Relations with Japan have always been one of the important reasons for Zhang Zuolin's controversy, and there are historical examples of whether he is pro-Japanese or anti-Japanese, and this is also a true portrayal of his complex personality and tangled heart
"In the northeast, the Warlords of the Feng clan headed by Zhang Zuolin gradually expanded their territory in the provinces of Jilin and Heilongjiang, and under the support of Japanese imperialism, they became a decisive force between Zhiwan and Anhui."
This is the evaluation of Zhang Zuolin in the fourth chapter, section 2 of the fourth chapter of the history textbook "Modern and Contemporary Chinese History" of the People's Education Publishing House, "The Political Situation in China Under the Warlord's Domination" -- reactionary warlords and feudal warlords have also long been labeled on Zhang Zuolin.
In fact, being supported by Japan to become the "King of the Northeast" and being killed by the Kwantung Army at Huanggutun is one of the reasons why Zhang Zuolin has been controversial and has long been the focus of endless debate in academic circles and people--there are many people who denounce his traitors and defend him; some people think that he is a puppet of the Japanese Emperor, and some people think that he is an ambitionist who has no lack of national integrity.
Ride on the wall, whichever side is strong, fall to which side
The book "Zhang Zuolin", published in 1980, was considered the first "more systematic and detailed biography of Zhang Zuolin" at that time, and in the "Preface" of the book, the author, Professor Chang cheng of Northeast Normal University, described his purpose in recording Zhang Zuolin's life:
"To give people, especially young comrades, a concrete understanding of one side of the dark rule of the warlords of old China."
The book records the scene of Zhang Zuolin, who was the commander of the Fengtian Patrol Camp in January 1912, visiting the Japanese consul general in Fengfeng. During the meeting, Zhang Zuolin expressed his desire to cooperate with Japan, and he said to Ochiai: "I am well aware that Japan has many privileges in Manchuria, and if Japan has any instructions for me, I will do my best." ”
In a paper titled "How Zhang Zuolin Claimed Hegemony in The Northeast," Chang Cheng said
"Ride on the wall to see which side is stronger and fall to which side"
It is Zhang Zuolin's consistent strategy to strengthen himself. This is also recorded in the well-known history blogger Sasha's article "Zhang Zuolin, the Most Successful Horse Bandit of the Republic of China": When Yuan Shikai was proclaimed emperor, Zhang Zuolin expressed his support, Yuan Shikai was very happy, and he was promoted to a knight, and Zhang Zuolin took charge of Liaoning Province, and actually became a prince of the northeast side. In the early days of the rise of the Feng dynasty, Zhang Zuolin, who had not read books, often compared himself to Li Yuan, and in order to "create a foundation for the Zhang family dynasty", he also let Zhang Xueliang read "Zhenguan Politicians" and learn from Li Shimin.
Regarding Zhang Zuolin's cooperation with Japan, Sasha also revealed such details: Zhang Zuolin expressed his pro-Japanese stance on various occasions, repeatedly suppressed the anti-Japanese movement in northeast China, and made many economic compromises. In return, Japan loaned Jang So-lin 3 million in 1916 through the Fengtian branch of the Bank of Korea. In the First Zhifeng War, Zhang Zuolin was at the end of his rope in Shenyang, with only more than 10,000 people left, and even considered abandoning the northeast to flee. The Japanese army secretly sent troops to assist, sent 10,000 people to defend Shenyang, and sent a division to attack the back road of Guo Songling's army that was attacking Shenyang with all its strength, which directly prompted Zhang Zuolin to sign the "Secret Treaty of Japan and Zhang" with Japan in the future.
A reactionary warlord like Zhang Zuolin can neither be called a hero nor an anti-Japanese hero. His life was a life of reaction, a life of calamity for the country and the people. ”
In the book "Zhang Zuolin", Changcheng concludes that in the section where Zhang Zuolin was killed by the Japanese army in Huanggutun, Changcheng summarized the book with the title "Despicable End", believing that he had lost his use value and was abandoned by Japan.
He was not willing to be a traitor and betray the northeast
Chang Cheng's words represent a school of view on Zhang Zuolin's ambiguous relationship with Japan, and have also caused relevant controversies in the academic circles, and many scholars do not agree with this view.
In May 1982, historian Ding Yongnian published an article in the Qiushi Journal entitled "The Evaluation of Zhang Zuolin Should Also Seek Truth from Facts", which added some details of Zhang Zuolin's representations with Japan to prove Zhang Zuolin
"I am not willing to be a traitor and betray the northeast."
- On October 15, 1927, Japan forced Zhang Zuolin to sign a secret treaty on five railways, and Zhang Zuolin only approved a perfunctory "reading" word. After using Japan to control the northeast, Zhang Zuolin has always adopted a yang and yin attitude toward Japan, which makes the Japanese side very unhappy. Matsui Ishigen, director of the China Department of the Japanese General Staff, once said of him behind his back:
"This guy is very hard to make, and he is always disobedient."
"I have always maintained a bandit-style resentment against the Japanese army"
This is Sasha's description of Zhang Zuolin's true attitude toward Japan, and this conclusion comes from a tit-for-tat confrontation between Zhang Zuolin and Japan at that time--when he was allied with the Japanese army, Zhang Zuolin's military camp was stationed in Xinminfu, more than 100 kilometers away from Shenyang. His soldiers fought with Japanese soldiers while visiting Japanese brothels in Shenyang, and two of them were killed. Zhang Zuolin was furious and went to the Japanese side to demand that the killing be paid. According to the custom, the Japanese officers compensated 500 taels of silver per person. After Zhang Zuolin returned with 1,000 taels of silver, he gathered his men to the streets and killed three Japanese soldiers. His soldiers, all bandits who had just been recruited, immediately rushed to the streets and found three Japanese soldiers to beat them to death. When the Japanese officer came to question him angrily, Zhang Zuolin threw out 1500 taels of silver and said that this was "in accordance with your customs."
