City of Life and Death

''City of Life and Death'' is set in 1937, shortly after the beginning of the Second Sino-Japanese War. The Imperial Japanese Army has just captured Nanjing (or Nanking), capital of the Republic of China (1912–1949). What followed is historically known as the Nanking Massacre, a period of several weeks wherein massive numbers of Chinese prisoners-of-war and civilians were killed by the Japanese military.