ABSTRACT
The beginning of the War of Resistance Against Japan is usually dated July 7, 1937, with the exchange of shots between Japanese and Chinese troops near Lugouqiao Bridge (often referred to as Marco Polo Bridge), about 30 miles west of Beijing. Beginning in 1937, Japan occupied all major urban and communication centers in eastern China by 1938 and forced the Nationalist government to move its capital inland to Chongqing until Japan’s defeat in 1945. Few conventional histories of any country dwell on the unpleasant elements of wartime occupation, such as shortages, military rule, and the fraught landscape of collaboration. Yet, as several of the following documents attest, perceiving the more disreputable side of the war between China and Japan can help to provide a more balanced understanding of China’s past. After the war ended in 1945 and the KMT’s tactics became increasingly repressive, Wen Yiduo became an outspoken activist and joined the Democratic League.
