Picture 丨 Zhang is pure as an old photo
preface
"It's very important for me to let the world know what happened in Nanjing in 1937." Zhang Chunru, author of "Nanjing Massacre," said in an interview.
Published in the United States in 1997, "The Nanjing Massacre" was soon on the New York Times bestseller list, and the book was subsequently translated into more than a dozen languages, with global influence. Seven years later, the book's author, Zhang Chunru, ended her 36-year-old life on a deserted highway, writing the following in a note she left:
“...... I can no longer face the pain and bitterness of the future. ”
"Why didn't anyone write the Nanjing Massacre into a book?"
Zhang Chunru published three books in his lifetime, the most influential of which is "Nanjing Massacre", which has been published, causing waves in the Western world, pulling the almost forgotten Nanjing Incident back to people, and more and more Westerners have learned about the Nanjing Massacre massacre and the atrocities of the Japanese army invading China through this book.
Picture 丨 Zhang Chunru holding his own work
As a Chinese-American who was born and raised in the United States and received a Western education, why did Zhang Chunru choose to write such a topical book as "Nanjing Massacre"? Zhang Chunru's grandparents escaped from Nanjing with their whole family before the Japanese army captured Nanjing. In childhood, Zhang Chunru always pestered his parents and asked:
"Why come to the United States?" Why not stay in Taiwan? Why not stay on the mainland? ”
Her parents naturally told her about the tragic history of the Nanjing Massacre, planting a seed in the heart of zhang Chunru as a child. When Zhang Chunru searched the school library during middle school, but did not find any records of the Nanjing Massacre in English writings, Zhang Chunru could not help but have doubts:
"If the Nanjing Massacre was really as tragic as my parents said, why didn't anyone write it into a book?"
To this end, Zhang Chunru also specifically found her grandmother and aunt to confirm her parents' words and record them one by one, when Zhang Chunru once thought that when her parents told her about those old things, they may have exaggerated what happened in Nanjing during that time.
Picture 丨 Childhood Zhang Chunru
In the early years after graduating from university, Zhang Chunru completed his first book, "The Mystery of Qian Xuesen", and it was at this time that at the recommendation of a friend, Zhang Chunru met two producers who completed a documentary about the atrocities of the Japanese army in World War II, but suffered from lack of funds to publicize and distribute.
Zhang Chunru not only donated money to the two producers, but also learned that in many parts of North America, many young Chinese people are very concerned about the historical facts of the atrocities committed by the Japanese army in World War II, and often convene meetings to carry out publicity and education activities. In December 1994, Zhang Chunru was invited to a conference that changed her life.
The conference was initiated by the "San Francisco War Historical Facts Preservation Association", and on the occasion of the 57th anniversary of the Nanjing Massacre, organizations around the world were invited to formally establish the "World Anti-Japanese War Historical Facts Preservation Federation". Scholars from all over the world attended the meeting with their own works and historical pictures, and the organizers held an exhibition in the form of posters, and Zhang Chunru, who was not mentally prepared beforehand, saw the photos of the Nanjing Massacre and said with wide eyes:
"I've never seen such a tragic picture."
The Japanese army put the captured people in Nanjing into a car and dragged them away and killed them
At this meeting, Zhang Chunru's childhood memories were displayed one by one, and she also learned that no one in Europe and the United States had written a documentary work on the Nanjing Massacre in English, but many missionaries, journalists, and officers had recorded their observations in diaries, movies or photos, and Zhang Chunru, who was deeply touched, immediately decided: he wanted to use his own pen to make up for this gap and personally expose the truth.
In 1995, Zhang Chunru's first book was officially published, and she proposed to her publishing editor a plan to write about the historical facts of the Nanjing Massacre, and said that even if there was no publishing contract, she still had to write it, and she was willing to bear the cost of publishing herself. The publishing editor was very sympathetic to her new topic, and it took only a few days for the two sides to sign a publishing contract.
In fact, at that time, Zhang Chunru had no idea about what he wrote in his second book, and once listed a lot of topics for his mother, who said that these topics were good, but they were not worth spending two or three years to study. After attending the meeting, Zhang Chunru told her mother on the phone:
"I must make the Nanjing Massacre the title of my next book, a moral responsibility and a justice that the victims deserve."
