China Studies Wiki - User contributions [en]

Main Page

2011-11-11T19:15:13Z

Chiang Kai-shek:

'''Welcome to our course wiki.'''
Thank you for your registration. Please register with at least 2 names, one should be your historical figure (if you know it yet) and the other an anonymous alias which allows you to peer review your fellow students' articles without making them angry.

'''Please sign everything'''
Please sign everything you write (the article on your historical figure, your comments to others, your entries here) with "~ ~ ~ ~" (without spaces). Wiki will turn that into your alias name and set a time stamp there. Thanks! It looks like this then: [[User:Root|Root]] 18:43, 7 October 2011 (UTC) - the time indicated is a universal time since people might contribute from different time zones

'''Contents'''

- Historical Figures: Licia = [[Qianlong]], Alexis = [[Cixi]], Kendra = [[Kang Youwei]], Talya = [[Liang Qichao]], Thomas = [[Sun Yat-sen]], Juan = [[Mao Zedong]], Gavin = [[Deng Xiaoping]], Jessica = [[Chiang kai-shek|Chiang Kai-shek]], Trevor = [[Xi Jinping]].

- 07 [[Oboi Regency]] [[User:Cixi|Cixi]] 20:59, 7 October 2011 (UTC)

- 08 [[Ruling from Sedan Chair: Wei Yijie (1616-1686) and the Examination Reform of the ‘Oboi’ Regency]] [[User:Liang Qichao|Liang Qichao]] 21:47, 15 October 2011 (UTC)

- 9 [[The Sacred Edict]] [[User:Chiang Kai-shek|Chiang Kai-shek]] 19:12, 11 November 2011 (UTC)

- 11 [[States and society in 18th century china]] [[User:Chiang Kai-shek|Chiang Kai-shek]] 19:10, 11 November 2011 (UTC)
- 13 [[Local Government in China under the Ching ]] [[User:Xi Jinping|Xi Jinping]] 04:34, 17 October 2011 (UTC)

- 14 [[Political, Social & Cultural Reproduction via Civil Service Examinations in Late Imperial China]] [[User:Liang Qichao|Liang Qichao]] 21:36, 15 October 2011 (UTC)

- 01=17a 1768- [[Soulstealers: The Chinese Socery Scare of 1768]] - [[User:Qianlong|Qianlong]]

- 18 [[Signifying Bodies: The Cultural Significance of Suicide Writing by Women in Ming-Qing China By Grace S. Fong]] [[User:Cixi|Cixi]]

- 20 [[Political Economy and Ecology on the Eve of Industrialization: Europe, China, and the Global]] - [[User:Mao Zedong|Mao Zedong]] 20:59, 15 October 2011 (UTC)

- 23 [[The Opium War, and Opening of China]] [[User:Xi Jinping|Xi Jinping]] 05:20, 17 October 2011 (UTC)

- 24 [[The Inner Opium War]] [[User:Liang Qichao|Liang Qichao]] 21:51, 15 October 2011 (UTC)

- 28 [[Rebels and Revolutionaries in North China 1845-1945 by Elizabeth Perry]] [[User:Cixi|Cixi]] 00:32, 11 October 2011 (UTC)

- [[Tian hou]] - [[User:Deng Xiao Ping|Deng Xiao Ping]] 20:56, 7 October 2011 (UTC)

- [[The eight trigrams]] - [[User:Deng Xiao Ping|Deng Xiao Ping]] 20:56, 7 October 2011 (UTC)

- 30 1900 - [[History in Three Keys: The Boxers As Event, Experience, and Myth]] - [[User:Mao Zedong|Mao Zedong]] 20:59, 15 October 2011 (UTC)

- 34 [[Imperialism: Reality or Myth?, Discovering History in China]] - [[User:Cixi|Cixi]]

- 36 1898-1912 - [[Douglas Reynolds, China, 1898-1912: The Xinzheng Revolution and Japan]] - [[User:Mao Zedong|Mao Zedong]] 20:59, 15 October 2011 (UTC)

-37 [[China in revolution]] [[User:Chiang Kai-shek|Chiang Kai-shek]] 19:15, 11 November 2011 (UTC)

- 41 [[The Warlord: Twentieth-Century Chinese Understanding of Violence, Militarism & Imperialism]] [[User:Liang Qichao|Liang Qichao]] 21:42, 15 October 2011 (UTC)

- 43 [[Reintegration in China under the Warlords, 1916-1927]]-[[User:Cixi|Cixi]] 02:08, 12 October 2011 (UTC)

- 44 [[Ebrey,“Spirit of May Fourth” and “Ridding China of Bad Customs” in Chinese Civilization: A Sourcebook]] - [[User:Mao Zedong|Mao Zedong]] 19:15, 11 November 2011 (UTC)

- 52 [[Chinese Communism and the Rise of Mao]] - [[User:Cixi|Cixi]] 05:54, 26 October 2011 (UTC)

- 59 [[Peasant Nationalism and Communist Power]] - [[User:Cixi|Cixi]] 23:00, 6 November 2011 (UTC)

- 66 [[Chinese Village, Socialist State: The Gamble]] - [[User:Cixi|Cixi]] 18:12, 11 November 2011 (UTC)

'''How to write an article?'''

Just type in your new article title into the search field and press "Go" (not "Search"). You will get a response side stating that your article does not yet exist. Then you click on "create this article" and start to write. You may post your notes. Don't forget to click on "save". You may post your "reading in turn" notes with a 3rd name as long as you do not know your historical figure. Use MLA style when citing within your wiki articles.

Main Page

2011-11-11T19:12:40Z

Chiang Kai-shek:

'''Welcome to our course wiki.'''
Thank you for your registration. Please register with at least 2 names, one should be your historical figure (if you know it yet) and the other an anonymous alias which allows you to peer review your fellow students' articles without making them angry.

'''Please sign everything'''
Please sign everything you write (the article on your historical figure, your comments to others, your entries here) with "~ ~ ~ ~" (without spaces). Wiki will turn that into your alias name and set a time stamp there. Thanks! It looks like this then: [[User:Root|Root]] 18:43, 7 October 2011 (UTC) - the time indicated is a universal time since people might contribute from different time zones

'''Contents'''

- Historical Figures: Licia = [[Qianlong]], Alexis = [[Cixi]], Kendra = [[Kang Youwei]], Talya = [[Liang Qichao]], Thomas = [[Sun Yat-sen]], Juan = [[Mao Zedong]], Gavin = [[Deng Xiaoping]], Jessica = [[Chiang kai-shek|Chiang Kai-shek]], Trevor = [[Xi Jinping]].

- 07 [[Oboi Regency]] [[User:Cixi|Cixi]] 20:59, 7 October 2011 (UTC)

- 08 [[Ruling from Sedan Chair: Wei Yijie (1616-1686) and the Examination Reform of the ‘Oboi’ Regency]] [[User:Liang Qichao|Liang Qichao]] 21:47, 15 October 2011 (UTC)

- 9 [[The Sacred Edict]] [[User:Chiang Kai-shek|Chiang Kai-shek]] 19:12, 11 November 2011 (UTC)

- 11 [[States and society in 18th century china]] [[User:Chiang Kai-shek|Chiang Kai-shek]] 19:10, 11 November 2011 (UTC)
- 13 [[Local Government in China under the Ching ]] [[User:Xi Jinping|Xi Jinping]] 04:34, 17 October 2011 (UTC)

- 14 [[Political, Social & Cultural Reproduction via Civil Service Examinations in Late Imperial China]] [[User:Liang Qichao|Liang Qichao]] 21:36, 15 October 2011 (UTC)

- 01=17a 1768- [[Soulstealers: The Chinese Socery Scare of 1768]] - [[User:Qianlong|Qianlong]]

- 18 [[Signifying Bodies: The Cultural Significance of Suicide Writing by Women in Ming-Qing China By Grace S. Fong]] [[User:Cixi|Cixi]]

- 20 [[Political Economy and Ecology on the Eve of Industrialization: Europe, China, and the Global]] - [[User:Mao Zedong|Mao Zedong]] 20:59, 15 October 2011 (UTC)

- 23 [[The Opium War, and Opening of China]] [[User:Xi Jinping|Xi Jinping]] 05:20, 17 October 2011 (UTC)

- 24 [[The Inner Opium War]] [[User:Liang Qichao|Liang Qichao]] 21:51, 15 October 2011 (UTC)

- 28 [[Rebels and Revolutionaries in North China 1845-1945 by Elizabeth Perry]] [[User:Cixi|Cixi]] 00:32, 11 October 2011 (UTC)

- [[Tian hou]] - [[User:Deng Xiao Ping|Deng Xiao Ping]] 20:56, 7 October 2011 (UTC)

- [[The eight trigrams]] - [[User:Deng Xiao Ping|Deng Xiao Ping]] 20:56, 7 October 2011 (UTC)

- 30 1900 - [[History in Three Keys: The Boxers As Event, Experience, and Myth]] - [[User:Mao Zedong|Mao Zedong]] 20:59, 15 October 2011 (UTC)

- 34 [[Imperialism: Reality or Myth?, Discovering History in China]] - [[User:Cixi|Cixi]]

- 36 1898-1912 - [[Douglas Reynolds, China, 1898-1912: The Xinzheng Revolution and Japan]] - [[User:Mao Zedong|Mao Zedong]] 20:59, 15 October 2011 (UTC)

- 41 [[The Warlord: Twentieth-Century Chinese Understanding of Violence, Militarism & Imperialism]] [[User:Liang Qichao|Liang Qichao]] 21:42, 15 October 2011 (UTC)

- 43 [[Reintegration in China under the Warlords, 1916-1927]]-[[User:Cixi|Cixi]] 02:08, 12 October 2011 (UTC)

- 52 [[Chinese Communism and the Rise of Mao]] - [[User:Cixi|Cixi]] 05:54, 26 October 2011 (UTC)

- 59 [[Peasant Nationalism and Communist Power]] - [[User:Cixi|Cixi]] 23:00, 6 November 2011 (UTC)

- 66 [[Chinese Village, Socialist State: The Gamble]] - [[User:Cixi|Cixi]] 18:12, 11 November 2011 (UTC)

'''How to write an article?'''

Just type in your new article title into the search field and press "Go" (not "Search"). You will get a response side stating that your article does not yet exist. Then you click on "create this article" and start to write. You may post your notes. Don't forget to click on "save". You may post your "reading in turn" notes with a 3rd name as long as you do not know your historical figure. Use MLA style when citing within your wiki articles.

Main Page

2011-11-11T19:10:01Z

Chiang Kai-shek:

'''Welcome to our course wiki.'''
Thank you for your registration. Please register with at least 2 names, one should be your historical figure (if you know it yet) and the other an anonymous alias which allows you to peer review your fellow students' articles without making them angry.

'''Please sign everything'''
Please sign everything you write (the article on your historical figure, your comments to others, your entries here) with "~ ~ ~ ~" (without spaces). Wiki will turn that into your alias name and set a time stamp there. Thanks! It looks like this then: [[User:Root|Root]] 18:43, 7 October 2011 (UTC) - the time indicated is a universal time since people might contribute from different time zones

'''Contents'''

- Historical Figures: Licia = [[Qianlong]], Alexis = [[Cixi]], Kendra = [[Kang Youwei]], Talya = [[Liang Qichao]], Thomas = [[Sun Yat-sen]], Juan = [[Mao Zedong]], Gavin = [[Deng Xiaoping]], Jessica = [[Chiang kai-shek|Chiang Kai-shek]], Trevor = [[Xi Jinping]].

- 07 [[Oboi Regency]] [[User:Cixi|Cixi]] 20:59, 7 October 2011 (UTC)

- 08 [[Ruling from Sedan Chair: Wei Yijie (1616-1686) and the Examination Reform of the ‘Oboi’ Regency]] [[User:Liang Qichao|Liang Qichao]] 21:47, 15 October 2011 (UTC)

- 11 [[States and society in 18th century china]] [[User:Chiang Kai-shek|Chiang Kai-shek]] 19:10, 11 November 2011 (UTC)
- 13 [[Local Government in China under the Ching ]] [[User:Xi Jinping|Xi Jinping]] 04:34, 17 October 2011 (UTC)

- 14 [[Political, Social & Cultural Reproduction via Civil Service Examinations in Late Imperial China]] [[User:Liang Qichao|Liang Qichao]] 21:36, 15 October 2011 (UTC)

- 01=17a 1768- [[Soulstealers: The Chinese Socery Scare of 1768]] - [[User:Qianlong|Qianlong]]

- 18 [[Signifying Bodies: The Cultural Significance of Suicide Writing by Women in Ming-Qing China By Grace S. Fong]] [[User:Cixi|Cixi]]

- 20 [[Political Economy and Ecology on the Eve of Industrialization: Europe, China, and the Global]] - [[User:Mao Zedong|Mao Zedong]] 20:59, 15 October 2011 (UTC)

- 23 [[The Opium War, and Opening of China]] [[User:Xi Jinping|Xi Jinping]] 05:20, 17 October 2011 (UTC)

- 24 [[The Inner Opium War]] [[User:Liang Qichao|Liang Qichao]] 21:51, 15 October 2011 (UTC)

- 28 [[Rebels and Revolutionaries in North China 1845-1945 by Elizabeth Perry]] [[User:Cixi|Cixi]] 00:32, 11 October 2011 (UTC)

- [[Tian hou]] - [[User:Deng Xiao Ping|Deng Xiao Ping]] 20:56, 7 October 2011 (UTC)

- [[The eight trigrams]] - [[User:Deng Xiao Ping|Deng Xiao Ping]] 20:56, 7 October 2011 (UTC)

- 30 1900 - [[History in Three Keys: The Boxers As Event, Experience, and Myth]] - [[User:Mao Zedong|Mao Zedong]] 20:59, 15 October 2011 (UTC)

- 34 [[Imperialism: Reality or Myth?, Discovering History in China]] - [[User:Cixi|Cixi]]

- 36 1898-1912 - [[Douglas Reynolds, China, 1898-1912: The Xinzheng Revolution and Japan]] - [[User:Mao Zedong|Mao Zedong]] 20:59, 15 October 2011 (UTC)

- 41 [[The Warlord: Twentieth-Century Chinese Understanding of Violence, Militarism & Imperialism]] [[User:Liang Qichao|Liang Qichao]] 21:42, 15 October 2011 (UTC)

- 43 [[Reintegration in China under the Warlords, 1916-1927]]-[[User:Cixi|Cixi]] 02:08, 12 October 2011 (UTC)

- 52 [[Chinese Communism and the Rise of Mao]] - [[User:Cixi|Cixi]] 05:54, 26 October 2011 (UTC)

- 59 [[Peasant Nationalism and Communist Power]] - [[User:Cixi|Cixi]] 23:00, 6 November 2011 (UTC)

- 66 [[Chinese Village, Socialist State: The Gamble]] - [[User:Cixi|Cixi]] 18:12, 11 November 2011 (UTC)

'''How to write an article?'''

Just type in your new article title into the search field and press "Go" (not "Search"). You will get a response side stating that your article does not yet exist. Then you click on "create this article" and start to write. You may post your notes. Don't forget to click on "save". You may post your "reading in turn" notes with a 3rd name as long as you do not know your historical figure. Use MLA style when citing within your wiki articles.

States and society in 18th century china

2011-10-16T00:56:44Z

Chiang Kai-shek:

Jessica Breedlove- Notes
States and Society in 18th Century China (by Albert Feuerwerker)
Emperor- The Chinese Emperor was Manchu, but the officials were Chinese& Mongols.
$ mattered in obtaining position, because you had to have money to get an education.
There were different levels of degrees (academic). The highest was Chin-shih, and that gave you automatic appointment into middle ranks of imperial bureaucracy.
Military-
Prior to the middle of the nineteenth century, the armed forces of the Ch'ing empire consisted of two components: the banner system, and the ;'Army of the Green Standard" (LU-ylng), a force developed from the remnants of the Ming military system". -The latter were employed primarily to keep order within the country, while the banner sytem protected the outer boundries. (pg 13-14)

Communication within the Govt.-
Initial system (not really discreet), t'i-pen, which generally concerned local civil affairs and were or became public documents --in the sense that they passed through so many hands that their contents frequently became Widely known.
tsou-pen (or tsou-che from 1747). This procedure originated in the efforts of the K'ang-hsi emperor in the 1690s to obtain accurate private information from the provinces by requesting Chinese "bondservants" whom he particularly trusted to submit periodic secret reports directly to the throne. The number of tsou-che received daily was considerably less than the numerous t'i-pen; this, together with the secretness and relative informality of their consideration by the ruler and grand councillors, insured that the more urgent matters of state usually received careful attention.

Cases under the Penal law: Magistrate -> Judicial Commissioner -> Board of Punishments (exercised all punishments except cases punishable by death). The Three High Courts took care of the ones punishable by death, but they needed direct permission from the Emperor.

-Note, there was a danger of the Emperor being isolated- or information withheld from him.

Local government--the hsien magistrate's expenses and the sustenance of his numerous underlings, as well as similar outlays- at higher levels of the provincial hierarchy--was financed primarily by the collection of "customary fees" (lou-kuei, literally "base custom") from the population of the departments and districts.

“As a result of its legislative, executive, and judicial actions, a government would expect to accomplish certain ends, among them: to remain in power, to defend state and society against external enemies, to suppress internal rebellion, to maintain the social order, and to affect the economy.” Although the emperor was a Manchu, his imperial interest was ultimately neither Chinese nor Manchu--it was the preservation of his rule.

The Author doesn’t think it made a huge difference that the Emperor was not Han Chinese. Basically you do what you gottado toget in power, and stay in power. End of story.
[[User:Chiang Kai-shek|Chiang Kai-shek]] 00:56, 16 October 2011 (UTC)

The Sacred Edict

2011-10-16T00:53:32Z

Chiang Kai-shek: Created page with 'Popular Culture in Late Imperial China THE SACRED EDIT Some of the basic principles in the Sacred Edict were: be generous, obey the Emperor, cultivate peace, work hard at the ta…'

Popular Culture in Late Imperial China
THE SACRED EDIT

Some of the basic principles in the Sacred Edict were: be generous, obey the Emperor, cultivate peace, work hard at the tasks you have been given, and teach your children to do the same.

Emperor K’ang-hsi’s publication of the Sacred Edict was widely recognized as the most concise and authoritative statement of Confucian ideology.
There were many different editions of the sacred edict published by other scholars and leaders. Sometimes they were directed at different types of congregations. Some were designed to be read out loud, some directed at the lower classes, and others had illustrations.

The Sacred Edict, in all its forms, was a moral basis for the Chinese. The government used it to keep the people under control. The teachings by Confucius were revered by all. The Exams (education system) used his teachings as their primary source of learning.

Understanding the teachings in the sacred edict, and the cultural importance it held is vital to understanding Chinese history. There is a great comparison to what modern china thought of the sacred edict, and the almost religious way it was followed in the Qing dynasty (and before then).
[[User:Chiang Kai-shek|Chiang Kai-shek]] 00:53, 16 October 2011 (UTC)

Chiang kai-shek

2011-10-16T00:24:56Z

Chiang Kai-shek:

[[File:Chiang_kai-shek_pic.jpg‎]]Chiang Kai-Shek

I am a great warrior. I have fought countless battles. I have sought to honestly deal with my opponents and supervisors. I have not let down the banner of liberation, nor have I let go of the bar of justice. My deepest desire is for the good of the nationalists. I have devoted my life to fighting for this movement. Although I have faced great opposition, even defeat, I still cling to my cause and stand tall. I am Chiang Kai-shek.