This tit-for-tat confrontation was not the only time – in the northeast at that time, Japan controlled two ports and the South Manchuria Railway, and stationed troops along the line. In order to reduce the power of the Japanese army, Zhang Zuolin built a new railway line almost parallel to the South Manchuria Railway. This annoyed Japan so much that at the 1927 Eastern Conference, it demanded that he immediately stop building the railway. Zhang Zuolin was inconvenient to openly oppose it, so he instigated the people to carry out an anti-Japanese movement in Changchun, Shenyang, and the Japanese were distracted and interfered in the construction of the railway.
Dai Zhenyi, a teacher at Ludong University, published a similar account of the incident in the article "On the Relationship between Zhang Zuolin and the Japanese" published in the journal "Research on Modern Chinese History and Historical Materials" - Zhang Zuolin not only stationed his own heavy troops around Japan's northeast garrison barracks, but also ensured the absolute superiority of numbers, and he released 10,000 troops when the Japanese garrison was 1,000. After being forced to agree to the residency rights of Japanese expatriates in the northeast, Zhang Zuolin also used the same method to restrain the number of Japanese immigrants. He summoned a large number of people from Shandong to immigrate to the northeast, and the Japanese immigrated 1, and he added 5 people from Shandong. He also secretly forbade Chinese residents to rent out houses to the Japanese, and The Japanese expatriates who moved to the northeast had no houses to live in, but a large number of people crammed into a small house. Japan originally planned to make the Japanese the majority of the residents of Northeast China within 10 years, but under the obstruction of Zhang Zuolin, it has never been realized.
The banditry style of perfunctory is the most common pattern of behavior zhang Zuolin used in the face of pressure from the Japanese side. According to Taiwan's Academia Sinica scholar Liang Jingxin:
"Japan complained about Zhang Zuolin. Although Zhang Zuolin was very friendly with Japan, if Japan wanted him to betray the country, it was beyond Zhang Zuolin's ability. ”
Another thing recorded by Dai Zhenyi in his article "On the Relationship between Zhang Zuolin and the Japanese" is also enough to illustrate this point -- the Japanese minister Fang Ze sent minister Fang Ze to discuss with Zhang Zuolin the issue of "resolving the outstanding cases of Mengman", and during the conversation Zhang Zuolin frequently pushed and pretended to be confused, and Fang Ze intimidated that 13 Japanese expatriates had died in Jinan, and Zhang Zuolin needed to bear all responsibility for this. According to Zhou Dalun's "Personal Experience of Zhang Zuolin's Emperor Gutun Bombing Incident", Zhang Zuolin was "furious at that time, immediately stood up from his seat, slammed the jade mouth dry cigarette bag in his hand violently downwards, smashed it into two pieces, and said to Fang Ze in a strong voice: 'There is no report on this matter, the second is not investigated, and it is not reasonable for his mother to pull the bag!'" I don't want this stinky skin bag, and I can't do this kind of thing that makes my children and grandchildren can't lift their heads. ’”
At 5:30 a.m. on June 4, 1928, the 16th day after angrily scolding the Japanese minister, Zhang Zuolin was killed by the Kwantung Army in Huanggutun.
Two Zhang Zuolin
After Zhang Zuolin's death, most of the public opinion at that time expressed understanding and sympathy for him.
On March 13, 1933, the Tianjin Ta Kung Pao published an editorial stating:
"Zhang Zuolin has been a hegemon in the Kwantung hand for fifteen years, pro-Japanese traitor, and slander. However, in the end of Zhang's life, although he tried his best with the Japanese, he maintained the power of the land, so he led the japanese to wrath. Huang Gutun shot a bullet, although his body died tragically, his heart was revealed to the world. ”
On January 23, 1933, the Beijing Morning Post also published an article saying that he was "martyred by Huanggutun, and the secret curtain was known to the people of the country, so an understanding was obtained." ”
Historian Chen Chongqiao also described Zhang Zuolin this way considerately in "The Problem of Evaluation of Zhang Zuolin":
"It is inevitable to deal with Japan in case of trouble. It is indeed difficult to try to support the crisis, and we cannot regard some of his dealings with Japan as flattering Japan and betraying the country. ”
Compared with the "examples" of various parties in the academic circles, the ordinary people's understanding of Zhang Zuolin mostly comes from film and television literary works. As a result, most of them will also see two Zhang Zuolin: one is a warlord commander with bandit characteristics who sees the wind and steers the wind and is always ready to maximize his interests, and the other will wear a long shirt to go to the school to bow to the teacher during the New Year's Festival, and will personally shoot the rogue brother-in-law who takes the street lamp as a target, and give the Japanese handwritten "hand black" to indicate "no concessions", and his large investment in the economic education of the northeast is still enjoyed by the people of the northeast.
What kind of person is Zhang Zuolin? For this complex question, the British scholar Gavin McCormack's statement in the book "Zhang Zuolin in the Northeast" may be one of the answers:
"Zhang Zuolin has more than a pure puppet; but less than a nationalist."