揚州十日記 translation: Diary of the Ten Days of Yangzhou, Part 7

This is Part 7 in an annotation of 揚州十日記(‘Diary of the Ten Days of Yangzhou’). Like [吳城日記](http:// eastasiastudent.net/china/classical/wucheng-riji-1/ “吳城日記translation: Diary of Inner City Suzhou, Part 1”), it’s a daily log from the year 1645, a year after the Manchus took Beijing, marking the end of the Ming dynasty and the beginning of the Qing (明末清初).

This diary covers the Yangzhou massacre (also known as “The Ten Days of Yangzhou”), and was written by 王秀楚 (Wang Xiuchu). You can read about these events, as well as see more translations of the text, in Lynn A. Struve’s book Voices from the Ming-Qing Cataclysm.

As always, if you notice a mistake or have any suggestions, please share them in the comments at the end of the page.

三卒隨令諸婦女盡解濕衣，自表至裡，自頂至踵，並令製衣婦人相修短，量寬窄，易以鮮新； The three soldiers then ordered all the women to completely take off their wet clothes, from the outermost to the innermost, from their heads to their heels; they also ordered the dressmaker woman to make alterations and take measurements so that they could change into fresh clothes;

諸婦女因威逼不已，遂至裸體相向，隱私盡露，羞澀欲死之狀，難以言喻。 all the women were intimidated relentlessly and then faced one another naked, their secrets completely revealed; they were so ashamed they wanted to die - it is difficult to put into words.

易衣畢，乃擁之飲酒，嘩笑不已； When they had finished changing clothes, the soldiers embraced them and drank wine, laughing uproariously without end;

一卒忽橫刀躍起向後疾呼曰： a soldier suddenly drew his blade and leapt up, yelling back with hatred:

“蠻子來，蠻子來！” "Southern savages, come on! Southern savages, come on!"

近前數人已被縛，吾伯兄在焉。 When we got near the front, several people had already been bound; my eldest brother was there.

仲兄曰：“勢已至此，夫復何言？” My second elder brother said to me: "The situation has come to this, what is there to say?"

急持予手前，予弟亦隨之，是時男子被執者共五十馀人，提刀一呼，魂魄已飛，無一人不至前者； Anxiously clasping my hand he went forward, and my younger brother also went after him; at that time the men who'd been captured were now more than fifty altogether; if a blade was raised or a soldier shouted, our souls left us, and there was no-one who did not move forwards;

予隨仲兄出廳，見外面殺人，眾皆次第待命，予初念亦甘就縛，忽心動若有神助，潛身一遁，復至後廳，而五十馀人不知也。 I followed my eldest brother into the hall, and saw that outside they were killing people; our group all waited for their fate in turn; at first I thought I would also willingly be tied up, but suddenly my heart quickened as if with divine help, and I stealthily fled, going back to the rear hall, and the fifty or so people did not know.

[← Part 6](/china/classical/yangzhou-shiri-ji-6/” rel="prev “揚州十日記translation: Diary of the Ten Days of Yangzhou, Part 6”) · Part 7 · [Part 8 →](/china/classical/yangzhou-shiri-ji-8/” rel="next “揚州十日記translation: Diary of the Ten Days of Yangzhou, Part 8”)

Sources

• Full text of 揚州十日記(simplified)
• Modern Chinese translation of 揚州十日記