I was born in 1887. My mother was widowed at age 22; I was 8yrs old at the time. She always wanted the best for me, and worked hard to provide me with opportunities to become someone important. I honor her. Her deepest desire was that I would grow up to serve our country. I have tried to make her proud.

In my early years of education I was an adept student. I was very motivated and driven. I began studying the Japanese language, hoping one day to attend a military academy in Japan. This study served me well in years to come. I was interested in politics and would read the newspaper carefully when I had free-time at school. From elementary school I had the military in my sights. This was inspired both by my mother and my teacher, Ku Ch’ing-lien. (Furuya 9-10)

Eventually, after scrimping and saving, my mother had the funds to send me to Japan to further my education. Although I was discouraged to find that I had to have special recommendation to attend Japan’s military academies, I found that it was a great opportunity to form friendships and obtain allies while I was there.

When I returned home to China I entered the extremely competitive process of becoming an elite soldier so that I could qualify to study in Japan. I succeeded in this endeavor and eventually returned there to learn the art of war. I studied there for 3 years. It was there in Japan that I joined a revolutionary group to overthrow the Qing dynasty. To begin with I was simply rebellious, but the ideas presented sunk in and I felt that indeed China needed to be freed.

Right after the Wuhan revolt began, me and some of my comrades returned home to China to join in the rebellion. I immediately contacted a friend, Ch’en Chi-mei, who was organizing a simultaneous uprising in Shanghai and Hangchow. He assigned me to travel to Hangchow and take up the military aspect of the insurrection. I gladly accepted. (Furuya 32)

I hated the red communists. They started as a part of our Kuomintang party, but then slowly but surely did all they could to take over the entire party- and all of China. I could see the rats that they were from the very start. My negative impression of them began when I traveled to see the direct effect of communism in Russia.

I was sent to the Soviet Union in 1923 to investigate their form of government and to see if any future alliances or support could be gained by a relationship with them. I was greatly put out when I saw their military camps and met with their commanders. I felt that they could not be trusted. They offered to help in ways of moral and material assistance, all direct military action was to be avoided, but I still didn’t feel like we should trust them. In fact, when I returned I told the Kuomintang:

“In regard to the Russian Communist Party, I believe a distinction should be made between facts and theories. We cannot ignore the facts simply because we believe in certain aspects of their theories. My personal observations lead me to the conclusion that [they] cannot be wholly trusted. I told you that we could only believe about 30 percent of what the Russians had to say. That was really an understatement because, in view of the excessive trust you seemed to repose in the Russians, I didn’t want to upset you too much.” (Furuya 117)

The party ignored my advice, saying that due to our lack of funds we had to accept what help we could get, (not to mention those leftists who were glad to be working with a country already using communism in their government). I was disappointed with the decision, but acknowledging that was the party’s decision, I supported them. I was loyal to the KMT.

When the news came to me that the communists wanted to be separate and equal with the KMT, I was thoroughly upset. How could we let them have so much power?! Our vision was so different and all they wanted to do was put all of the peasants; people who were uneducated and without manners, into so kind of equal position in life. I saw the Soviet Union! They were dark and dreary. I still dreamed of a democratic China.

Our KMT leader agreed to disagree. He put out a statement with the leaders of the communist group that the KMT and the CCP were both going to govern China- as if that would ever work. I decided that it was my responsibility to take things into my own hands. My party was obviously not taking control of the situation. I began to actively fight the CCP for territory, beginning with Shanghai. Blood began to spill, but we needed a unified country.

Just as I was fighting the communists, the Japanese decided to invade. It was my opinion that in order to deal with Japan we had to have one government. I wanted to put out the communist fire and then take care of the Japanese. I traveled to Xi’an to meet plan with some fellow military commanders, and while I was there members of my own political party kidnapped me! Zhang Xueliang and others told me that I must focus on the Japanese before fighting the communists. In addition to their force, I was receiving much pressure from the US government. Japan was a common enemy and they wanted to see if they would conquer China, and conquer her as quickly as they claimed. From all angles people counseled me to postpone my war with the CCP and shift my battle to the Japanese.

I didn’t want to agree with them. I knew the gross fungi that the Communists were, that they would spread like a disease, corrupting the entire land if given a chance, but I yielded. I unwillingly agreed to team up with the enemy (CCP) and fight the Japanese. That promise lasted until about 1941.

Mao Zedong and I had a particular dislike for each other. While we had to join forces we could hardly get anything done. I could barely stomach looking at that traitor, let alone fighting beside him. It took many other peacemakers to get to any form of agreement, but, alas! We defeated the Japanese in 1945.

As soon as possible I shifted my attacks to the CCP. Even when the Japanese surrendered in 1945 I asked that they postpone leaving. I needed to be ready to unify the entire country under the same government, and I had to gather my resources. The Japanese were grateful to me for not implementing severe treatment to the prisoners of war. They were also anti-communist so while they remained in China they were somewhat helpful in locating and exterminating CCP members.

The civil war raging within China was not only a battle of arms and of mass, but a battle of image. The key to winning was not just having the brute force, but the support of the people, and the CCP was winning that war in the country side. They were giving peasants property and telling common people to come and join the ranks. Long before the Japanese invaded the communists had spread “anti-Chiang” slogans. What started as ant-KMT transformed into an attack on me! Those dogs sought to turn my own campaign followers against me. There was no misunderstanding on the point that the CCP and I were enemies.

In addition to the poor opinion that the CCP had for me (and that they were spreading around the country), some of the military maneuvers that I put into place made the masses dislike me. For example, when the Japanese were attacking I had to retreat a few times. I couldn’t let the Japanese have access to more resources, so I burned the crops and killed the cattle as I went, successfully cutting off to the Japanese, but also causing thousands of the local Chinese to die from starvation.

One other incident that harmed my image was the fire of Changsha. I blame it all on those bellow me who failed to complete their assignments, but somehow the people within were not warned before we set fire to the city to keep it from the Japanese. The result was 20,000 civilians killed, while hundreds of thousands no longer had homes. All I can say is that it was for the good of the military. (Barnouin and Changgen 74-75)

As the war continued to rage, I fought hard to rid the land of the communists. They used very successful guerrilla warfare tactics. After much travail I cornered them! I was in reach of my goal! I had them surrounded, but for reasons I cannot explain, postponed my attack. In that short window of time, the communists began their Long March, a journey that would be used as a legendary expedition, bringing more people into their red ranks. That was the turning point in the war. Mao became famous and the party breathed new life into their cause. I will forever mourn that situation.

Even with all of this conflict within the country, I managed to pull together an election of our republic, and was elected president in 1947. The CCP didn’t recognize this action. Nevertheless I remained in office until 1949, when I resigned.

In WWII I was one of the big four allies, along with Roosevelt, Stalin, and Churchill. Even though I didn’t completely agree with England, the US, or the Soviet Union, our common enemies were Japan, Italy, and Germany. It was something that brought me more publicity, and an opportunity to gain more support.

The responsibility of unifying our country, defeating the Japanese, boosting our economic system, creating the right foreign allies, and setting up a functional government all felt heavy on my shoulders. I had such lofty goals for our country! How could we lose so much!? My original master Dr. Sun had long passed away and I missed his counsel and support. This was a point when I had to find extra strength; I had to remind myself of my dream for my country. I pressed on.

I knew that the reason the KMT was failing must be because corruption within our party. I also felt that the morality of the people was falling, and I determined that if they were more moral we would have a more successful government. I started the new life movement in to try to get my people to return to their Confucian values and join with the KMT. Unfortunately this movement didn’t catch, and my people continued on their downward plunge into to the gulf of communism. (Bethell 1)

[[File:Soldier_chiang.jpg]]

I was originally Buddhist, but when I wanted to marry Soong May-ling (my third wife) I promised her mother I would turn Christian. Soong May-ling was the sister-in-law of my mentor, Dr. Sun. She was educated in the US, and became very famous as she helped me build support for the KMT. We were featured in the Times magazine more than once, and met with Pres. Roosevelt and Winston Churchill in 1943.

The US was initially supportive of me and my campaign and, until about 1970, recognized me as the voice for the Republic of China in the United Nations. I was a little concerned that their western ways were too modern, but accepted their help. Eventually they lost faith in me and I no longer had their support. People who worked with me kept moving to the US and then giving me a bad reputation.
In 1947 I began the White Terror movement. I wanted to cleanse Taiwan, and all of China, of any communists. As a result of martial law and extreme measures that I felt were necessary, some 18,000 to 28,000 people died in the massacre in Taiwan. This was a move to get the people to submit to the new governing powers, namely myself, and I have been forever blamed for the people who were killed. I noticed that now there is even a monument commemorating the event, and that I am chiseled in as the villain.

When I lost the support of the US, and the CCP was flourishing I moved my capital to Taiwan. This move began in 1947, although I didn’t leave until 1949. My government in mainland China was simply falling apart. Inflation and corruption had weakened us to the point of shattering. My comrade – tried to negotiate with the communist party, but to no avail. We couldn’t come to terms with one another.
I became president of Taiwan in 1950 and was re-elected in 1954, 1960, and 1972. Obviously the officials liked me. I had also become widely known in the Western world, and claimed to represent all of China (including those parts I didn’t currently have control of), which the United Nations agreed to recognize. Even when I was unpopular I held this power.
When I moved to Taiwan I took sufficient funds to support the plans I had for the economic system there. Some say that I embezzled precious money, and I did return some of it, but I feel I had more need of it than anyone else.

I set in motion new policies that launched the Republic of China into a prosperous economic situation. I also enforced legislature to change the national language to Mandarin, instead of Cantonese. I have to say that I made my mark on Taiwan.
Even when I was in Taiwan I tried to help overthrow the communist party in mainland China. I provided funds for some Muslim groups still within the territory, and sent them supplies. I traveled to Muslim groups and asked them to make a greater effort to fight the communists. I even planned to attack with my own troops. I simply couldn’t let my homeland go. I knew that I was so close… I only wished that it would have worked.

I died in 1975. It was my wish to postpone burial until China was reunited under the principles which my mentor, Dr. Sun Yat-sen, had directed. I felt very strongly about this, as did my son, Chiang Chinkou. Both of our remains were placed in a temporary mausoleum located near Lake Kindness in Taiwan, until in 2005, at the request of my wife we were buried in the Wuchih Mountain Military Cemetery, Taiwan.

[[File:Color_photo_chiang_and_wife.jpg]]

In my lifetime I did everything I could to attain my dream: a democratic China. Many people criticize the ways I went about doing this. I would take risks; I would fight battles that didn’t seem winnable. Even when the mainland was completely out of my reach, I reached. When I said I didn’t want to be buried until the country was united under correct principles, I meant it! I am devoted to my principles. The moral code of the people seemed to be completely out of control, and I feel that if we would have adopted the principles presented in the New Life movement, it would have made a huge difference. China would have been drastically different if I would have won the war. I should have won the war! I was in the right, they were in the wrong. My vision of China, better yet, the vision that was originally held by Dr. Sun Yat-sen, would have elevated China high above the stars. We would have dominated all foreign powers.

I am bitter that I could not bring my homeland to the state that we wanted, but I can see that now modern China has adopted some of our plans. I do not agree with much of what they do. I can hardly believe that they have declared they are a capitalist country! I never agreed with capitalism, but there are some other things that please me greatly. I am glad that they have made the common language Mandarin. I am really happy that they are showing the nations of the world that China can do great things. I can see that they are becoming more prominent economically.

Probably the most grievous thing to me is that with the communists still in control of mainland China there is still friction between Taiwan and the mainland. I anger that there is such a division among the Chinese! Do they not see the glorious way life would be if they were to become a true Democracy?! I wish that I could change it. I wish that I could live more than one life that I could forever fight for my dream. But, I have determined, if there was another, someone else who could bring my country to the great end that I envisioned for it, I would gladly have that person do what they could. Even if I cannot make the dream come to pass, it is sufficient that someone make it happen. It is for the greater good of China.

[[User:Chiang Kai-shek|Chiang Kai-shek]] 04:33, 15 October 2011 (UTC)

<nowiki>Works Cited:

Coppa, Frank. Encyclopedia of modern dictators: from Napoleon to the present. 1st.1. New York: Peter Lang, 2006. 58. eBook.

Barnouin, Barbra, and Yu Changgen.Zhou Enlai: a political life . 1st. 1. Hong Kong: The Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2006. 74-75. eBook.

Bethell, Tom. "Chiang Kai-shek and the Struggle for China." Hoover Digest. 1. (2007): 1. Web. 14 Oct. 2011. <http://www.hoover.org/publications/hoover-digest/article/5835>.

Spence, Jonathan D. The Search for Modern China. 2nd. 1. New York: W. W. Norton& Company, Inc., 1999. 290-565. Print.

Furuya, Keiji, and Chʻun Chang.Chiang Kai-shek, his life and times. Abridged English ed. Brooklyn: St. John's University, 1981. Print.
</nowiki>

Chiang kai-shek

2011-10-16T00:24:15Z

Chiang Kai-shek:

[[File:Chiang_kai-shek_pic.jpg‎]]Chiang Kai-Shek

I am a great warrior. I have fought countless battles. I have sought to honestly deal with my opponents and supervisors. I have not let down the banner of liberation, nor have I let go of the bar of justice. My deepest desire is for the good of the nationalists. I have devoted my life to fighting for this movement. Although I have faced great opposition, even defeat, I still cling to my cause and stand tall. I am Chiang Kai-shek.

I was born in 1887. My mother was widowed at age 22; I was 8yrs old at the time. She always wanted the best for me, and worked hard to provide me with opportunities to become someone important. I honor her. Her deepest desire was that I would grow up to serve our country. I have tried to make her proud.

In my early years of education I was an adept student. I was very motivated and driven. I began studying the Japanese language, hoping one day to attend a military academy in Japan. This study served me well in years to come. I was interested in politics and would read the newspaper carefully when I had free-time at school. From elementary school I had the military in my sights. This was inspired both by my mother and my teacher, Ku Ch’ing-lien. (Furuya 9-10)

Eventually, after scrimping and saving, my mother had the funds to send me to Japan to further my education. Although I was discouraged to find that I had to have special recommendation to attend Japan’s military academies, I found that it was a great opportunity to form friendships and obtain allies while I was there.

When I returned home to China I entered the extremely competitive process of becoming an elite soldier so that I could qualify to study in Japan. I succeeded in this endeavor and eventually returned there to learn the art of war. I studied there for 3 years. It was there in Japan that I joined a revolutionary group to overthrow the Qing dynasty. To begin with I was simply rebellious, but the ideas presented sunk in and I felt that indeed China needed to be freed.

Right after the Wuhan revolt began, me and some of my comrades returned home to China to join in the rebellion. I immediately contacted a friend, Ch’en Chi-mei, who was organizing a simultaneous uprising in Shanghai and Hangchow. He assigned me to travel to Hangchow and take up the military aspect of the insurrection. I gladly accepted. (Furuya 32)

[[File:Young_chiang_kai-shek.jpg]]

I hated the red communists. They started as a part of our Kuomintang party, but then slowly but surely did all they could to take over the entire party- and all of China. I could see the rats that they were from the very start. My negative impression of them began when I traveled to see the direct effect of communism in Russia.

I was sent to the Soviet Union in 1923 to investigate their form of government and to see if any future alliances or support could be gained by a relationship with them. I was greatly put out when I saw their military camps and met with their commanders. I felt that they could not be trusted. They offered to help in ways of moral and material assistance, all direct military action was to be avoided, but I still didn’t feel like we should trust them. In fact, when I returned I told the Kuomintang:

“In regard to the Russian Communist Party, I believe a distinction should be made between facts and theories. We cannot ignore the facts simply because we believe in certain aspects of their theories. My personal observations lead me to the conclusion that [they] cannot be wholly trusted. I told you that we could only believe about 30 percent of what the Russians had to say. That was really an understatement because, in view of the excessive trust you seemed to repose in the Russians, I didn’t want to upset you too much.” (Furuya 117)

The party ignored my advice, saying that due to our lack of funds we had to accept what help we could get, (not to mention those leftists who were glad to be working with a country already using communism in their government). I was disappointed with the decision, but acknowledging that was the party’s decision, I supported them. I was loyal to the KMT.

When the news came to me that the communists wanted to be separate and equal with the KMT, I was thoroughly upset. How could we let them have so much power?! Our vision was so different and all they wanted to do was put all of the peasants; people who were uneducated and without manners, into so kind of equal position in life. I saw the Soviet Union! They were dark and dreary. I still dreamed of a democratic China.

Our KMT leader agreed to disagree. He put out a statement with the leaders of the communist group that the KMT and the CCP were both going to govern China- as if that would ever work. I decided that it was my responsibility to take things into my own hands. My party was obviously not taking control of the situation. I began to actively fight the CCP for territory, beginning with Shanghai. Blood began to spill, but we needed a unified country.

Just as I was fighting the communists, the Japanese decided to invade. It was my opinion that in order to deal with Japan we had to have one government. I wanted to put out the communist fire and then take care of the Japanese. I traveled to Xi’an to meet plan with some fellow military commanders, and while I was there members of my own political party kidnapped me! Zhang Xueliang and others told me that I must focus on the Japanese before fighting the communists. In addition to their force, I was receiving much pressure from the US government. Japan was a common enemy and they wanted to see if they would conquer China, and conquer her as quickly as they claimed. From all angles people counseled me to postpone my war with the CCP and shift my battle to the Japanese.

I didn’t want to agree with them. I knew the gross fungi that the Communists were, that they would spread like a disease, corrupting the entire land if given a chance, but I yielded. I unwillingly agreed to team up with the enemy (CCP) and fight the Japanese. That promise lasted until about 1941.

Mao Zedong and I had a particular dislike for each other. While we had to join forces we could hardly get anything done. I could barely stomach looking at that traitor, let alone fighting beside him. It took many other peacemakers to get to any form of agreement, but, alas! We defeated the Japanese in 1945.

As soon as possible I shifted my attacks to the CCP. Even when the Japanese surrendered in 1945 I asked that they postpone leaving. I needed to be ready to unify the entire country under the same government, and I had to gather my resources. The Japanese were grateful to me for not implementing severe treatment to the prisoners of war. They were also anti-communist so while they remained in China they were somewhat helpful in locating and exterminating CCP members.

The civil war raging within China was not only a battle of arms and of mass, but a battle of image. The key to winning was not just having the brute force, but the support of the people, and the CCP was winning that war in the country side. They were giving peasants property and telling common people to come and join the ranks. Long before the Japanese invaded the communists had spread “anti-Chiang” slogans. What started as ant-KMT transformed into an attack on me! Those dogs sought to turn my own campaign followers against me. There was no misunderstanding on the point that the CCP and I were enemies.

In addition to the poor opinion that the CCP had for me (and that they were spreading around the country), some of the military maneuvers that I put into place made the masses dislike me. For example, when the Japanese were attacking I had to retreat a few times. I couldn’t let the Japanese have access to more resources, so I burned the crops and killed the cattle as I went, successfully cutting off to the Japanese, but also causing thousands of the local Chinese to die from starvation.

