April 18th marks the beginning of two administrations in Chinese political history. It was on this date in 1927 that Chiang Kai-shek established his government in Nanjing following the success of the Northern Expedition and a bloody purge of the Communists from the KMT ranks. 32 years later, Liu Shaoqi emerged from the political infighting in the wake of the Peng Dehuai Affair to become president of the People’s Republic of China.
While neither was very successful in the short-term, their respective political visions would cast long shadows.
Chiang Kai-shek’s Nationalist government rebuilt urban infrastructure, attempted to impose order where there had been none, and at least tried to lay the foundations for a modern Chinese state upon the ruins of empire. Whether he was successful or not depends a bit on who you ask and where you decide to set the goal posts. Some point to the rampant corruption (KMT officials were often so crooked they had to screw their pants on in the morning), incompetent administration, and Chiang’s own Ahab-esque desire to root out political enemies at the expense of other goals.
Others argue that Chiang’s government never stood a chance. With a limited economic base, large chunks of territory
I’m not sure even where to begin with this…
The copy alone is simply priceless:
“Stubborn and tenacious as a bulldog, fearless and unafraid, doggedly patient, this son of a village merchant is the strongest man China has produced for generations. In 1928, he set out to unify China. He was too successful. Japan attacked. Despite overwhelming odds, despite defeat after defeat, Chiang still fights on, confident in ultimate victory. This great man, a Christian by conviction, is indeed a man of stamina, the heart and soul of the Chinese resistance.”*
Yeesh. Who knew Henry Luce wrote trouser ads in his spare time?
As my friend and fellow historian Glenn (from whom I shamelessly grabbed this picture and so I tip my electronic hat in his direction) said on Facebook: “Before Bob Dole, there was…”
While on the subject of CKS for the moment, I thought I’d also share a little nugget I found while re-reading a speech Chiang gave soon after the Japanese surrender in 1945. Addressing a high-level meeting of the KMT, Chiang ponders what a post-war China would look like, and in this particular section discusses the status of former Qing territories such as Outer Mongolia
Whether or not our Google culture is making us smarter, dumber, or somewhere in between, I do get a fair bit of traffic from Google searches. Many of them a bit random, but a few are questions plugged into search engines like messages in electronic bottles floating in the Internet sea hoping for a bit of information and enlightenment. I dare not suggest that either information nor enlightenment are available in seller’s quantities from this little hobby of mine, but some of the questions do get me thinking.
Today a user followed this query to the Granite Studio: “How do Chiang Kai-shek and Mao Zedong continue to influence Taiwan and China today?”
It’s obviously a complicated question, but it does recall a comment a Beijing acquaintance of mine made the first time we went to the old South Bar Street to take in the spectacle of a Sanlitun Saturday night:
“This is what all of China would like if Chiang Kai-shek had won the war.”
But didn’t he?
If the ghosts of Mao and Chiang somehow reconciled over shots of baijiu in the afterlife, and then wandered around Beijing on a rainy afternoon O-Minus 55 days, what would they be
As the fascinating rapproachment between historical frienemies the KMT and the CCP continues, The China Daily is citing Chiang Kai-shek as proof “Τibet has always been a part of China.”
The papers, co-released by the Hoover Institution, under Stanford University of the United States, and Shanghai’s Fudan University, comprise archival documents and telegrams from T. V. Soong, [And Chiang's brother-in-law] the financial minister of the Kuomintang (KMT) prior to 1949.
In a telegram to Chiang Kai-shek, then Chinese leader and KMT chairman, dated May 21, 1943, Soong wrote: “(Then British Prime Minister Winston) Churchill said that recently it has been alleged that China has concentrated troops in order to attack Tibet I replied that I have never heard of such a message.
“And meanwhile, I said that Tibet is not an independent nation, as Churchill had claimed. All previous agreements between China and Britain have recognized that China possesses sovereign rights in Tibet, and I believe this fact has already been under your careful examination.”
Chiang wrote back, saying: “By treating Τibet as an independent country, Churchill has denied the territorial integrity and sovereignty of our country. It’s a great insult. I did not expect Britain would make such a
Zhou Enlai (1898-1976) Today is the birthday of Zhou Enlai, born in Hui’an in Jiangsu Province in 1898. Zhou’s grandfather was a minor official but like many scholar families in the late Qing, the Zhou clan had fallen on hard times, and despite many attempts, Zhou Enlai’s father failed to pass the imperial examinations. At the age of ten, Zhou was adopted by his uncle, who was childless and ill with tuberculosis, so that the uncle would not die without an heir. It was in fact Zhou’s adopted mother who taught the young man to read characters and who encouraged him in school. He was by all accounts a good student who would later go on to attend university in Japan and in Tianjin where the young revolutionary led student protests as part of the May 4th Movement and was arrested for his activities. Zhou left China in 1920 on a work-study program to France and it was in Paris that he met a 16-year old student from Sichuan named Deng Xiaoping. It was in Europe that both Deng and Zhou formally joined the Communist Party in 1921.*
Madame Chiang Kai-shek Song Meiling (1898-2003) Today is also the birthday of
|
|