The Undaunted Women of Nanking ─ The Wartime Diaries of Minnie Vautrin and Tsen Shui-Fang

"These diaries are crucial documents of courage and mercy in the face of appalling human brutality."---Kasahara Tokushi, author of One Hundred Days in the Nanjing Refugee Zone

"The diaries stand as timeless testimonials to the horrors of war, and especially the price women pay, echoed in Vautrin's repeated lament `Someday I would like the women of Japan to know some of these sad, sad stories."'---Ivy Lee, founding president, Chinese American Political Action Committee

"This book is a significant contribution to the study of the Nanjing Massacre. It will help researchers and the general public to better understand what really happened during those terrible dark days."---Sun Zhai-wei, author of To Verify History: Research and Deliberation on the Nanjing Massacre

"These valuable accounts in their respective languages are primary sources providing vivid witness to the tragic Rape of Nanking."---Joyce Lebra, author of Women in Changing Japan

"This book offers a rare glimpse into the inner worlds of two remarkable women during the dark moments of wartime violence against civilians in Nanjing. The juxtaposition of the diary of Tsen Shui-fang with that of the American Minnie Vautrin presents a wealth of opportunities to explore critical issues such as women and war, national identity, and humanitarianism in early twentieth-century East Asia."---Daqing Yang, author of Technology of Empire: Telecommunications and Japanese Imperialism

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 I, 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.

Hua-ling Hu has taught Chinese language, literature, and history at both Chinese and American universities, including the University of Colorado-Boulder, where she received a doctorate in history. She is the author of five books, among them American Goddess at the Rape of Nanking: The Courage of Minnie Vautrin. She was awarded the Chinese Literary and Arts Medal of Honor for the Chinese-language edition of her biography of Minnie Vautrin.
Zhang Lian-hong is a professor of history and chairman of the Center for Studies on the Nanjing Massacre of Nanjing Normal University, as well as associate chairman of the Modern Chinese Historical Society of Kiangsu Province and Nanjing Historical Society. He is coauthor or coeditor of seven books published in Chinese