The event in the film The Flowers of War are not, as far as anyone seems to know, based on an actual event. The setting of the story - the massacre of Nanking - is certainly a historical fact, but the idea of the 13 women who offered their services as 'escorts' to the invading soldiers to spare the young students from being taken, may not be. The book on which the film is based, '13 Women of Nanjing' is inspired by the horrific events of the massacre but doesn't claim to be a history.

However, the fate of the real-life 'comfort women' on whom the story is based was very bleak. Accurate records are hard to get hold of and there is a lot of disagreement as to how many women ended up in this situation, but it is clear that very many of them died from the ill treatment they received, while others were left diseased or infertile.