Chiang Kai-shek’s faith in Christianity: the trial of the Stilwell Incident

Abstract

Chiang Kai-shek’s faith in Christianity has long been a controversial issue. Some have held that his faith was genuine while others have claimed that it was merely a posture to curry favor with the Americans. Now that the Hoover Institution has released Chiang Kai-shek’s diaries, historians are in a better position to explore this long-ignored part of Chiang’s life. This paper will examine Chiang’s faith as it developed during the Stilwell Incident, the most serious crisis of US–China military cooperation during World War II. While facing American pressure to grant military command to General Joseph W. Stilwell, Chiang reveals in his diaries how he relied on his faith in the Bible, how he interpreted the Bible, and how he applied his understanding of the Bible to his political decision making. An examination of Chiang’s diary during this crisis will help us understand his practical relationship with Christianity, which in turn will provide insight into Chiang’s attitudes and methods in dealing with the Stilwell Incident.

Keywords:

• Chiang Kai-shek
• Christianity
• Joseph W. Stilwell
• the Stilwell Incident

Acknowledgement

The author would like to thank Hoover Institution at Stanford University for a visiting fellowship with the opportunity to use its archives in completing the research of this paper.

Notes

¹ This point can be drawn from the writings of Chiang’s wife, his pastor, and his close subordinates. For example, Madame Chiang (Song Meiling) mentioned Chiang Kai-shek’s Christian faith in a few articles that are included in Wang Yaquan, Jiang furen yanlunji. Other sources on this topic are Tong, Chiang Kai-shek, and Zhou Lianhua, Lingyiwei jianzhengren.

² According to an alleged autobiography of Chen Jieru (Chiang’s wife from 1921 to 1927), Chiang was desperate when he broke with the Nationalist Government at Wuhan in 1927. Since Chiang needed to build connections with the powerful Song family, he begged Chen Jieru “to step aside for five years so that I can marry Song Meiling and get the necessary help to carry on the expedition without the support of Hankow! It’s only a political marriage!” Eastman, Chiang Kai-shek’s Secret Past, 238. A once-popular book makes use of circumstantial evidence to argue that the marriage was a strategic move in which the Song family received political power while Chiang received financial backing and Western support. Seagrave, The Soong Dynasty, 257–265.

³ Chiang Kai-shek’s diaries (hereafter CKS Diaries), which were deposited at the Hoover Institution by Chiang’s descendants, were released to the public in installments between 2006 and 2009. Since then, many scholars have conducted research at Hoover and have presented their results in journal articles and at international conferences. Among the most notable examples of this new wave of research is Taylor’s The Generalissimo. However, as yet, only two papers (Bae, “Chiang Kai-shek and Christianity”; and Liu Weikai, “Zuowei jidutu”) have touched on Chiang’s faith, and even those treated the subject broadly, without any solid case studies.

⁴ Both Bae and Liu Weikai have noted Chiang’s regular devotions. Bae, “Chiang Kai-shek and Christianity,” 2–5; Liu Weikai, “Zuowei jidutu,” 120–121.

⁵ Qin Xiaoyi, Xian Zongtong, 46. Chiang wrote everything in Chinese. All quotes from Chiang’s diaries and other writings cited in this paper have been translated into English by the author.

⁶ “This [i.e., the Stilwell Incident] is crucial to the success of U.S.–China relations; it is a matter of life and death for China.” CKS Diaries, October 15, 1944.

⁷ CKS Diaries, October 20, 1944.

⁸ Song Meiling’s father, Charlie Soong, who had once been a Methodist pastor, had passed away in 1918. Mrs Song went to Kobe, Japan, for convalescence. CKS Diaries, October 3, 1927.

⁹ The earliest mention of Bible reading in Chiang’s diaries is on January 6, 1928. According to Song Meiling, the first Bible used by Chiang was a gift from Mrs Song. Wang Yaquan, Jiang furen yanlunji, 372.

¹⁰ Ibid.

¹¹ Ibid., 295.

¹² Ibid., 372.

¹³ Lu Ganchen, “Duiyu Jiang Jieshi,” 11–12.

¹⁴ See CKS Diaries, January 6–13, 25, and 26, 1928. Chiang read three chapters on January 11. CKS Diaries. The Meaning of Faith was translated by Hu Yigu [Y. K. Woo] as Xinyang di yiyi and was published in 1921 by the Association Press of China, Shanghai.

¹⁵ Tong, Chiang Kai-shek, 103. Apparently Tong’s writing is in conflict with Madame Chiang’s record because, as mentioned, she would later report that Chiang started reading the Bible from the Old Testament. Further research is needed to resolve this discrepancy.