One other incident that harmed my image was the fire of Changsha. I blame it all on those bellow me who failed to complete their assignments, but somehow the people within were not warned before we set fire to the city to keep it from the Japanese. The result was 20,000 civilians killed, while hundreds of thousands no longer had homes. All I can say is that it was for the good of the military. (Barnouin and Changgen 74-75)

As the war continued to rage, I fought hard to rid the land of the communists. They used very successful guerrilla warfare tactics. After much travail I cornered them! I was in reach of my goal! I had them surrounded, but for reasons I cannot explain, postponed my attack. In that short window of time, the communists began their Long March, a journey that would be used as a legendary expedition, bringing more people into their red ranks. That was the turning point in the war. Mao became famous and the party breathed new life into their cause. I will forever mourn that situation.

Even with all of this conflict within the country, I managed to pull together an election of our republic, and was elected president in 1947. The CCP didn’t recognize this action. Nevertheless I remained in office until 1949, when I resigned.

In WWII I was one of the big four allies, along with Roosevelt, Stalin, and Churchill. Even though I didn’t completely agree with England, the US, or the Soviet Union, our common enemies were Japan, Italy, and Germany. It was something that brought me more publicity, and an opportunity to gain more support.

The responsibility of unifying our country, defeating the Japanese, boosting our economic system, creating the right foreign allies, and setting up a functional government all felt heavy on my shoulders. I had such lofty goals for our country! How could we lose so much!? My original master Dr. Sun had long passed away and I missed his counsel and support. This was a point when I had to find extra strength; I had to remind myself of my dream for my country. I pressed on.

I knew that the reason the KMT was failing must be because corruption within our party. I also felt that the morality of the people was falling, and I determined that if they were more moral we would have a more successful government. I started the new life movement in to try to get my people to return to their Confucian values and join with the KMT. Unfortunately this movement didn’t catch, and my people continued on their downward plunge into to the gulf of communism. (Bethell 1)

[[File:Soldier_chiang.jpg]]

I was originally Buddhist, but when I wanted to marry Soong May-ling (my third wife) I promised her mother I would turn Christian. Soong May-ling was the sister-in-law of my mentor, Dr. Sun. She was educated in the US, and became very famous as she helped me build support for the KMT. We were featured in the Times magazine more than once, and met with Pres. Roosevelt and Winston Churchill in 1943.

The US was initially supportive of me and my campaign and, until about 1970, recognized me as the voice for the Republic of China in the United Nations. I was a little concerned that their western ways were too modern, but accepted their help. Eventually they lost faith in me and I no longer had their support. People who worked with me kept moving to the US and then giving me a bad reputation.
In 1947 I began the White Terror movement. I wanted to cleanse Taiwan, and all of China, of any communists. As a result of martial law and extreme measures that I felt were necessary, some 18,000 to 28,000 people died in the massacre in Taiwan. This was a move to get the people to submit to the new governing powers, namely myself, and I have been forever blamed for the people who were killed. I noticed that now there is even a monument commemorating the event, and that I am chiseled in as the villain.

When I lost the support of the US, and the CCP was flourishing I moved my capital to Taiwan. This move began in 1947, although I didn’t leave until 1949. My government in mainland China was simply falling apart. Inflation and corruption had weakened us to the point of shattering. My comrade – tried to negotiate with the communist party, but to no avail. We couldn’t come to terms with one another.
I became president of Taiwan in 1950 and was re-elected in 1954, 1960, and 1972. Obviously the officials liked me. I had also become widely known in the Western world, and claimed to represent all of China (including those parts I didn’t currently have control of), which the United Nations agreed to recognize. Even when I was unpopular I held this power.
When I moved to Taiwan I took sufficient funds to support the plans I had for the economic system there. Some say that I embezzled precious money, and I did return some of it, but I feel I had more need of it than anyone else.

I set in motion new policies that launched the Republic of China into a prosperous economic situation. I also enforced legislature to change the national language to Mandarin, instead of Cantonese. I have to say that I made my mark on Taiwan.
Even when I was in Taiwan I tried to help overthrow the communist party in mainland China. I provided funds for some Muslim groups still within the territory, and sent them supplies. I traveled to Muslim groups and asked them to make a greater effort to fight the communists. I even planned to attack with my own troops. I simply couldn’t let my homeland go. I knew that I was so close… I only wished that it would have worked.

I died in 1975. It was my wish to postpone burial until China was reunited under the principles which my mentor, Dr. Sun Yat-sen, had directed. I felt very strongly about this, as did my son, Chiang Chinkou. Both of our remains were placed in a temporary mausoleum located near Lake Kindness in Taiwan, until in 2005, at the request of my wife we were buried in the Wuchih Mountain Military Cemetery, Taiwan.

[[File:Color_photo_chiang_and_wife.jpg]]

In my lifetime I did everything I could to attain my dream: a democratic China. Many people criticize the ways I went about doing this. I would take risks; I would fight battles that didn’t seem winnable. Even when the mainland was completely out of my reach, I reached. When I said I didn’t want to be buried until the country was united under correct principles, I meant it! I am devoted to my principles. The moral code of the people seemed to be completely out of control, and I feel that if we would have adopted the principles presented in the New Life movement, it would have made a huge difference. China would have been drastically different if I would have won the war. I should have won the war! I was in the right, they were in the wrong. My vision of China, better yet, the vision that was originally held by Dr. Sun Yat-sen, would have elevated China high above the stars. We would have dominated all foreign powers.

I am bitter that I could not bring my homeland to the state that we wanted, but I can see that now modern China has adopted some of our plans. I do not agree with much of what they do. I can hardly believe that they have declared they are a capitalist country! I never agreed with capitalism, but there are some other things that please me greatly. I am glad that they have made the common language Mandarin. I am really happy that they are showing the nations of the world that China can do great things. I can see that they are becoming more prominent economically.

Probably the most grievous thing to me is that with the communists still in control of mainland China there is still friction between Taiwan and the mainland. I anger that there is such a division among the Chinese! Do they not see the glorious way life would be if they were to become a true Democracy?! I wish that I could change it. I wish that I could live more than one life that I could forever fight for my dream. But, I have determined, if there was another, someone else who could bring my country to the great end that I envisioned for it, I would gladly have that person do what they could. Even if I cannot make the dream come to pass, it is sufficient that someone make it happen. It is for the greater good of China.

[[User:Chiang Kai-shek|Chiang Kai-shek]] 04:33, 15 October 2011 (UTC)

<nowiki>Works Cited:

Coppa, Frank. Encyclopedia of modern dictators: from Napoleon to the present. 1st.1. New York: Peter Lang, 2006. 58. eBook.

Barnouin, Barbra, and Yu Changgen.Zhou Enlai: a political life . 1st. 1. Hong Kong: The Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2006. 74-75. eBook.

Bethell, Tom. "Chiang Kai-shek and the Struggle for China." Hoover Digest. 1. (2007): 1. Web. 14 Oct. 2011. <http://www.hoover.org/publications/hoover-digest/article/5835>.

Spence, Jonathan D. The Search for Modern China. 2nd. 1. New York: W. W. Norton& Company, Inc., 1999. 290-565. Print.

Furuya, Keiji, and Chʻun Chang.Chiang Kai-shek, his life and times. Abridged English ed. Brooklyn: St. John's University, 1981. Print.
</nowiki>

File:Color photo chiang and wife.jpg

2011-10-16T00:22:39Z

Chiang Kai-shek:

Chiang kai-shek

2011-10-16T00:18:43Z

Chiang Kai-shek:

[[File:Chiang_kai-shek_pic.jpg‎]]Chiang Kai-Shek

I am a great warrior. I have fought countless battles. I have sought to honestly deal with my opponents and supervisors. I have not let down the banner of liberation, nor have I let go of the bar of justice. My deepest desire is for the good of the nationalists. I have devoted my life to fighting for this movement. Although I have faced great opposition, even defeat, I still cling to my cause and stand tall. I am Chiang Kai-shek.

I was born in 1887. My mother was widowed at age 22; I was 8yrs old at the time. She always wanted the best for me, and worked hard to provide me with opportunities to become someone important. I honor her. Her deepest desire was that I would grow up to serve our country. I have tried to make her proud.

In my early years of education I was an adept student. I was very motivated and driven. I began studying the Japanese language, hoping one day to attend a military academy in Japan. This study served me well in years to come. I was interested in politics and would read the newspaper carefully when I had free-time at school. From elementary school I had the military in my sights. This was inspired both by my mother and my teacher, Ku Ch’ing-lien. (Furuya 9-10)

Eventually, after scrimping and saving, my mother had the funds to send me to Japan to further my education. Although I was discouraged to find that I had to have special recommendation to attend Japan’s military academies, I found that it was a great opportunity to form friendships and obtain allies while I was there.

When I returned home to China I entered the extremely competitive process of becoming an elite soldier so that I could qualify to study in Japan. I succeeded in this endeavor and eventually returned there to learn the art of war. I studied there for 3 years. It was there in Japan that I joined a revolutionary group to overthrow the Qing dynasty. To begin with I was simply rebellious, but the ideas presented sunk in and I felt that indeed China needed to be freed.

Right after the Wuhan revolt began, me and some of my comrades returned home to China to join in the rebellion. I immediately contacted a friend, Ch’en Chi-mei, who was organizing a simultaneous uprising in Shanghai and Hangchow. He assigned me to travel to Hangchow and take up the military aspect of the insurrection. I gladly accepted. (Furuya 32)

[[File:Young_chiang_kai-shek.jpg]]

I hated the red communists. They started as a part of our Kuomintang party, but then slowly but surely did all they could to take over the entire party- and all of China. I could see the rats that they were from the very start. My negative impression of them began when I traveled to see the direct effect of communism in Russia.

I was sent to the Soviet Union in 1923 to investigate their form of government and to see if any future alliances or support could be gained by a relationship with them. I was greatly put out when I saw their military camps and met with their commanders. I felt that they could not be trusted. They offered to help in ways of moral and material assistance, all direct military action was to be avoided, but I still didn’t feel like we should trust them. In fact, when I returned I told the Kuomintang:

“In regard to the Russian Communist Party, I believe a distinction should be made between facts and theories. We cannot ignore the facts simply because we believe in certain aspects of their theories. My personal observations lead me to the conclusion that [they] cannot be wholly trusted. I told you that we could only believe about 30 percent of what the Russians had to say. That was really an understatement because, in view of the excessive trust you seemed to repose in the Russians, I didn’t want to upset you too much.” (Furuya 117)

The party ignored my advice, saying that due to our lack of funds we had to accept what help we could get, (not to mention those leftists who were glad to be working with a country already using communism in their government). I was disappointed with the decision, but acknowledging that was the party’s decision, I supported them. I was loyal to the KMT.

When the news came to me that the communists wanted to be separate and equal with the KMT, I was thoroughly upset. How could we let them have so much power?! Our vision was so different and all they wanted to do was put all of the peasants; people who were uneducated and without manners, into so kind of equal position in life. I saw the Soviet Union! They were dark and dreary. I still dreamed of a democratic China.

Our KMT leader agreed to disagree. He put out a statement with the leaders of the communist group that the KMT and the CCP were both going to govern China- as if that would ever work. I decided that it was my responsibility to take things into my own hands. My party was obviously not taking control of the situation. I began to actively fight the CCP for territory, beginning with Shanghai. Blood began to spill, but we needed a unified country.

Just as I was fighting the communists, the Japanese decided to invade. It was my opinion that in order to deal with Japan we had to have one government. I wanted to put out the communist fire and then take care of the Japanese. I traveled to Xi’an to meet plan with some fellow military commanders, and while I was there members of my own political party kidnapped me! Zhang Xueliang and others told me that I must focus on the Japanese before fighting the communists. In addition to their force, I was receiving much pressure from the US government. Japan was a common enemy and they wanted to see if they would conquer China, and conquer her as quickly as they claimed. From all angles people counseled me to postpone my war with the CCP and shift my battle to the Japanese.

I didn’t want to agree with them. I knew the gross fungi that the Communists were, that they would spread like a disease, corrupting the entire land if given a chance, but I yielded. I unwillingly agreed to team up with the enemy (CCP) and fight the Japanese. That promise lasted until about 1941.

Mao Zedong and I had a particular dislike for each other. While we had to join forces we could hardly get anything done. I could barely stomach looking at that traitor, let alone fighting beside him. It took many other peacemakers to get to any form of agreement, but, alas! We defeated the Japanese in 1945.

As soon as possible I shifted my attacks to the CCP. Even when the Japanese surrendered in 1945 I asked that they postpone leaving. I needed to be ready to unify the entire country under the same government, and I had to gather my resources. The Japanese were grateful to me for not implementing severe treatment to the prisoners of war. They were also anti-communist so while they remained in China they were somewhat helpful in locating and exterminating CCP members.

The civil war raging within China was not only a battle of arms and of mass, but a battle of image. The key to winning was not just having the brute force, but the support of the people, and the CCP was winning that war in the country side. They were giving peasants property and telling common people to come and join the ranks. Long before the Japanese invaded the communists had spread “anti-Chiang” slogans. What started as ant-KMT transformed into an attack on me! Those dogs sought to turn my own campaign followers against me. There was no misunderstanding on the point that the CCP and I were enemies.

In addition to the poor opinion that the CCP had for me (and that they were spreading around the country), some of the military maneuvers that I put into place made the masses dislike me. For example, when the Japanese were attacking I had to retreat a few times. I couldn’t let the Japanese have access to more resources, so I burned the crops and killed the cattle as I went, successfully cutting off to the Japanese, but also causing thousands of the local Chinese to die from starvation.

One other incident that harmed my image was the fire of Changsha. I blame it all on those bellow me who failed to complete their assignments, but somehow the people within were not warned before we set fire to the city to keep it from the Japanese. The result was 20,000 civilians killed, while hundreds of thousands no longer had homes. All I can say is that it was for the good of the military. (Barnouin and Changgen 74-75)

As the war continued to rage, I fought hard to rid the land of the communists. They used very successful guerrilla warfare tactics. After much travail I cornered them! I was in reach of my goal! I had them surrounded, but for reasons I cannot explain, postponed my attack. In that short window of time, the communists began their Long March, a journey that would be used as a legendary expedition, bringing more people into their red ranks. That was the turning point in the war. Mao became famous and the party breathed new life into their cause. I will forever mourn that situation.

Even with all of this conflict within the country, I managed to pull together an election of our republic, and was elected president in 1947. The CCP didn’t recognize this action. Nevertheless I remained in office until 1949, when I resigned.

In WWII I was one of the big four allies, along with Roosevelt, Stalin, and Churchill. Even though I didn’t completely agree with England, the US, or the Soviet Union, our common enemies were Japan, Italy, and Germany. It was something that brought me more publicity, and an opportunity to gain more support.

The responsibility of unifying our country, defeating the Japanese, boosting our economic system, creating the right foreign allies, and setting up a functional government all felt heavy on my shoulders. I had such lofty goals for our country! How could we lose so much!? My original master Dr. Sun had long passed away and I missed his counsel and support. This was a point when I had to find extra strength; I had to remind myself of my dream for my country. I pressed on.

I knew that the reason the KMT was failing must be because corruption within our party. I also felt that the morality of the people was falling, and I determined that if they were more moral we would have a more successful government. I started the new life movement in to try to get my people to return to their Confucian values and join with the KMT. Unfortunately this movement didn’t catch, and my people continued on their downward plunge into to the gulf of communism. (Bethell 1)

[[File:Soldier_chiang.jpg]]

I was originally Buddhist, but when I wanted to marry Soong May-ling (my third wife) I promised her mother I would turn Christian. Soong May-ling was the sister-in-law of my mentor, Dr. Sun. She was educated in the US, and became very famous as she helped me build support for the KMT. We were featured in the Times magazine more than once, and met with Pres. Roosevelt and Winston Churchill in 1943.

The US was initially supportive of me and my campaign and, until about 1970, recognized me as the voice for the Republic of China in the United Nations. I was a little concerned that their western ways were too modern, but accepted their help. Eventually they lost faith in me and I no longer had their support. People who worked with me kept moving to the US and then giving me a bad reputation.
In 1947 I began the White Terror movement. I wanted to cleanse Taiwan, and all of China, of any communists. As a result of martial law and extreme measures that I felt were necessary, some 18,000 to 28,000 people died in the massacre in Taiwan. This was a move to get the people to submit to the new governing powers, namely myself, and I have been forever blamed for the people who were killed. I noticed that now there is even a monument commemorating the event, and that I am chiseled in as the villain.

When I lost the support of the US, and the CCP was flourishing I moved my capital to Taiwan. This move began in 1947, although I didn’t leave until 1949. My government in mainland China was simply falling apart. Inflation and corruption had weakened us to the point of shattering. My comrade – tried to negotiate with the communist party, but to no avail. We couldn’t come to terms with one another.
I became president of Taiwan in 1950 and was re-elected in 1954, 1960, and 1972. Obviously the officials liked me. I had also become widely known in the Western world, and claimed to represent all of China (including those parts I didn’t currently have control of), which the United Nations agreed to recognize. Even when I was unpopular I held this power.
When I moved to Taiwan I took sufficient funds to support the plans I had for the economic system there. Some say that I embezzled precious money, and I did return some of it, but I feel I had more need of it than anyone else.

I set in motion new policies that launched the Republic of China into a prosperous economic situation. I also enforced legislature to change the national language to Mandarin, instead of Cantonese. I have to say that I made my mark on Taiwan.
Even when I was in Taiwan I tried to help overthrow the communist party in mainland China. I provided funds for some Muslim groups still within the territory, and sent them supplies. I traveled to Muslim groups and asked them to make a greater effort to fight the communists. I even planned to attack with my own troops. I simply couldn’t let my homeland go. I knew that I was so close… I only wished that it would have worked.

I died in 1975. It was my wish to postpone burial until China was reunited under the principles which my mentor, Dr. Sun Yat-sen, had directed. I felt very strongly about this, as did my son, Chiang Chinkou. Both of our remains were placed in a temporary mausoleum located near Lake Kindness in Taiwan, until in 2005, at the request of my wife we were buried in the Wuchih Mountain Military Cemetery, Taiwan.

In my lifetime I did everything I could to attain my dream: a democratic China. Many people criticize the ways I went about doing this. I would take risks; I would fight battles that didn’t seem winnable. Even when the mainland was completely out of my reach, I reached. When I said I didn’t want to be buried until the country was united under correct principles, I meant it! I am devoted to my principles. The moral code of the people seemed to be completely out of control, and I feel that if we would have adopted the principles presented in the New Life movement, it would have made a huge difference. China would have been drastically different if I would have won the war. I should have won the war! I was in the right, they were in the wrong. My vision of China, better yet, the vision that was originally held by Dr. Sun Yat-sen, would have elevated China high above the stars. We would have dominated all foreign powers.

I am bitter that I could not bring my homeland to the state that we wanted, but I can see that now modern China has adopted some of our plans. I do not agree with much of what they do. I can hardly believe that they have declared they are a capitalist country! I never agreed with capitalism, but there are some other things that please me greatly. I am glad that they have made the common language Mandarin. I am really happy that they are showing the nations of the world that China can do great things. I can see that they are becoming more prominent economically.

