World War II Database

Contributor: C. Peter Chen

ww2dbaseZang Shiyi was born in a village near Mukden (Chinese: Fengtian, later Shenyang), Liaoning Province, northeastern China. In 1909, he traveled to Japan to study cavalry warfare at a Tokyo branch of the Japanese Army Academy that was establish especially for foreigners. He returned to China in 1911 to join the forces of Jilin Province in northeastern China in support of the revolution. In 1920, he participated in the Zhili-Anhui War between Zhili, Fengtian, and Anhui factions in China, during which his side was defeated and he was imprisoned for six months as the result. In Jun 1924, he returned to Mukden and served as the chief of staff of the Chinese forces in the northeastern provinces. In 1925, he was named the chief of staff of Jiangsu Province. In 1928, upon the assassination and death of warlord Zhang Zuolin, he played a key role in the smooth transition of power to the deceased warlord, Zhang Xueliang, who would soon award his loyalty with the governorship of Liaoning Province in 1930 and various high level military staff positions. In 1930, he was named the chairman of Liaoning Province. In Sep 1931, Japan violated Chinese sovereignty by staging the Mukden Incident. While many of his fellow officials fled prior to the arrival of Japanese troops, he felt responsible for the province under his care and refused to flee, and he was captured by the Japanese on 19 Sep. Although he originally took an anti-Japanese stance, he would soon change his position, and was returned by the Japanese to Liaoning governorship on 16 Dec 1931; Liaoning would later be renamed Fengtian under the care of the Japanese-sponsored puppet state of Manchukuo, the establishment of which Zang played a role as a member of the Manchukuo Government Guiding Board. Shortly after, his mother committed suicide by hanging; rumors held that she had done so because she was ashamed of Zang's defection to the Japanese. In 1932, he was named the Minister of Home Affairs while still holding governorship of Fengtian. In 1934, he retained his ministerial position. In Mar 1935, he was the favored candidate named by Emperor Kangde of Manchukuo (previously Chinese Emperor Xuantong of China, given name Puyi) to become the next prime minister, but the Japanese ultimately chose to retain the incumbent Zheng Xiaoxu. On 21 May 1935, he was named the Speaker of the Legislature, a largely ceremonial role; he would maintain this position until Aug 1945. In the late 1930s, he served as the Vice Minister for Home Affairs. In 1940, he was named the ambassador to the Japanese-sponsored puppet state in Nanjing, China. In 1945, when the Soviet Union unexpectedly broke the Soviet-Japanese non-aggression treaty, Zang called an emergency session of the legislature to force Emperor Kangde to abdicate and to negotiate with the Soviets, the latter of which would result in failure. He was captured by Soviet troops on 30 Aug 1945 and was imprisoned in the Siberia region of Russia. In 1950, he was extradited to Communist China and was imprisoned at the Fushun War Criminals Management Center in Liaoning Province for political re-education alongside of other former Manchukuo officials. He died in imprisonment on 13 Nov 1956.

Photographs

Zang Shiyi Timeline