Oral history interview with Peter H.L. and Edith Chang, 1990

Biographical Note

Peter H. L. Chang (pinyin: Zhang, Xueliang; Wade-Giles: Chang, Hsueh-liang; Chinese: 張學良, 张学良; courtesy name/字: Hanqing, 漢卿, 汉卿; alias/号: Yi'an, 毅庵) was born in 1901 in Haicheng, Liaoning province, China. He graduated from the Fengtian Military Academy in 1919, became a colonel in the Fengtian Army, and appointed as his father Chang Tso-lin's (Zhang Zuolin/張作霖) bodyguard. After his father was assassinated by the Japanese in 1928, Chang took his place as the "Young Marshal" (少帥). In 1930, he became the Deputy Commander in Chief of the Chinese Armed Forces and traveled to Europe in 1933. After returning to China, he instigated the Xi'an Incident of 1936 where he detained Chiang Kai-shek and convinced him to unite front between the Nationalist and Communist and focus on fighting the Japanese force in China. After the incident, he surrendered to Chiang who placed him under house arrest in mainland China and Taiwan. During his confinement in Taiwan, he became a Baptist and spent most of his time writing, reading the Bible, and studying history. After his release in 1995, he immigrated to Honolulu, Hawaii. Chang died in Honolulu, Hawaii at the age of 100 in 2001. Edith Chao Chang (pinyin: Zhao, Yidi; Wade-Giles: Chao, I-ti; Chinese: 趙一荻, 赵一荻; original name: Zhao Qixia, 趙綺霞, 赵绮霞; alias: 赵四小姐) was born in 1912, Hong Kong. She was the daughter of Lu Baozhen (吕葆贞) and Zhao Qinghua (趙慶華), a senior official. Edith met Peter Chang in 1928 and left her family while she was still in her teens to become his companion. She followed him into exile in mainland China and in Taiwan, and they spent the rest of their lives together. Her devotion moved Chang's first wife Yu Feng-Tze that she released him from his marriage vows in 1964, allowing him to marry Edith. She died in Honolulu, Hawaii at the age of 88 in 2000

Scope and Contents

In this interview, Peter H.L. Chang discusses his relationship with his family and his father, Chang Tso-lin, and his influence on him politically as well as the impact of his father's assassination on his role in history. He talks extensively about the various Chinese political figures, foreign powers, and the issues surrounding the Mukden Incident in 1931 and the Xi'an Incident in 1936, as well as his life of exile in mainland China and Taiwan, including his relationship with Chiang Kai-shek, Chiang's family, and other Nationalist individuals. There are also mentions about issues of other people's writing and comments on his life and his role in the Xi'an Incident. Lastly, he talks about his conversion to Christianity and its philosophical and religious influence on him. The audio for the interview is accompanied by additional audio collected by interviewer T.K. Tong around the time of the interview and donated to Columbia University with the Chang interview. This audio is separate from the Chang interview, and includes eyewitness accounts of the 1989 Tiananmen Square incident and songs commemorating the movement

Subjects

• Chiang, Kai-shek, 1887-1975.
• China--Foreign relations.
• China--History--20th century.
• China--History--Republic, 1912-1949.
• China--History--Tiananmen Square Incident, 1989.
• China--History--Xi'an Incident, 1936.
• Conversion--Christianity.
• Generals--China.
• Guo, Guanying, interviewer.
• Interviews.
• Mukden Incident, China, 1931.
• Oral histories (literary works)
• Tong, Te-kong, 1920-2009, interviewer.
• Zhang, Xueliang, 1901-2001--Interviews.
• Zhang, Zuolin, 1875-1928.
• Zhao, Yidi, interviewee.
• Zhao, Yidi--Interviews.

Access Conditions

Copyright by the Trustees of Columbia University in the City of New York, 1992 By request of Peter and Edith Chang, audio from the tapes is made available for background purposes only. Citations and quotations should reference the text of the transcript