Probably the most grievous thing to me is that with the communists still in control of mainland China there is still friction between Taiwan and the mainland. I anger that there is such a division among the Chinese! Do they not see the glorious way life would be if they were to become a true Democracy?! I wish that I could change it. I wish that I could live more than one life that I could forever fight for my dream. But, I have determined, if there was another, someone else who could bring my country to the great end that I envisioned for it, I would gladly have that person do what they could. Even if I cannot make the dream come to pass, it is sufficient that someone make it happen. It is for the greater good of China.

[[User:Chiang Kai-shek|Chiang Kai-shek]] 04:33, 15 October 2011 (UTC)

<nowiki>Works Cited:

Coppa, Frank. Encyclopedia of modern dictators: from Napoleon to the present. 1st.1. New York: Peter Lang, 2006. 58. eBook.

Barnouin, Barbra, and Yu Changgen.Zhou Enlai: a political life . 1st. 1. Hong Kong: The Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2006. 74-75. eBook.

Bethell, Tom. "Chiang Kai-shek and the Struggle for China." Hoover Digest. 1. (2007): 1. Web. 14 Oct. 2011. <http://www.hoover.org/publications/hoover-digest/article/5835>.

Spence, Jonathan D. The Search for Modern China. 2nd. 1. New York: W. W. Norton& Company, Inc., 1999. 290-565. Print.

Furuya, Keiji, and Chʻun Chang.Chiang Kai-shek, his life and times. Abridged English ed. Brooklyn: St. John's University, 1981. Print.
</nowiki>

File:Soldier chiang.jpg

2011-10-16T00:17:41Z

Chiang Kai-shek:

File:Chiang and his wife.jpg

2011-10-16T00:13:09Z

Chiang Kai-shek:

Chiang kai-shek

2011-10-16T00:12:48Z

Chiang Kai-shek:

[[File:Chiang_kai-shek_pic.jpg‎]]Chiang Kai-Shek

I am a great warrior. I have fought countless battles. I have sought to honestly deal with my opponents and supervisors. I have not let down the banner of liberation, nor have I let go of the bar of justice. My deepest desire is for the good of the nationalists. I have devoted my life to fighting for this movement. Although I have faced great opposition, even defeat, I still cling to my cause and stand tall. I am Chiang Kai-shek.

I was born in 1887. My mother was widowed at age 22; I was 8yrs old at the time. She always wanted the best for me, and worked hard to provide me with opportunities to become someone important. I honor her. Her deepest desire was that I would grow up to serve our country. I have tried to make her proud.

In my early years of education I was an adept student. I was very motivated and driven. I began studying the Japanese language, hoping one day to attend a military academy in Japan. This study served me well in years to come. I was interested in politics and would read the newspaper carefully when I had free-time at school. From elementary school I had the military in my sights. This was inspired both by my mother and my teacher, Ku Ch’ing-lien. (Furuya 9-10)

Eventually, after scrimping and saving, my mother had the funds to send me to Japan to further my education. Although I was discouraged to find that I had to have special recommendation to attend Japan’s military academies, I found that it was a great opportunity to form friendships and obtain allies while I was there.

When I returned home to China I entered the extremely competitive process of becoming an elite soldier so that I could qualify to study in Japan. I succeeded in this endeavor and eventually returned there to learn the art of war. I studied there for 3 years. It was there in Japan that I joined a revolutionary group to overthrow the Qing dynasty. To begin with I was simply rebellious, but the ideas presented sunk in and I felt that indeed China needed to be freed.

Right after the Wuhan revolt began, me and some of my comrades returned home to China to join in the rebellion. I immediately contacted a friend, Ch’en Chi-mei, who was organizing a simultaneous uprising in Shanghai and Hangchow. He assigned me to travel to Hangchow and take up the military aspect of the insurrection. I gladly accepted. (Furuya 32)

[[File:Young_chiang_kai-shek.jpg]]

I hated the red communists. They started as a part of our Kuomintang party, but then slowly but surely did all they could to take over the entire party- and all of China. I could see the rats that they were from the very start. My negative impression of them began when I traveled to see the direct effect of communism in Russia.

I was sent to the Soviet Union in 1923 to investigate their form of government and to see if any future alliances or support could be gained by a relationship with them. I was greatly put out when I saw their military camps and met with their commanders. I felt that they could not be trusted. They offered to help in ways of moral and material assistance, all direct military action was to be avoided, but I still didn’t feel like we should trust them. In fact, when I returned I told the Kuomintang:

“In regard to the Russian Communist Party, I believe a distinction should be made between facts and theories. We cannot ignore the facts simply because we believe in certain aspects of their theories. My personal observations lead me to the conclusion that [they] cannot be wholly trusted. I told you that we could only believe about 30 percent of what the Russians had to say. That was really an understatement because, in view of the excessive trust you seemed to repose in the Russians, I didn’t want to upset you too much.” (Furuya 117)

The party ignored my advice, saying that due to our lack of funds we had to accept what help we could get, (not to mention those leftists who were glad to be working with a country already using communism in their government). I was disappointed with the decision, but acknowledging that was the party’s decision, I supported them. I was loyal to the KMT.

When the news came to me that the communists wanted to be separate and equal with the KMT, I was thoroughly upset. How could we let them have so much power?! Our vision was so different and all they wanted to do was put all of the peasants; people who were uneducated and without manners, into so kind of equal position in life. I saw the Soviet Union! They were dark and dreary. I still dreamed of a democratic China.

Our KMT leader agreed to disagree. He put out a statement with the leaders of the communist group that the KMT and the CCP were both going to govern China- as if that would ever work. I decided that it was my responsibility to take things into my own hands. My party was obviously not taking control of the situation. I began to actively fight the CCP for territory, beginning with Shanghai. Blood began to spill, but we needed a unified country.

Just as I was fighting the communists, the Japanese decided to invade. It was my opinion that in order to deal with Japan we had to have one government. I wanted to put out the communist fire and then take care of the Japanese. I traveled to Xi’an to meet plan with some fellow military commanders, and while I was there members of my own political party kidnapped me! Zhang Xueliang and others told me that I must focus on the Japanese before fighting the communists. In addition to their force, I was receiving much pressure from the US government. Japan was a common enemy and they wanted to see if they would conquer China, and conquer her as quickly as they claimed. From all angles people counseled me to postpone my war with the CCP and shift my battle to the Japanese.

I didn’t want to agree with them. I knew the gross fungi that the Communists were, that they would spread like a disease, corrupting the entire land if given a chance, but I yielded. I unwillingly agreed to team up with the enemy (CCP) and fight the Japanese. That promise lasted until about 1941.

Mao Zedong and I had a particular dislike for each other. While we had to join forces we could hardly get anything done. I could barely stomach looking at that traitor, let alone fighting beside him. It took many other peacemakers to get to any form of agreement, but, alas! We defeated the Japanese in 1945.

As soon as possible I shifted my attacks to the CCP. Even when the Japanese surrendered in 1945 I asked that they postpone leaving. I needed to be ready to unify the entire country under the same government, and I had to gather my resources. The Japanese were grateful to me for not implementing severe treatment to the prisoners of war. They were also anti-communist so while they remained in China they were somewhat helpful in locating and exterminating CCP members.

The civil war raging within China was not only a battle of arms and of mass, but a battle of image. The key to winning was not just having the brute force, but the support of the people, and the CCP was winning that war in the country side. They were giving peasants property and telling common people to come and join the ranks. Long before the Japanese invaded the communists had spread “anti-Chiang” slogans. What started as ant-KMT transformed into an attack on me! Those dogs sought to turn my own campaign followers against me. There was no misunderstanding on the point that the CCP and I were enemies.

In addition to the poor opinion that the CCP had for me (and that they were spreading around the country), some of the military maneuvers that I put into place made the masses dislike me. For example, when the Japanese were attacking I had to retreat a few times. I couldn’t let the Japanese have access to more resources, so I burned the crops and killed the cattle as I went, successfully cutting off to the Japanese, but also causing thousands of the local Chinese to die from starvation.

One other incident that harmed my image was the fire of Changsha. I blame it all on those bellow me who failed to complete their assignments, but somehow the people within were not warned before we set fire to the city to keep it from the Japanese. The result was 20,000 civilians killed, while hundreds of thousands no longer had homes. All I can say is that it was for the good of the military. (Barnouin and Changgen 74-75)

As the war continued to rage, I fought hard to rid the land of the communists. They used very successful guerrilla warfare tactics. After much travail I cornered them! I was in reach of my goal! I had them surrounded, but for reasons I cannot explain, postponed my attack. In that short window of time, the communists began their Long March, a journey that would be used as a legendary expedition, bringing more people into their red ranks. That was the turning point in the war. Mao became famous and the party breathed new life into their cause. I will forever mourn that situation.

Even with all of this conflict within the country, I managed to pull together an election of our republic, and was elected president in 1947. The CCP didn’t recognize this action. Nevertheless I remained in office until 1949, when I resigned.

In WWII I was one of the big four allies, along with Roosevelt, Stalin, and Churchill. Even though I didn’t completely agree with England, the US, or the Soviet Union, our common enemies were Japan, Italy, and Germany. It was something that brought me more publicity, and an opportunity to gain more support.

The responsibility of unifying our country, defeating the Japanese, boosting our economic system, creating the right foreign allies, and setting up a functional government all felt heavy on my shoulders. I had such lofty goals for our country! How could we lose so much!? My original master Dr. Sun had long passed away and I missed his counsel and support. This was a point when I had to find extra strength; I had to remind myself of my dream for my country. I pressed on.

I knew that the reason the KMT was failing must be because corruption within our party. I also felt that the morality of the people was falling, and I determined that if they were more moral we would have a more successful government. I started the new life movement in to try to get my people to return to their Confucian values and join with the KMT. Unfortunately this movement didn’t catch, and my people continued on their downward plunge into to the gulf of communism. (Bethell 1)

I was originally Buddhist, but when I wanted to marry Soong May-ling (my third wife) I promised her mother I would turn Christian. Soong May-ling was the sister-in-law of my mentor, Dr. Sun. She was educated in the US, and became very famous as she helped me build support for the KMT. We were featured in the Times magazine more than once, and met with Pres. Roosevelt and Winston Churchill in 1943.

The US was initially supportive of me and my campaign and, until about 1970, recognized me as the voice for the Republic of China in the United Nations. I was a little concerned that their western ways were too modern, but accepted their help. Eventually they lost faith in me and I no longer had their support. People who worked with me kept moving to the US and then giving me a bad reputation.
In 1947 I began the White Terror movement. I wanted to cleanse Taiwan, and all of China, of any communists. As a result of martial law and extreme measures that I felt were necessary, some 18,000 to 28,000 people died in the massacre in Taiwan. This was a move to get the people to submit to the new governing powers, namely myself, and I have been forever blamed for the people who were killed. I noticed that now there is even a monument commemorating the event, and that I am chiseled in as the villain.

When I lost the support of the US, and the CCP was flourishing I moved my capital to Taiwan. This move began in 1947, although I didn’t leave until 1949. My government in mainland China was simply falling apart. Inflation and corruption had weakened us to the point of shattering. My comrade – tried to negotiate with the communist party, but to no avail. We couldn’t come to terms with one another.
I became president of Taiwan in 1950 and was re-elected in 1954, 1960, and 1972. Obviously the officials liked me. I had also become widely known in the Western world, and claimed to represent all of China (including those parts I didn’t currently have control of), which the United Nations agreed to recognize. Even when I was unpopular I held this power.
When I moved to Taiwan I took sufficient funds to support the plans I had for the economic system there. Some say that I embezzled precious money, and I did return some of it, but I feel I had more need of it than anyone else.

I set in motion new policies that launched the Republic of China into a prosperous economic situation. I also enforced legislature to change the national language to Mandarin, instead of Cantonese. I have to say that I made my mark on Taiwan.
Even when I was in Taiwan I tried to help overthrow the communist party in mainland China. I provided funds for some Muslim groups still within the territory, and sent them supplies. I traveled to Muslim groups and asked them to make a greater effort to fight the communists. I even planned to attack with my own troops. I simply couldn’t let my homeland go. I knew that I was so close… I only wished that it would have worked.

I died in 1975. It was my wish to postpone burial until China was reunited under the principles which my mentor, Dr. Sun Yat-sen, had directed. I felt very strongly about this, as did my son, Chiang Chinkou. Both of our remains were placed in a temporary mausoleum located near Lake Kindness in Taiwan, until in 2005, at the request of my wife we were buried in the Wuchih Mountain Military Cemetery, Taiwan.

In my lifetime I did everything I could to attain my dream: a democratic China. Many people criticize the ways I went about doing this. I would take risks; I would fight battles that didn’t seem winnable. Even when the mainland was completely out of my reach, I reached. When I said I didn’t want to be buried until the country was united under correct principles, I meant it! I am devoted to my principles. The moral code of the people seemed to be completely out of control, and I feel that if we would have adopted the principles presented in the New Life movement, it would have made a huge difference. China would have been drastically different if I would have won the war. I should have won the war! I was in the right, they were in the wrong. My vision of China, better yet, the vision that was originally held by Dr. Sun Yat-sen, would have elevated China high above the stars. We would have dominated all foreign powers.

I am bitter that I could not bring my homeland to the state that we wanted, but I can see that now modern China has adopted some of our plans. I do not agree with much of what they do. I can hardly believe that they have declared they are a capitalist country! I never agreed with capitalism, but there are some other things that please me greatly. I am glad that they have made the common language Mandarin. I am really happy that they are showing the nations of the world that China can do great things. I can see that they are becoming more prominent economically.

Probably the most grievous thing to me is that with the communists still in control of mainland China there is still friction between Taiwan and the mainland. I anger that there is such a division among the Chinese! Do they not see the glorious way life would be if they were to become a true Democracy?! I wish that I could change it. I wish that I could live more than one life that I could forever fight for my dream. But, I have determined, if there was another, someone else who could bring my country to the great end that I envisioned for it, I would gladly have that person do what they could. Even if I cannot make the dream come to pass, it is sufficient that someone make it happen. It is for the greater good of China.

[[User:Chiang Kai-shek|Chiang Kai-shek]] 04:33, 15 October 2011 (UTC)

<nowiki>Works Cited:

Coppa, Frank. Encyclopedia of modern dictators: from Napoleon to the present. 1st.1. New York: Peter Lang, 2006. 58. eBook.

Barnouin, Barbra, and Yu Changgen.Zhou Enlai: a political life . 1st. 1. Hong Kong: The Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2006. 74-75. eBook.

Bethell, Tom. "Chiang Kai-shek and the Struggle for China." Hoover Digest. 1. (2007): 1. Web. 14 Oct. 2011. <http://www.hoover.org/publications/hoover-digest/article/5835>.

Spence, Jonathan D. The Search for Modern China. 2nd. 1. New York: W. W. Norton& Company, Inc., 1999. 290-565. Print.

Furuya, Keiji, and Chʻun Chang.Chiang Kai-shek, his life and times. Abridged English ed. Brooklyn: St. John's University, 1981. Print.
</nowiki>

File:Young chiang kai-shek.jpg

2011-10-16T00:11:28Z

Chiang Kai-shek:

Chiang kai-shek

2011-10-16T00:05:54Z

Chiang Kai-shek:

[[File:Chiang_kai-shek_pic.jpg‎]]Chiang Kai-Shek

I am a great warrior. I have fought countless battles. I have sought to honestly deal with my opponents and supervisors. I have not let down the banner of liberation, nor have I let go of the bar of justice. My deepest desire is for the good of the nationalists. I have devoted my life to fighting for this movement. Although I have faced great opposition, even defeat, I still cling to my cause and stand tall. I am Chiang Kai-shek.

I was born in 1887. My mother was widowed at age 22; I was 8yrs old at the time. She always wanted the best for me, and worked hard to provide me with opportunities to become someone important. I honor her. Her deepest desire was that I would grow up to serve our country. I have tried to make her proud.

In my early years of education I was an adept student. I was very motivated and driven. I began studying the Japanese language, hoping one day to attend a military academy in Japan. This study served me well in years to come. I was interested in politics and would read the newspaper carefully when I had free-time at school. From elementary school I had the military in my sights. This was inspired both by my mother and my teacher, Ku Ch’ing-lien. (Furuya 9-10)

Eventually, after scrimping and saving, my mother had the funds to send me to Japan to further my education. Although I was discouraged to find that I had to have special recommendation to attend Japan’s military academies, I found that it was a great opportunity to form friendships and obtain allies while I was there.

When I returned home to China I entered the extremely competitive process of becoming an elite soldier so that I could qualify to study in Japan. I succeeded in this endeavor and eventually returned there to learn the art of war. I studied there for 3 years. It was there in Japan that I joined a revolutionary group to overthrow the Qing dynasty. To begin with I was simply rebellious, but the ideas presented sunk in and I felt that indeed China needed to be freed.

Right after the Wuhan revolt began, me and some of my comrades returned home to China to join in the rebellion. I immediately contacted a friend, Ch’en Chi-mei, who was organizing a simultaneous uprising in Shanghai and Hangchow. He assigned me to travel to Hangchow and take up the military aspect of the insurrection. I gladly accepted. (Furuya 32)
I hated the red communists. They started as a part of our Kuomintang party, but then slowly but surely did all they could to take over the entire party- and all of China. I could see the rats that they were from the very start. My negative impression of them began when I traveled to see the direct effect of communism in Russia.

I was sent to the Soviet Union in 1923 to investigate their form of government and to see if any future alliances or support could be gained by a relationship with them. I was greatly put out when I saw their military camps and met with their commanders. I felt that they could not be trusted. They offered to help in ways of moral and material assistance, all direct military action was to be avoided, but I still didn’t feel like we should trust them. In fact, when I returned I told the Kuomintang:

“In regard to the Russian Communist Party, I believe a distinction should be made between facts and theories. We cannot ignore the facts simply because we believe in certain aspects of their theories. My personal observations lead me to the conclusion that [they] cannot be wholly trusted. I told you that we could only believe about 30 percent of what the Russians had to say. That was really an understatement because, in view of the excessive trust you seemed to repose in the Russians, I didn’t want to upset you too much.” (Furuya 117)

The party ignored my advice, saying that due to our lack of funds we had to accept what help we could get, (not to mention those leftists who were glad to be working with a country already using communism in their government). I was disappointed with the decision, but acknowledging that was the party’s decision, I supported them. I was loyal to the KMT.

When the news came to me that the communists wanted to be separate and equal with the KMT, I was thoroughly upset. How could we let them have so much power?! Our vision was so different and all they wanted to do was put all of the peasants; people who were uneducated and without manners, into so kind of equal position in life. I saw the Soviet Union! They were dark and dreary. I still dreamed of a democratic China.

Our KMT leader agreed to disagree. He put out a statement with the leaders of the communist group that the KMT and the CCP were both going to govern China- as if that would ever work. I decided that it was my responsibility to take things into my own hands. My party was obviously not taking control of the situation. I began to actively fight the CCP for territory, beginning with Shanghai. Blood began to spill, but we needed a unified country.

Just as I was fighting the communists, the Japanese decided to invade. It was my opinion that in order to deal with Japan we had to have one government. I wanted to put out the communist fire and then take care of the Japanese. I traveled to Xi’an to meet plan with some fellow military commanders, and while I was there members of my own political party kidnapped me! Zhang Xueliang and others told me that I must focus on the Japanese before fighting the communists. In addition to their force, I was receiving much pressure from the US government. Japan was a common enemy and they wanted to see if they would conquer China, and conquer her as quickly as they claimed. From all angles people counseled me to postpone my war with the CCP and shift my battle to the Japanese.

