In a Sea of Bitterness: Refugees during the Sino-Japanese War

R. Keith Schoppa

Published by Harvard University Press 2011

In a Sea of Bitterness

Refugees during the Sino-Japanese War

R. Keith Schoppa

https://doi.org/10.4159/harvard.9780674062986

Overview
Contents

About this book

The Japanese invasion of Shanghai in 1937 led some thirty million Chinese to flee their homes in terror, and live—in the words of artist and writer Feng Zikai—“in a sea of bitterness” as refugees. Keith Schoppa paints a comprehensive picture of the refugee experience in one province—Zhejiang, on the central Chinese coast—where the Japanese launched major early offensives as well as notorious later campaigns. He recounts stories of both heroes and villains, of choices poorly made amid war’s bewildering violence, of risks bravely taken despite an almost palpable quaking fear.

As they traveled south into China’s interior, refugees stepped backward in time, sometimes as far as the nineteenth century, their journeys revealing the superficiality of China’s modernization. Memoirs and oral histories allow Schoppa to follow the footsteps of the young and old, elite and non-elite, as they fled through unfamiliar terrain and coped with unimaginable physical and psychological difficulties. Within the context of Chinese culture, being forced to leave home was profoundly threatening to one’s sense of identity. Not just people but whole institutions also fled from Japanese occupation, and Schoppa considers schools, governments, and businesses as refugees with narratives of their own.

Local governments responded variously to Japanese attacks, from enacting scorched-earth policies to offering rewards for the capture of plague-infected rats in the aftermath of germ warfare. While at times these official procedures improved the situation for refugees, more often—as Schoppa describes in moving detail—they only deepened the tragedy.

Author / Editor information

Schoppa R. Keith :

R. Keith Schoppa is Professor and The Edward and Catherine Doehler Chair in Asian History at Loyola University, Maryland.

Topics

Frontmatter Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	i
Contents Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	vii
Introduction: The Thousand-Person Pit Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	1
ONE. A World Where Ghosts Wailed Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	9
TWO. Confronting the Refugee Crisis Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	34
THREE. Veering into the Ravine Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	59
FOUR. Days of Suffering Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	87
FIVE. The Kidnapping of Chinese Civilians Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	111
SIX. Government on the Move Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	137
SEVEN. Playing Hide-and-Seek with the Enemy Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	164
EIGHT. Guerrilla Education Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	188
NINE. Wartime Business Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	214
TEN. Scorched Earth Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	239
ELEVEN. Trading and Smuggling Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	261
TWELVE. Bubonic Bombs Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	285
Conclusion: Remaking Homes Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	302
Notes Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	313
Acknowledgments Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	339
Index Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	341

Language: English
Publisher: Harvard University Press
Audience: General/trade;
Pages
- Main content: 368
Illustrations
- Other: 12 maps, 6 tables

eBook

Published: December 12, 2011
ISBN: 9780674062986