Zhang Zongchang (Chang Tsung-chang) - where is he burried?

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khedive
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Zhang Zongchang (Chang Tsung-chang) - where is he burried?

#1

Post by khedive » 08 Jul 2014, 07:56

Hello,

Does anyone know where the Shandong (Shantung) warlord was buried? I know he was visiting his mother's grave on the day he was murdered, and wonder if he was buried nearby. All advice appreciated.

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Re: Zhang Zongchang (Chang Tsung-chang) - where is he burrie

#2

Post by Stephen_Rynerson » 08 Jul 2014, 14:16

The items below unfortunately do not identify the location of Zhang's grave, but do have more details about the events surrounding his death that you might find of interest. The last link mentions that Zhang's funeral cortege was two miles long, but fails to say where it took place.

http://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newspapers ... 9c25c6ce5d

http://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newspapers ... 9c25c6ce5d

http://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newspapers ... ng%2cchang

http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1 ... 15,2167960


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Re: Zhang Zongchang (Chang Tsung-chang) - where is he burrie

#3

Post by khedive » 08 Jul 2014, 20:44

Thanks Mr. Rynerson, I had not seen the Australian or Singapore papers. I'll start looking in that direction, maybe a note will come through. If he had a two mile long funeral cortege, they must have planted him somewhere! I wonder if his grave even survived the Guomindang, not to mention Japanese or Cultural Revolution???

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Re: Zhang Zongchang (Chang Tsung-chang) - where is he burrie

#4

Post by YC Chen » 09 Jul 2014, 03:46

According to some Chinese websites, Zhang Zongchang's tomb is not in Shandong, but in the west mountains of Beijing(Peking).

http://blog.sina.com.cn/s/blog_5fa910720100d084.html mentions that:
"在海淀区西部,西南1公里许为香山万安公墓,北1公里许为普安店村。据说当年坟地上有宝顶、石桌、石五供,坟树等物。1967年农民在宝顶20米处掘出一具黑油漆棺材,棺材头里写有“张大帅之灵’五个金色大字。打开棺盖,并无尸骨。老人说这是疑冢。此坟为1948年迁葬于此。张宗昌先在陈士英手下任团长。后随张作霖麾下任军长。一生在军阀混战中度过。1931年东北易帜后,张宗昌一蹶不振。1934年被韩复榘诱至山东,在济南车站遭枪杀。"

It says that this tomb may not be the real tomb, but merely a symbolic one(without his remains) erected as late as 1948, and those who opened his tomb during the Cultural Revolution found only a symbolic tablet in the coffin. However according to some other Chinese websites and articles, his tomb underwent excavation as early as 1930s(perhaps not long after his death).

Again this is a mysterious matter and I cannot guarantee the authenticity of any of these statements.

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Re: Zhang Zongchang (Chang Tsung-chang) - where is he burrie

#5

Post by khedive » 09 Jul 2014, 06:34

Dear Mr. Chen. Thanks very much for this Chinese source. Please allow me to return your favor if you desire data from American sources. Your source confirms what I found out from a Singapore paper suggested by Mr. Rynerson. It says Zhang was buried in the Western Hills, on 9 October 1932. Here is the link...http://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newspapers ... Q4R586T1S4

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Re: Zhang Zongchang (Chang Tsung-chang) - where is he burrie

#6

Post by khedive » 09 Jul 2014, 06:42

Thanks YC Chen and Stephen Rynerson. May I mention you assistance in footnote?

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Re: Zhang Zongchang (Chang Tsung-chang) - where is he burrie

#7

Post by Stephen_Rynerson » 10 Jul 2014, 05:04

khedive wrote:Thanks YC Chen and Stephen Rynerson. May I mention you assistance in footnote?
Khedive, certainly, thank you for the acknowledgement!

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Re: Zhang Zongchang (Chang Tsung-chang) - where is he burried?

#8

Post by khedive » 17 Feb 2015, 11:32

Education About Asia published my article, thanks for your valuable assistance Stephen Rynerson and YC Chen.

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Re: Zhang Zongchang (Chang Tsung-chang) - where is he burried?

#9

Post by Stephen_Rynerson » 19 Feb 2015, 21:22

khedive wrote:Education About Asia published my article, thanks for your valuable assistance Stephen Rynerson and YC Chen.
Excellent news, khedive! :thumbsup: Is it available online?

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Re: Zhang Zongchang (Chang Tsung-chang) - where is he burried?

#10

Post by Stephen_Rynerson » 12 Mar 2015, 07:07

I'll reply to myself to say that it is indeed available on-line: http://www.asian-studies.org/EAA/EAA-Ar ... 3/1316.pdf Thank you again for the acknowledgement.

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Re: Zhang Zongchang (Chang Tsung-chang) - where is he burried?

