The apparent suicide of San Jose author Iris Chang has rekindled the passions fueling the tense debate over her contribution to the history of China-Japan relations.

Chang's passing sparked a passionate discussion on the Internet today. On the site of Japan Today, an English-language newspaper, dozens of emotional posts debated the quality of Chang's work, the meaning of her life and her death.

Her 1997 book, ``The Rape of Nanking: The Forgotten Holocaust of World War II,'' told the story of how thousands of Chinese civilians were tortured and slaughtered in Nanjing, China, by Japanese soldiers in 1937 and 1938.

Almost from the moment it was published, Chang was alternately hailed as a heroine for bringing the truth to light about one of World War II's worst atrocities and castigated as an anti-Japan propagandist who played with the facts in writing her best-seller.

Some Asian-history specialists have pointed out flaws in her research that have left her open to charges of bias, but she is widely credited with bringing exposure to the underreported Japanese war crimes during World War II.

A passing commuter found the 36-year-old Chang dead in her car on a private road south of Los Gatos late Tuesday morning, a single gunshot wound to her head. Her husband had filed a missing persons report at about 5:30 a.m. Tuesday, after last having seen her at about 2 a.m., said San Jose police spokesman Steve Dixon.

The case has not been officially ruled a suicide, but law enforcement sources say the author and lecturer left a suicide note. She reportedly had been hospitalized for depression recently.

The coroner's office was closed today for Veteran's Day, so no official finding will be rendered.

Since the publication of ``The Rape of Nanking,'' Chang has been a controversial figure -- admired and praised by some, vilified and criticized by others. That was true of the postings today on the Japan Today Web site.

``I remember there was a booklet that people were handing out in LA that corrected all the mistakes in her book,'' wrote one Japan Today reader named Ryuhei.

``Japan really has a lot to account for, but of course they won't because they're evil,'' wrote another person named Bao.

Others questioned whether she really killed herself when she seemingly had much to live for -- a new book, a husband and a young son.

Chang was not shy about criticizing the Tokyo government's failure to officially apologize for the atrocities and to pay reparations, saying the nation's ``denial'' amounts to a ``second rape.''

Although there has never been an official apology, many leading politicians have acknowledged the Nanking Massacre and expressed regret. They say Japanese textbooks now deal forthrightly with the incident.

In part because of her book, Japanese society seems to be making an effort to come to terms with the brutality its soldiers inflicted during the war. But it remains a very delicate discussion.

Just today, a Japanese publisher announced plans to delete or alter parts of a new manga comic book dealing with the subject after publication of a weekly version sparked howls of protest, Japan Today reported.

The author said 21 ``inappropriate scenes'' would be changed or dropped when published in book form.

``The lack of prudence in selecting and verifying the materials for the comic has caused misunderstanding among readers,'' publisher and author Hiroshi Motomiya said in a statement.

Susan Rabiner, Chang's editor for ``Thread of the Silkworm'' and ``The Rape and Nanking'' and her literary agent for the ``The Chinese in America,'' said she has known Chang about 10 years.

She said Chang had been ``clearly clinically depressed for the last five or six months. I don't think they know what brought it on, but it developed suddenly and progressed rapidly. She had been in the hospital, but she never really stabilized.''

Chang came to Rabiner ``as a young kid'' on the advice of a professor she knew from Johns Hopkins University, where she had earned her masters degree in writing. Rabiner rejected her idea for a book. But when Rabiner learned that Chang spoke Mandarin, she asked Chang if she was interested in writing a book about a pioneer in the American space age who was accused of being a communist and deported to China. Tsien Hsue-shen, a victim of the McCarthy era, developed the Chinese missile program.

The result was ``Thread of the Silkworm,'' published by Basic Books in 1995. ``She was the youngest person in Basics history we ever gave a contract to.''

Rabiner said Chang was unstintingly generous with young writers. She deeply believed in using her craft to hold governments accountable. ``She was strong, but never strident'' when she demanded an accounting from the Chinese government over the Tianenmen Square Massacre that sparked a brief democratic uprising in the 1990s.

Chang married Brett Douglas in 1991. The couple has lived in the Bay Area since their marriage. She is survived by Douglas, the couple's 2-year-old son, Christopher Douglas, her parents, Shau-Jin and Ying-Ying Chang, and her brother Michael Chang.

Visitation will be Nov. 18 at the Spangler Mortuary, 399 S. San Antonio Road, Los Altos, from 5 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. A memorial service will be held Nov. 19 at 10 a.m. at the Gate of Heaven Cemetery, 22555 Cristo Rey Dr., Los Altos.

The family asked that memorial contributions made out to the University of Illinois and sent to the attention of Nancy Casey at the University of Illinois Journalism Department Scholarship Fund, 119 Gregory Hall, 810 S. Wright St., Urbana, IL 61801.

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