The undaunted women of Nanking : the wartime diaries of Minnie Vautrin and Tsen Shui-fang / edited, annotated, and translated by Hua-ling Hu, Zhang Lian-hong.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Vautrin, Minnie, 1886-1941.

Contributor:

Tsen, Shui-fang, 1875-1969.

Hu, Hualing.

Zhang, Lian-hong.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Vautrin, Minnie, 1886-1941--Diaries.

Vautrin, Minnie.

Tsen, Shui-fang, 1875-1969--Diaries.

Tsen, Shui-fang.

Ginling College (Nanjing, Jiangsu Sheng, China)--Officials and employees--Biography.

Ginling College (Nanjing, Jiangsu Sheng, China).

Nanking Massacre, Nanjing, Jiangsu Sheng, China, 1937--Personal narratives.

Nanking Massacre, Nanjing, Jiangsu Sheng, China, 1937.

Sino-Japanese War, 1937-1945--China--Nanjing (Jiangsu Sheng).

Sino-Japanese War, 1937-1945.

Women missionaries--China--Diaries.

Women missionaries.

Sino-Japanese War, 1937-1945--Personal narratives.

Sino-Japanese War, 1937-1945--Atrocities.

Nanjing (Jiangsu Sheng, China)--Biography.

Nanjing (Jiangsu Sheng, China).

Nanjing (Jiangsu Sheng, China)--History, Military--20th century.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (268 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Carbondale : Southern Illinois University Press, c2010.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

During the infamous Rape of Nanking, a brutal military occupation of Nanking, China, that began in December 1937, it is estimated that Japanese soldiers killed between 200,000 and 300,000 Chinese and raped between 20,000 and 80,000 women. In response to the atrocities, a group of westerners organized the International Committee for the Nanking Safety Zone and attempted to shelter refugees. Among these humanitarian heroes was Minnie Vautrin, an American missionary and acting president of Ginling College. She and Tsen Shui-fang, her Chinese assistant and a trained nurse, turned the college into a refugee camp, which protected more than 10,000 women and children during the height of the ordeal. Even though both women were exhausted mentally and physically from caring for so many, they kept detailed diaries during the massacre. "The Undaunted Women of Nanking" juxtaposes the two women s wartime diaries day-by-day from December 8, 1937, through March 1, 1938. Both diaries provide vital eyewitness accounts of the Rape of Nanking and are unique in their focus on the Ginling refugee camp and the sufferings of women and children. Tsen Shui-fang s diary is the only known daily account by a Chinese national written during the crisis and not retrospectively. As such, it records a unique perspective: that of a woman grappling with feelings of anger, sorrow, and compassion as she witnesses the atrocities being committed in her war-torn country. Tsen Shui-fang s diary has never before been published in English, and this is its first translation. Editors Hua-ling Hu and Zhang Lian-hong have added many informative annotations to the diary entries from sources including the proceedings of the Tokyo War Crimes Trial of 1946, Vautrin s correspondence, John Rabe s diary, and other historical documents. Also included are biographical sketches of the two women, a note on the diaries, and information about the aftermath of the tragedy, as well as maps and photos some of which appear in print here for the first time. "

Contents:

Biographical sketches : Minnie Vautrin and Tsen Shiu-Fang

A note on the two diaries

Juxtaposition

Excerpts from the two diaries, December 8, 1937, to March 1, 1938

Receiving refugees at Ginling College under intensifying bombardment

Japanese occupation of Nanking

soldiers' rampage, residents' terror

Observing holidays in a time of horror and the refugees' "goddess of mercy"

Registration of women and the return of American and European diplomats

Life and problems inside the Ginling camp

The Japanese demand to close refugee camps and Vautrin's defiance

Slowly restoring law and order, but soldiers keep searching for "Hwa Gu-Niang"

Aftermath

Appendix: Reports by Minnie Vautrin on the rape of Nanking from her correspondence

A review of the first month: December 13, 1937-January 13, 1938

As a refugee camp : January 14-March 31, 1938.

Notes:

Includes translation from Chinese.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

1-280-69696-6

9786613673923

0-8093-8561-9

OCLC:

649913248