| |
BOOK
REVIEW
An American
hero in Nanking
American Goddess at the
Rape of Nanking: The Courage of Minnie
Vautrin
by Hua-ling Hu
Reviewed
by Victor Fic
 Illinois
native Minnie Vautrin must rank as one of America's
greatest
unsung heroines.
This excellent biography of Vautrin vividly recounts how
her superhuman courage prevented Japanese soldiers,
wild-eyed with lust and anger, from raping women when
they plundered the doomed Chinese city of Nanking in
December 1937. That Vautrin stood for dignity during the
Rape of Nanking makes her an American idealist in war;
her lonely death makes her a tragic figure.
Vautrin was born in Secor, a small farming town
in the center of Illinois. Dreaming of being a teacher,
Vautrin worked her way through high school and entered
college in 1910. The God-fearing prairie girl eventually
decided to spread the Bible; she came to the "heathen"
Middle Kingdom in 1912.
Here, the author
sidetracks to provide an excellent synopsis of modern
Chinese history. She briskly reviews how the corrupt
Qing dynasty finally fell in 1911. Also, she recounts
the important names and events in missionary history
before 1912. This sets the context for Hu's main topic,
namely Vautrin's presence in a tumultuous country where
this angel of hope would have her grave dug by the demon
of disillusionment.
Vautrin became president of
Ginling's College for women in Nanking (now officially
known as Nanjing) in 1919. She taught critical thinking,
and she had her students perform social work. Ginling
soon became a famous school under her idealistic
tutelage.
On December 13, 1937, the Japanese
army conquered Nanking, and for the next several weeks
murdered, looted and raped with abandon. Vautrin bravely
turned Ginling into a safety zone. Originally, she
wanted to shelter only young and unwed women, but the
raping was so severe - some women were violated with
beer glasses - that Vautrin's compassion moved her to
accept all women.
Japanese soldiers tore down
the US flags that Vautrin flew in the safety zone and
raped women on the premises. Irate soldiers sometimes
slapped Vautrin, thrust their bayonets or waved pistols
at her. But she refused to surrender. Unwittingly
proving that war can be as absurd as it is violent, a
Japanese photographer taking propaganda pictures asked
the women, some of whom were likely already victims, to
look happy.
With many women too afraid to leave
Vautrin's side, she displayed immense creativity by
organizing homecraft and small trade workshops, theology
lessons, an Easter show and a ten-week curriculum
spanning nine subjects. She also negotiated the release
of Chinese prisoners of war slated for execution. Though
her salary had been cut, she bought quilts for the
exposed and tired.
The biography is best when it
covers the years 1937-38. Hu comprehensively reviews
Vautrin's many projects, and effectively quotes from her
diaries; for instance, on December 16, Vautrin said,
"There is probably no crime that has not been committed
... today."
As a direct result of her altruism,
countless thousands of women escaped rape.
Unfortunately, Vautrin's mental health was a casualty.
She left China in 1939 to see doctors at home. They said
that her wartime experiences had unnerved her. She
blamed herself, however, and added that she was a burden
and a failure. The woman who had fended off the real
threat posed by the Japanese army failed to defeat her
own illusions. On May 14, she gassed herself to death.
Overall, the book is a straightforward
biography, without theorizing on the meaning of the era.
Methodologically, Hu must be praised for reading the
subjects entire correspondence from 1919-41, resulting
in detailed, credible treatment. The analysis rings true
because of the rich sources. Hu writes in crisp yet
unadorned language that allows the drama and pathos of
the neglected tale to stand out.
The book makes
a contribution to our understanding of the Rape of
Nanking, taking its place alongside Iris Chang's work
(The Rape of Nanking: The Forgotten Holocaust of
World War II) and her discovery, the diaries of John
Rabe, as key works; Hu's special contribution is her
focus on the ordeal of Chinese women, and the US relief
effort posed by Vautrin. This biography is the first,
indicating that Hu had vision.
As for its
apparent faults, Hu did not talk much to those who knew
Vautrin - was this possible?
One hopes that in
the United States, Hu's book will call attention to
Minnie Vautrin as an icon of female leadership in peace
and outright courage in war. If Americans give her the
respect that people in Nanjing still do, it would
generate goodwill and prove that not every American
World War II hero wore combat boots.
American Goddess at the Rape of Nanking:
The Courage of Minnie Vautrin, by Hua-ling Hu
(University of Southern Illinois Press: 2000)
Victor Fic is a writer and broadcaster
in Tokyo who studied Chinese at the University at
Nanjing.
(©2002 Asia Times Online Co, Ltd.
All rights reserved. Please contact content@atimes.com
for information on our sales and syndication policies.)
|
| |
|
|
 |
|
