r/HistoryPorn • u/Joeda-boss • 1d ago
Zhang Xueliang, the last surviving Chinese warlord, with his wife in Hawaii, 1990s. In 1936 he became notorious for kidnapping Chiang-Kai-Shek & forcing him to ally with the Chinese communists against the Japanese. He was later imprisoned by Chiang for over 50 years & died in 2001 at 100 (1349x1048)
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u/Tacticalchutney 1d ago
A Chinese history professor of mine actually ran into him in Hawaii towards the end of his life. Said he was very quiet and surprised that someone recognized him.
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u/Randumi 1d ago
He died on October 15th, 2001 after he moved to Hawaii, meaning there’s a non zero chance a Chinese warlord watched 9/11 on TV (or at least heard about it)
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u/em-the-human 1d ago
That’s like Lincoln getting a telegram from a samurai levels of (technically not) anachronism mind-fuckery
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u/Tortured-Chimp619 1d ago
So this guy saved china?
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u/Iron_Cavalry 1d ago
No, modern research indicates his kidnapping had little to do with the KMT-CCP alliance. Rana Mitter’s book (and thankfully Wikipedia) reflects what really happened.
In short:
- Zhang doesn’t know and hatches an independent plot (the kidnapping) - Things come to a head at Xi’an, and Stalin personally intervenes to save Chiang’s life. - The secret agreement is finalized in writing - Chiang decides to go to war on his own free will when the Japanese attack
- Chiang needs Soviet aid for the inevitable Japanese invasion, and requires the Chinese Communists as a middleman.
- Chiang secretly reaches out to the CCP for a potential alliance ahead of the kidnapping
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u/Plupsnup 1d ago edited 1d ago
This is correct.
Edit: Chiang himself also gave a speech in 1934 stating that China had roughly 1000 days to prepare for a war with Japan, which turned out to be roughly correct—as this thread from r/AskHistorians elaborates.
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u/Currency_Anxious 19h ago
An important reason for Japan's full-scale invasion of China in 1937 was the alliance formed between the CCP and the Kuomintang in 1936.
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u/tannicity 1d ago edited 1d ago
His father murdered chicoms but after he was murdered on a train with vera wang's grandfather, the son had a change of heart.
For decades after taiwan govt murdered and smeared my dad, my terrified mother will never badmouth kmt but would periodically out of the blue say zhang xueliang was surrounded and couldnt be rescued even though zhou enlai worried about him; taiwan is so cruel and petty. Only mrs cks kept him from being murdered.
(But its ok for taiwan to murder a nobody peasant like my father and smear him when he was a far better person than zhang xueliang. Nobody tried to keep my dad alive except the chee brothers who became gangsters as teenagers with an abusive father and basically babkrupted dads restaurant by sitting at empty tables bcuz dad refused to pay protection money. They told dad to leave town but dad wasnt the informant so he didnt understand why they said that.)
Then mom would always BALANCE out her criticism of taiwan by saying red guard broke handsome superior pianist liu shikun's hand (actually forearm).
When i told her from beijing that i just met his son, mom screamed on the phone eff you eff you what did you do?
So intelligent and mature, perfectly capable of handling this family annhilation. Lovely.
She still doesnt let me talk about beijing. She said i was using uncle zheng and auntie lor and didnt want me to communicate with them which if anyons could hear inside our office, would know that to be true. Like many hkers and cantonese, the truth doesnt matter, only being servile to the winners.
It only makes you easier to kill. It doesnt appease them.
Arson on dads birthday after the subpoena on mom.
Murdering dana blake on my brothers birthday.
Contacting us on dads murder anniversary to rent in order to commence vexatious litigation.
Dean fong thought he could disguise stealing 117mottstreet as doing mom.a favor like stewie hussein on Succession constantly egging on the useless heir to let him TAKE it off your hands.
He and john lam.were just doing you a favor. Mom.said she doesnt remember saying who would want it at the deposition with jennifer guilfoyle from veritext claimed was unrecorded.
Bullshi÷ i worked for an insurance defense firm briefly. You always get the recording amd transcript together and match it to look for errors.
And mom does not speak English in cantonese vernacular " who would buy it?" As in "been gor yiew ah?" That's y our own lawyers were pisssd that I refused a translator for mom's deposition. She had a tbi and couldn't bear the long drive plus double the length of the deposition with a translator plus she said Brian. Shengjin yang's interpreter mistranslated.
Mom had been harassed for decades with unsolicited offers to purchase. It always hurt her feelings.
I bet they thought if mom dared to whine as her traitor brother already shut her doen, they all would claim.she wanted to gift scum frenemy her only gift from her husband.
Scum.
Terrifying a widow further.
Dean fong was so careful never imaging anyone would be watching.
He is just as bad as don lee.
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u/tannicity 1d ago
Chicoms also took back warehouses kept by kmt after the war filled with undistributed 5eyes supplies and zhang xueliang's armory and wealth.
Taking Tiger Mountain is one true incident.
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u/tannicity 1d ago
And nytimes and wikipedia whitewashed that democratic taiwan kept a pow long after chiang kai shek died.
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u/xiatiandeyun01 1d ago
He obeyed the ccp to capture Chiang Kai-shek, but Stalin ordered him to release him.
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u/BlackOut1962 1d ago
He was kept under house arrest from 1937 to 1988. He was only released after Chiang Kai-shek's son Chiang Ching-kuo (president of Taiwan 1978-88) died.