Pictured: Nobel Peace Prize laureate Wiesel
Zhang Chunru was deeply influenced by Wetherser, who was a Nobel Peace Prize laureate and was known as the "Jewish conscience", and the tragic experience of the Jews was able to attract widespread attention from the international community, and it was precisely the result of the constant running and shouting of Jewish victims and spokesmen represented by Welsel, Zhang Chunru believed that the reason why the atrocities in Nanjing were not as well known to the world as the Jews or the atomic bomb of Hiroshima was because the victims themselves were silent:
"Unless someone stands up for the world to remember this event, it will be considered an insignificant episode in history... I believe that the truth will eventually come out to the world... Only by preserving and remembering the truth can the tragedy of the Nanjing catastrophe not happen again. ”
Face to face with those who witnessed the Holocaust
Since the beginning of 1995, the 27-year-old Zhang Chunru has been collecting materials for the book "Nanjing Massacre". At the beginning of the year, she found a large number of original materials about the Nanjing Massacre in the libraries of the National Archives Bureau and Yale University, most of which were recorded by doctors and journalists in Nanjing at that time, and many of the materials were never made public.
Picture 丨 Zhang Chunru looking for materials in the library
In the summer of the same year, Zhang Chunru decided to go to Nanjing to collect information and conduct on-the-spot interviews, and before going to Nanjing, she first went to Taiwan's "Academia Sinica" to collect some information, and then took a train from Hong Kong to Nanjing via Guangzhou. When she first returned to China in 1993, she flew directly to Shanghai by plane, and she has always regretted that she did not take the train like Qian Xuesen did when she returned to China from the United States, and this time she had to make up for the regrets of that year.
After arriving in Guangzhou, the scene of the railway station made Zhang Chunru stunned, pushing and shoving forward in the crowd for a long time, Zhang Chunru did not find a place to buy train tickets, and then there were "well-meaning people" who promised to help her buy train tickets, Zhang Chunru promised to pay double the price, originally thought that he spent a high price to buy a soft sleeping car, and as a result, he found that he was deceived after getting on the train, and could only take a hard sleeper all the way to Nanjing.
As soon as she arrived in Nanjing, Zhang Chunru fell ill, Zhang Chunru's mother called to persuade her to go to the doctor, but the experience on the train made Zhang Chunru overly suspicious of the new environment, her father's cousin helped her find antibiotics with English instructions, Zhang Chunru agreed to take medicine, and then in Nanjing for more than 20 days, she has been living cautiously.
Photo 丨 Zhang Chunru with survivors of the Nanjing Massacre
Zhang Chunru interviewed the elderly who survived the massacre in Nanjing and filmed the entire interview process with a video camera. This was the first time Zhang Chunru had come face-to-face with the survivors, and she later recalled how she felt during the interview: "Although it has been a long time since the incident passed, when you talk to them, you can immediately perceive the torture they suffered at that time, and it is still deeply rooted in their hearts to this day." ”
She was shocked to see that many of the survivors were still living in dark, damp houses, and at the end of each interview, she would leave some money for the interviewee. As for the testimony obtained from the interview, Zhang Chunru also tried to corroborate the English materials he collected, and found that the survivors' testimonies matched the descriptions of some Western missionaries in their diaries, indicating that the two materials from different sources were true and credible.
With the help of historical experts from both China and the United States, Zhang Chunru had a "reception team" in Nanjing, who provided Zhang Chunru with the collection of Chinese archives, interviews, and translations, and Zhang Chunru also brought them the little-known factual materials of the Nanjing Massacre in the United States, including a copy of a fragment of Wei Tering's diary when she worked at Jinling Women's University, which was the first time that domestic scholars knew that Wei Tering had written many diaries during the Nanjing disaster and kept them intact in the United States.
