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

[khedive]

Hello McTexan!

Thanks for this interesting post. These are interesting, and if genuine, very scarce. Have you seen the Russian D-guard dragoon sword with the Zhang inscription offered by a German auction house a decade ago? Zhang had an interest in promoting artists, poets, scholars, etc., to promote his status among the Junfa. For example, there was a reprint edition of classic Chinese literary works he sent to the Library of Congress back in the 1920s. Do you mind if I mention your seal - I'm slowly putting together a short biography of Zhang, and your query indicates Zhang still is a point of conversation nearly a century after his heyday.

John

[McTexan]

Hello John,

Thanks for your post. Yes I have seen the sword inscription auctioned by Hermann's. There is also an inscribed Zhang Zongchang silver cigarette case.
One of the seals I posted is Zhang Xueliang's and is in his museum in China. As you would likely know the two were close friends and comrades. The Xueliang seal is authenticated by it's presence in his museum. The other seal is one of the pair of Zhang Zongchang seals that I have. I don't mind at all if you mention these seals. I have researched them thoroughly myself and have consulted several experts. They are all about Zhang Zongchang but the question you pose about being genuine is a good one. What is genuine? A great question when it comes to Chinese goods and artifacts.

You are right about Zhang Zongchang's interest in raising his status among his peers; many of them were gentry while he was a commoner. I read somewhere that he reprinted and distributed Confucian texts to the schools in the province. I'll be interested to see your biographic take on this combination of Patton and Scarface. There is some old film footage with him in it somewhere on this site, have you seen it?