Books

Iris Chang - Rape of Nanking (1997)

Just finished this book. It’s not the sort of book to read right before sleeping since it’s graphic and unyielding in its description of the atrocities that happened. It’s hard to think that the events of the book happened on the streets I walk daily, or at least when I’m outside of the section of the city I live in which was formerly the safety zone.

There will be lines like “Indeed, for days army trucks drove over several feet of corpses under the Water Gate, grinding over the remains in order to impress upon the populace the terrible results of resisting Japan” that are even more strong when I realize I walked through that area just weeks ago. (The gate is no longer there, but the street is still named after it, 西水门) I’ve visited John Rabe’s residence on the southeast corner of campus, which is where this Nazi Party member saved the lives of many Nanjingers. When I was walking with some friends through Yuhuatai, there was a small monument that stated that many Chinese were executed and buried at that site. The campus I went to school at, now Nanjing University but formerly Jinling University, was the site of many refugees and where most foreigners of the safety zone did their humanitarian work. The hospital I went to recently with a friend is the site where Robert Wilson performed surgeries on injured Chinese.

There’s some parts of this book I found interesting. Because there doesn’t seem to be claims of historical inaccuracy of the historical contents (despite criticism of the characterization of the motivations and character of the Japanese) I’ll take it at face value.

• “Comfort Houses,” or systematized prostitution networks for Japanese soldiers, were a
• The Japanese encouraged opium use to weaken the Chinese and legitimize later crackdowns on the account of “crime”
• Emperor Hirohito, while accountable for the crimes, was never charged which fueled nationalist sentiment to deny the atrocities
• John Rabe, the aforementioned Nazi that saved the lives of many Chinese, went back to Germany during the denazification process and had to sell most of his Chinese art to get food for his family. They were eating wild seeds and hard bread. During these dark times, the mayor of Nanjing heard about his troubles and he personally travelled to Berlin to provide him large gifts of food, and other citizens of Nanjing sent gifts of food monthly to his home.

The author of this book, Iris Chang, committed suicide in 2004 after falling into psychosis and suffering a mental breakdown. Her husband can’t find any definitive reason for this, but sees some causes in the herbal medicines she took, her work habits, or anti-psychotic medications.

Movies

丧尸李志第一部 - Zombie Lizhi Part 1 (2016)

It’s a chinese horror/comedy/romance centered around a group of flight attendants that is caught in the middle of a zombie outbreak. It’s endearingly low-budget, and the comedy feels fresh and new. For whatever reason, Zhang Fei of Three Kingdom’s fame is in the movie, joining the characters with his oversized weapon. There’s a lot more blood than I expected to be allowed by the Chinese censors, but I have a feeling that this sort of Youku-released indie movie has a lot more leniency.

I’m always trying to get a glimpse at what kind of directors, actors, or genres of movies are going to be popular in China in the coming years. Based on what I’ve heard from other Chinese people, horror is definitely rising quickly especially among the college female demographic.

Things I’m Liking

• Romance of the Three Kingdoms Podcast: A better name would be “John Zhu Tells the Story of the Romance of the Three Kingdoms.” It’s a complete retelling of the 14th-century Chinese classic, almost beat-for-beat from the original novel except where he skips important character names or explains some background to the text. He also provides maps, character relationship charts, and transcripts for each episode.
• Water Margin Podcast: Same creator as above, but about a different Chinese classic, Water Margin. Still in progress! There’s a saying that the young shouldn’t read Water Margin, and the old shouldn’t read Romance of the Three Kingdoms, because Water Margin is about bandits disobeying authority and Three Kingdoms is about tricky strategy and both could give people bad ideas.
• Aztec Political Thought: A nice essay on the Aztec political system, particularly the role of ritual human sacrifice as transcendental experience and spectacle.

Misc

Another thing I’m noticing about New Years is how Chinese people are buying gifts upon gifts. Our local Suguo supermarket is stocked full with gift boxes and nearly everywhere I’m looking there are people carrying these gift packages around.

I’ve decided to begin travelling after New Years. I might have a chance to see some of the crowds, but on my return trip they will hopefully be thinned out. I think I’ll start going to either Wuhu or Hefei depending on which has better ticket availability, then to the other.

I’m going to have a subsite for my fiction since I want a multimedia element to it, and html seems like the most flexible way to accomplish this. I’ll keep the URL a secret until I’m confident enough to put my name on it. But it’s not like anyone’s paying attention anyways.