I didn’t want to agree with them. I knew the gross fungi that the Communists were, that they would spread like a disease, corrupting the entire land if given a chance, but I yielded. I unwillingly agreed to team up with the enemy (CCP) and fight the Japanese. That promise lasted until about 1941.

Mao Zedong and I had a particular dislike for each other. While we had to join forces we could hardly get anything done. I could barely stomach looking at that traitor, let alone fighting beside him. It took many other peacemakers to get to any form of agreement, but, alas! We defeated the Japanese in 1945.

As soon as possible I shifted my attacks to the CCP. Even when the Japanese surrendered in 1945 I asked that they postpone leaving. I needed to be ready to unify the entire country under the same government, and I had to gather my resources. The Japanese were grateful to me for not implementing severe treatment to the prisoners of war. They were also anti-communist so while they remained in China they were somewhat helpful in locating and exterminating CCP members.

The civil war raging within China was not only a battle of arms and of mass, but a battle of image. The key to winning was not just having the brute force, but the support of the people, and the CCP was winning that war in the country side. They were giving peasants property and telling common people to come and join the ranks. Long before the Japanese invaded the communists had spread “anti-Chiang” slogans. What started as ant-KMT transformed into an attack on me! Those dogs sought to turn my own campaign followers against me. There was no misunderstanding on the point that the CCP and I were enemies.

In addition to the poor opinion that the CCP had for me (and that they were spreading around the country), some of the military maneuvers that I put into place made the masses dislike me. For example, when the Japanese were attacking I had to retreat a few times. I couldn’t let the Japanese have access to more resources, so I burned the crops and killed the cattle as I went, successfully cutting off to the Japanese, but also causing thousands of the local Chinese to die from starvation.

One other incident that harmed my image was the fire of Changsha. I blame it all on those bellow me who failed to complete their assignments, but somehow the people within were not warned before we set fire to the city to keep it from the Japanese. The result was 20,000 civilians killed, while hundreds of thousands no longer had homes. All I can say is that it was for the good of the military. (Barnouin and Changgen 74-75)

As the war continued to rage, I fought hard to rid the land of the communists. They used very successful guerrilla warfare tactics. After much travail I cornered them! I was in reach of my goal! I had them surrounded, but for reasons I cannot explain, postponed my attack. In that short window of time, the communists began their Long March, a journey that would be used as a legendary expedition, bringing more people into their red ranks. That was the turning point in the war. Mao became famous and the party breathed new life into their cause. I will forever mourn that situation.

Even with all of this conflict within the country, I managed to pull together an election of our republic, and was elected president in 1947. The CCP didn’t recognize this action. Nevertheless I remained in office until 1949, when I resigned.

In WWII I was one of the big four allies, along with Roosevelt, Stalin, and Churchill. Even though I didn’t completely agree with England, the US, or the Soviet Union, our common enemies were Japan, Italy, and Germany. It was something that brought me more publicity, and an opportunity to gain more support.

The responsibility of unifying our country, defeating the Japanese, boosting our economic system, creating the right foreign allies, and setting up a functional government all felt heavy on my shoulders. I had such lofty goals for our country! How could we lose so much!? My original master Dr. Sun had long passed away and I missed his counsel and support. This was a point when I had to find extra strength; I had to remind myself of my dream for my country. I pressed on.

I knew that the reason the KMT was failing must be because corruption within our party. I also felt that the morality of the people was falling, and I determined that if they were more moral we would have a more successful government. I started the new life movement in to try to get my people to return to their Confucian values and join with the KMT. Unfortunately this movement didn’t catch, and my people continued on their downward plunge into to the gulf of communism. (Bethell 1)

I was originally Buddhist, but when I wanted to marry Soong May-ling (my third wife) I promised her mother I would turn Christian. Soong May-ling was the sister-in-law of my mentor, Dr. Sun. She was educated in the US, and became very famous as she helped me build support for the KMT. We were featured in the Times magazine more than once, and met with Pres. Roosevelt and Winston Churchill in 1943.

The US was initially supportive of me and my campaign and, until about 1970, recognized me as the voice for the Republic of China in the United Nations. I was a little concerned that their western ways were too modern, but accepted their help. Eventually they lost faith in me and I no longer had their support. People who worked with me kept moving to the US and then giving me a bad reputation.
In 1947 I began the White Terror movement. I wanted to cleanse Taiwan, and all of China, of any communists. As a result of martial law and extreme measures that I felt were necessary, some 18,000 to 28,000 people died in the massacre in Taiwan. This was a move to get the people to submit to the new governing powers, namely myself, and I have been forever blamed for the people who were killed. I noticed that now there is even a monument commemorating the event, and that I am chiseled in as the villain.

When I lost the support of the US, and the CCP was flourishing I moved my capital to Taiwan. This move began in 1947, although I didn’t leave until 1949. My government in mainland China was simply falling apart. Inflation and corruption had weakened us to the point of shattering. My comrade – tried to negotiate with the communist party, but to no avail. We couldn’t come to terms with one another.
I became president of Taiwan in 1950 and was re-elected in 1954, 1960, and 1972. Obviously the officials liked me. I had also become widely known in the Western world, and claimed to represent all of China (including those parts I didn’t currently have control of), which the United Nations agreed to recognize. Even when I was unpopular I held this power.
When I moved to Taiwan I took sufficient funds to support the plans I had for the economic system there. Some say that I embezzled precious money, and I did return some of it, but I feel I had more need of it than anyone else.

I set in motion new policies that launched the Republic of China into a prosperous economic situation. I also enforced legislature to change the national language to Mandarin, instead of Cantonese. I have to say that I made my mark on Taiwan.
Even when I was in Taiwan I tried to help overthrow the communist party in mainland China. I provided funds for some Muslim groups still within the territory, and sent them supplies. I traveled to Muslim groups and asked them to make a greater effort to fight the communists. I even planned to attack with my own troops. I simply couldn’t let my homeland go. I knew that I was so close… I only wished that it would have worked.

I died in 1975. It was my wish to postpone burial until China was reunited under the principles which my mentor, Dr. Sun Yat-sen, had directed. I felt very strongly about this, as did my son, Chiang Chinkou. Both of our remains were placed in a temporary mausoleum located near Lake Kindness in Taiwan, until in 2005, at the request of my wife we were buried in the Wuchih Mountain Military Cemetery, Taiwan.

In my lifetime I did everything I could to attain my dream: a democratic China. Many people criticize the ways I went about doing this. I would take risks; I would fight battles that didn’t seem winnable. Even when the mainland was completely out of my reach, I reached. When I said I didn’t want to be buried until the country was united under correct principles, I meant it! I am devoted to my principles. The moral code of the people seemed to be completely out of control, and I feel that if we would have adopted the principles presented in the New Life movement, it would have made a huge difference. China would have been drastically different if I would have won the war. I should have won the war! I was in the right, they were in the wrong. My vision of China, better yet, the vision that was originally held by Dr. Sun Yat-sen, would have elevated China high above the stars. We would have dominated all foreign powers.

I am bitter that I could not bring my homeland to the state that we wanted, but I can see that now modern China has adopted some of our plans. I do not agree with much of what they do. I can hardly believe that they have declared they are a capitalist country! I never agreed with capitalism, but there are some other things that please me greatly. I am glad that they have made the common language Mandarin. I am really happy that they are showing the nations of the world that China can do great things. I can see that they are becoming more prominent economically.

Probably the most grievous thing to me is that with the communists still in control of mainland China there is still friction between Taiwan and the mainland. I anger that there is such a division among the Chinese! Do they not see the glorious way life would be if they were to become a true Democracy?! I wish that I could change it. I wish that I could live more than one life that I could forever fight for my dream. But, I have determined, if there was another, someone else who could bring my country to the great end that I envisioned for it, I would gladly have that person do what they could. Even if I cannot make the dream come to pass, it is sufficient that someone make it happen. It is for the greater good of China.

[[User:Chiang Kai-shek|Chiang Kai-shek]] 04:33, 15 October 2011 (UTC)

<nowiki>Works Cited:

Coppa, Frank. Encyclopedia of modern dictators: from Napoleon to the present. 1st.1. New York: Peter Lang, 2006. 58. eBook.

Barnouin, Barbra, and Yu Changgen.Zhou Enlai: a political life . 1st. 1. Hong Kong: The Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2006. 74-75. eBook.

Bethell, Tom. "Chiang Kai-shek and the Struggle for China." Hoover Digest. 1. (2007): 1. Web. 14 Oct. 2011. <http://www.hoover.org/publications/hoover-digest/article/5835>.

Spence, Jonathan D. The Search for Modern China. 2nd. 1. New York: W. W. Norton& Company, Inc., 1999. 290-565. Print.

Furuya, Keiji, and Chʻun Chang.Chiang Kai-shek, his life and times. Abridged English ed. Brooklyn: St. John's University, 1981. Print.
</nowiki>

China in revolution

2011-10-15T23:44:53Z

Chiang Kai-shek: Created page with 'Reading in Turn: China in Revolution China had a huge push for nationalism, and even more importantly, anti-imperialism. The people demonstrated this nationalism by combining t…'

Reading in Turn: China in Revolution

China had a huge push for nationalism, and even more importantly, anti-imperialism. The people demonstrated this nationalism by combining to burn cargo from Japan, pushing forward into other territories, and getting rid of almost all of their opium crops! (go them!)

Reforms

"Nationalism propelled the imperial government into a series of reforms that proved to be one of the main revolutionary forces of the period both indirectly -and directly."

3 most important reforms: 1. creation of a new education system. 2. The modernization of the army in the country. 3. Introduction of the electoral process.

Gentry- With the old educational system gone they tried for other ways to get higher status. They tried to gain as much local control as possible. They formed the Bourgeoisie to gain more status.

Girls & Women- played a big part in the revolutionary youth movement."Their faintingt emotionally at·supercharged meetings was interpreted as showing the depths of their despair for the country, as the first step toward suicide, the final protest."

Peasants- HUGE! They were the ones getting rid of their opium crops and burning the unwanted foreign cargo. Their passion fed the fire, and at this time they would even band together with the wealthier class to achieve their goals.

As for what these people were revolting against, it seems to me that what began as banding together against foreign control and powers (they didn't like the treaties with Japan or England, and that most of their rail systems were funded by foreign governments), turned into a revolt against their own Imperial government. Nationalism, having all the people together in a cause, seemed to give them a sense of control, that lead them to trying to take control l of their own government.

Chiang kai-shek

2011-10-15T04:42:29Z

Chiang Kai-shek:

[[File:Chiang_kai-shek_pic.jpg‎]]Chiang Kai-Shek

I am a great warrior. I have fought countless battles. I have sought to honestly deal with my opponents and supervisors. I have not let down the banner of liberation, nor have I let go of the bar of justice. My deepest desire is for the good of the nationalists. I have devoted my life to fighting for this movement. Although I have faced great opposition, even defeat, I still cling to my cause and stand tall. I am Chiang Kai-shek.

I was born in 1887. My mother was widowed at age 22; I was 8yrs old at the time. She always wanted the best for me, and worked hard to provide me with opportunities to become someone important. I honor her. Her deepest desire was that I would grow up to serve our country. I have tried to make her proud.

In my early years of education I was an adept student. I was very motivated and driven. I began studying the Japanese language, hoping one day to attend a military academy in Japan. This study served me well in years to come. I was interested in politics and would read the newspaper careful when I had free-time at school. From elementary school I had the military in my sights. This was inspired both by my mother and my teacher, Ku Ch’ing-lien. (Furuya 9-10)

Eventually, after scrimping and saving, my mother had the funds to send me to Japan to further my education. Although I was discouraged to find that I had to have special recommendation to attend Japan’s military academies, I found that it was a great opportunity to form friendships and obtain allies while I was there.

When I returned home to China I entered the extremely competitive process of becoming an elite soldier so that I could qualify to study in Japan. I succeeded in this endeavor and eventually returned there to learn the art of war. I studied there for 3 years. It was there in Japan that I joined a revolutionary group to overthrow the Qing dynasty. To begin with I was simply rebellious, but the ideas presented sunk in and I felt that indeed China needed to be freed.

Right after the Wuhan revolt began me and some of my comrades returned home to China to join in the rebellion. I immediately contacted a friend, Ch’en Chi-mei, who was organizing a simultaneous uprising in Shanghai and Hangchow. He assigned me to travel to Hangchow and take up the military aspect of the insurrection. I gladly accepted. (Furuya 32)
I hated the red communists. They started as a part of our Kuomintang party, but then slowly but surely did all they could to take over the entire party- and all of China. I could see the rats that they were from the very start. My negative impression of them began when I traveled to see the direct effect of communism in Russia.

I was sent to the Soviet Union in 1923 to investigate their form of government and to see if any future alliances or support could be gained by a relationship with them. I was greatly put out when I saw their military camps and met with their commanders. I felt that they could not be trusted. They offered to help in ways of moral and material assistance, all direct military action was to be avoided, but I still didn’t feel like we should trust them. In fact, when I returned I told the Kuomintang:
“In regard to the Russian Communist Party, I believe a distinction should be made between facts and theories. We cannot ignore the facts simply because we believe in certain aspects of their theories. My personal observations lead me to the conclusion that [they] cannot be wholly trusted. I told you that we could only believe about 30 percent of what the Russians had to say. That was really an understatement because, in view of the excessive trust you seemed to repose in the Russians, I didn’t want to upset you too much.” (Furuya 117)

The party ignored my advice, saying that due to our lack of funds we had to accept what help we could get, (not to mention those leftists who were glad to be working with a country already using communism in their government). I was disappointed with the decision, but acknowledging that was the party’s decision, I supported them. I was loyal to the KMT.

After finally overthrowing the Qing dynasty, elections were held and a house of representatives, plus a senate, were created. They voted on a chairman and wrote a constitution. I was appointed as the [person over the military].

When the news came to me that the communists wanted to be separate and equal with the KMT, I was thoroughly upset. How could we let them have so much power?! Our vision was so different and all they wanted to do was put all of the peasants; people who were uneducated and without manners, into so kind of equal position in life. I saw the Soviet Union! They were dark and dreary. I still dreamed of a democratic China.

The idiot of a leader agreed to disagree. He put out a statement with the leaders of the communist group that the KMT and the CCP were both going to govern China- as if that would ever work. I decided that it was my responsibility to take things into my own hands. My party was obviously not taking control of the situation. I began to actively fight the CCP for territory, beginning with Shanghai. Blood began to spill, but we needed a unified country.

Just as I was fighting the communists, the Japanese decided to invade. It was my opinion that in order to deal with Japan we had to have one government. I wanted to put out the communist fire and then take care of the Japanese. I traveled to Xi’an to meet plan with some fellow military commanders, and while I was there members of my own political party kidnapped me! Zhang Xueliang and others told me that I must focus on the Japanese before fighting the communists. In addition to their force, I was receiving much pressure from the US government. Japan was a common enemy and they wanted to see if they would conquer China, and conquer her as quickly as they claimed. From all angles people counseled me to postpone my war with the CCP and shift my battle to the Japanese.

I didn’t want to agree with them. I knew the gross fungi that the Communists were, that they would spread like a disease, corrupting the entire land if given a chance, but I yielded. I unwillingly agreed to team up with the enemy (CCP) and fight the Japanese. That promise lasted until about 1941.

Mao Zedong and I had a particular dislike for each other. While we had to join forces we could hardly get anything done. I could barely stomach looking at that traitor, let alone fighting beside him. It took many other peacemakers to get to any form of agreement, but, alas! We defeated the Japanese in 1945.

As soon as possible I shifted my attacks to the CCP. Even when the Japanese surrendered in 1945 I asked that they postpone leaving. I needed to be ready to unify the entire country under the same government, and I had to gather my resources. The Japanese were grateful to me for not implementing severe treatment to the prisoners of war. They were also anti-communist so while they remained in China they were somewhat helpful in locating and exterminating CCP members.

The civil war raging within China was not only a battle of arms and of mass, but a battle of image. The key to winning was not just having the brute force, but the support of the people, and the CCP was winning that war in the country side. They were giving peasants property and telling common people to come and join the ranks. Long before the Japanese invaded the communists had spread “anti-Chiang” slogans. What started as ant-KMT transformed into an attack on me! Those dogs sought to turn my own campaign followers against me. There was no misunderstanding on the point that the CCP and I were enemies.

In addition to the poor opinion that the CCP had for me (and that they were spreading around the country), some of the military maneuvers that I put into place made the masses dislike me. For example, when the Japanese were attacking I had to retreat a few times. I couldn’t let the Japanese have access to more resources, so I burned the crops and killed the cattle as I went, successfully cutting off to the Japanese, but also causing thousands of the local Chinese to die from starvation.

One other incident that harmed my image was the fire of Changsha. I blame it all on those bellow me who failed to complete their assignments, but somehow the people within were not warned before we set fire to the city to keep it from the Japanese. The result was 20,000 civilians killed, while hundreds of thousands no longer had homes. All I can say is that it was for the good of the military. (Barnouin and Changgen 74-75)

As the war continued to rage, I fought hard to rid the land of the communists. They used very successful guerrilla warfare tactics. After much travail I cornered them! I was in reach of my goal! I had them surrounded, but for reasons I cannot explain, postponed my attack. In that short window of time, the communists began their Long March, a journey that would be used as a legendary expedition, bringing more people into their red ranks. That was the turning point in the war. Mao became famous and the party breathed new life into their cause. I will forever mourn that situation.

Even with all of this conflict within the country, I managed to pull together an election of our republic, and was elected president in 1947. The CCP didn’t recognize this action. Nevertheless I remained in office until 1949, when I resigned.

In WWII I was one of the big four allies, along with Roosevelt, Stalin, and Churchill. Even though I didn’t completely agree with England, the US, or the Soviet Union, our common enemies were Japan, Italy, and Germany. It was something that brought me more publicity, and an opportunity to gain more support.

The responsibility of unifying our country, defeating the Japanese, boosting our economic system, creating the right foreign allies, and setting up a functional government all felt heavy on my shoulders. I had such lofty goals for our country! How could we lose so much!? My original master Dr. Sun had long passed away and I missed his counsel and support. This was a point when I had to find extra strength; I had to remind myself of my dream for my country. I pressed on.

I knew that the reason the KMT was failing must be because corruption within our party. I also felt that the morality of the people was falling, and I determined that if they were more moral we would have a more successful government. I started the new life movement in to try to get my people to return to their Confucian values and join with the KMT. Unfortunately this movement didn’t catch, and my people continued on their downward plunge into to the gulf of communism. (Bethell 1)

I was originally Buddhist, but when I wanted to marry Soong May-ling (my third wife) I promised her mother I would turn Christian. Soong May-ling was the sister-in-law of my mentor, Dr. Sun. She was educated in the US, and became very famous as she helped me build support for the KMT. We were featured in the Times magazine more than once, and met with Pres. Roosevelt and Winston Churchill in 1943.

The US was initially supportive of me and my campaign and, until about 1970, recognized me as the voice for the Republic of China in the United Nations. I was a little concerned that their western ways were too modern, but accepted their help. Eventually they lost faith in me and I no longer had their support. People who worked with me kept moving to the US and then giving me a bad reputation.
In 1947 I began the White Terror movement. I wanted to cleanse Taiwan, and all of China, of any communists. As a result of martial law and extreme measures that I felt were necessary, some 18,000 to 28,000 people died in the massacre in Taiwan. This was a move to get the people to submit to the new governing powers, namely myself, and I have been forever blamed for the people who were killed. I noticed that now there is even a monument commemorating the event, and that I am chiseled in as the villain.

