On Monday the Chinese government published an eight-volume name list containing the names of 13,000 victims of the Nanjing Massacre. At this time more than 300,000 Chinese were slaughtered by invading Japanese troops during the period from December 1937 to January 1938.

The publication set contains information including the name, sex, age, occupation and residential addresses of the victims, as well as which Japanese army unit committed which crime and how the victims were killed. Sources for this information are also included.

The book set is the most comprehensive name list of all known victims of the slaughter to date and includes unarmed soldiers and civilians who were killed inside or near Nanjing city, the then capital of China.

"The publication of this name list is just a start. We will continue collecting information about the victims," said Zhang Xianwen, editor-in-chief of the compilation.

The eight volumes of name lists are important components for the 27-volume series of historical materials on the Nanjing Massacre, concurrently published on Monday in Nanjing, the capital of east China's Jiangsu Province.

In addition to the first 28 volumes that came out in 2005, the 27 new volumes consist of many first-hand historical documents and records, such as US news reports, diaries and official circulars of Japanese troops, diplomatic letters from the British and German governments, lists of casualties and economic losses, and signatures of over 600 Chinese civilians seeking refuge against the atrocity committed by the Imperial Japanese Army from December 1937 to January 1938.

Since 2000, more than 70 Chinese historians from universities and government archive departments have visited Japan, Britain, the United States, Germany and Taiwan, compiling and translating nearly 30 million words of original materials in different languages, leading to the production of a total of 55 volumes in the series.

"It is a combination of Chinese, Japanese and Western raw materials, objective and just. This material is able to stand the trial of history," said Zhang Xianwen, at Monday's issuance ceremony in Nanjing.

Many of the materials are published for the first time and have great historical value. "Everyone who reads the book will surely get a correct understanding of what happened at that time," said Zhang, also a professor with Nanjing University.

The Jiangsu Provincial People's Publishing House and the Fenghuang Publishing & Media Group jointly released the volumes.

Compilers said they are still working on many materials that may lead to the publication of another 25 volumes, totaling nearly 20 million words.

The release came before the 70th anniversary of the Massacre that falls on December 13. At this time a memorial hall for the Massacre will reopen after two years of renovations.

Some 3,000 pieces of historical items, including cameras, weapons and diaries of the Japanese troops and 3,500 photos taken during the period will be on display.

Japanese aggressors occupied Nanjing on December 13, 1937. They embarked on a six-week long orgy of destruction, pillage, rape and slaughter. Historical records show that more than 300,000 Chinese people, including both unarmed soldiers and innocent civilians, were murdered.

Controversial visits to a shrine in Japan, where war criminals executed for their part in the Massacre are among those honored, by former Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, as well as history textbook distortions written by the Japanese, have angered the Chinese people and government in recent years.

(Xinhua News Agency December 4, 2007)