Zhang Xueliang Before his death, why not donate the huge amount of inheritance to to the mainland, but to the United States?
As a celebrity of a prominent generation, Zhang Xueliang’s huge amount of fortune is very impressive. And his distribution of the inheritance before his death caused an uproar in the public opinion of the whole world .
As the eldest son of Zhang Zuolin , Zhang Xueliang has been born with a power that ordinary people can hardly match. Sitting on the military strength of hundreds of thousands of elite soldiers, it also proves from the side that he is almost rich in the economic strength of an enemy country.
Compared with wealth, the precious geography, history, humanities, military materials and manuscripts in his collection are of extraordinary significance to the military and historical research of that era. They are important content for understanding the truth of past history. .
In fact, when Zhang Xueliang was enjoying his old age, he also publicly expressed his guilt to the motherland more than once, especially to the people of Northeast China.
Therefore, according to ordinary people's thinking, the most valuable way to deal with 's legacy is to donate it to a country or region that he was ashamed of, or to leave it to his descendants. But Zhang Xueliang didn't do that. Where did his legacy go?
He donated to Columbia University .
So, why did he choose to donate his estate to Columbia?
1. Zhang Xueliang's relics belong to the American "George"
Donating his inheritance to the seemingly irrelevant Columbia University, made Zhang Xueliang once again on the cusp of public opinion when he was a hundred years old.
If anyone can't understand his behavior the most,It is a compatriot in the country. After all, before regaining his freedom and making his will public, Zhang Xueliang did express his guilt towards the motherland and the people of Northeast China.
But if you think that Zhang Xueliang will donate his inheritance to the motherland to satisfy this guilt, it will inevitably appear to be too wishful thinking.
For Zhang Xueliang, a half-life martial artist, he has the right to deal with his inheritance freely. No matter how outsiders evaluate him, no one can personally appreciate his own concerns.
Zhang Xueliang settled down in a turbulent era, judging his temperament simply from his behavior known to the world, it would be suspicion that he was peeping at him.
When the last highlight of his first half of his life, " Xi'an Incident" occurred, he himself was less than 40 years old. After that, he was under house arrest for more than 50 years and was 80 or 90 years old when he regained his freedom. .
More than fifty years of house arrest has made his knowledge of the mainland very limited, and the discord and contradiction with the Jiang family also means that it is impossible for him to give his inheritance back to the Jiang family, and among them Most of the wealth was given by his beloved wife, , Yufengzhi.
And judging from the content of his legacy, compared to the wealth gifted by Fengzhi, what is more valuable is obviously the various materials and manuscripts left over before.
In the 1990s, the United States where he lived was the most developed country in the world. Therefore, it is very likely to be taken care of or helped by Columbia University, and Columbia University in that era did have good collection conditions.
Perhaps for Zhang Xueliang, he hopes that these rare documents will be properly preserved and made public at a more appropriate time.
2. Zhang Xueliang auctioned his collection before going to the United States
"I have never valued money or property in my life. I moved around in secret confinement by Mr. Jiang and lost a lot of valuable things.But I dare not throw away these paintings, calligraphy, antiques, and cultural relics, which are now being auctioned. In the human world, cultural relics, calligraphy and painting, gold, silver and jade, they are all things outside of the body!
Before the Xi’an Incident, Zhang Xueliang was keen to collect all kinds of antique calligraphy and paintings. Although he moved several times after being under house arrest, the collections have followed him and are closely protected. It can be said that these collections of Zhang Xueliang have followed him through most of the people.
After finally gaining freedom, Zhang Xueliang Zhao Yidi and his wife decided to live in Hawaii in 1994.
Since these collections cannot be taken to the United States together, they also need to prepare for high living expenses, medical care expenses, and high-end hotels. Rent and other related expenses, so the Zhang family decided to auction all of Zhang Xueliang’s collection.
But before the auction, Zhang Xueliang decided to donate all of his collection to the Taipei Library.
And in order to guarantee the auction. Authoritative and impartial, the auction commissioned the Sotheby Cultural Relics Auction House, which was opened by the British in Taiwan at the time.
The Zhang Xueliang Collection Auction began on April 10, 1995. At the opening, tens of thousands of people gathered, and the venue was very lively. There are no empty seats.