When I lost the support of the US, and the CCP was flourishing I moved my capital to Taiwan. This move began in 1947, although I didn’t leave until 1949. My government in mainland China was simply falling apart. Inflation and corruption had weakened us to the point of shattering. My comrade – tried to negotiate with the communist party, but to no avail. We couldn’t come to terms with one another.
I became president of Taiwan in 1950 and was re-elected in 1954, 1960, and 1972. Obviously the officials liked me. I had also become widely known in the Western world, and claimed to represent all of China (including those parts I didn’t currently have control of), which the United Nations agreed to recognize. Even when I was unpopular I held this power.
When I moved to Taiwan I took sufficient funds to support the plans I had for the economic system there. Some say that I embezzled precious money, and I did return some of it, but I feel I had more need of it than anyone else.

I set in motion new policies that launched the Republic of China into a prosperous economic situation. I also enforced legislature to change the national language to Mandarin, instead of Cantonese. I have to say that I made my mark on Taiwan.
Even when I was in Taiwan I tried to help overthrow the communist party in mainland China. I provided funds for some Muslim groups still within the territory, and sent them supplies. I traveled to Muslim groups and asked them to make a greater effort to fight the communists. I even planned to attack with my own troops. I simply couldn’t let my homeland go. I knew that I was so close… I only wished that it would have worked.

I died in 1975. It was my wish to postpone burial until China was reunited under the principles which my mentor, Dr. Sun Yat-sen, had directed. I felt very strongly about this, as did my son, Chiang Chinkou. Both of our remains were placed in a temporary mausoleum located near Lake Kindness in Taiwan, until in 2005, at the request of my wife we were buried in the Wuchih Mountain Military Cemetery, Taiwan.

In my lifetime I did everything I could to attain my dream: a democratic China. Many people criticize the ways I went about doing this. I would take risks; I would fight battles that didn’t seem winnable. Even when the mainland was completely out of my reach, I reached. When I said I didn’t want to be buried until the country was united under correct principles, I meant it! I am devoted to my principles. The moral code of the people seemed to be completely out of control, and I feel that if we would have adopted the principles presented in the New Life movement, it would have made a huge difference. China would have been drastically different if I would have won the war. I should have won the war! I was in the right, they were in the wrong. My vision of China, better yet, the vision that was originally held by Dr. Sun Yat-sen, would have elevated China high above the stars. We would have dominated all foreign powers.

I am bitter that I could not bring my homeland to the state that we wanted, but I can see that now modern China has adopted some of our plans. I do not agree with much of what they do. I can hardly believe that they have declared they are a capitalist country! I never agreed with capitalism, but there are some other things that please me greatly. I am glad that they have made the common language Mandarin. I am really happy that they are showing the nations of the world that China can do great things. I can see that they are becoming more prominent economically.

Probably the most grievous thing to me is that with the communists still in control of mainland China there is still friction between Taiwan and the mainland. I anger that there is such a division among the Chinese! Do they not see the glorious way life would be if they were to become a true Democracy?! I wish that I could change it. I wish that I could live more than one life that I could forever fight for my dream. But, I have determined, if there was another, someone else who could bring my country to the great end that I envisioned for it, I would gladly have that person do what they could. Even if I cannot make the dream come to pass, it is sufficient that someone make it happen. It is for the greater good of China.

[[User:Chiang Kai-shek|Chiang Kai-shek]] 04:33, 15 October 2011 (UTC)

<nowiki>Works Cited:

Coppa, Frank. Encyclopedia of modern dictators: from Napoleon to the present. 1st.1. New York: Peter Lang, 2006. 58. eBook.

Barnouin, Barbra, and Yu Changgen.Zhou Enlai: a political life . 1st. 1. Hong Kong: The Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2006. 74-75. eBook.

Bethell, Tom. "Chiang Kai-shek and the Struggle for China." Hoover Digest. 1. (2007): 1. Web. 14 Oct. 2011. <http://www.hoover.org/publications/hoover-digest/article/5835>.

Spence, Jonathan D. The Search for Modern China. 2nd. 1. New York: W. W. Norton& Company, Inc., 1999. 290-565. Print.

Furuya, Keiji, and Chʻun Chang.Chiang Kai-shek, his life and times. Abridged English ed. Brooklyn: St. John's University, 1981. Print.
</nowiki>

File:Chiang kai-shek pic.jpg

2011-10-15T04:37:59Z

Chiang Kai-shek:

Chiang kai-shek

2011-10-15T04:37:18Z

Chiang Kai-shek:

Chiang Kai-Shek

I am a great warrior. I have fought countless battles. I have sought to honestly deal with my opponents and supervisors. I have not let down the banner of liberation, nor have I let go of the bar of justice. My deepest desire is for the good of the nationalists. I have devoted my life to fighting for this movement. Although I have faced great opposition, even defeat, I still cling to my cause and stand tall. I am Chiang Kai-shek.

I was born in 1887. My mother was widowed at age 22; I was 8yrs old at the time. She always wanted the best for me, and worked hard to provide me with opportunities to become someone important. I honor her. Her deepest desire was that I would grow up to serve our country. I have tried to make her proud.

In my early years of education I was an adept student. I was very motivated and driven. I began studying the Japanese language, hoping one day to attend a military academy in Japan. This study served me well in years to come. I was interested in politics and would read the newspaper careful when I had free-time at school. From elementary school I had the military in my sights. This was inspired both by my mother and my teacher, Ku Ch’ing-lien. (Furuya 9-10)

Eventually, after scrimping and saving, my mother had the funds to send me to Japan to further my education. Although I was discouraged to find that I had to have special recommendation to attend Japan’s military academies, I found that it was a great opportunity to form friendships and obtain allies while I was there.

When I returned home to China I entered the extremely competitive process of becoming an elite soldier so that I could qualify to study in Japan. I succeeded in this endeavor and eventually returned there to learn the art of war. I studied there for 3 years. It was there in Japan that I joined a revolutionary group to overthrow the Qing dynasty. To begin with I was simply rebellious, but the ideas presented sunk in and I felt that indeed China needed to be freed.

Right after the Wuhan revolt began me and some of my comrades returned home to China to join in the rebellion. I immediately contacted a friend, Ch’en Chi-mei, who was organizing a simultaneous uprising in Shanghai and Hangchow. He assigned me to travel to Hangchow and take up the military aspect of the insurrection. I gladly accepted. (Furuya 32)
I hated the red communists. They started as a part of our Kuomintang party, but then slowly but surely did all they could to take over the entire party- and all of China. I could see the rats that they were from the very start. My negative impression of them began when I traveled to see the direct effect of communism in Russia.

I was sent to the Soviet Union in 1923 to investigate their form of government and to see if any future alliances or support could be gained by a relationship with them. I was greatly put out when I saw their military camps and met with their commanders. I felt that they could not be trusted. They offered to help in ways of moral and material assistance, all direct military action was to be avoided, but I still didn’t feel like we should trust them. In fact, when I returned I told the Kuomintang:
“In regard to the Russian Communist Party, I believe a distinction should be made between facts and theories. We cannot ignore the facts simply because we believe in certain aspects of their theories. My personal observations lead me to the conclusion that [they] cannot be wholly trusted. I told you that we could only believe about 30 percent of what the Russians had to say. That was really an understatement because, in view of the excessive trust you seemed to repose in the Russians, I didn’t want to upset you too much.” (Furuya 117)

The party ignored my advice, saying that due to our lack of funds we had to accept what help we could get, (not to mention those leftists who were glad to be working with a country already using communism in their government). I was disappointed with the decision, but acknowledging that was the party’s decision, I supported them. I was loyal to the KMT.

After finally overthrowing the Qing dynasty, elections were held and a house of representatives, plus a senate, were created. They voted on a chairman and wrote a constitution. I was appointed as the [person over the military].

When the news came to me that the communists wanted to be separate and equal with the KMT, I was thoroughly upset. How could we let them have so much power?! Our vision was so different and all they wanted to do was put all of the peasants; people who were uneducated and without manners, into so kind of equal position in life. I saw the Soviet Union! They were dark and dreary. I still dreamed of a democratic China.

The idiot of a leader agreed to disagree. He put out a statement with the leaders of the communist group that the KMT and the CCP were both going to govern China- as if that would ever work. I decided that it was my responsibility to take things into my own hands. My party was obviously not taking control of the situation. I began to actively fight the CCP for territory, beginning with Shanghai. Blood began to spill, but we needed a unified country.

Just as I was fighting the communists, the Japanese decided to invade. It was my opinion that in order to deal with Japan we had to have one government. I wanted to put out the communist fire and then take care of the Japanese. I traveled to Xi’an to meet plan with some fellow military commanders, and while I was there members of my own political party kidnapped me! Zhang Xueliang and others told me that I must focus on the Japanese before fighting the communists. In addition to their force, I was receiving much pressure from the US government. Japan was a common enemy and they wanted to see if they would conquer China, and conquer her as quickly as they claimed. From all angles people counseled me to postpone my war with the CCP and shift my battle to the Japanese.

I didn’t want to agree with them. I knew the gross fungi that the Communists were, that they would spread like a disease, corrupting the entire land if given a chance, but I yielded. I unwillingly agreed to team up with the enemy (CCP) and fight the Japanese. That promise lasted until about 1941.

Mao Zedong and I had a particular dislike for each other. While we had to join forces we could hardly get anything done. I could barely stomach looking at that traitor, let alone fighting beside him. It took many other peacemakers to get to any form of agreement, but, alas! We defeated the Japanese in 1945.

As soon as possible I shifted my attacks to the CCP. Even when the Japanese surrendered in 1945 I asked that they postpone leaving. I needed to be ready to unify the entire country under the same government, and I had to gather my resources. The Japanese were grateful to me for not implementing severe treatment to the prisoners of war. They were also anti-communist so while they remained in China they were somewhat helpful in locating and exterminating CCP members.

The civil war raging within China was not only a battle of arms and of mass, but a battle of image. The key to winning was not just having the brute force, but the support of the people, and the CCP was winning that war in the country side. They were giving peasants property and telling common people to come and join the ranks. Long before the Japanese invaded the communists had spread “anti-Chiang” slogans. What started as ant-KMT transformed into an attack on me! Those dogs sought to turn my own campaign followers against me. There was no misunderstanding on the point that the CCP and I were enemies.

In addition to the poor opinion that the CCP had for me (and that they were spreading around the country), some of the military maneuvers that I put into place made the masses dislike me. For example, when the Japanese were attacking I had to retreat a few times. I couldn’t let the Japanese have access to more resources, so I burned the crops and killed the cattle as I went, successfully cutting off to the Japanese, but also causing thousands of the local Chinese to die from starvation.

One other incident that harmed my image was the fire of Changsha. I blame it all on those bellow me who failed to complete their assignments, but somehow the people within were not warned before we set fire to the city to keep it from the Japanese. The result was 20,000 civilians killed, while hundreds of thousands no longer had homes. All I can say is that it was for the good of the military. (Barnouin and Changgen 74-75)

As the war continued to rage, I fought hard to rid the land of the communists. They used very successful guerrilla warfare tactics. After much travail I cornered them! I was in reach of my goal! I had them surrounded, but for reasons I cannot explain, postponed my attack. In that short window of time, the communists began their Long March, a journey that would be used as a legendary expedition, bringing more people into their red ranks. That was the turning point in the war. Mao became famous and the party breathed new life into their cause. I will forever mourn that situation.

Even with all of this conflict within the country, I managed to pull together an election of our republic, and was elected president in 1947. The CCP didn’t recognize this action. Nevertheless I remained in office until 1949, when I resigned.

In WWII I was one of the big four allies, along with Roosevelt, Stalin, and Churchill. Even though I didn’t completely agree with England, the US, or the Soviet Union, our common enemies were Japan, Italy, and Germany. It was something that brought me more publicity, and an opportunity to gain more support.

The responsibility of unifying our country, defeating the Japanese, boosting our economic system, creating the right foreign allies, and setting up a functional government all felt heavy on my shoulders. I had such lofty goals for our country! How could we lose so much!? My original master Dr. Sun had long passed away and I missed his counsel and support. This was a point when I had to find extra strength; I had to remind myself of my dream for my country. I pressed on.

I knew that the reason the KMT was failing must be because corruption within our party. I also felt that the morality of the people was falling, and I determined that if they were more moral we would have a more successful government. I started the new life movement in to try to get my people to return to their Confucian values and join with the KMT. Unfortunately this movement didn’t catch, and my people continued on their downward plunge into to the gulf of communism. (Bethell 1)

I was originally Buddhist, but when I wanted to marry Soong May-ling (my third wife) I promised her mother I would turn Christian. Soong May-ling was the sister-in-law of my mentor, Dr. Sun. She was educated in the US, and became very famous as she helped me build support for the KMT. We were featured in the Times magazine more than once, and met with Pres. Roosevelt and Winston Churchill in 1943.

The US was initially supportive of me and my campaign and, until about 1970, recognized me as the voice for the Republic of China in the United Nations. I was a little concerned that their western ways were too modern, but accepted their help. Eventually they lost faith in me and I no longer had their support. People who worked with me kept moving to the US and then giving me a bad reputation.
In 1947 I began the White Terror movement. I wanted to cleanse Taiwan, and all of China, of any communists. As a result of martial law and extreme measures that I felt were necessary, some 18,000 to 28,000 people died in the massacre in Taiwan. This was a move to get the people to submit to the new governing powers, namely myself, and I have been forever blamed for the people who were killed. I noticed that now there is even a monument commemorating the event, and that I am chiseled in as the villain.

When I lost the support of the US, and the CCP was flourishing I moved my capital to Taiwan. This move began in 1947, although I didn’t leave until 1949. My government in mainland China was simply falling apart. Inflation and corruption had weakened us to the point of shattering. My comrade – tried to negotiate with the communist party, but to no avail. We couldn’t come to terms with one another.
I became president of Taiwan in 1950 and was re-elected in 1954, 1960, and 1972. Obviously the officials liked me. I had also become widely known in the Western world, and claimed to represent all of China (including those parts I didn’t currently have control of), which the United Nations agreed to recognize. Even when I was unpopular I held this power.
When I moved to Taiwan I took sufficient funds to support the plans I had for the economic system there. Some say that I embezzled precious money, and I did return some of it, but I feel I had more need of it than anyone else.

I set in motion new policies that launched the Republic of China into a prosperous economic situation. I also enforced legislature to change the national language to Mandarin, instead of Cantonese. I have to say that I made my mark on Taiwan.
Even when I was in Taiwan I tried to help overthrow the communist party in mainland China. I provided funds for some Muslim groups still within the territory, and sent them supplies. I traveled to Muslim groups and asked them to make a greater effort to fight the communists. I even planned to attack with my own troops. I simply couldn’t let my homeland go. I knew that I was so close… I only wished that it would have worked.

I died in 1975. It was my wish to postpone burial until China was reunited under the principles which my mentor, Dr. Sun Yat-sen, had directed. I felt very strongly about this, as did my son, Chiang Chinkou. Both of our remains were placed in a temporary mausoleum located near Lake Kindness in Taiwan, until in 2005, at the request of my wife we were buried in the Wuchih Mountain Military Cemetery, Taiwan.

In my lifetime I did everything I could to attain my dream: a democratic China. Many people criticize the ways I went about doing this. I would take risks; I would fight battles that didn’t seem winnable. Even when the mainland was completely out of my reach, I reached. When I said I didn’t want to be buried until the country was united under correct principles, I meant it! I am devoted to my principles. The moral code of the people seemed to be completely out of control, and I feel that if we would have adopted the principles presented in the New Life movement, it would have made a huge difference. China would have been drastically different if I would have won the war. I should have won the war! I was in the right, they were in the wrong. My vision of China, better yet, the vision that was originally held by Dr. Sun Yat-sen, would have elevated China high above the stars. We would have dominated all foreign powers.

I am bitter that I could not bring my homeland to the state that we wanted, but I can see that now modern China has adopted some of our plans. I do not agree with much of what they do. I can hardly believe that they have declared they are a capitalist country! I never agreed with capitalism, but there are some other things that please me greatly. I am glad that they have made the common language Mandarin. I am really happy that they are showing the nations of the world that China can do great things. I can see that they are becoming more prominent economically.

Probably the most grievous thing to me is that with the communists still in control of mainland China there is still friction between Taiwan and the mainland. I anger that there is such a division among the Chinese! Do they not see the glorious way life would be if they were to become a true Democracy?! I wish that I could change it. I wish that I could live more than one life that I could forever fight for my dream. But, I have determined, if there was another, someone else who could bring my country to the great end that I envisioned for it, I would gladly have that person do what they could. Even if I cannot make the dream come to pass, it is sufficient that someone make it happen. It is for the greater good of China.

[[User:Chiang Kai-shek|Chiang Kai-shek]] 04:33, 15 October 2011 (UTC)

<nowiki>Works Cited:

Coppa, Frank. Encyclopedia of modern dictators: from Napoleon to the present. 1st.1. New York: Peter Lang, 2006. 58. eBook.

Barnouin, Barbra, and Yu Changgen.Zhou Enlai: a political life . 1st. 1. Hong Kong: The Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2006. 74-75. eBook.

Bethell, Tom. "Chiang Kai-shek and the Struggle for China." Hoover Digest. 1. (2007): 1. Web. 14 Oct. 2011. <http://www.hoover.org/publications/hoover-digest/article/5835>.

Spence, Jonathan D. The Search for Modern China. 2nd. 1. New York: W. W. Norton& Company, Inc., 1999. 290-565. Print.

Furuya, Keiji, and Chʻun Chang.Chiang Kai-shek, his life and times. Abridged English ed. Brooklyn: St. John's University, 1981. Print.
</nowiki>

Chiang kai-shek

2011-10-15T04:35:41Z

Chiang Kai-shek:

Chiang Kai-Shek

I am a great warrior. I have fought countless battles. I have sought to honestly deal with my opponents and supervisors. I have not let down the banner of liberation, nor have I let go of the bar of justice. My deepest desire is for the good of the nationalists. I have devoted my life to fighting for this movement. Although I have faced great opposition, even defeat, I still cling to my cause and stand tall. I am Chiang Kai-shek.

I was born in 1887. My mother was widowed at age 22; I was 8yrs old at the time. She always wanted the best for me, and worked hard to provide me with opportunities to become someone important. I honor her. Her deepest desire was that I would grow up to serve our country. I have tried to make her proud.

In my early years of education I was an adept student. I was very motivated and driven. I began studying the Japanese language, hoping one day to attend a military academy in Japan. This study served me well in years to come. I was interested in politics and would read the newspaper careful when I had free-time at school. From elementary school I had the military in my sights. This was inspired both by my mother and my teacher, Ku Ch’ing-lien. (Furuya 9-10)

Eventually, after scrimping and saving, my mother had the funds to send me to Japan to further my education. Although I was discouraged to find that I had to have special recommendation to attend Japan’s military academies, I found that it was a great opportunity to form friendships and obtain allies while I was there.

