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Chinese Comfort Women: Testimonies from Imperial Japan's Sex Slaves (Oxford Oral History Series)
by Peipei Qiu (Author), Su Zhiliang (Other Contributor), & 1 more Format: Kindle Edition
4.3 4.3 out of 5 stars (52)
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During the Asia-Pacific War, the Japanese military forced hundreds of thousands of women across Asia into "comfort stations" where they were repeatedly raped and tortured. Japanese imperial forces claimed they recruited women to join these stations in order to prevent the mass rape of local women and the spread of venereal disease among soldiers. In reality, these women were kidnapped and coerced into sexual slavery. Comfort stations institutionalized rape, and these "comfort women" were subjected to atrocities that have only recently become the subject of international debate.Chinese Comfort Women: Testimonies from Imperial Japan's Sex Slaves features the personal narratives of twelve women forced into sexual slavery when the Japanese military occupied their hometowns. Beginning with their prewar lives and continuing through their enslavement to their postwar struggles for justice, these interviews reveal that the prolonged suffering of the comfort station survivors was not contained to wartime atrocities but was rather a lifelong condition resulting from various social, political, and cultural factors. In addition, their stories bring to light several previously hidden aspects of the comfort women system: the ransoms the occupation army forced the victims' families to pay, the various types of improvised comfort stations set up by small military units throughout the battle zones and occupied regions, and the sheer scope of the military sexual slavery-much larger than previously assumed. The personal narratives of these survivors combined with the testimonies of witnesses, investigative reports, and local histories also reveal a correlation between the proliferation of the comfort stations and the progression of Japan's military offensive.The first English-language account of its kind, Chinese Comfort Women exposes the full extent of the injustices suffered by these women and the conditions that caused them.
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Editorial Reviews
Review
An impressive book, well-written and researched. It provides an excellent analysis of the scope, nature, and prevalence of comfort stations in China and documents the lived experiences of Chinese comfort women. This book expertly knits together a range of invaluable primary sources hitherto only available in Chinese, with secondary documentation in Japanese, Chinese, and English. -- Nicola Henry, author of War and Rape: Law, Memory and Justice
This work contributes significantly to the literature on “comfort women” and on the question of violence against women in war, generally. The individual histories documented in this book are very moving, particularly because they include discussion, not only of the terrible ordeals undergone by these women during the war, but also of their family backgrounds before the war and of their experiences in later life. -- Tessa Morris-Suzuki, author of Borderline Japan: Foreigners and Frontier Controls in the Postwar Era
This is an important book that signals fundamental shifts in understandings of the Japanese military’s use of “comfort women” in Asia during the Second World War. To date, most discussion of “comfort women,” the English translation of the Japanese euphemism ianfu, has focused on roughly 200,000 Korean and Japanese nationals. This volume sheds light on the suffering of an approximately equal number of Chinese women who were forcibly drafted by the Japanese military and whose experiences were silenced for decades. It is the first English-language monograph to record the memories of Chinese women at the “comfort stations” and it does a fine job of introducing these important findings to international audiences..One of the great strengths of this work is the demonstration that these women’s suffering continued long after the Japanese military was defeated and the war ended...Chinese Comfort Women does an excellent job of linking these women’s lives to forces that darkened much of China’s tortuous twentieth century yet remain far too little understood.
-- Norman Smith, University of Guelph ― Pacific Affairs
This book is heart-rending and courageous. It gives voice, for the first time in English, to the Chinese women enslaved by the Japanese armies during the invasion and occupation of China. I finished it with a great respect for the victims whose stories are told here and for the historians who have brought them to light.
-- Diana Lary, author of The Chinese People at War: Human Suffering and Social Transformation, 1937-1945
About the Author
Peipei Qiu is professor of Chinese and Japanese, Louise Boyd Dale and Alfred Lichtenstein Chair in Modern Languages, and director of the Asian studies program at Vassar College. Su Zhiliang is professor of history, dean of the Faculty of Humanities and Communication, and director of the Research Center for Chinese "Comfort Women" at Shanghai Normal University. Chen Lifei is professor of journalism, chair of the department of publishing and media studies, and deputy director of the Center for Women’s Studies at Shanghai Normal University.
Product details
ASIN : B00JN66MP4
Publisher : Oxford University Press
Accessibility : Learn more
Publication date : May 1, 2014
Edition : 1st
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From the United States
Jtang
5.0 out of 5 stars Good book for teachers.
