This paper traces the death of Iris Chang who was the journalist that brought to light the Nanjing Massacre of 1937 which was one of the horrible atrocities in 20th century human history. Although Nanjing massacre occurred over the course of a short period of 6 months during the Sino-Japanese War killing over 300,000 Chinese people, it hasn’t been that long since it was brought to the fore of history. This paper interprets her last book, ‘The Rape of Nanking’ as an analytical review of her psychology and thus traces the death of Iris Chang who was an observer of the tragedy. In particular, how the Nanjing Massacre changed her feelings and thoughts and how it led to her own death were reviewed. Her death was not the result of an impulsive incident or a coincidence.

  As portrayed in her writing, Iris Chang went through four stages where the narrative and photography were brought together to make reality and where incidents were unearthed. This allowed her to deeply sympathize with the pain/suffering of others and this sympathy was deepened through the specific process of writing. This, in turn, led to emotional transference without boundaries. Since writing ‘The Rape of NanKing’, the author became the subject of threat from right wing activists in Japan who had consistently adhered to an inhumane attitude rather than regret their atrocities. Being threatened by such groups led to great emotional pain for her which is portrayed as something that is both gradual, multi-layered and organic. Iris Chang wrote this book as part of her effort to save the victims of Nanjing Massacre from the obstinate conspiracies of neo-conservatives in Japan. She described it as a gravestone dedicated in commemoration to the tens of thousands of nameless graves in Nanjing, but despite her good intentions and efforts the conspiracy was never fully revealed and she herself was left to become a victim of the tragedy, too.

  Viewing a part of history through an objective perspective is not to say that one is blocking his senses entirely. When facing history marred with pain, understanding and empathy can be both necessary elements. The issue of how to maintain the balance between objectivity and subjectivity, and between understanding and sympathy boils down to an issue that the individual must confront for herself. The story of A is also a segment of history that we must not neglect as it carries with it so many wounds of past history and anecdotes of pain/suffering.

Keywords: Iris Chang, The Rape of NanKing, Nanjing Massacre, Sympathy, Memory