
Japanese troops dragging dead bodies onto piles
The Rape of Nanking, also known as the Nanjing massacre, occurred from 13 December 1937 to January 1938 when the Imperial Japanese Army entered the captured city of Nanking (Nanjing) in China during the Second Sino-Japanese War. The Japanese killed 300,000 people and pillaged the city in an orgy of rape and looting, and the massacre led to public opinion turning against Japan. Chinese-Japanese relations have been complex - sometimes sour - ever since the massacre, which was one of the worst atrocities in history.