Chiang Kai-Shek: China's Generalissimo and the Nation He Lost

by Jonathan Fenby

Book Overview

With a narrative as briskly paced and vividly detailed as an international thriller, this definitive new biography of Chiang Kai-shek masterfully maps the tumultuous political career of nationalist China's Generalissimo as it reevaluates his brave but unfulfilled life. Chiang Kai-shek was one of the most influential world figures of the twentieth century. The leader of the Kuomintang, the nationalist movement in China, by 1928 he had established himself...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0786713186
• ISBN13: 9780786713189
• Release Date: December 2003
• Publisher: Da Capo Press
• Length: 736 Pages
• Weight: 2.27 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.9" x 6.4" x 9.4"

Customer Reviews

An excellent chronicle of the rise, wobbly rule and then fall of Chiang Kai-Shek

If you are to make any credible attempt to understand modern China, you must be aware of two things. The first is the long history of the country, where at times it was the most powerful empire on Earth and it is the longest continuous civilization. The second is the incredible weakness of the country until very recently. Dominated first by western colonial powers and then by the Eastern colonial power of Japan, China was a secondary power both economically and militarily until quite recently. The time from after the First World War until the Communists under Mao took control was a time of massive and particular troubles in the country, as there was a near continuous state of war, either an internal civil war or against the invading Japanese. For years, both were taking place simultaneously. The Japanese were particularly savage against the Chinese; some of the estimates are that over 50 million Chinese were either directly or indirectly killed in the war between China and Japan. To the Japanese, the Chinese were sub-humans, as one Japanese soldier pointed out, "The Chinese women were human when we wanted to rape them, after that they were no better than pigs to be killed." As China began to emerge from the long period of weakness under the last Emperors, three men of destiny arose. The first to emerge was Sun Yat-sen, who started the tortuous trek of modernization. Revered by both the Nationalist and the Communist side, he was the first president of the China Republic that was created after the last emperor was dethroned. After Sun, two men vied for the position of being the man to lead China to a new position of power. Chiang Kai-Shek was a military man and became the leader of the Koumintang party and was the leader of the nation, although given the fragmented political nature with local warlords, much of his power was only figurative. Chiang's rival was Mao Zedong, the leader of the Communist faction. Their struggle for power encompassed over a decade and was carried out during the duration of the Japanese invasion. In this book, Fenby does an excellent job in describing this ongoing struggle for power. Given the international support that Chiang had from sources all the way from the United States to the Soviet Union under Stalin, it is clear that Chiang should have emerged victorious over Mao. However, the internal contradictions of Chiang's rule and his mistakes when he tried to consolidate his power and in fighting the Japanese led to his being forced to flee the mainland and establish his rule over the island of Formosa. This book is a definitive history of Chiang, from his early years, through his political marriage to Meiling Soong, to his rapid fall and exile after losing the civil war to the communists. From the descriptions, it seems clear that Chiang had plenty of opportunities, but overall he was both overwhelmed by the circumstances and lacked the political skills to maintain his position. Ruthless in his own way, he was n

Much Needed and a Welcome Addition to China Studies

This important book fills a glaring void that exists in the historical record of modern China. While historians have always provided ready attention to Mao Zedong and communist China, they never accorded the same serious examination to the role and legacy of Chiang Kai-shek. Before this book, most of the resources on Chiang dated from the 1970s and earlier, largely consisting of hagiographic accounts penned by pro-KMT Chinese living in Taiwan or abroad, or similar propaganda fluff pieces financed by the Henry Luce China Lobby. A well-reasoned, independent account of Chiang's life was thus long overdue, and Fenby comes through in a huge way. He writes an engaging narrative of Chiang, a person of quite humble origins, who became one of the world's most famous and powerful figures. Fenby also provides detailed, careful background on the China of Chiang's time, particularly that of the 1911 Revolution and subsequent warlord period. This is important in understanding why Chiang allied with the types of people and strata of society that he did, and why this alliance alienated vast numbers of Chinese, providing moral fodder and legitimacy for the alternative offered by Mao. Much of Fenby's information regarding Chiang's early political career comes from an autobiography written by his largely-forgotten second wife, Chen Jieru (Jennie). While this relationship is common knowledge in Taiwan, she is practically unknown in the west. Her book is entitled Chiang Kai-shek's Secret Past, and what Fenby was able to glean from it has whetted my appetite to read the book myself. Fenby is at his best when he examines the decades-long struggle for control of China between Chiang and Mao. Indeed, theirs was a clash of legendary, tragic proportions, and it is hard to find a more riveting story elsewhere in history, not just because of the mythic stature and personal auras these two men obtained during their own lifetimes, but also due to the enormous cruelty and unimaginable suffering both inflicted on the country they would rule and the populace they would win to their cause. Chapter 15, "The Long Chase" opens with a brilliant juxtaposition between the two, and proceeds to analyze the showdown during the Long March in which Mao gained primacy in the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and the CCP escaped certain extinction during Chiang's Fifth Extermination Campaign in Jiangxi. He attributes the CCP's success in escaping to Yan'an, not as the result of a secret deal Chiang brokered with Moscow to guarantee the return of his son Chiang Ching-kuo, as argued by Jung Chang and Jon Halliday in their biography of Mao, but to the superior strategy of Mao and Zhu De: they planned the route through areas of the country largely held by warlords who often actively assisted the Red Army in getting through their territories, or gave passive half-hearted chase, because the last thing they wanted was Chiang coming in with his huge armies and wresting political control away

