Feng Yuxiang
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Sharing treasures
By Zhu Linyong For the first time in 60 years, treasures from the Palace Museum in Beijing have been sent to Taipei for a large-scale exhibition about Qing Dynasty Emperor Yongzheng (1678-1735). The exhibition Harmony and Integrity: The Yongzheng Emperor and His Time opened on Oct 7 at the Palace Museum in Taipei. It was the result of cooperation between museum directors Zheng Xinmiao from the mainland and Chou Kung-shin from Taiwan. Scheduled to run until Jan 10, 2010, the first formal cooperative show by the Palace Museums in 60 years presents 246 sets of carefully selected exhibits. Divided into two parts - The Life and Times of the Yongzheng Emperor and Arts and Culture in the Yongzheng Era - the colossal exhibition features a rich variety of artifacts and cultural relics. On show are Qing Dynasty archives, historical books, vintage maps, portraits of ladies of the court and of Yongzheng, ink paintings, Chinese calligraphy, ink stones, porcelain and lacquer works, agate carvings and enamelware. Among the exhibits, 37 historical and cultural artifacts portraying Emperor Yongzheng are on loan from its mainland counterpart in Beijing, plus two ancient vases from the Shanghai Museum, organizers say. The show is intended to provide viewers in Taiwan with a complete narrative of Yongzheng's life, administration and achievements in art and culture. It also includes a video produced by Palace Museum in Beijing about the Hall of Mental Cultivation (Yangxin Dian), once served as Yongzheng's bedroom and study. A multimedia display prepared by Palace Museum in Taipei presents the origins of some widely circulated legends about the emperor. "People are curious about why we've prepared this exhibition," Chou says. "The answer is that we want to depict a different image of the legendary emperor." The Qing emperor, who was posthumously given the temple name Shizong, is better known by his reigning name, Yongzheng. After ascending the throne at age 45, he ruled for 13 years until 1735. He was the third ruler after the Manchu overthrew the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644). For centuries, countless myths about Yongzheng have been spread through novels, TV drama series, biographies and scholarly research. These stories continue to fascinate people. But the emperor was often - if not always - portrayed as a ruthless, power-hungry tyrant, who killed many innocent people, including his family members, Chou explains. She believes Yongzheng was a diligent, courageous and innovative feudal ruler who dealt out severe punishments for corruption and laid a solid foundation for the Qing Dynasty's later prosperity. "So, we let the artifacts and cultural relics speak for the emperor and hope to give him his due place in history," Chou says. Chou hailed the joint exhibition as a "hallmark" in the history of cross-Straits cultural exchanges. The Palace Museum was inaugurated in 1921 at the Forbidden City in central Beijing. In 1921, China's last emperor, Pu Yi, was expelled from the Forbidden City by warlord Feng Yuxiang. The government subsequently formed the Committee for the Disposition of the Qing Imperial Possessions. It took a comprehensive inventory of the items in the palace, which largely comprised the former Imperial family's valuables. At the end of the Chinese Civil War in 1948-49, a large portion of the museum's royal collection was brought to Taiwan. Director Chou says the joint exhibition was only possible after her "ice-breaking" visit to the Palace Museum in Beijing in February - the first of its kind in six decades - and a reciprocal visit in March by Beijing's Palace Museum's director Zheng Xinmiao. The Taipei Palace Museum proposed an exhibition of relics from its Beijing counterpart last year. The request received a swift affirmative from the Beijing side. "Taipei suggested the loan, and surely, Beijing's Palace Museum was the best partner," says the Beijing establishment's deputy curator Li Ji, who hosted the crate-sealing and shipping ceremony of the 37 artifacts on Sept 22. "A generally agreeable environment across the Straits enabled a swift signing of the agreement." The mainland and Taiwan inked a nine-point agreement for cross-Straits cooperation in March. It included the exchange of publications, copyrighted videos, Web links and personnel visits. In addition, it called for a joint exhibition and an academic seminar about Yongzheng. The seminar was held in Taipei from Oct 4 to Oct 6. The exhibition "can be seen as a new beginning for further exchanges between the two museums", Beijing's Palace Museum director Zheng says. "The two establishments share the same origin for the collections, which are highly complementary to each other. We will surely seek more cooperative opportunities in the future." Chou says the Palace Museum in Taipei hopes to borrow more items from its Beijing counterpart, and an exhibition, to open next year, is being discussed. But the Taipei museum has long been reluctant to lend its Beijing counterpart artifacts for fear they wouldn't be returned. "They've requested we loan them some items but we need legal protection," Chou says. The two sides have yet to ink a deal in which Beijing's museum recognizes the Taipei museum's ownership of its collection and promises to return borrowed items, some experts from Taiwan say. Currently, people must travel across the Straits to see the collections - making Taipei's museum a must-see attraction for mainland tourists and its Beijing counterpart a key destination for visitors from Taiwan. "It would be a dream for many Chinese to see the items stored in Taiwan exhibited on the mainland," BBC quoted Li Peisong, deputy director of the Beijing museum's cultural relic protection department, as saying. "It's not just the dream of Beijing's Palace Museum curators but of all mainlanders. After all, only a small number of people can afford to travel to Taiwan to see them. "Only then can both sides enjoy China's valuable cultural treasures and understand Chinese culture."
