Memorial hall to honor Iris Chang opens in Huai'an

The Memorial Hall of Iris Chang, the author of The Rape of Nanking, opened to the public on April 7 in Huai'an, Jiangsu province. This is the world's second memorial hall themed on the Nanjing Massacre and the first one to honor Iris Chang.

The daughter of two university professors who emigrated from Taiwan, Iris Chang was born in the United States in 1968. Her second book, The Rape of Nanking, was published in 1997, the 60th anniversary of the Nanjing Massacre. The book sold more than half a million copies when it was first published in the US and was on the New York Times' best-seller list for 10 weeks. Based on the book, an American documentary film, Nanking, was released in 2007. Disturbed by the subject matter of her research, Chang suffered a nervous breakdown and committed suicide on Nov 9, 2004.

Zhang Jianjun, the curator of The Memorial Hall of the Victims in the Nanjing Massacre by Japanese Invaders, said Chang's greatest contribution is that she let the world know the truth of the Nanjing Massacre. In 2005, the Memorial Hall added a bronze statue dedicated to Chang.

Ying-Ying Chang, Iris Chang's mother, said although Iris was born in the United States, she was proud to be Chinese and was always fascinated with Chinese history. Huai'an is where Iris Chang's great-grandfather and grandfather lived, so the opening of the memorial hall in Huai’an has great meaning.

Zhu Jingwen contributed to this story.