When I returned home to China I entered the extremely competitive process of becoming an elite soldier so that I could qualify to study in Japan. I succeeded in this endeavor and eventually returned there to learn the art of war. I studied there for 3 years. It was there in Japan that I joined a revolutionary group to overthrow the Qing dynasty. To begin with I was simply rebellious, but the ideas presented sunk in and I felt that indeed China needed to be freed.

Right after the Wuhan revolt began me and some of my comrades returned home to China to join in the rebellion. I immediately contacted a friend, Ch’en Chi-mei, who was organizing a simultaneous uprising in Shanghai and Hangchow. He assigned me to travel to Hangchow and take up the military aspect of the insurrection. I gladly accepted. (Furuya 32)
I hated the red communists. They started as a part of our Kuomintang party, but then slowly but surely did all they could to take over the entire party- and all of China. I could see the rats that they were from the very start. My negative impression of them began when I traveled to see the direct effect of communism in Russia.

I was sent to the Soviet Union in 1923 to investigate their form of government and to see if any future alliances or support could be gained by a relationship with them. I was greatly put out when I saw their military camps and met with their commanders. I felt that they could not be trusted. They offered to help in ways of moral and material assistance, all direct military action was to be avoided, but I still didn’t feel like we should trust them. In fact, when I returned I told the Kuomintang:
“In regard to the Russian Communist Party, I believe a distinction should be made between facts and theories. We cannot ignore the facts simply because we believe in certain aspects of their theories. My personal observations lead me to the conclusion that [they] cannot be wholly trusted. I told you that we could only believe about 30 percent of what the Russians had to say. That was really an understatement because, in view of the excessive trust you seemed to repose in the Russians, I didn’t want to upset you too much.” (Furuya 117)

The party ignored my advice, saying that due to our lack of funds we had to accept what help we could get, (not to mention those leftists who were glad to be working with a country already using communism in their government). I was disappointed with the decision, but acknowledging that was the party’s decision, I supported them. I was loyal to the KMT.

After finally overthrowing the Qing dynasty, elections were held and a house of representatives, plus a senate, were created. They voted on a chairman and wrote a constitution. I was appointed as the [person over the military].

When the news came to me that the communists wanted to be separate and equal with the KMT, I was thoroughly upset. How could we let them have so much power?! Our vision was so different and all they wanted to do was put all of the peasants; people who were uneducated and without manners, into so kind of equal position in life. I saw the Soviet Union! They were dark and dreary. I still dreamed of a democratic China.

The idiot of a leader agreed to disagree. He put out a statement with the leaders of the communist group that the KMT and the CCP were both going to govern China- as if that would ever work. I decided that it was my responsibility to take things into my own hands. My party was obviously not taking control of the situation. I began to actively fight the CCP for territory, beginning with Shanghai. Blood began to spill, but we needed a unified country.

Just as I was fighting the communists, the Japanese decided to invade. It was my opinion that in order to deal with Japan we had to have one government. I wanted to put out the communist fire and then take care of the Japanese. I traveled to Xi’an to meet plan with some fellow military commanders, and while I was there members of my own political party kidnapped me! Zhang Xueliang and others told me that I must focus on the Japanese before fighting the communists. In addition to their force, I was receiving much pressure from the US government. Japan was a common enemy and they wanted to see if they would conquer China, and conquer her as quickly as they claimed. From all angles people counseled me to postpone my war with the CCP and shift my battle to the Japanese.

I didn’t want to agree with them. I knew the gross fungi that the Communists were, that they would spread like a disease, corrupting the entire land if given a chance, but I yielded. I unwillingly agreed to team up with the enemy (CCP) and fight the Japanese. That promise lasted until about 1941.

Mao Zedong and I had a particular dislike for each other. While we had to join forces we could hardly get anything done. I could barely stomach looking at that traitor, let alone fighting beside him. It took many other peacemakers to get to any form of agreement, but, alas! We defeated the Japanese in 1945.

As soon as possible I shifted my attacks to the CCP. Even when the Japanese surrendered in 1945 I asked that they postpone leaving. I needed to be ready to unify the entire country under the same government, and I had to gather my resources. The Japanese were grateful to me for not implementing severe treatment to the prisoners of war. They were also anti-communist so while they remained in China they were somewhat helpful in locating and exterminating CCP members.

The civil war raging within China was not only a battle of arms and of mass, but a battle of image. The key to winning was not just having the brute force, but the support of the people, and the CCP was winning that war in the country side. They were giving peasants property and telling common people to come and join the ranks. Long before the Japanese invaded the communists had spread “anti-Chiang” slogans. What started as ant-KMT transformed into an attack on me! Those dogs sought to turn my own campaign followers against me. There was no misunderstanding on the point that the CCP and I were enemies.

In addition to the poor opinion that the CCP had for me (and that they were spreading around the country), some of the military maneuvers that I put into place made the masses dislike me. For example, when the Japanese were attacking I had to retreat a few times. I couldn’t let the Japanese have access to more resources, so I burned the crops and killed the cattle as I went, successfully cutting off to the Japanese, but also causing thousands of the local Chinese to die from starvation.

One other incident that harmed my image was the fire of Changsha. I blame it all on those bellow me who failed to complete their assignments, but somehow the people within were not warned before we set fire to the city to keep it from the Japanese. The result was 20,000 civilians killed, while hundreds of thousands no longer had homes. All I can say is that it was for the good of the military. (Barnouin and Changgen 74-75)

As the war continued to rage, I fought hard to rid the land of the communists. They used very successful guerrilla warfare tactics. After much travail I cornered them! I was in reach of my goal! I had them surrounded, but for reasons I cannot explain, postponed my attack. In that short window of time, the communists began their Long March, a journey that would be used as a legendary expedition, bringing more people into their red ranks. That was the turning point in the war. Mao became famous and the party breathed new life into their cause. I will forever mourn that situation.

Even with all of this conflict within the country, I managed to pull together an election of our republic, and was elected president in 1947. The CCP didn’t recognize this action. Nevertheless I remained in office until 1949, when I resigned.

In WWII I was one of the big four allies, along with Roosevelt, Stalin, and Churchill. Even though I didn’t completely agree with England, the US, or the Soviet Union, our common enemies were Japan, Italy, and Germany. It was something that brought me more publicity, and an opportunity to gain more support.
The responsibility of unifying our country, defeating the Japanese, boosting our economic system, creating the right foreign allies, and setting up a functional government all felt heavy on my shoulders. I had such lofty goals for our country! How could we lose so much!? My original master Dr. Sun had long passed away and I missed his counsel and support. This was a point when I had to find extra strength; I had to remind myself of my dream for my country. I pressed on.
I knew that the reason the KMT was failing must be because corruption within our party. I also felt that the morality of the people was falling, and I determined that if they were more moral we would have a more successful government. I started the new life movement in to try to get my people to return to their Confucian values and join with the KMT. Unfortunately this movement didn’t catch, and my people continued on their downward plunge into to the gulf of communism. (Bethell 1)
I was originally Buddhist, but when I wanted to marry Soong May-ling (my third wife) I promised her mother I would turn Christian. Soong May-ling was the sister-in-law of my mentor, Dr. Sun. She was educated in the US, and became very famous as she helped me build support for the KMT. We were featured in the Times magazine more than once, and met with Pres. Roosevelt and Winston Churchill in 1943.

The US was initially supportive of me and my campaign and, until about 1970, recognized me as the voice for the Republic of China in the United Nations. I was a little concerned that their western ways were too modern, but accepted their help. Eventually they lost faith in me and I no longer had their support. People who worked with me kept moving to the US and then giving me a bad reputation.
In 1947 I began the White Terror movement. I wanted to cleanse Taiwan, and all of China, of any communists. As a result of martial law and extreme measures that I felt were necessary, some 18,000 to 28,000 people died in the massacre in Taiwan. This was a move to get the people to submit to the new governing powers, namely myself, and I have been forever blamed for the people who were killed. I noticed that now there is even a monument commemorating the event, and that I am chiseled in as the villain.
When I lost the support of the US, and the CCP was flourishing I moved my capital to Taiwan. This move began in 1947, although I didn’t leave until 1949. My government in mainland China was simply falling apart. Inflation and corruption had weakened us to the point of shattering. My comrade – tried to negotiate with the communist party, but to no avail. We couldn’t come to terms with one another.
I became president of Taiwan in 1950 and was re-elected in 1954, 1960, and 1972. Obviously the officials liked me. I had also become widely known in the Western world, and claimed to represent all of China (including those parts I didn’t currently have control of), which the United Nations agreed to recognize. Even when I was unpopular I held this power.
When I moved to Taiwan I took sufficient funds to support the plans I had for the economic system there. Some say that I embezzled precious money, and I did return some of it, but I feel I had more need of it than anyone else.
I set in motion new policies that launched the Republic of China into a prosperous economic situation. I also enforced legislature to change the national language to Mandarin, instead of Cantonese. I have to say that I made my mark on Taiwan.
Even when I was in Taiwan I tried to help overthrow the communist party in mainland China. I provided funds for some Muslim groups still within the territory, and sent them supplies. I traveled to Muslim groups and asked them to make a greater effort to fight the communists. I even planned to attack with my own troops. I simply couldn’t let my homeland go. I knew that I was so close… I only wished that it would have worked.
I died in 1975. It was my wish to postpone burial until China was reunited under the principles which my mentor, Dr. Sun Yat-sen, had directed. I felt very strongly about this, as did my son, Chiang Chinkou. Both of our remains were placed in a temporary mausoleum located near Lake Kindness in Taiwan, until in 2005, at the request of my wife we were buried in the Wuchih Mountain Military Cemetery, Taiwan.
In my lifetime I did everything I could to attain my dream: a democratic China. Many people criticize the ways I went about doing this. I would take risks; I would fight battles that didn’t seem winnable. Even when the mainland was completely out of my reach, I reached. When I said I didn’t want to be buried until the country was united under correct principles, I meant it! I am devoted to my principles. The moral code of the people seemed to be completely out of control, and I feel that if we would have adopted the principles presented in the New Life movement, it would have made a huge difference. China would have been drastically different if I would have won the war. I should have won the war! I was in the right, they were in the wrong. My vision of China, better yet, the vision that was originally held by Dr. Sun Yat-sen, would have elevated China high above the stars. We would have dominated all foreign powers.
I am bitter that I could not bring my homeland to the state that we wanted, but I can see that now modern China has adopted some of our plans. I do not agree with much of what they do. I can hardly believe that they have declared they are a capitalist country! I never agreed with capitalism, but there are some other things that please me greatly. I am glad that they have made the common language Mandarin. I am really happy that they are showing the nations of the world that China can do great things. I can see that they are becoming more prominent economically.
Probably the most grievous thing to me is that with the communists still in control of mainland China there is still friction between Taiwan and the mainland. I anger that there is such a division among the Chinese! Do they not see the glorious way life would be if they were to become a true Democracy?! I wish that I could change it. I wish that I could live more than one life that I could forever fight for my dream. But, I have determined, if there was another, someone else who could bring my country to the great end that I envisioned for it, I would gladly have that person do what they could. Even if I cannot make the dream come to pass, it is sufficient that someone make it happen. It is for the greater good of China.

[[User:Chiang Kai-shek|Chiang Kai-shek]] 04:33, 15 October 2011 (UTC)

<nowiki>Works Cited
Coppa, Frank. Encyclopedia of modern dictators: from Napoleon to the present. 1st.1. New York: Peter Lang, 2006. 58. eBook.
Barnouin, Barbra, and Yu Changgen.Zhou Enlai: a political life . 1st. 1. Hong Kong: The Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2006. 74-75. eBook.
Bethell, Tom. "Chiang Kai-shek and the Struggle for China." Hoover Digest. 1. (2007): 1. Web. 14 Oct. 2011. <http://www.hoover.org/publications/hoover-digest/article/5835>.
Spence, Jonathan D. The Search for Modern China. 2nd. 1. New York: W. W. Norton& Company, Inc., 1999. 290-565. Print.
Furuya, Keiji, and Chʻun Chang.Chiang Kai-shek, his life and times. Abridged English ed. Brooklyn: St. John's University, 1981. Print.
</nowiki>

Chiang kai-shek

2011-10-15T04:34:13Z

Chiang Kai-shek:

Chiang Kai-Shek

I am a great warrior. I have fought countless battles. I have sought to honestly deal with my opponents and supervisors. I have not let down the banner of liberation, nor have I let go of the bar of justice. My deepest desire is for the good of the nationalists. I have devoted my life to fighting for this movement. Although I have faced great opposition, even defeat, I still cling to my cause and stand tall. I am Chiang Kai-shek.
I was born in 1887. My mother was widowed at age 22; I was 8yrs old at the time. She always wanted the best for me, and worked hard to provide me with opportunities to become someone important. I honor her. Her deepest desire was that I would grow up to serve our country. I have tried to make her proud.
In my early years of education I was an adept student. I was very motivated and driven. I began studying the Japanese language, hoping one day to attend a military academy in Japan. This study served me well in years to come. I was interested in politics and would read the newspaper careful when I had free-time at school. From elementary school I had the military in my sights. This was inspired both by my mother and my teacher, Ku Ch’ing-lien. (Furuya 9-10)
Eventually, after scrimping and saving, my mother had the funds to send me to Japan to further my education. Although I was discouraged to find that I had to have special recommendation to attend Japan’s military academies, I found that it was a great opportunity to form friendships and obtain allies while I was there.
When I returned home to China I entered the extremely competitive process of becoming an elite soldier so that I could qualify to study in Japan. I succeeded in this endeavor and eventually returned there to learn the art of war. I studied there for 3 years. It was there in Japan that I joined a revolutionary group to overthrow the Qing dynasty. To begin with I was simply rebellious, but the ideas presented sunk in and I felt that indeed China needed to be freed.
Right after the Wuhan revolt began me and some of my comrades returned home to China to join in the rebellion. I immediately contacted a friend, Ch’en Chi-mei, who was organizing a simultaneous uprising in Shanghai and Hangchow. He assigned me to travel to Hangchow and take up the military aspect of the insurrection. I gladly accepted. (Furuya 32)
I hated the red communists. They started as a part of our Kuomintang party, but then slowly but surely did all they could to take over the entire party- and all of China. I could see the rats that they were from the very start. My negative impression of them began when I traveled to see the direct effect of communism in Russia.
I was sent to the Soviet Union in 1923 to investigate their form of government and to see if any future alliances or support could be gained by a relationship with them. I was greatly put out when I saw their military camps and met with their commanders. I felt that they could not be trusted. They offered to help in ways of moral and material assistance, all direct military action was to be avoided, but I still didn’t feel like we should trust them. In fact, when I returned I told the Kuomintang:
“In regard to the Russian Communist Party, I believe a distinction should be made between facts and theories. We cannot ignore the facts simply because we believe in certain aspects of their theories. My personal observations lead me to the conclusion that [they] cannot be wholly trusted. I told you that we could only believe about 30 percent of what the Russians had to say. That was really an understatement because, in view of the excessive trust you seemed to repose in the Russians, I didn’t want to upset you too much.” (Furuya 117)
The party ignored my advice, saying that due to our lack of funds we had to accept what help we could get, (not to mention those leftists who were glad to be working with a country already using communism in their government). I was disappointed with the decision, but acknowledging that was the party’s decision, I supported them. I was loyal to the KMT.
After finally overthrowing the Qing dynasty, elections were held and a house of representatives, plus a senate, were created. They voted on a chairman and wrote a constitution. I was appointed as the [person over the military].
When the news came to me that the communists wanted to be separate and equal with the KMT, I was thoroughly upset. How could we let them have so much power?! Our vision was so different and all they wanted to do was put all of the peasants; people who were uneducated and without manners, into so kind of equal position in life. I saw the Soviet Union! They were dark and dreary. I still dreamed of a democratic China.
The idiot of a leader agreed to disagree. He put out a statement with the leaders of the communist group that the KMT and the CCP were both going to govern China- as if that would ever work. I decided that it was my responsibility to take things into my own hands. My party was obviously not taking control of the situation. I began to actively fight the CCP for territory, beginning with Shanghai. Blood began to spill, but we needed a unified country.
Just as I was fighting the communists, the Japanese decided to invade. It was my opinion that in order to deal with Japan we had to have one government. I wanted to put out the communist fire and then take care of the Japanese. I traveled to Xi’an to meet plan with some fellow military commanders, and while I was there members of my own political party kidnapped me! Zhang Xueliang and others told me that I must focus on the Japanese before fighting the communists. In addition to their force, I was receiving much pressure from the US government. Japan was a common enemy and they wanted to see if they would conquer China, and conquer her as quickly as they claimed. From all angles people counseled me to postpone my war with the CCP and shift my battle to the Japanese.
I didn’t want to agree with them. I knew the gross fungi that the Communists were, that they would spread like a disease, corrupting the entire land if given a chance, but I yielded. I unwillingly agreed to team up with the enemy (CCP) and fight the Japanese. That promise lasted until about 1941.
Mao Zedong and I had a particular dislike for each other. While we had to join forces we could hardly get anything done. I could barely stomach looking at that traitor, let alone fighting beside him. It took many other peacemakers to get to any form of agreement, but, alas! We defeated the Japanese in 1945.
As soon as possible I shifted my attacks to the CCP. Even when the Japanese surrendered in 1945 I asked that they postpone leaving. I needed to be ready to unify the entire country under the same government, and I had to gather my resources. The Japanese were grateful to me for not implementing severe treatment to the prisoners of war. They were also anti-communist so while they remained in China they were somewhat helpful in locating and exterminating CCP members.
The civil war raging within China was not only a battle of arms and of mass, but a battle of image. The key to winning was not just having the brute force, but the support of the people, and the CCP was winning that war in the country side. They were giving peasants property and telling common people to come and join the ranks. Long before the Japanese invaded the communists had spread “anti-Chiang” slogans. What started as ant-KMT transformed into an attack on me! Those dogs sought to turn my own campaign followers against me. There was no misunderstanding on the point that the CCP and I were enemies.
In addition to the poor opinion that the CCP had for me (and that they were spreading around the country), some of the military maneuvers that I put into place made the masses dislike me. For example, when the Japanese were attacking I had to retreat a few times. I couldn’t let the Japanese have access to more resources, so I burned the crops and killed the cattle as I went, successfully cutting off to the Japanese, but also causing thousands of the local Chinese to die from starvation.
One other incident that harmed my image was the fire of Changsha. I blame it all on those bellow me who failed to complete their assignments, but somehow the people within were not warned before we set fire to the city to keep it from the Japanese. The result was 20,000 civilians killed, while hundreds of thousands no longer had homes. All I can say is that it was for the good of the military. (Barnouin and Changgen 74-75)
As the war continued to rage, I fought hard to rid the land of the communists. They used very successful guerrilla warfare tactics. After much travail I cornered them! I was in reach of my goal! I had them surrounded, but for reasons I cannot explain, postponed my attack. In that short window of time, the communists began their Long March, a journey that would be used as a legendary expedition, bringing more people into their red ranks. That was the turning point in the war. Mao became famous and the party breathed new life into their cause. I will forever mourn that situation.
Even with all of this conflict within the country, I managed to pull together an election of our republic, and was elected president in 1947. The CCP didn’t recognize this action. Nevertheless I remained in office until 1949, when I resigned.
In WWII I was one of the big four allies, along with Roosevelt, Stalin, and Churchill. Even though I didn’t completely agree with England, the US, or the Soviet Union, our common enemies were Japan, Italy, and Germany. It was something that brought me more publicity, and an opportunity to gain more support.
The responsibility of unifying our country, defeating the Japanese, boosting our economic system, creating the right foreign allies, and setting up a functional government all felt heavy on my shoulders. I had such lofty goals for our country! How could we lose so much!? My original master Dr. Sun had long passed away and I missed his counsel and support. This was a point when I had to find extra strength; I had to remind myself of my dream for my country. I pressed on.
I knew that the reason the KMT was failing must be because corruption within our party. I also felt that the morality of the people was falling, and I determined that if they were more moral we would have a more successful government. I started the new life movement in to try to get my people to return to their Confucian values and join with the KMT. Unfortunately this movement didn’t catch, and my people continued on their downward plunge into to the gulf of communism. (Bethell 1)
I was originally Buddhist, but when I wanted to marry Soong May-ling (my third wife) I promised her mother I would turn Christian. Soong May-ling was the sister-in-law of my mentor, Dr. Sun. She was educated in the US, and became very famous as she helped me build support for the KMT. We were featured in the Times magazine more than once, and met with Pres. Roosevelt and Winston Churchill in 1943.

