From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Iris Shun-Ru Chang (March 28, 1968 – November 9, 2004) was an American journalist. She is best known for her best-selling 1997 account of the Nanking Massacre, The Rape of Nanking. Chang is the subject of the 2007 biography, Finding Iris Chang, and the 2007 documentary film Iris Chang: The Rape of Nanking. 1 Early life and background.