Reviewed in the United States on May 31, 2026
Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
A very authoritative book for anyone wanting to know about the WWII Japanese military's "comfort women" institution.
It is also very heartbreaking and may include some graphic descriptions of sexual assault.
Excellent book for history teachers concerned about historical accuracy and helping young people to protect themselves.
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Victoria
5.0 out of 5 stars Sexual slavery by the Japanese government during WWII
Reviewed in the United States on June 5, 2018
Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
A true and detail account of the sequence of historical events in China and Korea that leads to the kidnapping of Korean women to sexual slavery by the Japanese imperial army during WW11. As a result of the life long dedication work of professor Su Chi Long discovered two hundred thousand Chinese girls and women were forced into sexual slavery to Serve the Japanese soldiers . This book in part is written in oral History format . The imperial japanese govt was the first and only country in modern times to sponsor sexual Slavery. The book showed a much higher number than was reported at the United Nations in 1991
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tomrock
4.0 out of 5 stars I'm glad the author was able to document in detail
Reviewed in the United States on July 23, 2018
Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
Riveting, personal accounts of the atrocities against Chinese civilian women.before and during World War 11.by the Japanese military.
Each woman's testimony is heart-breaking to read. I'm glad the author was able to document in detail, what these women had to endure.
It's a searing condemnation against Japan's barbaric,murderous behavior against these women and the Chinese population in general.
2 people found this helpful
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Thomas M. Magee
3.0 out of 5 stars Good Reference Book
Reviewed in the United States on March 1, 2021
Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
The book offers a good summary of the comfort woman story. Half of the book tells the story. Half of the book is a list of individual stories. It is amazing any of these poor women survived the war. It almost seems like a story from the Middle Ages or something. That proves man's depravity can still occur today. Technology or "enlightment" doesn't change that. Also, this is a story many try to squash. The topic is very controversial in Japan even today.
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Joshua
5.0 out of 5 stars Heartbreaking testimonies
Reviewed in the United States on June 14, 2015
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I can't say I enjoy the book or easy to read, some part I took some breaks to clear my mind, sometimes was too much the atrocities committed Japan in the second sino-Japanese war. This book will give you a new perspective nothing can't be hide forever and the truth will come out eventually. This book has to be read really important matter to know more history WWII, I highly recommend read this book.
9 people found this helpful
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Patricia Turner
5.0 out of 5 stars It must have been very difficult for her to write about such a painful subject. Hopefully bringing these things to the light ...
Reviewed in the United States on April 17, 2017
Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
Although a very difficult book to read because of the many atrocities committed against the Chinese women, it's a necessary read. Dr. Qiu obviously put a lot of time and effort in researching and documenting these atrocities. It must have been very difficult for her to write about such a painful subject. Hopefully bringing these things to the light will help history not to repeat itself.
4 people found this helpful
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Anna
5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
Reviewed in the United States on October 31, 2015
Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
One of the best books written on the comfort women. I recommend to all.
2 people found this helpful
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lizard
1.0 out of 5 stars Numbers not testimonies
Reviewed in the United States on March 23, 2017
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Boring This is just numbers of what the Japanese did in regard to women in China during the second World War.
It was really not personal testimonies at all. It was extremely terrible how these women were treated and used but more of history of statistics.
4 people found this helpful
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fishyks
3.0 out of 5 stars I liked the book but it also had a lots of ...
Reviewed in the United States on July 9, 2015
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I liked the book but it also had a lots of facts. Maybe about half of the book were facts and I personally rather read survivor testimonies than too much facts.
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J Hunt
3.0 out of 5 stars Three Stars
Reviewed in the United States on July 19, 2014
Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
Very disturbing the abuse of women by the soldiers!