Pictured by Wei Tering (center) in Nanjing
In addition to her understanding of what happened, Zhang Chunru also attached great importance to the geographical scene at that time, and she tried her best to verify and visit the important sites related to that year that she learned about in historical materials and interviews. Later, in the book, Zhang Chunru expressed "regret" about the results of the geographical exploration:
"If I had visited Nanjing ten years earlier, I would have found many complete massacre sites... But from the late 80s to the 90s, Nanjing blew a frenzied wind of land development, and many monuments were destroyed... Even the famous Nanjing City Wall has disappeared, leaving only some of the city gates as sightseeing spots. ”
Before leaving Nanjing, she repeatedly asked her friends in Nanjing to help her copy a copy of the videotape of the interview, and she was very worried that when she left the country, she would be confiscated by the airport security. After several twists and turns, Zhang Chunru's interview materials were successfully backed up, but it turned out that Zhang Chunru's worries were superfluous, and she did not encounter any obstacles during the departure security check.
Zhang Chunru took a photo at the Nanjing Massacre Memorial Hall
In the process of continuous information collection, Zhang Chunru discovered the German businessman John F. Kennedy. Rabe's diary became one of Zhang Chunru's most important historical materials. After the diary was officially exposed in 1996, it attracted the attention of the media and provided the latest evidence for many Japanese denying the existence of the Nanjing Massacre.
Zhang Chunru learned in the interview that the people of Nanjing regarded Rabe as a hero, and also erected his bronze statue in Nanjing to commemorate his heroic deeds in that year, originally Zhang Chunru was only curious about his whereabouts after the war, and did not expect to find his diary. In order to find the original manuscript of Rabe's diary, Zhang Chunru used many connections to finally get in touch with Rabe's granddaughter.
In December 1996, Rabe's granddaughter spent 15 hours copying Rabe's diary and flew from Germany to New York to donate Raabe's diary and Rabe's archival records to Yale University. Rabe's diary also warmed up Zhang Chunru's book "Nanjing Massacre".
Figure 丨John · Old photo of Rabe
The process of collecting materials and later writing made Zhang Chunru exhausted, and during that time Zhang Chunru lost weight, began to lose hair, and often fell ill. Zhang Chunru's husband also recalled that the content of Zhang Chunru's writing during that time had a great impact on her emotions, but in order to make herself more engaged in writing content, Zhang Chunru even posted photos of Japanese atrocities in the room.
At zhang Chunru's insistence, before the 60th anniversary of the Nanjing Massacre in 1997, the sensational work "Nanjing Massacre" was officially published.
"I can no longer face the pain and bitterness of the future"
In December 1997, as soon as "Nanjing Massacre" was published, it immediately attracted many praises, not only the historical event of the Nanjing Massacre was displayed in front of the world, but the 29-year-old Zhang Chunru also became famous in one fell swoop. But all this is not expected by Zhang Chunru, and Zhang Chunru is also quite surprised by the enthusiasm of American readers:
"Although this book is important, I thought it would only be favored by the library."
Immediately after its release, "Nanjing Massacre" spread around the world, sales skyrocketed, in just one month, the book has been printed 7 times, and in many of the United States media famous best-selling book column list. By April of the following year, the book had been printed 17 times, quickly topped the New York Times bestseller list, and was named the most popular book of the year.
Subsequently, a number of media interviewed Zhang Chunru and gave the "Nanjing Massacre" a high evaluation, which also attracted the attention of the White House, and specially purchased several volumes as reference books for US leaders. In 1998, the U.S. Congress passed the condemnation of "demanding that Japan seriously reflect on history," demanding that the history textbooks used in California, where there are many Chinese residents, include content about the Nanjing catastrophe.
Zhang Chunru's fame has attracted a large number of groups and schools to invite her to speak, and she has also become the cover of many magazines in the United States, and has won many awards such as the "National Women of the Year Award" and the "Asian Leadership Award", and was received by President Clinton. Several universities have awarded her an honorary doctorate in recognition of her contribution to society.
Picture 丨 Zhang Chunru at the signing event
Even when Zhang Chunru was unanimously praised by American historians and literary circles, there were also some voices of controversy and criticism, some Japanese pointed out that Zhang Chunru did not personally visit Japan to investigate, it was inevitable that there would be biased words in the book, and some people pointed out that there were contradictions in the timing of major events in the book, and questioned Zhang Chunru's attitude was not rigorous enough. There are even Japanese professors who question the figure of 300,000 deaths in Nanjing, as well as the authenticity of the pictures in the book.
