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| A Brief Biography of Iris
Chang |
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| Iris Chang was born in Princeton, N.J. on March 28, 1968 to Chinese immigrant parents, both university professors. Raised in Champaign-Urbana, Illinois, she earned a bachelor degree in journalism from University of Illinois and a master degree in writing from Johns Hopkins University. Iris was briefly working as a news reporter at The Associated Press and Chicago Tribune before she became a full-time freelance writer. In her short yet brilliant writing career, she published three books. Her most critically acclaimed book “The Rape of Nanking: the Forgotten Holocaust of World War II,” published in 1997, the 60th anniversary of the massacre, examines one of the most tragic chapters of World War II: the slaughter, gang rape and torture of hundreds of thousands of Chinese civilians by Japanese soldiers in the former capital of China. She found numerous rare documents during her research. The discovery of John Rabe’s diary was one of her most important contributions to this part of the history. “The Rape of Nanking”-the first full-length English language narrative of the atrocity to reach a wide audience-remained on the New York Times bestseller list for several months, and has been translated into several languages and has become an international bestseller as well. Columnist, George Will, of Washington Post, wrote of Chang as “Something beautiful, an act of justice, is occurring in America today…..Because of Chang’s book, the second rape of Nanking is ending.” Chang's first book, “Thread of the Silkworm,” tells the ironic story of Dr. Tsien Hsue-shen, the brilliant Chinese-born scientist, who helped pioneer the American space age, was mysteriously accused of being a Communist and was deported to China, where he became the father of the Chinese missile programs. Her last book, “The Chinese in America: A Narrative History,” focuses on Chinese immigrants and their descendents in the United States -- their sacrifices, their achievements and their contributions to the fabric of American culture, an epic journey spanning more than 150 years. Historian Stephen Ambrose said of Chang: “She may be the best young historian we've got, because she understands that to communicate history you've got to tell the story in an interesting way.” Chang gave hundreds of public speeches and radio and TV interviews to advocate her belief. She was always an unflinching fighter for justice and truth and a strong supporter for human rights. In her most celebrated book, “The Rape of Nanking,” she quoted George Santayana’s immortal words: Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it. She passionately believed that the world could move forward only through preserving the truth of history and learning the mistakes of the past. Chang, a disciplined student of history, was also a true believer in education and devoted countless hours from her busy schedule to personally coach and mentor many of her young followers in the U.S. and abroad. She died on November 9, 2004 leaving behind unfinished dreams: to make an epic movie of “The Rape of Nanking” and create an oral history project of recording victims and survivors of Sino-Japanese war before their voices disappear forever. |
