Why did Zhang Xueliang donate his life's collection to foreign countries before his death? Was it persecuted or was there another reason?
Speaking of Zhang Xueliang, it is estimated that most Chinese people have some understanding of him to a greater or lesser extent. Zhang Xueliang was a famous figure in the Republic of China period, his family lineage was very good, and his father was the famous Zhang Zuolin. He not only has a family lineage that others cannot match, but also his own appearance is also very high, he is one of the four beautiful men of the Republic of China, personable, beautiful and handsome.
If he had been born in the era of peace, even if he himself was a loser with a handsome skin bag, he could have lived a peaceful and smooth life with a good family lineage, but unfortunately he was born in a turbulent era, and he himself could not afford to be mediocre and had great ambitions, and he participated in the two major historical events of "September 18" and "Xi'an Incident".
After the Xi'an Incident, he was placed under house arrest by Chiang Kai-shek's father and son for more than fifty years, and after regaining his freedom, he spent the rest of his life in the United States, but what is puzzling is that as a historical celebrity in China's modern history, he chose to donate all his collection to the United States after his death.
Zhang Xueliang lived in luxury and had a lot of wealth
Zhang Xueliang launched the Xi'an Incident in order to force Chiang Kai-shek to resist Japan, and since then he has been under house arrest by Chiang Kai-shek's father and son, and this has lasted for more than fifty years. For more than fifty years, his life has still been very luxurious, so where did the huge wealth that sustained his luxurious life come from?
According to historical records, zhang Xueliang's life after house arrest In addition to Chiang Kai-shek's distribution of subsidies, his former generals in the Northeast Army often paid for his life, and his original wife, Yu Fengzhi, invested in many places in the United States and made a lot of money, and many of these wealth came to him after the death of his wife.
In addition to these, Zhang Xueliang also sold many antiques and cultural relics from his private collection when he was young, which was his source of income.
Zhang Xueliang chose to donate the collection to the United States
In 1990, at the age of 90, Zhang Xueliang finally regained his freedom. In 1993, three years after he regained his freedom, he and his then-wife, Miss Zhao Si, flew out of Taiwan, where Chiang Kai-shek's father and son were placed under house arrest, and they chose to settle in Hawaii until their deaths in 2001 at the age of 101. In his later years, Zhang Xueliang made a shocking decision, he decided to donate all his relics to the United States.
As an important historical figure in China, his relics must contain the truth of the unspeakable events of the Republic of China period, especially important documents such as his diaries or correspondence, which are important evidence to reveal many secret events at that time.
But he chose to leave such an important thing to the United States, he chose to donate his relics to Columbia University in the United States after his death, his decision was incomprehensible, and people began to wonder whether the American authorities forced him to do this or some other unspeakable reason for him to do such a move.
Zhang Xueliang's considerations
Zhang Xueliang inherited his father's status, but he did not inherit his father's pride. In front of the Japanese army, Zhang Xueliang made a completely different choice from his father. In the face of Japan's invasion, he did not resist and directly ceded the three eastern provinces to Japan. Later, he finally hardened his temper, but this was the only time, he forced Chiang Kai-shek to put the interests of the nation first: actively resist Japan.
Although the Xi'an Incident was successful, and he was also imprisoned by Chiang Kai-shek, perhaps he himself did not expect that this imprisonment was more than fifty years. At the beginning of the house arrest surveillance, he still wanted to go out and resist, but after many attempts without results, he gave up completely, and it was not until Chiang Ching-kuo's death that he regained his freedom. Under the hardships of more than fifty years of house arrest, at this time, he did not dare to serve the country as awe-inspiring as he did then.
He chose to settle in the United States, he bought a large villa in the United States, lived a luxurious life with the economic resources mentioned above, and the camels that were thin and dead were also bigger than Ma, and when he was a young marshal, Zhang Xueliang collected a lot of precious antique calligraphy and paintings, and any one of these treasures was a priceless treasure, and although Chiang Kai-shek imprisoned him, he did not take away his collections and property, and these treasures were still in his hands.
In his later years, Zhang Xueliang still had a lot of precious collections and property, but his legacy was not only these, in addition to these external Chinese objects, but more importantly, there were also some very important military documents and letter exchanges.
At this time, he did not dare to launch the Xi'an Incident as resolutely as he did when he was young, and it was not only his age that he was old but also his heart that was not afraid of hardship, in more than fifty years of house arrest he learned to be careful in his words and deeds, he was afraid that if he made these things public, it might cause a storm, so he did not leave these things to his children, and finally chose to donate to a university in the United States.