Zhou Xuechang (; Hepburn: Shu Gakushō; March 19, 1898) – November 27, 1952) was a politician in the

Republic of China Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the northeast ...

. He was an important figure during the

Reorganized National Government of China The Wang Jingwei regime or the Wang Ching-wei regime is the common name of the Reorganized National Government of the Republic of China ( zh , t = 中華民國國民政府 , p = Zhōnghuá Mínguó Guómín Zhèngfǔ ), the government of the pup ...

. His

courtesy name A courtesy name (), also known as a style name, is a name bestowed upon one at adulthood in addition to one's given name. This practice is a tradition in the East Asian cultural sphere, including China, Japan, Korea, and Vietnam.Ulrich Theobald ...

was Zhihou ().

Biography

Zhou was born in Anxin,

Zhili Zhili, alternately romanized as Chihli, was a northern administrative region of China since the 14th-century that lasted through the Ming dynasty and Qing dynasty until 1911, when the region was dissolved, converted to a province, and renamed ...

(Now

Hebei Hebei or , (; alternately Hopeh) is a northern province of China. Hebei is China's sixth most populous province, with over 75 million people. Shijiazhuang is the capital city. The province is 96% Han Chinese, 3% Manchu, 0.8% Hui, an ...

). He graduated from

Peking University Peking University (PKU; ) is a public research university in Beijing, China. The university is funded by the Ministry of Education. Peking University was established as the Imperial University of Peking in 1898 when it received its royal charter ...

and Guangdong University. In 1925, he became an instructor at the

Whampoa Military Academy The Republic of China Military Academy () is the service academy for the army of the Republic of China, located in Fengshan District, Kaohsiung. Previously known as the the military academy produced commanders who fought in many of China ...

. Zhou Xuechang successively held the positions of Political Chief of the 2nd Division in the East Route Army of the

Northern Expedition The Northern Expedition was a military campaign launched by the National Revolutionary Army (NRA) of the Kuomintang (KMT), also known as the "Chinese Nationalist Party", against the Beiyang government and other regional warlords in 1926. The ...

, Chairman of the

Kuomintang The Kuomintang (KMT), also referred to as the Guomindang (GMD), the Nationalist Party of China (NPC) or the Chinese Nationalist Party (CNP), is a major political party in the Republic of China, initially on the Chinese mainland and in Tai ...

's Central Committee and Leading Member of the Beiping (

Peking } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

) Branch of the Kuomintang, etc. In 1931, he was appointed to the Chief of the Bureau for Education of the Beiping City Government. In next October, he was appointed to the Committee of the

Shanxi Shanxi (; ; formerly romanised as Shansi) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China and is part of the North China region. The capital and largest city of the province is Taiyuan, while its next most populated prefecture-lev ...

Provincial Government. In 1938, he became Member of the Preparatory committee for

Xikang Xikang (also Sikang or Hsikang) was a nominal province formed by the Republic of China in 1939 on the initiative of prominent Sichuan warlord Liu Wenhui and continued by the early People's Republic of China. Thei idea was to form a single unifi ...

Province. From August 1939, Zhou Xuechang joined

Wang Jingwei Wang Jingwei (4 May 1883 – 10 November 1944), born as Wang Zhaoming and widely known by his pen name Jingwei, was a Chinese politician. He was initially a member of the left wing of the Kuomintang, leading a government in Wuhan in oppositi ...

in creating the collaborationist

, and was appointed Member of the Kuomintang's Central Committee (Wang clique). In next September, he was appointed Superintendent of Education of the Training Team for Central Political Affairs. In December 1941, he was promoted to Mayor of the

Nanjing Nanjing (; , Mandarin pronunciation: ), alternately romanized as Nanking, is the capital of Jiangsu province of the People's Republic of China. It is a sub-provincial city, a megacity, and the second largest city in the East China region. T ...

Special City, and stayed on this position until the Wang Jingwei regime collapsed. After the

collapsed, on August 17, 1945, the former Director of the Taxation Police Bureau () Zhou Gao () who was a subordinate of

Zhou Fohai Zhou Fohai (; Hepburn: ''Shū Futsukai''; May 29, 1897 – February 28, 1948), Chinese politician, and second-in-command of the Executive Yuan in Wang Jingwei's collaborationist Reorganized National Government of the Republic of China during th ...

suddenly started arresting important members of the former government. However, the Vice-Chief of Staff of the

China Expeditionary Army The was a general army of the Imperial Japanese Army from 1939 to 1945. The China Expeditionary Army was established in September 1939 from the merger of the Central China Expeditionary Army and Japanese Northern China Area Army, and was headqu ...

Takeo Imai Takeo Imai (23 February 1898 - 12 June 1982) was a Japanese Major General of the China Expeditionary Army who was born in the Nagano Prefecture. He played a notable role during the Sino-Japanese war and the Japanese invasion of the Philippines dur ...

() urged that Zhou Gao to release his captives, so Zhou Xuechang was also set free. On September 26 the same year, Zhou Xuechang was arrested by

Chiang Kai-shek Chiang Kai-shek (31 October 1887 – 5 April 1975), also known as Chiang Chung-cheng and Jiang Jieshi, was a Chinese Nationalist politician, revolutionary, and military leader who served as the leader of the Republic of China (ROC) from 1928 ...

's National Government. On October 19, 1945 he was convicted of

treason Treason is the crime of attacking a state authority to which one owes allegiance. This typically includes acts such as participating in a war against one's native country, attempting to overthrow its government, spying on its military, its diplo ...

and surrender to the enemy and was sentenced to death. In May 1947, his sentence was confirmed by the higher court. However, the

Chinese Civil War The Chinese Civil War was fought between the Kuomintang-led government of the Republic of China and forces of the Chinese Communist Party, continuing intermittently since 1 August 1927 until 7 December 1949 with a Communist victory on m ...

occurred before his sentence could be carried out, and in January 1949, he was transferred to the

Tilanqiao Prison The Tilanqiao Prison (), formerly known as the Ward Road Gaol or Shanghai Municipal Gaol, is a former prison in Hongkou District of Shanghai, China. Originally built in the foreign-controlled Shanghai International Settlement, following the Chin ...

Shanghai Shanghai (; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four direct-administered municipalities of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the Huangpu River flow ...

. After the

People's Republic of China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

had been established, his treatment did not change, and he remained imprisoned to his death of illness on November 27, 1952.According to Yu Zidao (etc.), p.1615. Zheng wrote "November 26, 1952".

References

Footnotes

* * Zheng Renjia (), "The biographical sketch of Zhou Xuechang" ()
''Biographical Writings'' () Website (requires a Traditional Chinese font) * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Zhou, Xuechang 1898 births 1952 deaths Politicians from Baoding Chinese prisoners sentenced to death Republic of China politicians from Hebei Chinese collaborators with Imperial Japan Kuomintang collaborators with Imperial Japan Prisoners and detainees of the People's Republic of China Prisoners sentenced to death by China Prisoners who died in Chinese detention Mayors of Nanjing National University of Peking alumni