Zhang Shizhao

Zhang Shizhao

This is a Chinese name; the family name is Zhang.

Zhang Shizhao (simplified Chinese: 章士钊; traditional Chinese: 章士釗; pinyin: Zhāng Shìzhāo; March 20, 1881 – July 1, 1973), courtesy name Xingyan, penname Huangzhonghuang, Qingtong or Qiutong, was a Chinese politician of the 20th century. He was the Minister of Justice and Minister of Education of the Beiyang Government, led by Duan Qirui during the Republic of China period. He was a senator in the Republic of China government and a standing committee member of the National People's Congress of the People's Republic of China and a standing committee member of the CPPCC in PRC. He was the president of the Central Research Institute of Culture and History.

Biography

Zhang Shizhao was born in Changsha in Hunan. He entered Lianghu Academy of Chinese Literature (两湖书院) in 1901 and was a classmate of Huang Xing, with whom he co-founded the Huaxing Party (华兴会) (out of which in 1904 the Huaxinghui was created). In May 1903, he was appointed the chief editor of the "Su Bao" newspaper. After the paper was banned, he founded "Minyu Daily", whose name (literally meaning "people's murmurs") insinuated that people could not complain loudly, only murmur (民不敢声，惟有吁也). Together with Yang Shouren, Cai Yuanpei, Cai E and others, he organized the Patriot Association in Shanghai.

After the Xinhai Revolution, he joined the Beiyang Military Government led by Yuan Shikai and became the secretary general in Guangdong Military Government. He later became the editor in chief of "Jiaying", a conservative journal. He spent his whole life promoting Classical Chinese writing and protesting written vernacular Chinese, disputing for many years with Hu Shi, a pioneer of liberal Chinese. In 1920, he sponsored Mao Zedong 20,000 yuan.

He later became the Minister of Justice and Minister of Education in the government led by Duan Qirui. In 1930, he was invited by Zhang Xueliang and became the dean of the school of Chinese literature at Northeast University in China. After the Mukden Incident, he went to Shanghai to work as a lawyer. After the Sino-Japanese War, he became a senator in the Republic of China Chongqing government. He returned to Shanghai later and resumed his law practice. In Spring of 1949, he was invited by Li Zongren as a KMT delegate and went to Beijing to negotiate with the CPC. In May 1973, he flew to Hong Kong and coordinated the proposed Third KMT and CPC corporation.

He died in Hong Kong on July 1, 1973 at age of 92.

His adopted daughter was Zhang Hanzhi.

Further reading

• Leigh Jenco, Making the Political: Founding and Action in the Political Theory of Zhang Shizhao, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2010.