In April 1998, the Japanese ambassador to the United States publicly criticized the Nanjing Massacre at a regular news conference, saying that the record in the book was nothing more than Zhang Chunru's "one-sided remarks", and Zhang Chunru was very shocked by this remark, and responded by asking the Japanese ambassador to the United States to clearly point out the improprieties in the book. In December of the same year, Zhang Chunru and the Japanese ambassador to the United States openly debated on a program, expressing their views with outstanding eloquence.
Originally, Zhang Chunru's agent had signed a contract with a Japanese publishing house to publish the Japanese version of "Nanjing Massacre", but due to the attack of the Japanese government and domestic opposition, the publishing house was under unprecedented pressure, and in the process of translating the book into Japanese, the publishing house's editor-in-chief even received a threatening letter asking them to stop publishing the Japanese version of "Nanjing Massacre".
Zhang Chunru delivered a speech
The publisher set up a special team to review Zhang Chunru's book and offered to correct some of the contents of the book, add some annotations and delete some photos, but Zhang Chunru refused these requests, insisting that the Japanese version should be consistent with the original content. In early 1999, the publisher decided to cancel the publication of the Japanese edition of the Nanjing Massacre, a news that was like a thunderbolt on a sunny day for Zhang Chunru.
According to Zhang Chunru's husband, when the news of the Japanese publishing house's breach of the contract reached the United States, the family was on vacation, and Zhang Chunru immediately began to call all parties when he got the news, hoping to solve the problem, but the Japanese publishing house would rather bear the economic losses and insisted on abandoning the publication of the book, which became a major blow to Zhang Chunru's hope that the book could spread the correct historical ideals in Japan.
But Zhang Chunru was not depressed by this, and she was busy giving speeches and publicizing the Nanjing Massacre while writing her third work. In 2003, the book "A History of Chinese Population in the United States" was published, which also became the last of Zhang Chunru's three officially published works.
Picture 丨 Zhang Chunru family photo
In the process of preparing the fourth book, Zhang Chunru developed physical and mental conditions, she was diagnosed with depression, and attempted suicide. On November 9, 2004, Zhang Chunru's husband found Zhang Chunru still pacing in the room in the middle of the night, so he urged her to rest quickly, and only went to sleep after she fell asleep, zhang Chunru's husband woke up at five o'clock in the morning to find that Zhang Chunru was missing, and the car was also missing, leaving only three notes in the room.
Zhang Chunru's husband immediately called the police, a few hours later, a passerby found a private car on a remote path next to the road not far from Zhang Chunru's residence, passers-by curious to ask if they needed help, it turned out that the person in the driver's seat had died, and the police arrived and found that the deceased was Zhang Chunru.
Subsequently, after investigation, the police came to the conclusion that Zhang Chunru died of suicide, and the three notes left by Zhang Chunru at home seemed to be her last words before committing suicide. One of the notes reads:
“...... I can never get rid of the idea that I was being expropriated by some force more powerful than I thought I was and then persecuted by it... I felt a sudden threat to my life... I can no longer face the pain and bitterness of the future. ”
People hold candlelight memorial services
On November 18, Zhang Chunru's family arranged a farewell and memorial service for the body, and at the intersection outside the funeral home, people hung a large portrait of Zhang Chunru and lit hundreds of candles in front of the portrait. The next day, Zhang Chunru's funeral was held at the Catholic cemetery at The Gate of Paradise, and more than 600 people from all over the world came to bid farewell to Zhang Chunru, and Reuters and ABC reporters recorded the entire process of the funeral.
Watching Zhang Chunru's coffin slowly sink to the ground, Zhang Chunru's mother had a calm expression, and in these more than ten days, Zhang Chunru's mother's emotions fluctuated and turned into relief at the last moment, she once said at the memorial service the day before the funeral:
"Seeing so many people come to send off Chunru and so many people care, this is the greatest comfort in my heart."