The Rape of Nanking 1937

The Rape of Nanking took place in 1937 when the world was on the brink of war, and took an estimated 300,000 lives. Many events led up to the tension that had been building with Japan, and Japan's lust for being a strong imperialistic power played an important role in its motive to destroy most of China. During the age of Imperialism, to the humiliation of Japan, western powers had forced their way into the country, demanding and receiving trading rights. For instance, Commodore Perry led a fleet from the United States to Japan in 1853 and won rights regarding the importation and exportation of goods in certain areas of the islands.

As a result of the embarrassment of being overpowered by foreign nations, Japan decided to take action. In 1894, Japan began a war with China over the land of Korea. The Japanese won the right to trade in Korea, and this was one of the first examples of Japan joining in on imperialistic events.

There were specific reasons as to why Japan made the decision to become an imperial power, one being that they wanted to control foreign countries for their own benefit. Japan had, and still has, very few natural resources. For example, it has a scarce amount of natural oil, and as a result; almost all raw material had to be imported. So Japan figured that a logical place to get resources was the mainland of Asia. In addition, they reasoned that it was logical to sell factory-made products overseas.

After the war with China involving Korea, Japan demanded war for the right to control Manchuria, a city in northeast China, which contained an abundant amount of coal and iron. China was forced to give up parts of Manchuria to Japan. Then, Russia and Japan fought over Manchuria, and again Japan was victorious. This conquest on the Japanese side was especially significant because it was the first time that a European power was defeated by an Asian power.

Japan then traveled south and invaded the heart of China itself in 1937 and began to take over other Chinese lands, such as Shanghai, Peking, and Canton. The struggle that was arising between the two Asian countries for power over the Chinese lands became known as the Sino-Japanese War. Japanese military leaders consistently gained more and more power, and Japanese citizens, including children, were taught to glorify militarism. Meanwhile, its troops were allowed to, and most likely encouraged to, rape, burn and steal from humans while they were taking over the Chinese people and cities. According to Chinese Generalissimo Chiang Kai-Shek at the time of the imperialism, "Cruelty has become second nature to the Japanese militarists, and their greed and savagery have steadily grown."

These negative words would not even begin to describe the actions of the Japanese military after what they had done to the people of Nanking. The brutality and pure cruelty of the Japanese towards the Chinese in 1937 during the Rape of Nanking would mark one of the darkest and most violent periods in history.

On December 13, 1937, the Japanese army led by Matsui Iwane, broke through the Chungshan Gate, leading into the city, and took control of the National Government building, and the Central Military Academy. As soon as the Japanese took control, chaos ensued.

More than 80,000 Japanese troops ran about the town stealing items out of stores and people's homes, raping thousands of women, and killing innocent civilians. The Japanese claimed that many Chinese troops had dressed up as civilians to try and escape the Japanese aggression. They used this as their excuse to go around killing whomever they wanted to kill. The Japanese went around killing all of these people because they were extreme nationalists and imperialists. The soldiers committed these acts of wrong because they had the mentality that they could get away with anything, and because they knew that their country was capable of bullying the weaker China, should a rebellion on the Chinese side have occurred. After a couple days of killing, the brutality became routine, and the fact that thousands were dying every day was no longer so horrifying to most Japanese soldiers.

Shortly after, the random killing spread to women and children. On December 16th alone, one thousand girls were raped. Some soldiers didn't care who was watching, and tied them up to street lamps in the middle of town. Another method of killing was ordering groups of fifty or more, to dig their own graves. The first group would get into their hole, and the second group would fill in the dirt. This live burial was one of the most frightening and gruesome methods of killing. The Japanese chuckled with pride and a sense of ironic accomplishment. A third method of killing was fire. Buckets of kerosene would be dropped along a single file line of men, and a match would be lit, slowly killing the victims. Some more fortunate men on the ends may have limped to a hospital with a charred face and no ears, where most died hours later. Other Chinese victims would be lined up along the Yangtze River and shot with machine guns, until they fell in. This river became known as the "River of Blood" by the end of the second day of attacks. Bayoneting was a popular killing method during the Rape of Nanking. A bayonet is a 15- inch long extension to a rifle that serves as a spear. Chinese people of all ages were tied to poles and bayoneted. Some of the new Japanese soldiers tried this unsuccessfully with tears in their eyes.

The Chinese women weren't just raped literally; the few who survived had been raped mentally and scarred for life. Girls as young as ten, and women as old as seventy were used as tools for Japanese soldiers; often times one woman would be raped up to fifteen or sixteen times in a day. There was a law against rape at that time, but the law enforcers of the Japanese military were doing it too.

The "raped" city of Nanking, China, was left empty of pride, and economically in a sad state. But the survivors didn't waste any time; they rather turned their attention to rebuilding Nanking's factories, gardens, and houses. The Japanese now had Nanking and other parts of China as there own, and though Japanese people didn't live and work with the Chinese, there were officials who kept a close reign on the city.

By late 1938, dwellers of Nanking accepted the fact that the captors were there to stay, and went along with their normal lives. After recovering from the food shortage, more men and their families ventured back to the city to earn money and live peacefully once again. A year later in 1939, the population doubled from about 290,000 people to 576,000 people.

Though it wasn't the choice of the Nanking people to be overseen by Japanese officials, they for the most part did not rebel violently. Most dislike was portrayed through banners, pamphlets, and graffiti, while once in a great while a Japanese building would be bombed. Relief came to the people of Nanking when they heard of the bombing on Hiroshima by the United States. A second bombing on Nagasaki, also thanks to the United States, finally caused Japan to withdraw from the war. With this, Nanking became freed, and within days all of the Japanese officials there had evacuated.

For about fifty years the city of Nanking still had parts of it that lay in ruins. In the early 1990's reform took place, and it is now unrecognizable from what was once the place where approximately 300,000 innocent Chinese people were killed. Under the layer of smog, and in between the luxury hotels and skyscrapers, one may find a family of Nanking survivors. These survivors live poorly, since they never received reparations for the war from Japan. As of now, Japan has made weak attempts of apology, and while they don't deny the war, they have downplayed the impact that they had on Nanking. Japanese Government officials say the fatality rate is somewhere around 30,000 which is well under the rough estimate of 300,000 from most non-Japanese authors and historians. (Chang, Iris. p. 4-8). Teachers in Japan might mention the Rape of Nanking briefly or it may have a paragraph in a textbook, but it's not taught to the degree that it should be in Japan or anywhere else. (Chang, Iris. p. 205-210)

Though about 460 cases of killings were spoken about on trial throughout the 1940's blaming the Japanese for their dirty work, only several soldiers faced severe punishments. It is clear that there have not been enough efforts of compensation for this heartrending occurrence. If not for the detailed documentaries of James Yin, Shi Young, and Iris Chang, the Rape of Nanking would probably be forgotten. The reality is that it was the first Holocaust of World War II, and, is one of the most horrific and distressing criminal acts that the Japanese have ever committed.