Xia Shuqin was clearly not lying; her harrowing tale of survival was corroborated in great detail through the diary of an American Christian reverend, John Magee, who witnessed first hand the murder of several generations of an entire family of Muslims in Nanjing, which resulted in only two survivors.

During the Japanese reign of terror in Nanking - which, by the way, continues to this day to a considerable degree - the Reverend John Magee, a member of the American Episcopal Church Mission who has been here for almost a quarter of a century, took motion pictures that eloquently bear witness to the atrocities committed by the Japanese. One will have to wait and see whether the highest officers in the Japanese army succeed, as they have indicated, in stopping the activities of their troops, which continue even today. On December 13th, about 30 soldiers came to a Chinese house at #5 Hsing Lu Koo in the southeastern part of Nanking, and demanded entrance. The door was open by the landlord, a Mohammedan [Muslim] named Ha. They killed him immediately with a revolver and also Mrs. Ha, who knelt before them after Ha's death, begging them not to kill anyone else. Mrs. ha asked them why they killed her husband and they shot her. Mrs. Hsia was dragged out from under a table in the guest hall where she had tried to hide with her one-year old baby. After being stripped and raped by one or more men, she was bayoneted in the chest, and then had a bottle thrust into her vagina, the baby being killed with a bayonet. Some soldiers then went to the next room where were Mrs. Hsia's parents, aged 76 and 74, and he two daughters aged 16 and 14. They were about to rape the girls when the grandmother tried to protect them. The soldiers killed her with a revolver. The grandfather grasped the body of his wife and was killed. The two girls were then stripped, the older being raped by 2-3 men, and the younger by 3. The older girl was stabbed afterwards and a cane was rammed into her vagina. The younger girl was bayoneted also but was spared the horrible treatment that had been meted out to her sister and her mother. The soldiers then bayoneted another sister of between 7-8, who was also in the room. The last murders in the house were of Ha's two children, aged 4 and 2 years respectively. The older was bayoneted and the younger split down through the head with a sword. After being wounded the 8 year old girl crawled to the next room where lay the body of her mother. Here she stayed for 14 days with her 4 year old sister who had escaped unharmed. The two children lived on puffed rice and the rice crusts that form in the pan when the rice is cooked. It was from the older of these children that the photographer was able to get part of the story, and verify and correct certain details told him by a neighbour and a relative. The child said the soldiers came every day taking things from the house, but the two children were not discovered as they hid under some old sheets ...[A]fter 14 days the old woman...returned to the neighbourhood and found the two children. It was she who led the photographer to an open space where the bodies had been taken afterwards. Through questioning her and Mrs. Hsia's brother and the little girl, a clear knowledge of the terrible traged was gained. The picture shows the bodies of the 16 and 14 year old girls, each lying in a group of people slain at the same time. Mrs. Hsia and her baby are shown last. —Rev. John Magee, American Episcopal Church Mission, and resident in China for 25 years.[76][77]