Zhang Xueliang's Manuscripts: Autobiography, Diaries, and Letters During His House Arrest

Author: Dou Yingtai
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-11-01
Features: This book collects the writings composed by Zhang Xueliang during the decades of his imprisonment. Among them, "Miscellaneous Reminiscences and Random Notes" is a memoir written by Zhang Xueliang in early 1957 over a period of four months, totaling about 40,000 words. At that time, Zhang Xueliang longed for freedom and requested Chiang Kai-shek to write a book about his life experiences first. For the sake of freedom, Zhang took up his pen and completed the manuscript, which he submitted to Chiang Kai-shek. However, the publication of the book was like a cowhide thrown into the sea, never to be heard of again. Disheartened, Zhang Xueliang threw the manuscript into the trash heap. It wasn't until the late 1990s that researchers from the "Zhang Xueliang Oral History Project" at Columbia University in the United States accidentally discovered this text. At that time, Zhang Xueliang was still alive and intended to destroy it, but thanks to the efforts of the scholars who argued logically, the manuscript was preserved. This memoir discusses Zhang Xueliang's family background, upbringing, and his complex emotions during the "September 18th Incident" and the "Xi'an Incident," as well as revealing many previously unknown historical facts.