¹⁶ Although Chiang achieved the nominal unification of China after the Northern Expedition, several major military cliques retained control of their territories. An anti-Chiang alliance, formed by Li Zongren, Feng Yuxiang, and Yan Xishan in 1930, formally challenged Chiang and waged war against the Nationalist troops in Henan and its vicinity (the Central Plain). This conflict is often called the Central Plain War. It involved more than a million soldiers and over 300,000 casualties.

¹⁷ When Pastor Jiang recounted this story later, he mistakenly placed this event in the year 1928. Tong, Chiang Kai-shek, 103. This was clearly an error, because Chiang had not finished the Northern Expedition in October 1928, and the date of Chiang’s baptism was October 23, 1930.

¹⁸ Yang Tianshi, Zhaoxun zhenshi, 184.

¹⁹ CKS Diaries, October 23, 1944.

²⁰ Ni Guizhen passed away on July 23, 1931.

²¹ Wang Yaquan, Jiang furen yanlunji, 295.

²² On the flight with her were her brother Song Ziwen (T. V. Soong) and W. H. Donald, former advisor to Zhang Xueliang.

²³ I used the Holy Bible, King James Version for the Bible passages quoted in this paper.

²⁴ Wang Yaquan, Jiang furen yanlunji, 296; Tong, Chiang Kai-shek, 227.

²⁵ Wang Yaquan, Jiang furen yanlunji, 296.

²⁶ Zhang Qiyun, Xian zongtong Jianggong quanji, 3158–3159.

²⁷ Feis, The China Tangle, 14.

²⁸ Zhongguo guomindang zhongyang weiyuanhui, Zhonghua minguo zhongyao shiliao, 37–38 and 493–510. Albert C. Wedemeyer once said that “this had been China’s experience throughout the war – promises and high hopes to be followed by disappointments, with other areas draining off most of the equipment she so sorely needed to fight.” Wedemeyer, Wedemeyer Reports! 257.

²⁹ Young, China and Helping Hand, 350–351, 401–403.

³⁰ As General Stilwell wrote in his diaries: “The big job was to change the fundamentally defensive attitude of the Chinese to an offensive attitude. They were fixed and set by long years of custom – Chiang Kai-shek had made the defense his policy in the present war. He was going to trade “space for time,” a very catchy way of saying he would never attack.” White, The Stilwell Papers, 317–318.

³¹ Liang, General Stilwell in China, 22–25.

³² Stimson, On Active Service, 531–532; White, The Stilwell Papers, 26.

³³ Liang, General Stilwell in China, 22.

³⁴ The Allies decided on four separate occasions to wage a joint operation against the Japanese in Burma, but this operation was either delayed or canceled each time. See Liang, chaps. 6–7 in General Stilwell in China.

³⁵ In the fall of 1943, the US government had already agreed to recall Stilwell from China, but Chiang changed his mind at the last moment. See White, chap. 7 in The Stilwell Papers; Tuchman, chap. 15 in Stilwell and the American Experience; Yang Tianshi, Zhaoxun zhenshi, 387–393.

³⁶ Stilwell’s telegram of July 4, 1944 to Marshall stated: “If the President were to send him [the Generalissimo] a very stiff message, emphasizing our investment and interest in China, and also the serious pass to which China has come due to neglect of the Army, and insisting that desperate cases require desperate remedies, the G-mo might be forced to give me a command job…. These matters must be put before the G-mo in the strongest terms or he will continue to muddle along and scream for help without doing any more than he is doing now which is nothing.” Romanus and Sunderland, Stilwell’s Command Problems, 380.

³⁷ Ibid., 381–383.

³⁸ Ibid., 383–384, note 57.

³⁹ CKS Diaries, July 7, 1944.

⁴⁰ Chiang’s practice was to write the previous day’s diary entry first thing the next day. Therefore, the entry for July 7 was written early the next morning.

⁴¹ CKS Diaries, July 7, 1944; Shilue gaoben, vol. 57, 448. Shilue gaoben is a collection of many sources, including CKS Diaries.

⁴² Taylor uses “wait and see” for the Chinese term huanhe, yet “moderation” is also an accurate translation. Taylor, The Generalissimo, 278.

⁴³ CKS Diaries, July 8, 1944.

⁴⁴ Romanus and Sunderland, Stilwell’s Command Problems, 385–386; Shilue gaoben, vol. 57, 449–451.

⁴⁵ Liang, General Stilwell in China, 242; Shilue gaoben, vol. 57, 454–456.

⁴⁶ CKS Diaries, July 8, 1944.

