Xi'an Incident

This is the incident in which Chiang Kai-shek was imprisoned in Xi'an, China, in December 1936. In 1936, Zhang Xueliang of the former Northeast Army, as the commander-in-chief of the Northeast Army, surrounded the Chinese Communist Army in northern Shaanxi Province together with Yang Hucheng, the commander-in-chief of the Northwest Army. Zhang was also the deputy commander of the anti-bandit headquarters (bandits refer to the Chinese Communist Party), but his soldiers supported the Chinese Communist Party's call to end the civil war and unite in the resistance against Japan. Chiang, who had adopted a policy of "pacifying the country first, expelling foreign enemies later" and suppressed the anti-Japanese movement, flew to Xi'an, where Zhang's troops were stationed, and stayed at Huaqing Pool to personally urge the anti-Communist campaign. Just as the first anniversary of the December 9th Movement approached, young people in Xi'an held demonstrations to check Zhang and others. With the people's demands as a backdrop, Zhang and Yang arrested Chiang on December 12th and demanded an end to the civil war, resistance to Japan, and the release of political prisoners. The Chinese Communist Party, judging the situation based on the fact that pro-Japanese He Yingqin was aiming for hegemony in Nanjing and that pro-British and American factions in Nanjing could join the resistance to Japan under certain conditions, embarked on a peaceful resolution, and on the 25th, Chiang Kai-shek was released and returned to Nanjing, and the civil war was stopped. This incident marked the catalyst for the formation of the anti-Japanese national united front and marked an important turning point in modern Chinese history.

[Ando Hikotaro]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

1936年12月、中国の西安(せいあん／シーアン)で蒋介石(しょうかいせき／チヤンチエシー)が監禁された事件。36年、旧東北軍の張学良(ちょうがくりょう／チャンシュエリヤン)は東北軍総司令として、西北軍総司令の楊虎城(ようこじょう／ヤンフーチャン)とともに陝西(せんせい／シャンシー)省北部の中共軍を包囲していた。張は剿匪(そうひ)総司令部（匪は中共をさす）の副司令でもあったが、彼の部下の兵士たちは、中共の内戦停止、一致抗日の呼びかけを支持していた。「先安内後攘(じょう)外」（国内平定が先決、外敵は後回し）という政策をとり、抗日運動を抑圧していた蒋は、自ら対共作戦督促のため、張軍の布陣する西安に飛んで華清池(かせいち／ホアチンチ)に滞在した。ちょうど一二・九運動1周年に向けて西安の青年たちはデモを行い、張らを牽制(けんせい)した。張、楊は民衆の要求を背景に12月12日、蒋を逮捕し、内戦停止、抗日、政治犯釈放などを要求した。中共は南京(ナンキン)では親日派の何応欽(かおうきん／ホーインチン)が覇権をねらっていること、南京の親英米派は一定の条件のもとに抗日に参加しうることなどの状況判断にたって平和解決に乗り出し、25日、蒋介石は釈放されて南京に戻り、内戦は停止された。この事件は抗日民族統一戦線結成の契機となり、中国近代史における重要な転換点となった。

［安藤彦太郎］

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