Feng Yu-hsiang (Feng Yuxiang) 馮玉祥
Marshall Feng Yu-hsiang was born at Chao Hsien, Anhui Province, in 1880. In 1896, he joined the Piyang Military Academy. Before graduation, in 1898, he left that college and enrolled as a private in the Wu Wei Yu Chun. Subsequently, he was appointed Commander of a Company in the Ninth Division of Nanyang troops. He also attended the Chiang Yu Tang (the lecture hall for training soldiers). Later, he entered the Paoting Military Academy: from whence he was graduated. In 1910, Marshal Feng became Commander of the Third Regiment, Tenth Battalion, Fifth Brigade, Third Division of the Imperial Army stationed at Fangshan, Chihli. Subsequently, his regiment was reorganized and became the Provost Guard Regiment of the Metropolitan District. In 1913, when General Yuan Shih-kai trained ten new mixed brigades, Marshal Feng’s regiment was reorganized and became the Sixteenth Mixed Brigade. In 1916, Marshal Feng’s Brigade was sent to Anhui by His Excellency Yuan Shih-kai to defend, if necessary, that province against an impending attack of the Republican troops. In July 1917, Marshal Feng was ordered to proceed with his troops to Szechuan: which was being threatened by attacks from Yunnan, where independence had been declared. After the Chihli-Fengtien struggle, in the summer of 1920, in which Marshal Wu Pei-fu came out victorious and Marshal Feng with his Sixteenth Mixed Brigade played a very important part for Chihli, the two Generals became very close friends. In June 1920, Marshal Feng received the Second Class Tashou Paokuang Chiaho. At the recommendation of Marshal Wu Pei-fu, Marshal Feng was appointed Co-Director for Military Affairs of Shensi: and at the same time his mixed brigade was reorganized to become the Eleventh Division. At the sudden and mysterious death of Marshal Yen Hsiang-wen, Marshal Feng was appointed acting Tuchun of Shensi: though still commanding the Eleventh Division. While in Shensi, he sought a compromise with and between the different contending military leaders: and finally brought about peace in that province. In the spring of 1922, the civil war between the Chihli and Mukden war lords broke out. Marshal Feng’s troops were transferred to participate in the fight: and he was appointed Commander of the Rear Defence Forces. His troops played a decisive part in this armed struggle which resulted in the victory of the Chihli forces. In May, Marshal Feng was appointed Tuchun of Honan. In July, he was made a Chiangchun, a member of the College of Marshals, and given the title of “Yang Wu”. In October, he was awarded the Second Order of Merit and was appointed Inspector-General of the National Army. Having headquarters then at Peking, he transferred his troops there. These troops, which were estimated to be in excess of forty thousand, were stationed at Nan Yuan, the Imperial Hunting Park to the south of Peking. In January 1923, Marshal Feng was made a full General. In April 1923, he was awarded the First Class Wenhu decoration. In May, he was appointed Director-General of the Defence of the North-western provinces. Marshal Feng is a Christian, as are many of his soldiers. In October 1924, co-operating with Marshal Wu Pei-fu in opposition to Marshal Chang Tso-lin, Marshal Feng moved the forty thousand troops under his command to Jeho: but shortly afterward, he decided that he did not wish to aid in prolonging civil strife, and so returned to Peking where he assumed command of what was known as the Peoples Army. He immediately forced the Chihli Party out of power, placing certain of its members under arrest, and issued mandates appointing new cabinet members and other officials. He urged Marshal Tuan Chi-jui to assume control of the Government: and upon the latter’s assumption of office as Chief Executive of the Provisional Government, Marshal Feng resigned his command of the Peoples Army.
