- Zhang Bojun
Zhang Bojun (Chinese: 章伯钧;
November 17 ,1895 –May 17 ,1969 ) was a Chinese politician and intellectual.Biography
Zhang studied philosophy in
Germany between 1922-1924, and joined theChinese Communist Party (CCP) upon becoming a personal friend withZhu De (Field Marshal and Supreme Military Commander of the New China), his roommate at the time. Zhang left the CCP following the doom of the “August First” military uprising in 1927, and over the years, in collaboration with others, founded the third parties, known today as theChinese Democratic Party of Peasants and Workers , and theChina Democratic League . Before the revolution, Zhang was the dean of a teacher’s college in his home province ofAnhui and later an English professor inZhongshan University (Sun Yet-sen University inGuangzhou ,Guangdong Province, China).He was appointed as the vice-Chairman of the 2nd
CPPCC ,National Committee of thePeople’s Republic of China 1954–59 [http://chinavitae.com/biography/Zhang_Bojun%7C2590 Biography] , China Vitæ, retrieved 2007-01-19.] , and Minister of Communications (i.e., Department of Transportation, his title should have been translated as Secretary of Transportation). Vocal during theHundred Flowers Campaign , Zhang was removed byMao Zedong from his minister's position and staged as a public enemy during theAnti-Rightist Campaign in 1957, being labeled as ‘China’s number one rightist’ [http://www.zonaeuropa.com/20041102_1.htm The International PEN Award For Independent Chinese Writing] , [http://www.zonaeuropa.com/ EastSouthWestNorth] , retrieved 2007-01-09.] .His 10,000-volume family library was destroyed during the
Cultural Revolution in the 1960's [http://www.lagranepoca.com/news/6-3-23/2462.html Como o Partido Comunista Chinês destruiu a cultura tradicional] ,La Gran Época editorial, 2006-03-23, retrieved 2007-01-19 pt icon.] . His daughter,Zhang Yihe , is a writer with censoredHistory books [http://estadao.com.br/ultimas/mundo/noticias/2007/jan/19/189.htm China Censura Livros Sobre Episódios de sua História] ,O Estado de São Paulo , 2007-01-19, fromEFE . Retrieved 2007-01-19 pt icon.] . Even several years after his death, Chinese communists still criticised him and defended the CCP’s actionsQUE, Wei, [http://eric.ed.gov/ERICWebPortal/Home.portal?_nfpb=true&_pageLabel=RecordDetails&ERICExtSearch_SearchValue_0=EJ180249&ERICExtSearch_SearchType_0=eric_accno&objectId=0900000b800af42e The Real Intentions of Zhang Bojun and Other Rightists in Opposing Writing Reform] . Chinese Education, 10, 3–4, 121–5, F/W 77–78. 1977. Retrieved 2007-01-19.] .With his political ambitions unfulfilled and reform goals unaccomplished, Zhang lived a Renaissance man’s life in his private library of ancient books and art relics after his removal from the many positions he once held. At least until the Cultural Revolution he could retreat to this last sanctuary to reflect back on his journey from an early member of the CCP and a leader in the “August First” military uprising (1927), to a high-impact power broker between the CCP and all third-party political forces (late 1940’s), and on to an enthusiast of the New China. He was once offered by the central government to live in exile abroad with state funding, but Zhang rejected the offer, and said “Please convey to Chairman Mao, Zhang Bojun was born on this land, and he will die on this land”, quoted in his daughter’s best seller of 2004, unofficial biographies of friends and associates of Zhang and family. Also quoted in his daughter’s best seller was Zhang’s own personal motto: “I do not judge myself by the honors I hold or by the indignities forced upon me, nor do I judge others by their successes and failures in life.”
Zhang died of
stomach cancer and the family believed that depression as a result of his political downfall may have contributed to the deterioration of his health.References
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
