Not Just a Man’s War: Chinese Women’s Memories of the War of Resistance Against Japan, 1931-45

Brings the overlooked experiences of Chinese women during the War of Resistance into the light.

In 1931, Japan began a brutal occupation of Manchuria, and in 1937, China and Japan entered a full-scale war that ended with Japan’s defeat in 1945. The War of Resistance became the Chinese experience of the Second World War, yet women are scarcely mentioned in most accounts of the fourteen-year conflict. Through interviews, published reminiscences, and oral histories, Not Just a Man’s War uncovers the extraordinary stories of ordinary Chinese women during the war.

Communist women speak of fighting as soldiers for ＂a good war＂ and contributing to the party’s rise to power. Nationalist women attribute their survival to the strength of the human spirit while acknowledging tremendous suffering. Women from the working poor and the middle classes describe the hardships of Japanese aggression and in their narratives refuse to be ignored as passive beings. In speaking up, the survivors of sexual violence become activists demanding justice. These women demonstrate a striking autonomy regardless of political association, socioeconomic status, or education. By attending to their insights, Not Just a Man’s War produces a multi-faceted, inclusive narrative of China’s War of Resistance.

Yihong Pan is professor emerita in the history department of Miami University. She is the author of Son of Heaven and Heavenly Qaghan: Sui-Tang China and Its Neighbors and Tempered in the Revolutionary Furnace: China’s Youth in the Rustication Movement. Her writing has appeared in numerous journals, including Research on Women in Modern Chinese History.