China fought 8-year war against Japanese aggression
The military parade on September 3 commemorates the sacrifice of the millions of Chinese who stood up to the invading Japanese army. The aggression began as early as 1931 in the north-east, but it was not until 1937 that the full-scale invasion began. The Lugou Bridge incident was the beginning of an eight-year war. At dawn on July 7, 1937, Japanese troops stationed near Wanping claimed a soldier had gone missing, and demanded to cross the bridge to enter the town and search for him. The request was rejected by the Kuomintang government. The Japanese troops went ahead and crossed into the town. The bridge was 15 kilometers southwest of Beijing and was a crucial access point to the city. Japan’s capture of Wanping finally opened up the southern gate of China’s capital. A month later, Japanese troops took control of Beijing, and then northern China, confident they would take down the entire country in three months. Taking the initiative, the Kuomintang Government opened a second front against Japanese forces in Shanghai in August. The biggest and bloodiest battle of the war had begun. It started on the ground. Soon the war moved to the air. Japan had been bombing the city every day since mid-August. A once glamorous city was reduced to rubble. As both sides threw in reinforcements, every street was soon the scene of intense crossfire and at times close combat. Feng Yuxiang, General of the Kuomintang army in Shanghai, saw the war as a big furnace that melted everything. But China’s forces were no match for Japan's armored divisions. After more than 60 percent of the elite units had been deployed and 180,000 Chinese troops had died, the Kuomintang army decided to retreat. Another 100,000 were killed as they fled. A five-story Sihang warehouse was among the last bases for Chinese troops. Eight hundred soldiers were left behind to slow down Japanese forces. They fought a heroic fight, right up until the very last bullet. This national flag was the only one flying in the city occupied by Japan. It was a message to the nation, but also to the world: although China has lost Shanghai, it will not surrender, and will keep on fighting. And from Shanghai, Japanese troops swept straight to Nanjing 300 kilometers away, then the capital of the Kuomintang Government. Massive slaughters began immediately after the Japanese troops occupied the city. Thousands of Chinese men were transported outside the city, before getting killed. The Japanese soldiers came up with various ways to slaughter Chinese civilians. They launched killing competitions. Life for the Chinese in the city was a nightmare. Drunken Japanese soldiers were roaming the city. They murdered, raped, looted and set things on fire. At least 20,000 Chinese women were raped in the first four weeks. Many were killed later. Even pregnant women were not spared. During the six weeks, 300,000 were put to death by the Japanese troops. They were men and women, the elderly, and children. After looting Nanjing, the troops set the city ablaze. The attack frequency from air was also increased in the same year. A five and a-half year bombing against the city of Chongqing, the wartime capital, began in February 1938. From the days when winter fogs blanketed the city, through the grueling hot summer, until late in autumn, staying alert at any time and hiding in tunnels were part of everyday lives for some 1 million Chongqing citizens. Fatigue bombings on May 3 and May 4, 1939, claimed 5,000 lives. And more suffering followed. On June 5, 1941, a five-hour bombardment caused a stampede in a shelter; 2,500 people were trapped in high temperatures, with no ventilation. According to a staff member of the city's air defense department, dead bodies in the shelter piled up high, among them were bodies of twin girls and a boy of whom he knew. The foul smell of dead bodies seeped through the masks. It took authorities 5 days and 20 trucks to transport out the bodies. From winter 1938 to summer 1943, at least 12,000 people lost their lives, while Chongqing was turned into debris. But the Japanese did not succeed in forcing the Chinese to surrender. The city continued to send hundreds of thousands of soldiers to the frontline, defending their homes until the very last second.
Knowledge Graph
Examples
1 Feng Yuxiang was a warlord and leader in Republican China from Chaohu, Anhui.
2 Feng Yuxiang served as Vice Premier of the Republic of China from 1928 to 1930. He was also known as the Christian General for his zeal to convert his troops and the Betrayal General for his penchant to break with the establishment.
3 In 1911, Feng Yuxiang was an officer in the ranks of Yuan Shikai's Beiyang Army but joined forces with revolutionaries against the Qing Dynasty.