⁴⁷ CKS Diaries, Reflection on the Previous Week, undated but written after July 8, 1944. Chiang’s diary included a section at the end of each week, before Sunday, titled “Reflection on the Previous Week.” The cited entry is located after July 8, 1944.

⁴⁸ CKS Diaries, July 12–13, 1944.

⁴⁹ In Kong’s report to Chiang on the meeting with Roosevelt, Kong said, “I plainly stated a personal opinion that it was doubtful whether General Stilwell could carry out the proposed command without difficulty.” Liang, General Stilwell in China, 243.

⁵⁰ “Obtained Yongzhi’s [Kong’s] report after his meeting with Roosevelt. Roosevelt might have an understanding [of my position].” CKS Diaries, July 15, 1944.

⁵¹ CKS Diaries, July 16, 1944.

⁵² Ibid.

⁵³ Ibid., July 17, 1944; Shilue gaoben, vol. 57, 518.

⁵⁴ CKS Diaries, July 17, 1944.

⁵⁵ Ibid., July 21, 1944; Shilue gaoben, vol. 57, 540.

⁵⁶ CKS Diaries, July 22, 1944; Shilue gaoben, vol. 57, 543.

⁵⁷ CKS Diaries, Reflection on the Previous Week, undated but written before July 23, 1944.

⁵⁸ Ibid., July 29, 1944.

⁵⁹ Romanus and Sunderland, Stilwell’s Command Problems, 413–414.

⁶⁰ Ibid., 414–415.

⁶¹ Shilue gaoben, vol. 57, 596.

⁶² CKS Diaries, July 25, 1944; Shilue gaoben, vol. 57, 574. Chiang was born in 1887 and his sixtieth birthday would be in 1946 according to the Chinese way of counting.

⁶³ CKS Diaries, Reflection on the Previous Week, undated but written before July 30, 1944.

⁶⁴ Chiang wrote a review at the end of each month. CKS Diaries, Review of the Previous Month [for the month of July 1944]; Shilue gaoben, vol. 57, 639.

⁶⁵ CKS Diaries, August 10, 1994; Shilue gaoben, vol. 58, 44–45.

⁶⁶ Yang Tianshi, Zhaoxun zhenshi, 400.

⁶⁷ For example, Roosevelt urged Kong on August 17 and sent another similar message directly to Chiang on August 24. Romanus and Sunderland, Stilwell’s Command Problems, 416.

⁶⁸ Ibid., 422–430; Liang, General Stilwell in China, 250–252; Taylor, The Generalissimo, 285.

⁶⁹ Stilwell did not have an opportunity to talk with the Communist representative at that time. Zhu De, a Communist military leader, sent a message to Hurley suggesting that “our forces, if supplied with certain necessary equipment, can play an important role in cooperation with the Allies.” Liang, General Stilwell in China, 252.

⁷⁰ Shilue gaoben, vol. 58, 354.

⁷¹ Taylor, The Generalissimo, 285–286.

⁷² Romanus and Sunderland, Stilwell’s Command Problems, 435–436.

⁷³ Ibid., 445–446; Taylor, The Generalissimo, 286–287; Shilue gaoben, vol. 58, 422–427.

⁷⁴ CKS Diaries, September 19, 1944; Shilue gaoben, vol. 58, 428–429.

⁷⁵ CKS Diaries, September 21, 1944; Shilue gaoben, vol. 58, 437.

⁷⁶ CKS Diaries, September 22, 1944; Shilue gaoben, vol. 58, 440.

⁷⁷ CKS Diaries, September 19, 1944; Shilue gaoben, vol. 58, 428–429.

⁷⁸ CKS Diaries, September 21, 1944; Shilue gaoben, vol. 58, 437.

⁷⁹ For a detailed discussion of the last round of correspondence between Chiang and Roosevelt, see Tuchman, chap. 19 in Stilwell and the American Experience; Romanus and Sunderland, Stilwell’s Command Problems, 447–471; Liang, General Stilwell in China, 256–273; Yang Tianshi, Zhaoxun zhenshi, 402–405; and Taylor, The Generalissimo, 291–294.

⁸⁰ CKS Diaries, October 15, 1944.

⁸¹ Ibid., October 20, 1944.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Peter Chen-main Wang

Peter Chen-main WANG is professor of history at National Central University, Taoyuan County, Taiwan. He has done research on the Ming–Qing transition, the history of Chinese Christianity, and Sino–American relations. His books include The Life and Career of Hung Ch’eng-ch’ou: Public Service in a Time of Dynastic Change (Ann Arbor: Association for Asian Studies Press, 1999); and Contextualization of Christianity in China: An Evaluation in Modern Perspective (Sankt Augustin: Monumenta Serica Institute, 2007).