Chang Chih-chiang T. Tzu-min H. Tzu-chiang West. Paul C. C. Chiang Chang Chih-chiang (1882- ? ) was a military officer associated with Feng Yü-hsiang (q.v.) for many years prior to 1927.

A native of Chihli (Hopei) province, Chang Chih-chiang was born into a landlord family in the Yenshan district. Since his father was the village elder, the young Chang received a classical education and became a candidate for the degree of sheng-yuan. In 1903 the Ch'ing government, then beginning to build a modern army, introduced a system of conscription. Chang's father was required to produce two recruits from his village. Unable to meet the demand otherwise, he sent his son as one of the recruits. Since it was rare for a Chinese soldier of that period to be able to read and write, Chang Chih-chiang's education impressed his officers, and he gained rapid promotion. In 1907, when Hsu Shih-ch'ang (q.v.) was appointed to the new post of governor general of the Three Eastern Provinces, he transferred a portion of the Chihli army to that area. The 1st Mixed Brigade was sent for garrison duty at Hsin-min-fu, and Chang Chih-chiang was then a platoon leader in the cavalry battalion of that brigade. He soon joined an organization known as the society for military studies, sponsored by Feng Yü-hsiang and others, and came into contact with officers who were anti-Manchu. In 1910 the 1st Mixed Brigade was merged with two other regiments to form the 20th Division, commanded by Chang Shao-tseng. Since he was sympathetic toward new ideas, he encouraged the spread of republicanism among his forces.

When the Wuhan revolt of October 1911 broke out, the society for military studies, led by Feng Yü-hsiang and Wang Chin-ming, planned to launch an anti-Manchu military uprising at Luan-chou. Chang Chih-chiang made a trip to Shanghai to contact the republican revolutionary leader Ch'en Ch'i-mei (q.v.). When the planned uprising failed, both Feng and Chang were forced to flee.

After the republic was formed in 1912, Chang Shao-tseng became military governor of Shansi province, and Chang Chih-chiang joined him as a staff officer. Disagreements with Yen Hsi-shan (q.v.), however, soon led to Chang Shao-tseng's departure from Shansi. Chang Chih-chiang then joined Feng Yü-hsiang, now commander of the 16th Mixed Brigade. At the end of 1915, the 16th Mixed Brigade, then on duty in Szechwan, was ordered to resist the invasion of Ts'ai O (q.v.) and to assist Yuan Shih-k'ai's trusted military governor, Ch'en Yi. Feng and Chang Chih-chiang sympathized with Ts'ai O in his movement against Yuan and forced Ch'en Yi to declare Szechwan's independence on 22 May 1916. This action hastened the collapse of Yuan Shih-k'ai's regime.

While in Szechwan, Chang Chih-chiang was greatly impressed by the fact that the majority of Chinese Christians in the province supported the anti-monarchical cause with great enthusiasm. That situation led Chang to take up the study of Christianity. Chang's conversion to the Christian faith was a personal act taken earlier than, and independent of, the action taken by Feng Yü-hsiang, whose mass baptism of his troops later brought him the nickname of the "Christian General." Chang Chih-chiang then returned north with Feng's army, and he and Lu Chung-lin (q.v.) took charge of it during Feng's temporary absence. In July 1917 Chang Hsün (q.v.) attempted to restore the Manchu dynasty. Chang Chih-chiang called on Feng to return to his command, and, in coordination with Tuan Ch'i-jui (q.v.), the unit suppressed Chang Hsün's forces. In 1918 Feng's army was transferred to Ch'angte in western Hunan, where it was stationed from June 1918 until 1920. Chang Chih-chiang then commanded the 2nd Regiment of the brigade. In the spring of 1921 Feng's brigade was ordered to Shensi, where, after a successful action, it was expanded into the 1 1 th Division, in which Chang commanded the 22nd Brigade. In August 1921 Feng Yü-hsiang was named tuchun [military governor] of Shensi province.

In April 1922 the first war between the Fengtien and Chihli factions broke out. On orders from Feng Yü-hsiang, who was associated with the Chihli clique, Chang Chih-chiang led his 22nd Brigade to Chengchow to support the forces of Ts'ao K'un (q.v.), since the military governor of Honan at that time was secretly in league with Chang Tso-lin (q.v.), the Fengtien clique leader. As a result of that action Feng Yü-hsiang was appointed tuchun of Honan." He did not remain long in that position, however. At the end of October 1922 he was appointed inspector general of the Chinese army and ordered to Peking. His 1 1 th Division was expanded to five brigades, and Chang Chih-chiang was made commander of the 7th Mixed Brigade.

