Nanjing Massacre documented in historical publication

A new publication detailing the Nanjing Massacre was issued in Beijing on Thursday. The release comes ahead of the 75th anniversary of the atrocity, in which more than 300 thousand Chinese were slaughtered by invading Japanese troops in 1937.

History must be remembered. "The Nanjing Massacre - A Complete History" contains around a million words. They comprehensively describe one of the worst atrocities in Chinese and world history.

As a more concise version of the 72-volume 2010 publication, the book also includes a large amount of new information and evidence. There are historical documents and records, such as US news reports, diaries and official circulars of Japanese troops, diplomatic letters from the British and German governments, lists of casualties and economic losses and most poignantly, the signatures of over 600 Chinese civilians seeking refuge from the Japanese atrocities.

The chief editor of the series explained the significance of the new collection. Zhang Xianwen, Chief Editor of "The Nanjing Massacre - A Complete History", said, "The book examines the history fully and revealed the truth of the history, powerfully refuted the fallacy of Japanese right-wing who denied the Nanjing massacre. The series have great historical value. Everyone who reads the book will surely get a correct understanding of what happened at that time."

Much of the material was researched in countries such as Britain, the US, France and Japan, and is being published for the first time.

A team consisting of a large number of Chinese historians has spent more than ten years researching the history of the Nanjing Massacre. The chief editor of the books says the series are a combination of Chinese, Japanese and Western raw materials, which are objective, just and will stand the test of time.

To remember the thousands of victims, a special mourning session was held during the book's publication ceremony.

Chief editor Zhang Xianwen also said,"Since 2000, more than 70 Chinese historians from universities and government archives have visited Japan, Britain, the United States, Germany and Taiwan, compiling and translating nearly 30 million words of original materials in different languages, which led to the production of a total of 55 volumes in the series.

Zhang says this latest collection has a significant meaning for historical study. He says it outlines how the issue has developed as a political and diplomatic controversy in the seven decades since World War Two.