#11

Post by YC Chen » 12 Mar 2015, 18:09

Hello all,

Found this on a Chinese auction site: the memento book of Zhang Zhongchang's fifieth birthday in 1931 on sale(for RMB 9800, that is about 1600 USD)!
http://book.kongfz.com/77244/182154461/

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Re: Zhang Zongchang (Chang Tsung-chang) - where is he burried?

#12

Post by McTexan » 06 Mar 2016, 16:54

Hello,

Sorry to bump an old thread. I am thinking about starting a new one if there's interest. My post is about another of Zhang Zongchang's momentos, chop seals. I inherited a pair of seals over twenty years ago and all the facts point to these seals as being Zhang Zongchang's seals, circa 1925. After five years of effort I have reached my limits on research resources as much of the information is in Chinese and there isn't a lot of interest in this type of memorabilia here in the United States.

Among other things, I found a photo of Zhang Xueliang's seal from the Marshall's Museum and the seals are very similar. The Zongchang seals have an amazing couplet inscription on the faces citing the use of one of his armored trains in battle.

I put these seals away about a year ago because I could not think of more to do or how to share them. I had come across this forum some time ago and thought I'd make a post and see if anyone had interest or suggestions. Thanks for your previous posts and maintaining this interesting site.

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Re: Zhang Zongchang (Chang Tsung-chang) - where is he burried?

#13

Post by YC Chen » 08 Mar 2016, 18:01

Hello McTexan,

:welcome:

Could you share with us some pictures of the seals or the couplet inscription on them? I have been doing research on armored trains in Warlord Era for quite some time, and I'm very interested in whatever new knowledge these artifacts could provide.

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Re: Zhang Zongchang (Chang Tsung-chang) - where is he burried?

#14

Post by McTexan » 08 Mar 2016, 18:37

Hi YC Chen,

Thanks for the welcome sign. Not sure if I am posting correctly so here's a test post of one of the Zongchang seals and the Zhang Xueliang seal. Glad there is interest in this topic. 8-)
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Zhang Zongchang poetry inscription

#15

Post by McTexan » 09 Mar 2016, 00:13

The poetic face inscriptions on the pair are a quatrain in Classic form. Zongchang published an anthology of poems written in this classic style, he made calligraphy scrolls, and painted. He had an Imperial Exam Champion to assist in his affairs including the arts. The seals are inscribed freehand in what is known as the art of the iron pen. Perhaps these were inscribed by the General in his own hand.

The quatrain memorializes his trademark usage of armored trains and White Russian mercenaries in the Second Zhili-Fengtian War which engaged over 500,000 combatants from September 15, 1924 – November 3, 1924.

The first couplet begins, "Changjiang” (Yangtze River), which was the name of one of the three first purpose built armored trains https://books.google.com/books?id=FhkIv ... ng&f=false commissioned by Zongchang in 1924. Zongchang’s army defeated Wu Peifu’s forces in a major battle involving hundreds of thousands of men and the capture of the Luanzhou trainyards which sealed the Fengtian victory in the war. Perhaps Zongchang rode to this battle in the Changjiang or it played some other important role to have been memorialized in this manner.

Couplet – Right seal inscription transcribed reading the characters from top to bottom, right column to left column

Right Column
長 江 道 核 風
Changjiang dao hefeng
The Yangtze River commands the raging wind

江 (jiang) alone was originally the name of the Yangtze River and later applied as a
generic word for great rivers. Chang jiang as a compound that is the formal appellation
Yangtzee River.


The raging wind is the whirlwind of the train as can be seen in the following scene from Dr. Zhivago; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wRXKHTTzayU Strelnikov's train thundering past a crowd of Russian Civil War refugees. I think the sound of that train conveys the power and meaning of a War Train f that period pretty well.

Left Column
坃 雨 坏 君 (?) last character unknown
xūnyǔ huài jūn (?)
Whistling rains destroy the warlord's (? forces)

The first two characters of the second verse were at first translated into English as “Singing rain” but further study revealed that a xun is an ancient pottery wind instrument played by whistling into it https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nAKLjzstaNc. Whistling paired with rain, is the correct imagery as in the whistling sound of artillery beginning around second 18 in the linked WW2 cliphttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qT8YDtDeGB0.

English translation of the second couplet is not as crisp as with the first. The overall sense of meaning I have from the work of my translators is troops were ordered to come from a great distance, perhaps from a mountainous region which was their home. This would be referring to the White Russian mercenaries. The second verse is saying settle matters on the unending field of battle.
Couplet – Left seal – top to bottom, right to left
遠 由 依 如 迫
yuanyou yi rupo,
( ?) 平 田 渺 了
(?) pingtian miaoliao

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