Current Nanjing Massacre article retained in Chinese textbook

A textbook published with the authority of China's Education Ministry will keep an article entitled "The Nanjing Massacre."

The revised book will also contain an article by Chinese-American writer Iris Chang, the Language and Culture Press said Tuesday. The article "A Narrow Escape From Death" is excerpts from Chang's book "The Rape of Nanking."

The publisher initially planned to replace the current article by Wen Shulin with the Chang article, but drew the ire of the public who questioned the motives for the move.

In response, the publisher reassessed the two articles, which approach the Nanjing Massacre from different perspectives, and decided to retain both.

Wen's article tells of the facts of the massacre while the excerpts from Chang's book depict one woman's fight against the invaders, according to the publisher.

This is the first revision to the eighth-grade textbook in more than a decade.

All primary and middle schools in China used the same textbooks before 2001 when provinces were allowed to use their own. More than ten publishers have released their own textbooks, including the Language and Culture Press. Endi