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Jean Graham
4.0 out of 5 stars The story of China's and Korea's sex slaves
Reviewed in the United States on March 11, 2020
What the "Great Patriotic War" was to the Soviet Union, the "Resistance War" was to China...a desperate struggle against a ruthless aggressor bent on the annihilation of a country and its people in its determination to acquire an empire. It's estimated that Russia and China each lost at least 20 million soldiers and civilians in these conflicts...and yet, the Resistance War is the much lesser known of the two, although it lasted much longer (Japanese aggression began in 1931 with the invasion of Manchuria; it was the major focus of their attempt to construct a "Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere" and involved a greater commitment of military forces than any other theater of war). This book joins "The Rape of Nanking" by Iris Chang in showing how the Japanese military attempted to dehumanize and humiliate the Chinese people by forcing young women into "comfort stations" where they endured sexual slavery...months or years of rape, torture and often death. The testimonials by twelve survivors are very hard to read. Also difficult to stomach is the fact that the Japanese government has yet to accept responsibility for what happened all over China in the Resistance War and to make restitution to such survivors as are still alive. (There was a token apology made in 1993, but lately the city of Osaka has decided to sever its "sister city" relationship with San Francisco because the latter has set up a statue to memorialize the comfort women of all nationalities, and the official government position is now to deny that anyone was ever forced into sexual slavery.) While the women have received some assistance, it has come from private individuals or NGO's. About the best that can be hoped for is that their suffering will not be forgotten. And the agonies endured by thousands of women from Korea (occupied by Japan from 1910 until 1945) and the Philippines, as well as a number of Western women unfortunate enough to have been captured when the Dutch East Indies fell to the Japanese early in 1942, must be remembered as well. Though the writing style is somewhat dry and clinical, the book is worth reading as a reminder that civilization, even today, is a very thin veneer and that it wouldn't take much to strip it away and bring on another Holocaust. What is currently going on in Syria and Myanmar, and what happened in the recent past in the Balkans and Rwanda, are prime examples...and unfortunately many others could be cited.
*** Review by Chuck Graham ****
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Thekla
5.0 out of 5 stars Giving voice, for the first time in English, to the Chinese “comfort women”
Reviewed in the United States on May 5, 2014
Format: Hardcover
Between the years of 1931 and 1945, encompassing what in the West is know as WWII in Asia, the Imperial Japanese Army waged an aggressive war across the Asia-Pacific for the purposes of imperial expansion. To support its military conquests, the Japanese government established and coerced hundreds of thousands of women and girls from across Asia into a brutal system of military sexual slavery. Only about a third of the victims, euphemistically referred to as “comfort women,” survived.
For over four decades, those who managed to escape alive kept quiet about their horrific experiences due to shame and social stigma. Then in 1991, Korean survivor Kim Hak-Soon, outraged by Japanese officials’ denials of the sexual slavery system, courageously broke the silence by publicly coming out as a former “comfort woman.” Other survivors from Korea, the Netherlands, the Philippines, Taiwan and beyond quickly followed suit. What evolved was an international redress and social justice movement that continues to this day.
But largely absent from the mainstream “comfort women” discourse have been the voices of Mainland Chinese survivors, which is ironic considering that recent research shows that they made up at least half of the nearly 400,000 victims of Japanese military sexual slavery. Their stories, their struggles post-conflict, and the formidable redress movement in Mainland China has been only marginally situated in the larger narrative.
Until now.
“Chinese Comfort Women: Testimonies from Imperial Japan’s Sex Slaves” is the first English-language book on the Chinese “comfort women.” Authors Peipei Qiu, Su Zhiliang and Chen Lifei have weaved together decades of research and over 100 survivor testimonies to create a comprehensive and heart-wrenching account of the Chinese experience of Japanese military sexual slavery.
Peipei Qiu begins the book with an overview of the development of the “comfort station” system, situating the experiences of Chinese sex slaves in the pan-Asia context while at the same time teasing out the unique conditions for victims considered by Imperial Japan as members of the “enemy” state. The second part consists of 12 survivor testimonies carefully selected for their geographic and socio-historic diversity. The final section looks at the postwar struggles of the Chinese survivors, and interjects redress efforts in Mainland China into the transnational “comfort women” movement.
While many books and articles have been written about the “comfort women,” this work stands out for its thorough research and its refreshingly holistic approach to the subject matter. Professors Su and Chen from Shanghai Normal University, both founders of the Chinese “Comfort Women” Research Centre in Shanghai, spent more than two decades corroborating survivor testimonies with witness accounts, uncovered documents and collected data. Qiu, Professor of Chinese and Japanese on the Louise Boyd Dale and Alfred Lichtenstein Chair and Director of Asian Studies Program at Vassar College, triangulates an impressively broad range of research from English and Japanese sources to contextualize the work done by Su and Chen, as well as by others in Mainland China. But it’s more than just the breadth of research that stands out; it’s Qiu’s unbiased critical approach. She examines Chinese patriarchal socio-political ideology before, during and after the war, giving as an example the persecution of an identified former “comfort woman” and her banishment to a labor camp in Northeast China during the Cultural Revolution.