The US was initially supportive of me and my campaign and, until about 1970, recognized me as the voice for the Republic of China in the United Nations. I was a little concerned that their western ways were too modern, but accepted their help. Eventually they lost faith in me and I no longer had their support. People who worked with me kept moving to the US and then giving me a bad reputation.
In 1947 I began the White Terror movement. I wanted to cleanse Taiwan, and all of China, of any communists. As a result of martial law and extreme measures that I felt were necessary, some 18,000 to 28,000 people died in the massacre in Taiwan. This was a move to get the people to submit to the new governing powers, namely myself, and I have been forever blamed for the people who were killed. I noticed that now there is even a monument commemorating the event, and that I am chiseled in as the villain.
When I lost the support of the US, and the CCP was flourishing I moved my capital to Taiwan. This move began in 1947, although I didn’t leave until 1949. My government in mainland China was simply falling apart. Inflation and corruption had weakened us to the point of shattering. My comrade – tried to negotiate with the communist party, but to no avail. We couldn’t come to terms with one another.
I became president of Taiwan in 1950 and was re-elected in 1954, 1960, and 1972. Obviously the officials liked me. I had also become widely known in the Western world, and claimed to represent all of China (including those parts I didn’t currently have control of), which the United Nations agreed to recognize. Even when I was unpopular I held this power.
When I moved to Taiwan I took sufficient funds to support the plans I had for the economic system there. Some say that I embezzled precious money, and I did return some of it, but I feel I had more need of it than anyone else.
I set in motion new policies that launched the Republic of China into a prosperous economic situation. I also enforced legislature to change the national language to Mandarin, instead of Cantonese. I have to say that I made my mark on Taiwan.
Even when I was in Taiwan I tried to help overthrow the communist party in mainland China. I provided funds for some Muslim groups still within the territory, and sent them supplies. I traveled to Muslim groups and asked them to make a greater effort to fight the communists. I even planned to attack with my own troops. I simply couldn’t let my homeland go. I knew that I was so close… I only wished that it would have worked.
I died in 1975. It was my wish to postpone burial until China was reunited under the principles which my mentor, Dr. Sun Yat-sen, had directed. I felt very strongly about this, as did my son, Chiang Chinkou. Both of our remains were placed in a temporary mausoleum located near Lake Kindness in Taiwan, until in 2005, at the request of my wife we were buried in the Wuchih Mountain Military Cemetery, Taiwan.
In my lifetime I did everything I could to attain my dream: a democratic China. Many people criticize the ways I went about doing this. I would take risks; I would fight battles that didn’t seem winnable. Even when the mainland was completely out of my reach, I reached. When I said I didn’t want to be buried until the country was united under correct principles, I meant it! I am devoted to my principles. The moral code of the people seemed to be completely out of control, and I feel that if we would have adopted the principles presented in the New Life movement, it would have made a huge difference. China would have been drastically different if I would have won the war. I should have won the war! I was in the right, they were in the wrong. My vision of China, better yet, the vision that was originally held by Dr. Sun Yat-sen, would have elevated China high above the stars. We would have dominated all foreign powers.
I am bitter that I could not bring my homeland to the state that we wanted, but I can see that now modern China has adopted some of our plans. I do not agree with much of what they do. I can hardly believe that they have declared they are a capitalist country! I never agreed with capitalism, but there are some other things that please me greatly. I am glad that they have made the common language Mandarin. I am really happy that they are showing the nations of the world that China can do great things. I can see that they are becoming more prominent economically.
Probably the most grievous thing to me is that with the communists still in control of mainland China there is still friction between Taiwan and the mainland. I anger that there is such a division among the Chinese! Do they not see the glorious way life would be if they were to become a true Democracy?! I wish that I could change it. I wish that I could live more than one life that I could forever fight for my dream. But, I have determined, if there was another, someone else who could bring my country to the great end that I envisioned for it, I would gladly have that person do what they could. Even if I cannot make the dream come to pass, it is sufficient that someone make it happen. It is for the greater good of China.

[[User:Chiang Kai-shek|Chiang Kai-shek]] 04:33, 15 October 2011 (UTC)

<nowiki>Works Cited
Coppa, Frank. Encyclopedia of modern dictators: from Napoleon to the present. 1st.1. New York: Peter Lang, 2006. 58. eBook.
Barnouin, Barbra, and Yu Changgen.Zhou Enlai: a political life . 1st. 1. Hong Kong: The Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2006. 74-75. eBook.
Bethell, Tom. "Chiang Kai-shek and the Struggle for China." Hoover Digest. 1. (2007): 1. Web. 14 Oct. 2011. <http://www.hoover.org/publications/hoover-digest/article/5835>.
Spence, Jonathan D. The Search for Modern China. 2nd. 1. New York: W. W. Norton& Company, Inc., 1999. 290-565. Print.
Furuya, Keiji, and Chʻun Chang.Chiang Kai-shek, his life and times. Abridged English ed. Brooklyn: St. John's University, 1981. Print.
</nowiki>

Chiang kai-shek

2011-10-15T04:33:36Z

Chiang Kai-shek:

Chiang Kai-Shek

I am a great warrior. I have fought countless battles. I have sought to honestly deal with my opponents and supervisors. I have not let down the banner of liberation, nor have I let go of the bar of justice. My deepest desire is for the good of the nationalists. I have devoted my life to fighting for this movement. Although I have faced great opposition, even defeat, I still cling to my cause and stand tall. I am Chiang Kai-shek.
I was born in 1887. My mother was widowed at age 22; I was 8yrs old at the time. She always wanted the best for me, and worked hard to provide me with opportunities to become someone important. I honor her. Her deepest desire was that I would grow up to serve our country. I have tried to make her proud.
In my early years of education I was an adept student. I was very motivated and driven. I began studying the Japanese language, hoping one day to attend a military academy in Japan. This study served me well in years to come. I was interested in politics and would read the newspaper careful when I had free-time at school. From elementary school I had the military in my sights. This was inspired both by my mother and my teacher, Ku Ch’ing-lien. (Furuya 9-10)
Eventually, after scrimping and saving, my mother had the funds to send me to Japan to further my education. Although I was discouraged to find that I had to have special recommendation to attend Japan’s military academies, I found that it was a great opportunity to form friendships and obtain allies while I was there.
When I returned home to China I entered the extremely competitive process of becoming an elite soldier so that I could qualify to study in Japan. I succeeded in this endeavor and eventually returned there to learn the art of war. I studied there for 3 years. It was there in Japan that I joined a revolutionary group to overthrow the Qing dynasty. To begin with I was simply rebellious, but the ideas presented sunk in and I felt that indeed China needed to be freed.
Right after the Wuhan revolt began me and some of my comrades returned home to China to join in the rebellion. I immediately contacted a friend, Ch’en Chi-mei, who was organizing a simultaneous uprising in Shanghai and Hangchow. He assigned me to travel to Hangchow and take up the military aspect of the insurrection. I gladly accepted. (Furuya 32)
I hated the red communists. They started as a part of our Kuomintang party, but then slowly but surely did all they could to take over the entire party- and all of China. I could see the rats that they were from the very start. My negative impression of them began when I traveled to see the direct effect of communism in Russia.
I was sent to the Soviet Union in 1923 to investigate their form of government and to see if any future alliances or support could be gained by a relationship with them. I was greatly put out when I saw their military camps and met with their commanders. I felt that they could not be trusted. They offered to help in ways of moral and material assistance, all direct military action was to be avoided, but I still didn’t feel like we should trust them. In fact, when I returned I told the Kuomintang:
“In regard to the Russian Communist Party, I believe a distinction should be made between facts and theories. We cannot ignore the facts simply because we believe in certain aspects of their theories. My personal observations lead me to the conclusion that [they] cannot be wholly trusted. I told you that we could only believe about 30 percent of what the Russians had to say. That was really an understatement because, in view of the excessive trust you seemed to repose in the Russians, I didn’t want to upset you too much.” (Furuya 117)
The party ignored my advice, saying that due to our lack of funds we had to accept what help we could get, (not to mention those leftists who were glad to be working with a country already using communism in their government). I was disappointed with the decision, but acknowledging that was the party’s decision, I supported them. I was loyal to the KMT.
After finally overthrowing the Qing dynasty, elections were held and a house of representatives, plus a senate, were created. They voted on a chairman and wrote a constitution. I was appointed as the [person over the military].
When the news came to me that the communists wanted to be separate and equal with the KMT, I was thoroughly upset. How could we let them have so much power?! Our vision was so different and all they wanted to do was put all of the peasants; people who were uneducated and without manners, into so kind of equal position in life. I saw the Soviet Union! They were dark and dreary. I still dreamed of a democratic China.
The idiot of a leader agreed to disagree. He put out a statement with the leaders of the communist group that the KMT and the CCP were both going to govern China- as if that would ever work. I decided that it was my responsibility to take things into my own hands. My party was obviously not taking control of the situation. I began to actively fight the CCP for territory, beginning with Shanghai. Blood began to spill, but we needed a unified country.
Just as I was fighting the communists, the Japanese decided to invade. It was my opinion that in order to deal with Japan we had to have one government. I wanted to put out the communist fire and then take care of the Japanese. I traveled to Xi’an to meet plan with some fellow military commanders, and while I was there members of my own political party kidnapped me! Zhang Xueliang and others told me that I must focus on the Japanese before fighting the communists. In addition to their force, I was receiving much pressure from the US government. Japan was a common enemy and they wanted to see if they would conquer China, and conquer her as quickly as they claimed. From all angles people counseled me to postpone my war with the CCP and shift my battle to the Japanese.
I didn’t want to agree with them. I knew the gross fungi that the Communists were, that they would spread like a disease, corrupting the entire land if given a chance, but I yielded. I unwillingly agreed to team up with the enemy (CCP) and fight the Japanese. That promise lasted until about 1941.
Mao Zedong and I had a particular dislike for each other. While we had to join forces we could hardly get anything done. I could barely stomach looking at that traitor, let alone fighting beside him. It took many other peacemakers to get to any form of agreement, but, alas! We defeated the Japanese in 1945.
As soon as possible I shifted my attacks to the CCP. Even when the Japanese surrendered in 1945 I asked that they postpone leaving. I needed to be ready to unify the entire country under the same government, and I had to gather my resources. The Japanese were grateful to me for not implementing severe treatment to the prisoners of war. They were also anti-communist so while they remained in China they were somewhat helpful in locating and exterminating CCP members.
The civil war raging within China was not only a battle of arms and of mass, but a battle of image. The key to winning was not just having the brute force, but the support of the people, and the CCP was winning that war in the country side. They were giving peasants property and telling common people to come and join the ranks. Long before the Japanese invaded the communists had spread “anti-Chiang” slogans. What started as ant-KMT transformed into an attack on me! Those dogs sought to turn my own campaign followers against me. There was no misunderstanding on the point that the CCP and I were enemies.
In addition to the poor opinion that the CCP had for me (and that they were spreading around the country), some of the military maneuvers that I put into place made the masses dislike me. For example, when the Japanese were attacking I had to retreat a few times. I couldn’t let the Japanese have access to more resources, so I burned the crops and killed the cattle as I went, successfully cutting off to the Japanese, but also causing thousands of the local Chinese to die from starvation.
One other incident that harmed my image was the fire of Changsha. I blame it all on those bellow me who failed to complete their assignments, but somehow the people within were not warned before we set fire to the city to keep it from the Japanese. The result was 20,000 civilians killed, while hundreds of thousands no longer had homes. All I can say is that it was for the good of the military. (Barnouin and Changgen 74-75)
As the war continued to rage, I fought hard to rid the land of the communists. They used very successful guerrilla warfare tactics. After much travail I cornered them! I was in reach of my goal! I had them surrounded, but for reasons I cannot explain, postponed my attack. In that short window of time, the communists began their Long March, a journey that would be used as a legendary expedition, bringing more people into their red ranks. That was the turning point in the war. Mao became famous and the party breathed new life into their cause. I will forever mourn that situation.
Even with all of this conflict within the country, I managed to pull together an election of our republic, and was elected president in 1947. The CCP didn’t recognize this action. Nevertheless I remained in office until 1949, when I resigned.
In WWII I was one of the big four allies, along with Roosevelt, Stalin, and Churchill. Even though I didn’t completely agree with England, the US, or the Soviet Union, our common enemies were Japan, Italy, and Germany. It was something that brought me more publicity, and an opportunity to gain more support.
The responsibility of unifying our country, defeating the Japanese, boosting our economic system, creating the right foreign allies, and setting up a functional government all felt heavy on my shoulders. I had such lofty goals for our country! How could we lose so much!? My original master Dr. Sun had long passed away and I missed his counsel and support. This was a point when I had to find extra strength; I had to remind myself of my dream for my country. I pressed on.
I knew that the reason the KMT was failing must be because corruption within our party. I also felt that the morality of the people was falling, and I determined that if they were more moral we would have a more successful government. I started the new life movement in to try to get my people to return to their Confucian values and join with the KMT. Unfortunately this movement didn’t catch, and my people continued on their downward plunge into to the gulf of communism. (Bethell 1)
I was originally Buddhist, but when I wanted to marry Soong May-ling (my third wife) I promised her mother I would turn Christian. Soong May-ling was the sister-in-law of my mentor, Dr. Sun. She was educated in the US, and became very famous as she helped me build support for the KMT. We were featured in the Times magazine more than once, and met with Pres. Roosevelt and Winston Churchill in 1943.

The US was initially supportive of me and my campaign and, until about 1970, recognized me as the voice for the Republic of China in the United Nations. I was a little concerned that their western ways were too modern, but accepted their help. Eventually they lost faith in me and I no longer had their support. People who worked with me kept moving to the US and then giving me a bad reputation.
In 1947 I began the White Terror movement. I wanted to cleanse Taiwan, and all of China, of any communists. As a result of martial law and extreme measures that I felt were necessary, some 18,000 to 28,000 people died in the massacre in Taiwan. This was a move to get the people to submit to the new governing powers, namely myself, and I have been forever blamed for the people who were killed. I noticed that now there is even a monument commemorating the event, and that I am chiseled in as the villain.
When I lost the support of the US, and the CCP was flourishing I moved my capital to Taiwan. This move began in 1947, although I didn’t leave until 1949. My government in mainland China was simply falling apart. Inflation and corruption had weakened us to the point of shattering. My comrade – tried to negotiate with the communist party, but to no avail. We couldn’t come to terms with one another.
I became president of Taiwan in 1950 and was re-elected in 1954, 1960, and 1972. Obviously the officials liked me. I had also become widely known in the Western world, and claimed to represent all of China (including those parts I didn’t currently have control of), which the United Nations agreed to recognize. Even when I was unpopular I held this power.
When I moved to Taiwan I took sufficient funds to support the plans I had for the economic system there. Some say that I embezzled precious money, and I did return some of it, but I feel I had more need of it than anyone else.
I set in motion new policies that launched the Republic of China into a prosperous economic situation. I also enforced legislature to change the national language to Mandarin, instead of Cantonese. I have to say that I made my mark on Taiwan.
Even when I was in Taiwan I tried to help overthrow the communist party in mainland China. I provided funds for some Muslim groups still within the territory, and sent them supplies. I traveled to Muslim groups and asked them to make a greater effort to fight the communists. I even planned to attack with my own troops. I simply couldn’t let my homeland go. I knew that I was so close… I only wished that it would have worked.
I died in 1975. It was my wish to postpone burial until China was reunited under the principles which my mentor, Dr. Sun Yat-sen, had directed. I felt very strongly about this, as did my son, Chiang Chinkou. Both of our remains were placed in a temporary mausoleum located near Lake Kindness in Taiwan, until in 2005, at the request of my wife we were buried in the Wuchih Mountain Military Cemetery, Taiwan.
In my lifetime I did everything I could to attain my dream: a democratic China. Many people criticize the ways I went about doing this. I would take risks; I would fight battles that didn’t seem winnable. Even when the mainland was completely out of my reach, I reached. When I said I didn’t want to be buried until the country was united under correct principles, I meant it! I am devoted to my principles. The moral code of the people seemed to be completely out of control, and I feel that if we would have adopted the principles presented in the New Life movement, it would have made a huge difference. China would have been drastically different if I would have won the war. I should have won the war! I was in the right, they were in the wrong. My vision of China, better yet, the vision that was originally held by Dr. Sun Yat-sen, would have elevated China high above the stars. We would have dominated all foreign powers.
I am bitter that I could not bring my homeland to the state that we wanted, but I can see that now modern China has adopted some of our plans. I do not agree with much of what they do. I can hardly believe that they have declared they are a capitalist country! I never agreed with capitalism, but there are some other things that please me greatly. I am glad that they have made the common language Mandarin. I am really happy that they are showing the nations of the world that China can do great things. I can see that they are becoming more prominent economically.
Probably the most grievous thing to me is that with the communists still in control of mainland China there is still friction between Taiwan and the mainland. I anger that there is such a division among the Chinese! Do they not see the glorious way life would be if they were to become a true Democracy?! I wish that I could change it. I wish that I could live more than one life that I could forever fight for my dream. But, I have determined, if there was another, someone else who could bring my country to the great end that I envisioned for it, I would gladly have that person do what they could. Even if I cannot make the dream come to pass, it is sufficient that someone make it happen. It is for the greater good of China.
</nowiki>
[[User:Chiang Kai-shek|Chiang Kai-shek]] 04:33, 15 October 2011 (UTC)

<nowiki>Works Cited
Coppa, Frank. Encyclopedia of modern dictators: from Napoleon to the present. 1st.1. New York: Peter Lang, 2006. 58. eBook.
Barnouin, Barbra, and Yu Changgen.Zhou Enlai: a political life . 1st. 1. Hong Kong: The Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2006. 74-75. eBook.
Bethell, Tom. "Chiang Kai-shek and the Struggle for China." Hoover Digest. 1. (2007): 1. Web. 14 Oct. 2011. <http://www.hoover.org/publications/hoover-digest/article/5835>.
Spence, Jonathan D. The Search for Modern China. 2nd. 1. New York: W. W. Norton& Company, Inc., 1999. 290-565. Print.
Furuya, Keiji, and Chʻun Chang.Chiang Kai-shek, his life and times. Abridged English ed. Brooklyn: St. John's University, 1981. Print.
</nowiki>