Zhang Qun - Biography

Biography

Born in the Huayang district of Sichuan, in 1906 he was admitted to the national military academy in Paoting in north China. The next year, he was selected to go to Japan to study at the Shimbu Gakko, a military school. Together with his classmate, Chiang Kai-shek (蔣中正 / 蔣介石), he joined the T'ung-meng-hui the same year. After completing their preparatory studies, they both served in the Takada regiment of the Niigata army before returning to China to serve under Sun Yat-sen in the revolution which would overthrow the Qing monarchy in 1911. During this period, a lifelong friendship between the two men and Huang Fu (黄郛) was formed and the three became sworn, or blood, brothers. Zhang married Ma Yu-ying (馬育英) in 1913; because their first child was born in 1917, he later claimed to have practiced family planning long before it became popular!

When Yuan Shikai (袁世凱) attempted to restore the monarchy, Zhang fled to Japan and finished his military training in 1915. Then, after a period in the Netherlands East Indies where he taught in an overseas Chinese school, he returned to China to participate in Yuan's overthrow. With the restoration of the Republic, Chang held several posts. Becoming a major general at age 28, he later became member of the Kuomintang's Central Executive Committee, mayor of Shanghai and president of Tongji University, governor of Hubei province and foreign minister. In the KMT, he led the Political Science Clique (政學系), which included military men such as Huang Fu (黄郛) and Xiong Shihui (熊式輝), intellectuals, like Yang Yongtai (楊永泰) and Wang Chonghui (王寵惠), and bankers and industrialists, including Wu Dingchang (吳鼎昌) and Zhang Jiaoao (張嘉璈). During World War II, he served as secretary general of the National Security Council and governor of Sichuan province.

In 1946, Zhang, representing the national government, was a member of the Committee of Three along with General George C. Marshall, then head of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, and Chinese Communist Party representative Zhou Enlai (周恩來), which had been established in Nanjing in January, 1946 to effect a Kuomingtang-Chinese Communist Party truce and head off civil war. The Marshall Mission helped to bring about a temporary cease-fire and but its plans for a political-military settlement did not succeed. In 1947, Zhang headed the first coalition government as president of the Executive Yuan, a position also known as premier of the Republic of China.

His platform was to prepare China for constitutional government, land reform and price control. After the transfer of the capital from Nanking to Taipei, he became chief of staff and secretary general to the president in 1954. Among his duties were planning the government's foreign policy and representing the president in Japan, Africa and Europe, including the Second Vatican Council in 1965. In 1972, he played a large role in the difficult negotiations regarding Japan's switch of diplomatic recognition to the People's Republic of China. His last official position was chairman of the Presidium of the Kuomintang's Central Advisory Committee.

A member of the board of the National Palace Museum, he was a renowned calligrapher, friend of great artists such as Chang Dai-chien (張大千; pinyin: Zhang Daqian), Huang Jun-bi and Lan Yin-ting, and a keen art collector. He died at the age of 101, of heart and kidney failure, at Veterans General Hospital in Taipei, on December 14, 1990.

Zhang's wife, Ma Yu-ying (馬育英; pinyin: Ma Yuying), died in 1974. He is survived by his daughter, Mrs. Yalan Chang Lew (劉張亞蘭; pinyin: Liu Zhang Yalan), widow of Ambassador Yu-Tang Daniel Lew (劉毓棠; pinyin: Liu Yutang), and sons Dr. Philip Chi-cheng Chang (張繼正; pinyin: Zhang Jizheng), former communications minister 1969-72, chairman of the Council for Economic Planning and Development 1973-76, finance minister 1978-81 and governor of the Central Bank of China 1984-89, and Dr. Theodore Chi-chung Chang (張繼忠; pinyin: Zhang Jizhong), vice president of the Truth Theological Seminary and pastor emeritus of the Mandarin Baptist Church of Pasadena, California.