All of this hard work and thoroughness is reflected in what can only be described as a landmark resource for anyone studying Japanese military sexual slavery. It’s also an urgently needed body of evidence in the face of current Japanese denials of government and military involvement in the sexual slavery system, denials that are at the heart of political tensions that threaten the Asia-Pacific region today.
But the book’s relevance extends beyond any particular historical moment. It elucidates the links between militarization and sexualized violence and goes to the root of the patriarchy that facilitate the conditions in which such utter disregard for human dignity is possible.
Most importantly, the book commemorates the courage and determination of all those who have dared to speak out against injustice, even in the face of enormous pressure. In so doing, “Chinese Comfort Women: Testimonies from Imperial Japan’s Sex Slaves” honors the resiliency and compassion of the survivors who have given so much of themselves to transform unimaginable suffering into a safer, more peaceful and more just future for us all.
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Michi
1.0 out of 5 stars American Humanism
Reviewed in the United States on April 16, 2016
Format: Paperback
It is American humanism that can believe this fantastic story. And it is only Chinese that can write a gigantic fantasy like this.
"Everything is gigantic in China. Elites had gigantic political power, gigantically exploiting a gigantic number of masses, as they do in China today. A gigantic wealth accrued to gigantic political power. The masses suffered gigantically, but elites were gigantically indifferent. Gigantic power required a gigantic ideology or a gigantic lie. The trouble with China is that the people themselve do not believe anything but gigantic (from my comment on YaleGlobal Online/June Teufel Dreyer/China's Tianxia: Do All Under Heaven Need One Arbiter?)"
Chinese intellectuals were supporters, as they are, rather than opponents of political power (from my comment, It Is Not China's Fault, Nov. 16, 2015, on Michael Pillsbury, The Hundred-Year Marathon, amazon usa.)
Prof. Auer of Vanderbilt University talked with a group of South Koreans. The Koreans were all from rather well-to-do, intellectual families. They were astonished to learn from him that there were Japanese comfort women. They had thought that the comfort women were all Korean.
There were about twenty thousand comfort women, and about forty percent or eigth thousand were Japanese; about twenty percent or four thousand were Korean. The rest were of Chinese, Taiwaniese and other natinalities.
No one was kidnapped unless Koreans had kidnapped Koreans.
The Korean comfort women lost Japanese customers when Japan surrendered in 1945 and were stranded on Pacific islands. But they were airlifted to Okinawa and found new customers there who spoke English.
No professional historian of South Korea says Korean women or girls were abducted by Japanese to work in brothels; they were sent to pimps or brothels for money by their parents. Rapes are about forty times as frequent in South Korea today as in Japan, according to Sonfa Oh, Getting Over It!: Why Korea Needs To Stop Bashing Japan, amazon usa.
Until around 1990 "comfort women" were used in postwar South Korea to refer to South Korean comfort women, and no South Koreans said Japanese abducted Korean women or girls to force them to work as prostitutes. South Korea did not say in the Japanese-South Korean negotiations that led to the conlusion of a peace treaty in 1965 that Japan kidnapped Korean women or girls for prostitution or for whatever nor demanded apologies or compensation concerning the violation of human rights of Korean prostitutes.
It all started with a rather habitual Japanese lier, Seiji Yoshida. He said around 1980 that he had kidnapped about two hundred Korean women from the South Korean island, Jeju, to work in prostitution. The Korean newpaper on the island investigated it and found no islanders who had seen or heard of such abduction.
Initially, South Koreans were surprised and wondered why Japanese liked telling such a self-abusing story; they said all Korean men would have risen in revolt all over the peninsula if Japanese had done such a heinious act.
There were about three hundred thousand Korean comfort women at the time of the Korean War. And there were about fifty thousand of them that engaged with South Korean and American soldiers. I understand some of them were not paid wages. Each South Korean comfort woman was sent to the front in an empty oil drum so that officers could report they sent so and so many oil drums. The father of the present South Korean President was one of the officers in charge of it. The women who had run away were taken back and severely lashed and beaten. Women whose had a communist or commnunist sympathizer in their families were often raped and made to work as prostitutes.
One hundred and twenty two of those who engaged with American and UN soldiers filed complaint with the South Korean government that they have not recieved apologies and compensation. The world does not know it because the South Korean government keeps hushed and South Korean mass media do not report it.