Among them, the silk painting of Song Dynasty court painter Xie Yuan, which started at NT$4 million, "Peach Blossom", sold for a high price of 15 million yuan, and it became the first example in the auction of Asian cultural relics.
In addition, because Zhang Xueliang and the master of painting and calligraphy Zhang Daqian are close friends, the latter often personally write inscriptions when presenting Zhang Xueliang’s fine paintings. The language is beautiful and profound, which also makes this group The works are very precious, and collectors from all over the world buy this batch of collections at high prices.
After the auction, a total of 207 pieces of Zhang Xueliang’s collection were auctioned, and the final transaction amount reached 130 million Taiwan dollars, which is more than Zhang. The expectations of the family were three to four times higher.
But after the auction ended, Zhang Xueliang was not happy because of the huge wealth.
In his capacity, money and wealth are only numbers to him. In fact, when Zhang Xueliang was under house arrest, when he wrote to Chiang Kai-shek asking for living expenses, he lamented the deterioration of his quality of life.
But even when the quality of life is deteriorating, a cigar he smokes can top the living expenses of a middle-class family of four at that time, and he smokes 20-30 cigars a day.
After the auction ended, Zhang Xueliang, who was not excited, was silent for a long time and said to his family " in my whole life...they are all things outside of the body! ”
As far as General Zhang Xueliang was concerned, even though he had gone through a life span of half and half of his life, most of his deceased persons had passed away, and the romance had disappeared long ago. At that time, he was just an old man in his nineties.
III. Other options for donation of relics
In fact, Zhang Xueliang has many choices when deciding whether to leave the inheritance, whether it is donated to the mainland, Taiwan or to his family, but he chose Columbia University in the United States. This has his own unspeakable concealment.
The easiest way is to donate to the Taiwan authorities.
As we all know, after the founding of New China, the Taiwanese surname was "Jiang", and the relationship between Chiang Kai-shek and Zhang Xueliang was intricate. Whether it was , the Central Plains War or the Xi'an Incident, Chiang Kai-shek paid a certain price to get it. The support of Zhang Xueliang .
In the Xi'an Incident, Zhang Xueliang even used military force to force Chiang Kai-shek to achieve the second cooperation between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party. Although this approach was out of consideration of national justice, it violated Chiang Kai-shek's own ideas, and at the same time made Chiang Kai-shek face disgraced.
and Zhang Xueliang also paid a very heavy price because of the Xi’an Incident,In addition to losing his status as the "King of the Northeast", he was also placed under house arrest for more than 50 years .
Zhang Xueliang deeply understands: As long as Chiang Kai-shek is still alive, he will not be free for one day. The fact is far more cruel than he expected. After Jiang Jingguo's death, Zhang Xueliang finally gained the long-lost freedom.
So perhaps donating the inheritance to the Taiwan authorities can provide better development conditions or blessings for the offspring?
No, not to mention that the Taiwan authorities no longer have the surname Jiang after Jiang Jingguo's death. In terms of the character and style of the young marshal Zhang Xueliang, although not as tough as his father Zhang Zuolin, he also has his own backbone. Asking him to grit his teeth and endure the humiliation and shame of decades of house arrest, he would never do it.
So not donating the inheritance to the Taiwan authorities is actually justifiable.
4. So why not donate to the mainland?
Or is it used to benefit the northeast of your own territory? After all, he himself has expressed his debt and guilt to the motherland.
The days of house arrest were not easy. After the Xi'an Incident, Zhang Xueliang had tossed in many places in China during the house arrest, and his footsteps covered Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Anhui, Jiangxi, Hunan, Guizhou, and eventually fell to Taiwan.
For a person like Zhang Xueliang, house arrest is tantamount to imprisonment for ordinary people. It can only guarantee the basic quality of life, and it is impossible to communicate with the outside world.
Therefore, Zhang Xueliang's understanding of the changes in the mainland is very limited, and the 50-year house arrest has also made him disconnect from life in the mainland.
From the perspective of Zhang Xueliang's own life course, whether he is young or old, he has never experienced a life of shortage of material conditions. Even if the quality of life is reduced during house arrest, it does not come from him. Willingness.
