 First edition (publ. Pantheon Books) | |
| Author | Ha Jin |
|---|---|
| Language | English, Chinese |
| Publisher | Pantheon Books (English) |
Publication date | 2011 |
| ISBN | 978-0-307-37976-4 (English) |
Nanjing Requiem is a 2011 novel by Chinese-American writer Ha Jin about the Nanjing Massacre.
The book begins in 1937 [1] and focuses on Vautrin and her work at Ginling College to protect people during the massacre. A teacher named Anling Gao, [2] a middle-aged female assistant to Vautrin, is the novel's narrator. [3] Pin-chia Feng of National Chiao Tung University wrote that while Anling narrates, the novel "unquestionably" makes Vautrin its protagonist. [1]
Anling's son becomes consumed with nationalism. [4] Vautrin herself, as well as John Magee, John Rabe, and Lewis Smythe appear in the work. [5] Vautrin leaves for the United States after Communist officials accuse her of collaborating with the Japanese. [1]
The ending is set in 1947. [4]
Some of the characters speak in American slang characteristic of 2011. [3]
Pin-chia Feng wrote that due to the novel's focus on the women, the author was "deliberately distancing his work from a nationalist stance". [1] Additionally Ha Jin could include criticism of the Communists as he was outside of Mainland China, now controlled by Communists. [1]
Ha Jin wrote this novel in English, his second language. [3]
The author consulted the journals of Minnie Vautrin and other works for research. [5]
English and Chinese versions of the novel were published at the same time. [6]
Isabel Hilton of The New York Times describes the writing as "a cool, spare documentary approach". [3] Hilton praised the fact Ha Jin did not write in his native language but added there was "some awkward phrasing", and she criticized the use of American slang. [3]
Alexander Theroux of the Wall Street Journal wrote that the "didactic, understandably tendentious" book "seems written almost as a duty"; Thereoux added that compared to The Rape of Nanking by Iris Chang, the book "is less expressionistic and more controlled". [2]
Marie Arana of the Washington Post criticized the "surprisingly sterile, drained of the blood" method of writing about incidents and the "textbook" style that action is described, although she stated the author "can sometimes rise to the occasion". [5] Arana stated that within the work "Vautrin is as wooden and lifeless as a marionette" and that the narrator "never quite emerges as a fully realized character" although Arana felt the narrator is written to be "infinitely more human". [5]
Kirkus Reviews praised the "subtle mastery" in the later stages as Anling witnesses atrocities, although in the earlier stage the publication felt that "Anling is neither particularly eloquent nor psychologically astute" and therefore her purpose as a narrator "seems limiting". [7]
Mark Athitakis in the Minneapolis Star Tribune wrote that the work is characterized by "simplicity" in its writing style and a "fatalistic tone"; he criticized how the overly simplified style makes it read like "a grim, plodding accountancy." [8]
Nanjing is the capital of Jiangsu province in eastern China. The city, which is located in the southwestern corner of the province, has 11 districts, an administrative area of 6,600 km2 (2,500 sq mi), and as of 2021 a population of 9,423,400 Situated in the Yangtze River Delta region, Nanjing has a prominent place in Chinese history and culture, having served as the capital of various Chinese dynasties, kingdoms and republican governments dating from the 3rd century to 1949, and has thus long been a major center of culture, education, research, politics, economy, transport networks and tourism, being the home to one of the world's largest inland ports. The city is also one of the fifteen sub-provincial cities in the People's Republic of China's administrative structure, enjoying jurisdictional and economic autonomy only slightly less than that of a province. It has also been awarded the title of 2008 Habitat Scroll of Honor of China, Special UN Habitat Scroll of Honor Award and National Civilized City. Nanjing is also considered a Beta city classification, together with Chongqing, Hangzhou and Tianjin by the Globalization and World Cities Research Network, and ranked as one of the world's top 100 cities in the Global Financial Centres Index.
The Nanjing Massacre or the Rape of Nanjing was the mass murder of Chinese civilians in Nanjing, the capital of the Republic of China, immediately after the Battle of Nanking and the retreat of the National Revolutionary Army in the Second Sino-Japanese War, by the Imperial Japanese Army. Beginning on December 13, 1937, the massacre lasted six weeks. The perpetrators also committed other war crimes such as mass rape, looting, torture, and arson. The massacre is considered to be one of the worst wartime atrocities.
The Battle of Nanking was fought in early December 1937 during the Second Sino-Japanese War between the Chinese National Revolutionary Army and the Imperial Japanese Army for control of Nanjing (Nanking), the capital of the Republic of China.
The Rape of Nanking: The Forgotten Holocaust of World War II is a bestselling 1997 non-fiction book written by Iris Chang about the 1937–1938 Nanjing Massacre—the mass murder and mass rape of Chinese civilians committed by the Imperial Japanese Army in Nanjing, the capital of the Republic of China, immediately after the Battle of Nanjing during the Second Sino-Japanese War. It describes the events leading up to the Nanjing Massacre, provides a graphic detail of the war crimes and atrocities committed by Japanese troops, and lambasts the Japanese government for its refusal to rectify the atrocities. It also criticizes the Japanese people for their ignorance about the massacre. It is one of the first major English-language books to introduce the Nanjing Massacre to Western and Eastern readers alike, and has been translated into several languages. The book significantly renewed public interest in Japanese wartime conduct in China, Korea, Southeast Asia and the Pacific.