In Hiroshima there were a lot of orphans after 1945. Koreans took care of girls, not boys, not as philanthropy but as economic investment, as perhaps in some other cities. When the girls grew up, they were made to work in Korean traditional, national industry.
The Chinese case was more fantastic. Chinese soldiers assaulted Chinese women in addition to having comfort women. A Chinese saying goes, "Good iron is not used for nails. Good men do not become soldiers." There has been no distinction in Chinese history between soldiers and thugs. In many parts of China, villagers welcomed the advancing Japanese army because it brought social order with it.
"And the Chinese KMT forces themselves always killed, raped and robbed Chinese people. The commanders would not pay them, but keep the pay for themselves. When the troops were restless, the commanders would send them to nearby villages to rob and rape (Max von Schuler, An American Speaks The Japanese History That Some Want Hidden, ISBN 978-4-8024-0028-2)."
The German case is not well known to the world as it should be. In addition to comfort women in Eastern Europe, they imposed the choice on innocent women between going to Germany to work in factories or on farms and being allowed to remain in their lands to make friendship with them.
You can read some details both in English and Japanese on the Internet, @ [...]. Read the two replies below.
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B.C.
5.0 out of 5 stars Extremely well-written and important work on a difficult subject
Reviewed in the United States on April 30, 2020
Format: Paperback
To be brief: This is an exceptional book and a must-have for those studying the comfort women issue. I wrote a seminar paper on it using a library copy, but will be buying a copy for myself to keep on my own bookshelf. Very important scholarship on a challenging and painful topic.
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Gary
5.0 out of 5 stars Terrible things happened during the war. Telling the truth and showing remorse are the key elements for finding peace .
Reviewed in the United States on June 29, 2016
During the war, there were a lot of terrible things that occurred and some of the stories are almost unbearable to listen or to read. Comfort women is one of these. However, Mr. Michi shows no remorse or sympathy for the suffering of comfort women. He claims that no one was kidnapped, that many countries had comfort women during the war, and many Chinese villagers welcomed the advancing Japanese army. But, he can not explain why the sorrow of comfort women from Korea, China and Taiwan resides deeply in people's hearts and why most Chinese and Korean dislike Japanese. The stories of the brutal killings by the Japanese army during World War II have been passed on to the next generation by parent's personal experiences, not by books, like Mr. Michi. It is true that Germany committed many atrocities during the World War II, but they have acknowledged it and expressed deep remorse. Japan, on the other hand, covered up and twisted the facts as Mr. Michi has done.
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Nanette
5.0 out of 5 stars Solid introduction to a difficult topic of discussion
Reviewed in the United States on April 15, 2017
Format: Paperback
This book provides an excellent overview of the comfort women system in China using both interviews of survivors and document reviews. The survivors tell us how these atrocities came about and what they endured, while the historical information provides the reader with meaningful contexts and possible explanations about why Japan denied comfort women's treatment and how the Chinese (and the world) treated these survivors after the war.
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Lee Murray
5.0 out of 5 stars Compelling, harrowing reading.
Reviewed in the United States on February 6, 2015
Format: Paperback
I almost never read non-fiction, but given my own family background I felt somewhat obligated to read this book and its incredibly brave testimonies from Chinese 'comfort' women, who were abducted, raped and humiliated, sometimes for years, during the China-Japan conflict. Those who were lucky enough to escape and survive go on to suffer physical, social, economic, and emotional consequences for the rest of their lives. In spite of Chinese Comfort Women being a rigorous piece of academic writing, it makes compelling, harrowing reading. Such a cruel miscarriage of justice for these poor women and their families, it is impossible not to feel aggrieved on their behalf. Not for the faint-hearted.
5 people found this helpful
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Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars A powerful work of historical truth with Chinese Comfort Women ...
Reviewed in the United States on April 18, 2017
Format: Paperback
A powerful work of historical truth with Chinese Comfort Women survivor testimonies reminding us to never forget what happened.
June Prager and John Essick
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R.P.
5.0 out of 5 stars The not so heroic side of war
Reviewed in the United States on December 18, 2014
Format: Paperback
This book presents a very intimate look into the traumatic experience the Chinese women went during the WW II. Yes, it is challenging to digest the brutal, honest, vivid details presented throughout the book. Learning their story and the horrible experience they went through, it is another example that war only brings only suffering, creates monsters and victims, leaves behind scars that never heal, and justice most of the time comes too late. Read this book! Humiliation, objectification, loss of empathy are concepts taken to a whole different level throughout this book. I applaud these courageous women for sharing their traumatic experiences. We must never forget their sufferings!