China in the early 20th Century -- A time with no good choices.

Here in China, I have met more than one young person from Europe or America, who has come to China to study the history and language of this country. I, myself am interested in the history of China, so I naturally begin to discuss the subject, and try to get their thoughts on some issue or another. But if I refer to something that pertains to the many dynasties of China, the response is always the same, "Oh. I'm only interested in modern China." I am always intrigued by this comment, because I don't think it is possible properly to understand modern China without knowing something of what went on before. But certainly the predominant interest of those from the West who write about China, is the history of "Modern China," which I date from the Macartney Mission in 1793. This new biography by Jonathan Fenby, former editor of the South China Morning Post, promises to be the definitive work on the subject for years to come. There are several reasons why I like his book. I will try to elucidate the most important. First of all, Chiang Kai-shek has often been seen by westerners as the person who "lost" China because of his refusal to fight the Japanese. Much of this view came from Barbara Tuchman's biography of Joseph Stillwell, which came out in '70 or '71. Stillwell was protrayed as the hero who tried to save China, but was prevented from doing so by Chiang. In actual fact, Stillwell was a jerk, who according to one of his strongest supporters (Marshall) was "his own worst enemy." He referred to Chiang Kai-shek as "Peanut," and FDR as "Rubber Legs." Jonathan Fenby sums up Stillwell with one simple statement: "He was the wrong man at the wrong time." Very well put. But getting back to Chiang Kai-shek. Should he have concentrated more on fighting the Japanese, and not so much on fighting the Communists? Probably so. Chiang always said that the Japanese were a disease of the skin, and the Communists were a disease of the heart. In some ways, you could argue that history has supported his approach, because the Japanese were ultimately defeated, not by the Communists or the Nationalists, but by the Americans, when they dropped the bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. But the problem is that the Americans made Europe a priority. Asia came second. And by the time the Japanese were finally defeated, too much damage had been done in terms of the relationship between the Nationalists and the laobaixing (common people) of China. If Chiang Kai-shek had fought more vociferously, he would certainly have prevented the Xi'an Incident, and may have been more likely to have the people with him by the time the Americans finally did what they had to to put the Japanese out of business. At least that's the thinking. It is very hard to say for sure. But Fenby is fair. He shows that the Communists employed basically the same strategy--avoiding conflict with the Japanese to save themselves for the inevitable showdown with the KMT. So what is

A Complex Life Against Many Odds.

Throughout World War II, Chiang Kai Shek ruled China (at least in the eyes of the Western Powers). He sat at the conference tables with Churchill, Roosevelt and Stalin. He helped define the peace terms, the shape of the world after the war. During this time he held power through a very complex time: . he was supported in power by a series of Chinese war lords, . he fought wars against both the Japanese and the Chinese Communists, . he retained the cooperation of, if not the respect of the Western Powers. After his defeat by the Communists he moved his government to Formosa and became a major player in the containment of the China he had once lead. During these years, and since, his background the struggles he had to achieve power and have been reported in western books only sparsely. Drawing extensively on original Chinese sources and accounts by contrmporaneous journalists, Mr. Fenby explores little-known international connections in Chiang's story as he unfolds a story as fascinating in its conspirtional intrigues as it is remarkable for its pwychological insights. This is the definitive English lnguage biography of the man who, despite his best intentions, helped create modern-day China.

Hopes betrayed

Fenby's remarkable biography pulls no punches. CKS, so promising at the start, and so brave when he is kidnapped (told at the start of the book), turns out to be like all dictators: all send and no receive. Fenby opens the book with the kidnapping and this gets us off to an exciting start with our sympathies firmly in the CKS camp. But the apalling relationship with Stilwell and the failure to take advantage of the ending of the war against the Japanese show him in his true light; a great man of his time but time moved on and left him behind.Fenby's book is full of fascinating detail. Even though I had recently read Tuchman's "Stilwell", his portrait of the relationship with CKS brought out new shading and gossip. Meiling also is portayed in a new and more mysterious light.A great read for anyone who wants to understand why modern China is so thoroughly confused about its past.