanese War, what happened in 1940?
Back: - 1940: establishment of Japanese puppet Reorganized National Government in Nanjing
- President: Wang Jingwei (1883-1994), once close comrade and almost successor of Sun Yat-sen as KMT leader
- Now remembered in China as notorious collaborators (hanjian; traitor)

Front: In the Second Sino-Japanese War, what happened in 1941?
Back: 1941 December 8^th: Japan takes Hong Kong and attacks Pearl Harbour.
US enter the war: KMT government joins Allies against Axis powers.

Front: In the Second Sino-Japanese War, what happened in 1945?
Back: 1945 August 6^th–9^th: US nuclear bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki
1945 September 2^nd: Japan surrenders
Taiwan (Japanese colony since 1895) returned to China

Front: What was the new capital after the Japanese surrender?
Back: The capital moved back to Nanjing in 1946.

Front: What organization played a role in Wartime Writing during The Second Sino-Japanese War?
Back: - All-China Anti-Japanese Resistance Federation of Writers and Artists or All-China Resistance Federation of Writers and Artists or Zhonghua quanguo wenyijie kangdi xiehui
- Established in Wuhan in 1938
- Directed by novelist and playwright Lao She
- Patriotic literature (esp. reportage literature)
- Mao Dun, Ding Ling, Ba Jin among main contributors.

Front: When did Zhang Ailing live and die?
Back: Zhang Ailing (Eileen Chang, 1920-1995)

Front: Who was Zhang Ailing? Describe the creative areas she was active in and give a brief biography.
Back: - Author of novels, short stories, essays, screenplays
- Translator, illustrator, fashion designer, cultural icon
- regarded by some as China’s best modern writer
- member of the wartime literary scene,
- 1920: Born in Shanghai to an illustrious family (abusive father, opium addict)
- bilingual education
- 1939–1941: University of Hong Kong
- 1941: Hong Kong occupied by Japan, returns to Shanghai in 1942
- 1943-1944: Publishes short stories and essays on various literary magazines
- Stigmatized for 3-year marriage with Japanese collaborator Hu Lancheng (writer) and apolitical stance of her writing
- 1952-1955: Back to Hong Kong, works as translator for US Information Agency
- 1955: Moves to US (marries American writer, keeps writing screenplays for HK studios, dies in LA)
- Renewed popularity in HK, Taiwan, and diaspora since late 1960s-1970s (since late 1980s also in PRC)

Front: How are romantic relationships depicted in Zhang Ailings work?
Back: Known for apolitical and “desolate” depictions of romantic relationships (cangliang; grey and cold, “desolate”) and wartime romances.

Front: How does Zhang Ailing compare to the New Sensationists?
Back: Sensory experience of modern urban life in Shanghai (shared with New Sensationists), but in domestic spaces, private focus.

Front: How would you describe the characters of Zhang Ailing?
Back: petty urbanites (xiao shimin)

Front: What settings did Zhang Ailing use?
Back: 1940s Japanese-occupied Shanghai and Hong Kong, e.g. “Sealed Off”, (aka “Blockade”, 1943), fleeting romance on tram in wartime Shanghai “Love in a Fallen City” (1943)

Front: How did Nicole Huang describe the work of Zhang Ailing?
Back: “construction of an alternative narrative of war, one that contradicted the grand narratives of national
salvation and revolution that dominated the wartime literary scene” (Nicole Huang)

Front: What is Love in a Fallen City?
Back: Love in a Fallen City (Qingcheng zhi lian, short story, 1943):
- Set in 1940s Shanghai and Hong Kong (“tale of two cities”)
- Fallen city: Hong Kong in 1941 (Japanese occupation)
- Bai Liusu, divorced woman in Shanghai, shame on family, meets Fan Liuyuan
- Fan moves to HK, she follows, then goes back to SH and back to HK
- Mutual distrust of each other’s “true feelings” and sense of commitment
- Stronger bond through the fall of HK (antithesis love-war, love because of war)
- Romance
- Colonial discourse
- Classical trope of “beauty in turbulent times” (luanshi jiaren)
- Minute descriptions of ordinary details such as colours, clothing
- Recurrent motifs (wall, mirror, moon)

Front: Where does the narrative of Love in a Fallen City develop?
Back: Narrative develops primarily in interior spaces:
- In Shanghai:
  - Balcony
  - Drawing room
  - Bedrooms
- In Hong Kong:
  - Repulse Bay Hotel: lobby, rooms, dancing hall
  - House on Babington Road