2 people found this helpful
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rain_wishing
5.0 out of 5 stars A well written history of the Chinese Comfort Women
Reviewed in the United States on June 22, 2015
Format: Paperback
This book raises awareness of this horrible war crime, of the second world war. I learned a lot from reading it.
3 people found this helpful
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SHAONING M.
5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
Reviewed in the United States on April 27, 2016
Format: Paperback
Well researched.
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d.r.
5.0 out of 5 stars Would recommend and use this provider again
Reviewed in the United States on August 22, 2014
Format: Paperback
Quick service and item as described. Would recommend and use this provider again.
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sn925
1.0 out of 5 stars One Star
Reviewed in the United States on December 26, 2015
Format: Paperback
PRC propaganda
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Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
Reviewed in the United States on September 6, 2014
Format: Paperback
Excellent quality of the product!! Received it very fast as well.
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From other countries
Karl Turner
4.0 out of 5 stars Not a great deal of pages in this book
Reviewed in Canada on January 29, 2016
Verified Purchase
Not a great deal of pages in this book, but it took me a long time to read as the subject matter was disturbing. I cannot believe some people would treat other people so badly. It was a facinating look back at a terrible time for these women. I am not sure if I would have the strength to survive what they went through. They are incredible women.
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중국인 위안부: 일본 제국의 성노예들의 증언 요약 및 평론
1. 개관 및 저자 소개
<중국인 위안부: 일본 제국의 성노예들의 증언>은 치우페이페이(Peipei Qiu) 바사 대학교 교수와 중국 내 위안부 연구의 권위자인 수즈량(Su Zhiliang), 천리페이(Chen Lifei) 상하이 사범대학교 교수가 공동 집필하여 2013년에 출간한 학술적 기념비작이다. 이 책은 제2차 세계대전 당시 일본 군국주의에 의해 조직적으로 자행된 위안부 제도 속에서, 그간 상대적으로 국제사회의 주목을 덜 받았던 중국인 피해자들의 역사를 전면에 다룬다. 저자들은 방대한 구술 증언과 미공개 문서, 재판 기록을 바탕으로 범죄의 실상을 파헤치고 생존자들의 전후 삶을 추적한다.
2. 핵심 내용 요약
위안부 제도의 확장과 중국의 특수성
책은 일본군이 1931년 만주사변 이후 위안소 제도를 어떻게 정착시키고 확장했는지 분석한다. 특히 1937년 중일전쟁 발발과 난징대학살 이후 일본군은 군 내부의 성범죄 통제와 성병 예방, 그리고 보안 유지를 명목으로 위안소를 급격히 늘렸다. 이 과정에서 최초의 공식 군 위안소가 상하이에 설치되었다.
중국 대륙에서의 위안부 조달은 한국(조선)의 양상과 다른 특수성을 지녔다. 조선에서는 주로 취업 사기나 강제 연행 등 식민지 지배 구조를 활용한 기만이 동원된 반면, 전장 지대였던 중국에서는 군사력을 앞세운 폭력적 납치와 강탈이 압도적이었다. 일본군은 마을을 습격하여 여성들을 무차별적으로 끌고 갔으며, 전선 근처의 거점마다 무허가 간이 위안소를 설치해 여성들을 구금했다.
생존자들의 증언과 범죄의 실상
저자들은 일본군 위안소 제도가 단순한 매춘이 아닌, 국가가 주도한 전형적인 성노예(Sex Slavery) 제도였음을 생존자 12명의 구술 증언을 통해 명백히 입증한다.
완아이화, 위안주샹, 레이구이잉 등 피해자들의 목소리는 일본군이 자행한 비인도적 고문과 감금, 반복적인 성폭력의 실상을 생생하게 고발한다. 피해자들은 군화발과 칼날 아래에서 매일 수십 명의 군인을 상대해야 했으며, 저항할 경우 참혹한 구타와 신체 훼손을 당했다. 임신을 방지한다는 명목으로 강제 주사된 유독한 약물(606호 주사 등)은 이들의 신체를 영구적으로 망가뜨렸다.
