Ha Jin is an incredible writer, one of my favourites.
Since reading Waiting, which won the National Book Award in 1999, I have eagerly awaited each new novel. His previous book A Free Life, was a terrific read, about a Chinese couple moving to and living in the US. If you get a chance to read it, I think it's his best book. He has a way of expressing the deepest emotion through a simple line of dialogue or action. It's deeper than the plot and seems to hit at the centre of the character, simple and true.
Along with Nanjing Requiem, his books often explore the difficult periods of Chinese history, and the difficulties within the culture. When I first saw Nanjing Requiem, I was excited about a new Ha Jin book, but this is a subject and a period of time I try to avoid. I bought it but didn't begin reading it then. I wanted to be immersed in his novel, but didn't want to be a witness this time. I browsed a few pages, and it seemed like the violence of the event was not the main focus.
The novel is based on the personal diary of an American woman, Minnie Vautrin, and the people who wrote about her work as a missionary and dean of Jinling Women's College in Nanjing in 1937. While it is fiction, it reads like an historical account of what actually took place.
Nanjing Requiem takes place over two years and begins with the Japanese invasion of China on a massive scale to brutally wipe out the enemy entirely. It is known as the rape of Nanjing. As the Japanese began bombing villages and waterways, they warned the Chinese to capitulate, otherwise all the horrors of war will be unleashed upon you mercilessly. We will not spare one chicken or dog.
Chinese Generals Chiang Kai-shek and General Tsang made a hasty eascape to safety, opening the gates to the city and leaving everyone to fend for themselves. The Chinese army was made up of soldiers as well as untrained farmers and workers from different areas, who didn't speak each others dialects, and with the leaders gone, they quickly fell apart. Many removed their uniforms and retreated if they could. Others joined in the killing and looting. The Japanese would enter a village and loot everything of value, rape and beat the women and children, and tie the men up with iron wire and execute en masse. The atrocities were as bad as you can imagine, with hundreds of thousands being maimed, raped and killed on a rampage.
As the Japanese bombed and raided villages, a special safety zone was created in the centre of Nanjing to protect the embassies, and included the college. Rather than flee, Minnie and her staff decide to open the college up to refugees, thinking they had room for about 2500 women and children. The men would go to other refugee camps, splitting up families. As the refugees poured in, they increased the number until over 10,000 refugees were housed and in makeshift tents on the grounds. There was minimal food, water and supplies. Their ration of rice from the Red Cross was being siphoned off, and the ponds were being used for cleaning as well as drinking. The staff tries their best to keep some semblance of order, to work with the embassies and deal with marauding soldiers. Maintaining safety is a priority in the camp with daily intrusions from outside. At one point several Japanese generals come to Minnie and say they are going to take 100 prostitutes from the camp to be entertainers for the Japanese army. While Minnie is protesting that there are no prostitutes in the camp, the general says he knows how to identify them by sight, and as they argue, the women who have already been chosen are being lead out the front gate. Many other refugee camps were raided with the men sent to work prisons and several refugees in the camp help Minnie fight to release them. There are seemingly endless struggles.
Through the two years, Minnie and her staff try to maintain security and order, dealing with the embassies to feed and protect the refugees. Since the story is told through the eyes of Anling, a staff member working closely with Minnie, the horrors of the war are lessened for the reader. We hear about what is happening in outlying villages, but are spared being there while it happens.
Minnie eventually leaves the college, and eventually receives the Order of the Jade, the highest honour the Chinese Government bestows on a foreigner for saving so many lives during the war. But with all the psychological effects war brings, there is no happy ending.
I think it's important to know the real history of events and places, however, it can be disturbing. While this was an excellently written book, it is a heavy subject.
Ha Jin has a way of bringing you right to the heart of the story which is not always comfortable or enjoyable. While I won't recommend this book to everyone, I am certainly glad I read it it and encourage anyone who appreciates great writing to check out Ha Jin. Start with his award winning Waiting, or his short stories A Good Fall.
2011 / Hardcover / 320 pages
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