數星期前在田園書店遇上余英時的<會友集> 當即買下來 早找了這書很久 試前忍不住揭了一點 余英時的序文絶非應酬之作 所以每篇都費神
書本漏收了余英時為<南京大屠殺 - 歷史照片的見證 英文書名 : The Rape of Nanking: An Undeniable History in Photographs>寫的序 全文如下 :
A major work on modern Chinese history, this book provides vivid and accurate documentation of one of Japan's worst aggressions against China.
I should begin by summarizing the historical value of the work. Rather than a compilation using cut-and-paste technique, it is a solid and original study that maintains all the important standards of modern historiography: First, the work draws its main narrative from primary sources, including archives in Germany, Japan, and the United States, as well as journalistic reports, records of the International Military Tribunal from the Far East, and the recollections of survivors of the Nanking massacre; second, it incorporates a large number of references from other works about the Rape of Nanking; third, the skill of the authors and editors is reflected in two major areas:
1) significant topics have been condensed from an ocean of historical materials into nine in-depth chapters, making this complex historical tragedy easily comprehended by readers;
2) the entire narrative is built on solid evidence that is treated objectively, and rendered in fluent English and Chinese. The authors and editors have broken new ground in many areas. Through careful calculation of time and duration, they determine that Iwane Matsui was wrongly sentenced to death by hanging. The real criminal, they demonstrate, was Prince ASAKA, Emperor HIROHITO's uncle. In another crucial area, where the number of persons killed in Nanking has been controversial for half a century, this work puts an end to the debate: to prove that the number was no less than 369,366, for the first time burial records and Nanking census figures from before and after the massacre are brought to bear on this controversy.
The significance of these two points cannot be overestimated in the study of the history of Japanese aggression. With its more than 400 valuable historical photographs, The Rape of Nanking: An Undeniable History in Photographs also constitutes an important reference for future historians on this subject.
For nearly a hundred years, China's history has been a history of frustration and suffering from both internal turmoil created by the Chinese themselves and external aggressions launched by foreign powers. These disasters from within and without were inextricably linked as cause and result - the chicken and he egg of the familiar conundrum. Nevertheless, it is obvious that the Japanese aggressions against China played a decisive role in changing China's destiny.
As early as the 1890s, in the initial period of China's modernization, Japan mounted its first invasion - the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-95, which completely destroyed the foundation of China's development as a modern society.
In the 1930s, at a crucial time when China started once again to industrialize, Japan, driven by its militarism, launched a full-scale invasion - the "Manchuria Incident" in 1931, followed by the "Marco Polo Incident" in 1937, followed by all-out war and occupation. Once again, China lost its opportunity to transform itself into a modern and democratic society.
For more than fifty years after the war, the Japanese public, and especially its intellectuals, have been expressing regret and remorse for what their government did to China during the war. But a coalition of conservative parties, bureaucrats, and business leaders has lacked the courage to admit Japanese war crimes, or to publicly apologize for Japan's wrongdoing against her neighbours.
"Japan must apologize for its aggression and offer compensation," wrote Nobel Literature Prize winner Kenzaburo OE in a New York Times Magazine article titled "Denying History Disables Japan" (July 2, 1995). "Without that rehabilitation we shall never be able to eradicate the ambivalence in our attitude toward our neighbors." Here OE fathoms a profound point.
The Chinese have a tendency to forget their past. May this book awaken their painful memories, and also arouse the collective conscience and historical memory of the citizens of Japan.
<南京大屠殺 - 歷史照片中的見證>一書的出版 為日本軍國主義侵華史保存了一部生動而翔實的史料 這是中國現代史學史上一項重大的成就
讓我先對本書的史學價值作一簡要的介紹 本書並不是用"剪貼"方法寫成的編纂之作 它實已包括了現史學的主要成份 首先是它盡量取材於第一手的歷史原料 其中有美國 德國 日本的檔案 侵華日本軍人的日記 當時各國的新聞報導 東京法庭的審判紀錄 以及倖存者的證詞和回憶等 其次是本書在描述過程中 參考了大批有關南京屠殺的史學專著
作者和編者的史才有兩個突出的表現 他們從大量的史料中挑選出若干有意義的專題 分九個章節作有深度的整理 故令書綱舉而目張 此其一 整體的敘事完全建立在客觀的證據之上 而且行文明白流暢 此其二
由於作者和編者具備了現代史學家的批判精神 本書因此也獲得不少新的發現 舉兩個例子便足夠說明這一方面的成就了:
第一 通過仔細的時間推算 本書確定了主持南京大屠殺的元兇是日本天皇的叔父朝香宮鳩彥 而不是被判處死刑的松井石根 第二關於南京大屠殺的人數 一向很有爭議 現在本書一方面根據新出資料 一方面根據屠殺前後南京人口的統計和屍體掩埋的記錄 徹底證實了三十六萬的數字決不誇張 這個問題可以說已完全澄清了 這兩點發現在日本侵華史上都是有重大意義的 因此本書不僅是一部具有四百多幀珍貴歷史照片的 文圖相互印證的資料匯編 而且還給未來的史學家提供了許多深入研究的線索
中國近百餘年來的歷史是一部"內憂"和"外患"交織而成的歷史 "內憂"自然是中國人自己造成的 "外患"則是指世界各大強國對中國的種種侵略 "內憂"和"外患"是不可分割的 像"雞生蛋 蛋生雞"一樣 我們已難判斷究竟是哪一個是"因" 哪一個是"果"了 但是我們卻可以很肯定地說 : 在一切"外患"之中 日本侵華對於中國的現代命運發生了決定性的作用 在十九世紀的九十年代 中國剛剛開始現代化的建設的階段 日本發動了第一次的侵略戰爭 - 所謂"甲午戰爭" 把中國的最早一些現代化的基礎整個摧毀了 在二十世紀三十年代 中國又再度開始了現代化的建設 但也就是在這個關鍵性的時刻 日本軍國主義又發動了規模更大的侵華戰爭 先是一九三一年的"九一八"事變 繼之則有一九三七年的"七七"事變 中國又失去了轉化為現代文明國家和公民社會的機會
六十年來日本的一般人民和知識分子雖然對日本軍國主義的暴行時時流露出悔恨之情 但日本的政客 - 特別是執政的政客 - 卻從來沒有勇氣承認以往侵略的罪過 一九九五年七月二日大江健三郎在<紐約時報周刊>上發表了一篇文章 英譯的題目是<否認歷史使日本陷於癱瘓> 他指出 日本必須面對過去的罪過 徹底悔悟 向受難的亞洲各國人民 該道歉的便道歉 該賠償的便賠償 只有如此 日本才能洗淨自己的靈魂 重新抬起頭來 做亞洲各國的一個堂堂的鄰居 現在由於日本表面倔強 而內心慚怍 在國際正義上 完全挺不起腰來 大江這一番話是很深刻的
中國是一個善忘的民族 這一部<南京大屠殺>也許可以喚醒中國人的痛苦記憶 當然 我們更盼望這部畫冊也可以激發日本民族的集體良知
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作者是史詠和尹集鈞 編輯是 Ron Dorfman 網主八年前在年宵保鈞攤位購得 何俊仁先生更簽了名 他的字一板一眼 樸實無華