Jin Xuefei is a Chinese-American poet and novelist using the pen name Ha Jin (哈金). The name Ha comes from his favorite city, Harbin. His poetry is associated with the Misty Poetry movement.
Iris Shun-Ru Chang was an American journalist, author of historical books and political activist. She is best known for her best-selling 1997 account of the Nanjing Massacre, The Rape of Nanking, and in 2003, The Chinese in America: A Narrative History. Chang is the subject of the 2007 biography Finding Iris Chang, and the 2007 documentary film Iris Chang: The Rape of Nanking starring Olivia Cheng as Iris Chang. The independent 2007 documentary film Nanking was based on her work and dedicated to her memory.
Ginling College, also known by its pinyin romanization as Jinling College or Jinling Women's College, is a women's college of Nanjing Normal University in Nanjing, China. It offers both bachelor's and master's degrees. It offers six undergraduate majors: applied English, accounting, financial management, labor and social welfare, food science and engineering, and food quality and safety. Master's degrees are offered in food science, agricultural products processing, and storage, and women's education.
Wilhelmina "Minnie" Vautrin was an American missionary, diarist, educator and president of Ginling College. A Christian missionary in China for 28 years, she became known for caring for and protecting at least 10,000 Chinese refugees during the Nanjing Massacre in China, during which she kept a now-published diary, at times even challenging the Japanese authorities for documents in an attempt to protect the civilians staying at her college.
The Beiyang government was the internationally recognized government of the Republic of China between 1912 and 1928, based in Beijing. It was dominated by the generals of the Beiyang Army, giving it its name.
Hisao Tani was a lieutenant general in the Imperial Japanese Army in the Second Sino-Japanese War and a convicted war criminal as well as crimes against humanity. Forces under his command committed the 1937 Nanjing Massacre. Tani was tried in the Nanjing War Crimes Tribunal and executed.
Ikuhiko Hata is a Japanese historian. He earned his PhD at the University of Tokyo and has taught history at several universities. He is the author of a number of influential and well-received scholarly works, particularly on topics related to Japan's role in the Second Sino-Japanese War and World War II.
John Rabe is a 2009 biographical film directed by Florian Gallenberger, based upon John Rabe's published wartime diaries.
Nanjing Massacre denial is the pseudohistorical claim denying that Imperial Japanese forces murdered hundreds of thousands of Chinese soldiers and civilians in the city of Nanjing during the Second Sino-Japanese War. This is relevant today in Sino-Japanese relations. Most historians accept the findings of the Tokyo tribunal with respect to the scope and nature of the atrocities which were committed by the Imperial Japanese Army after the Battle of Nanjing. In Japan, however, there has been a debate over the extent and nature of the massacre with some historians attempting to downplay or outright deny that the massacre took place.
The Historiography of the Nanjing Massacre is the representation of the events of the Nanjing Massacre as history, in various languages and cultural contexts, in the years since these events took place. This historiography is disparate and sometimes contested, owing to conflicting currents of Chinese and Japanese nationalist sentiment and national interest, as well as the fog of war.
Nanjing University (NJU) is a public university in Nanjing, Jiangsu, China. It is affiliated and sponsored by the Ministry of Education. The university is part of Project 211, Project 985, and the Double First-Class Construction. The university is a member of the C9 League.
The following is a timeline of the history of the city of Nanjing, Jiangsu Province, China.
The China Writers Association (CWA) is a subordinate people's organization of the China Federation of Literary and Art Circles (CFLAC).
Hubert Lafayette Sone,, also known as SoongHsu-Peh in Chinese, was an American Methodist missionary in China. He was a professor of Old Testament at Nanjing Theological Seminary during the Japanese invasion in 1937. Sone was among the small group of foreigners who remained in the city and provided aid to the Chinese victims of the Japanese atrocities. He served with John Rabe on the International Committee for the Nanking Safety Zone and was Associate Food Commissioner. On 18 February 1938 the name of the committee was changed to the "Nanjing International Relief Committee." After the departure of George Fitch, Sone was elected Director of the Nanjing International Relief Committee. For their actions in support of the Chinese people, Sone and thirteen other Americans were awarded "The Order of the Blue Jade" by the Chinese government.
Wang Ming-chen was a Chinese theoretical physicist and a professor at Tsinghua University, Beijing. As one of the first few Chinese female students studying science abroad, she was best known for her work on stochastic process and Brownian motion with George Uhlenbeck as well as the first female professor of Tsinghua University according to some source.
Nanjing Never Cries is a 2016 novel by American writer Hong Zheng about the Nanjing Massacre.