In the autumn of 1924 a new war developed between the Fengtien and Chihli factions. By that time the relations between Feng Yü-hsiang and Wu P'ei-fu (q.v.), the leading military figure of the Chihli clique, had worsened. When the conflict began, Wu P'ei-fu assigned Feng, as commander of the Third Army of the Chihli forces, to the Jehol front. Chang Chihchiang was commander of the First Route Army under Feng. Feng had for some time contemplated a coup. In a quick move taken while Wu P'ei-fu was engaged at Shanhaikuan, Feng led his forces back to Peking and occupied the capital on the night of 22 October 1924. Immediately after the coup, Feng reorganized his forces into the Kuominchun, or National Army, with himself as commander in chief. After heavy fighting, he routed the forces of Wu P'ei-fu by 3 November. The Kuominchun then consisted of three armies, with Feng Yü-hsiang concurrently commanding the First Army, which was the descendant of his original 11th Division. Chang Chih-chiang was then assigned to command a cavalry brigade in that army. Toward the end of 1924, Feng again retired and entrusted the command of the training of his forces to Chang Chih-chiang and Li Mingchung. Chang was then appointed by the Peking government as the tu-tung [military commander] of Chahar, and Li Ming-chung received a similar appointment in Suiyuan. Chang proceeded to Kalgan to take up his new responsibilities, and he exerted great effort to consolidate the region. Among other things, he sought to stabilize the currency, develop animal husbandry, improve communications, and provide public recreational facilities. In November 1925 Feng Yü-hsiang entered into a private agreement with the Fengtien general Kuo Sung-ling (q.v.), to overthrow Chang Tso-lin, his erstwhile ally against Ts'ao K'un and Wu P'ei-fu. Feng ordered Chang Chih-chiang to move with his army from Kalgan to attack Tientsin. After engaging in sharp fighting for over a month and after being reinforced by the army of Sung Che-yuan (q.v.) from Jehol, Chang finally defeated the Fengtien general Li Ching-lin and captured Tientsin. He then returned to Kalgan.

On 1 January 1926 Feng Yü-hsiang announced his resignation as northwest border defense commissioner and stated that he would soon go abroad. Chang Chih-chiang succeeded to that post. As hostilities continued, the Kuominchun, now the common target of both the Fengtien and Chihli forces, found its position in the Tientsin-Peking area untenable. Therefore, Feng's forces retreated along the Peking- Suiyuan rail line to the vicinity of Hankow. On 21 March 1926 Chang Chih-chiang issued a public statement in the name of the Kuominchün declaring that it would avoid civil war and devote all efforts to the development of northwest China, notably Chahar, Suiyuan, and Kansu. In May 1926 the Kuominchun was reorganized into seven armies, and Chang Chih-chiang became commander in chief. Since Chang was the northwest border defense commissioner, the army was first referred to in China as the Northwest Army. Chang Chihchiang was then subordinate only to Feng Yühsiang in the hierarchy of the Northwest Army.

In August 1926 Feng Yü-hsiang returned from the Soviet Union to northwest China. He found his army battered and disorganized as a result of defeats suffered during his absence. Feng then resumed the over-all command of the Northwest Army. Chang Chih-chiang continued to serve in the post of northwest border defense commissioner.

Feng Yü-hsiang's decision to cooperate with Chiang Kai-shek struck a death blow to the Wuhan faction of the Kuomintang and to the Soviet advisers in China. In December 1927 Chang Chih-chiang represented Feng Yühsiang at the fourth plenum of the second Central Executive Committee of the Kuomintang, which met at Nanking. Chang then took up residence at Nanking, having been elected to membership on the State Council of the National Government. During the second stage of the Northern Expedition, he served as chief of the senior staff corps, acting as chief liaison officer between Feng and Chiang Kai-shek. After 1928 Chang Chih-chiang retired from active military and political affairs. Long interested in the traditional Chinese forms of physical exercise, he was made a director of the national traditional sports institute at its inauguration in April 1928. In August 1929 he was named chairman of the national opium suppression commission. Appointed director of the central traditional physical culture institute in 1932, he traveled abroad in 1935 to investigate physical culture activities in other countries. During the Sino-Japanese war, Chang moved to Chungking and served as a member of the People's Political Council. In that forum he was noted for his vigorous advocacy of the traditional forms of physical exercise, a stand that he adhered to despite criticism from the press that he was behind the times.

Toward the end of 1945 Hsu Tao-lin, son of Hsu Shu-cheng (q.v.), resigned from his post in the Executive Yuan at Chungking to file a charge in the local court at Pei-p'ei, Szechwan, against Chang Chih-chiang for inciting the assassination of his father in December 1925. Chang published a formal announcement in the principal Chinese papers stating the facts of the incident to demonstrate that he had not been personally involved.

After the Japanese surrender in 1945, Chang Chih-chiang returned to Nanking and later went to Peiping. He remained there after the Central People's Government was established, but was politically inactive. A Hong Kong press report of April 1962 stated that in the course of an interview at Peking, Feng Hungkuo, the eldest son of Feng Yü-hsiang, had mentioned Chang Chih-chiang. Chang was reported to be living quietly in Peking at the age of 81 sui, still in good health.