전후의 침묵과 이중의 고통
책의 후반부는 전쟁이 끝난 후에도 끝나지 않은 피해자들의 고통을 다룬다. 1945년 일본의 패전 이후 고향으로 돌아온 중국인 위안부 생존자들은 냉혹한 사회적 낙인과 가부장적 순결 이데올로기에 부딪혀 자신들의 피해 사실을 숨겨야만 했다.
더욱이 중국의 정치적 격변은 이들의 삶을 더욱 비참하게 만들었다. 사회주의 정권 수립 이후 진행된 문화대혁명 시기, 많은 생존자는 과거 일본군에게 오염되었다는 이유로 한간(민족반역자)이나 불순분자로 몰려 홍위병의 타깃이 되었고, 공공연한 모욕과 박해를 받았다. 국가적 보호는커녕 사회적 범죄자로 취급받았던 이중의 역설 속에서 생존자들은 수십 년간 침묵을 강요당했다.
정의를 향한 투쟁
1990년대에 이르러 한국의 위안부 운동에 영향을 받은 중국 학자들과 시민사회가 연대하면서 중국인 위안부의 실상이 세상에 드러나기 시작했다. 생존자들은 고령과 병마와 싸우면서도 일본 정부를 상대로 공식 사죄와 법적 배상을 요구하는 소송을 일본 법원에 제기했다. 비록 일본 법원은 공소시효 만료와 국가 면제 등을 이유로 청구를 기각했으나, 이 과정에서 일본군의 범죄 사실 자체를 법정 기록으로 남기는 역사적 성과를 거두었다.
3. 학술적 및 역사적 평론
서구 학계의 공백을 메운 기념비적 거대사
이 책이 지닌 가장 큰 공헌은 영미권 및 서구 학계에서 상대적으로 주변화되어 있던 중국인 위안부 문제를 공론화했다는 점이다. 위안부 연구는 오랫동안 한국인 피해자들의 증언과 한일 간의 외교적 갈등을 중심으로 논의되어 왔다. 그러나 수적으로 가장 큰 피해를 입었을 것으로 추정되는 중국인 피해자들의 서사를 학술적 수준으로 끌어올림으로써, 위안부 제도가 특정 민족에 국한된 비극이 아니라 아시아 전역을 무대로 자행된 인류 보편의 전쟁 범죄임을 명확히 했다.
폭력의 다층적 구조 분석
저자들은 일본 군국주의라는 국가 권력의 폭력성뿐만 아니라, 피해자들을 전후에도 억압했던 다층적 폭력 구조를 날카롭게 해부한다.
첫째는 중국 사회 내부의 가부장적 순결주의이다. 전쟁의 피해자를 오염된 존재로 규정하는 문화적 시선은 이들을 침묵의 감옥에 가두었다.
둘째는 냉전 체제와 중국 내부의 정치적 광기이다. 국가 권력이 이념적 순수성을 증명하는 과정에서 전쟁 범죄 피해자들을 배신자로 낙인찍은 대목은 국가가 개인의 기억을 어떻게 난도질할 수 있는지 보여주는 통렬한 사례이다.
구술사와 공감의 힘
본서는 엄밀한 문서 고증과 생존자들의 구술사를 결합하는 방식을 취한다. 통계와 문서에만 의존할 때 발생할 수 있는 역사의 추상화를 방지하고, 파괴된 개인의 삶을 구체적으로 복원해 낸다. 생존자들의 고통스러운 증언은 독자로 하여금 거대 담론으로서의 역사를 넘어 인간 존엄성의 파괴라는 본질적 문제에 직면하게 만든다.
결론
<중국인 위안부>는 단순히 과거의 잔혹 행위를 고발하는 데 그치지 않고, 국가 권력이 개인, 특히 여성의 신체를 어떻게 도구화하는지 경고하는 보편적 인권의 텍스트이다. 역사의 기억을 지우려는 일본 우익의 시도와, 여전히 민족주의적 도구로만 위안부 문제를 소비하려는 거대 권력들 사이에서, 이 책은 생존자들의 목소리 그 자체를 보존하는 것이 왜 정의의 출발점인지를 웅변한다. 전쟁과 여성에 대한 폭력의 역사를 공부하는 모든 이들이 반드시 경청해야 할 엄숙한 증언록이다.
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<Chinese Comfort Women: Testimonies from Imperial Japan’s Sex Slaves>
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