MACMILLAN The Nanjing Massacre and Sino-Japanese Relations: Examining the Japanese 'Illusion' School

Based on extensive research on the International Military Tribunal for the Far East, this book closely examines the claims and controversy surrounding the ‘Nanjing Massacre’, a period of murder in 1937-1938 committed by Japanese troops against the residents of Nanjing (Nanking), after the capture of the then capital of the Republic of China, during the Second Sino-Japanese War. Focusing on weighing up arguments denying Nanjing Massacre, this book considers the Japanese ‘Illusion’ school of thought which contests the truth of the Nanjing Massacre claims, including the death toll and the scale of the violence. The Nanjing Massacre remains a controversial issue in Sino-Japanese relations, despite the normalization of bilateral relations, and this book goes to great lengths to examine the events through comparative narratives, investigating different perspectives and contributings to the debate from the extensive research of the Tokyo Trial Research Centre at Shanghai, as well as volumes of Chinese and Japanese historical documents. From the Back Cover Based on extensive research on the International Military Tribunal for the Far East, this book closely examines the claims and controversy surrounding the ‘Nanjing Massacre’, a period of murder in 1937-1938 committed by Japanese troops against the residents of Nanjing (Nanking), after the capture of the then capital of the Republic of China, during the Second Sino-Japanese War. Focusing on weighing up arguments denying Nanjing Massacre, this book considers the Japanese ‘Illusion’ school of thought which contests the truth of the Nanjing Massacre claims, including the death toll and the scale of the violence. The Nanjing Massacre remains a controversial issue in Sino-Japanese relations, despite the normalization of bilateral relations, and this book goes to great lengths to examine the events through comparative narratives, investigating different perspectives and contributings to the debate from the extensive research of the Tokyo Trial Research Centre at Shanghai, as well as volumes of Chinese and Japanese historical documents. About the Author Zhaoqi Cheng  is the professor and director of Tokyo Trial Research Center, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, China. Chen is long engaged in the Tokyo Trial research and has published a number of monographs. Chen serves as the chief editor of the book series Collection of the Tokyo Trial Studies and the supervisor of the publishing project: A Collection of Court Exhibits of the International Military Tribunal for the Far East―Index and Appendix. Zhaoqi Cheng is currently hosting a special project collecting, organizing and digitalizing trial documents of Japanese war criminals, which is part of the central-government-funded special studies on the Anti-Japanese War, and the Tokyo International Military Tribunal, a key project of Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences. He is also in charge of compiling and publishing of the bibliographical index of the Tokyo Trial as well as the Tokyo Trial Series, a key publication project of the 12th Five-Year-Plan. And Mr. Cheng is the author of several books including Existing Japanese Historical Documents on Nanjing Massacre, Essays on History from Qiyang Studio and A History of War Crimes Trials in Post 1945 Asia-Pacific.