ABSTRACT
No other people in this century except Soviet citizens have suffered so much mass killing in cold blood as have the Chinese. They were murdered by rebels conniving with their own Empress and then, with the defeat in war of the dynasty, by soldiers and citizens of many other lands. They were killed by mini-despotswarlords-who ruled one part of China or another. They were slaughtered because they happened to live where nationalists, warlords, communists, or foreign troops fought each other. They were executed because they had the wrong beliefs or attitudes in the wrong place at the wrong time. They were shot because they criticized or opposed their rulers. They were butchered because they resisted rape, were raped, or tried to prevent rape. They were wiped out because they had food or wealth that soldiers or officials wanted. They were assassinated because they were leaders, a threat, or potential antagonists. They were blotted out in the process of building a new society. And they died simply because they were in the way.
