Sian Incident

Xi'an Incident

 or Sian Incident

(1936) Seizure of Nationalist leader Chiang Kai-shek by one of his generals, Chang Hsüeh-liang (Zhang Xueliang; 1898–2001), in order to persuade Chiang to postpone his war on the Chinese communists until the invading Japanese had been defeated. As a result of the incident, the Nationalists and communists formed an alliance that turned its attention to the Japanese in Manchuria. See also Manchukuo; People's Liberation Army.

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Sian Incident 

in December 1936, the arrest of Chiang Kai-shek, the head of China’s Nanking government, by a group of Kuomintang officers led by the commander of the Northeastern Army Chang Hsüeh-liang and the commander of the 17th Army Yang Hu-ch’eng.

On Dec. 12, 1936, the officers arrested Chiang Kai-shek and his entourage after the latter’s arrival in Sian, the capital of Shensi Province. The incident greatly complicated the situation in China, creating the threat of a wider civil war and of China’s dismemberment at the hands of the Japanese. Immediately after the arrest of Chiang Kai-shek, Mao Tse-tung and his supporters attempted to impose on the leadership of the Communist Party of China (CPC) a policy of support for Chang Hsüeh-liang and Yang Hu-ch’eng. On the recommendation of the Executive Committee of the Communist International, however, the CPC leaders took part in negotiations with the arrested Chiang Kai-shek—who was freed on December 25—in order to settle the conflict peaceably. A peaceful settlement of the Sian incident was a prerequisite for the establishment of a united anti-Japanese national front in China in 1937.

REFERENCES

“Sobytiia ν Kitae.” Pravda, Dec. 14, 1936.
Grigor’ev, A. M., and A. B. Reznikov. “G. Dimitrov i problema edi-nogo antiimperialisticheskogo fronta.” In Georgii Dimitrov —vvdaiushchiisia deiatel’ kommunisticheskogo dvizheniia. Moscow. 1972.
Noveishaia Istoriia Kitaia. Moscow, 1972. Pages 166–69.