It is obviously biased to say that he has no contact with the mainland at all, but it is far from enough to say that the degree of such contact can affect his outlook on life and values.
Therefore, there is no doubt that he feels ashamed of his motherland, but only he himself knows the direction and extent of this guilt.
Although he is guilty, and although he does not conceal his desire to return to his hometown, Falling Leaves and his roots, he does not understand the mainland's attitude towards him, nor does he know how his return or donation will end.
What's more, when he truly regained his freedom, he was already an old man and could not stand too much toss.
5. Otherwise, leave it to your children, right?
This approach makes perfect sense, but it is the most risky.
The amount and value of the inheritance are huge. If Zhang Xueliang is alive, his identity and social influence can fully defend the safety of the property.
However, it is difficult for his family and children to reach the same height as him in the current social environment. " is not guilty, but guilty " does not know Zhang Xueliang.
For Zhang Xueliang, who had a rough life, after the whole world began to tend towards peace and stability, he could also see the ideal peace and prosperity.
has no high demands on his children. He only hopes that they can live in peace, not being pushed by the times and advancing involuntarily like himself.
Perhaps in Zhang Xueliang's understanding, letting his descendants return to the ordinary is the greatest gift to them.
And in Zhang Xueliang’s legacy, in addition to the wealth left by Yu Fengzhi, it also includes a lot of artwork and archive manuscripts. Among them, the importance and value of various archive manuscripts are even more obvious. Yu.
These contents must be properly kept. Since handing over to Taiwan and the mainland does not satisfy their own wishes, and the children do not have the conditions and ability to keep these inheritances, then handing over to a reliable third party may be the most ideal choice.
So he donated them to Columbia University.
Although this approach seems naive now, whether it is to believe in the "non-resistance" policy adopted by Chiang Kai-shek, or to believe that Chiang Kai-shek has surrendered the power to accept house arrest after the Xi'an Incident, which decision of this young marshal Is there no shadow of "innocence" in China?
6. Jilin Archives accepts the archive materials of Zhang Xueliang's remains
December 7, 2006, coincided with the 70th anniversary of the Xi'an Incident and also the 105th year of the birth of General Zhang Xueliang.
In that ordinary winter, the ceremony for Ms. Wang Qi to donate part of Mr. Zhang Xueliang's relics to the Jilin Provincial Archives was officially carried out. That donation provided very precious archive materials for the study of the history of the Republic of my country.
Ms. Wang Qi acted as the representative of the Chinese side to deal with subsequent generations after the death of General Zhang Xueliang. After experiencing many unexpected twists and turns, she obtained part of the archives of Zhang Xueliang's remains.
At that time, many people learned about this situation and wanted to obtain these materials through various methods, but Ms. Wang Qi finally decided to donate these materials to the Archives of Jilin Province to return the materials where they should exist. .
There are as many as 15 boxes of archive materials donated this time, and most of the materials have been sorted out by Zhang Xueliang. The content includes character materials, books, newspaper clippings, etc.
These donated materials are now available on the official website of the Jilin Provincial Archives. The contents of the materials not only provide a new reference for the study of Zhang Xueliang, but also provide reliable information for the disclosure of the truth about modern history, culture and major events. Reference.
And from these materials, I can understand the sincere and deep desire of General Zhang Xueliang to return to the roots of fallen leaves.
The life of the young marshal Zhang Xueliang is an embarrassing one, and every time he mentions it, people can't help but sigh.
As the eldest son of Zhang Zuolin, the king of the Northeast, Zhang Xueliang's first half of his life was not only beautiful, but also accompanied by countless brilliance and glory.
But after the Xi’an Incident, Zhang Xueliang spent most of his life imprisoned.He was 89 years old when he finally regained his freedom.
For Zhang Xueliang, the last few years spent in Hawaii were a rare free time "not to live for anyone" in his life .
Zhang Xueliang’s merits and demerits are difficult to give a fair evaluation. It is undeniable that he played an important role in the process of maintaining national unity and territorial integrity, and indeed contributed to the second cooperation between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party. , But the " non-resistance policy" adopted for various reasons has also been controversial in later generations.
Hundred years of romance, hard to break merits and demerits.
His man has passed away, and his heart can be learned.
editor: stranded
editor in charge: thalia
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