Chapter 31: Reassessing Zhang Guotao: Leaving the Party Without Harming It, Renewed Life

Zhang Guotao (1897–1979), from Pingxiang, Jiangxi, was a student leader at Peking University.

I. De Facto Host of the CCP’s First Congress

When the Chinese Communist Party was founded in 1921, Zhang Guotao, at age 24, effectively organized and presided over the meeting. Chen Duxiu was absent in Guangzhou. Zhang acted as the de facto second-ranking figure in the CCP. In 1927, Zhang led the “Nanchang Uprising” as the CCP’s special representative. Later, in official party histories, his name disappeared, leaving only Zhou Enlai, Zhu De, and He Long.

II. Expanding the Fourth Red Army to 80,000 Soldiers

After attending the Sixth National Congress of the CCP in Moscow in 1928, Zhang was retained by the Comintern for further study. Returning to China in 1930, he became a Politburo member and entered the Eyuwan (Hubei-Henan-Anhui) base area, establishing the Fourth Red Army and expanding it. In December 1932, he retreated to northern Sichuan and established the Sichuan-Shaanxi base. Within two years, the Red Army grew to 80,000 troops.

In 1935, under central orders, Zhang withdrew from the Sichuan-Shaanxi base to rendezvous with Mao’s First Red Army coming from Jiangxi. At that time, Mao’s forces were in full retreat—of 100,000 soldiers, fewer than 10,000 remained.

III. Mao’s Scheme Reduced Zhang’s Army to 4,000

Mao instructed Ye Jianying to forge Zhang Guotao’s telegram to justify using force against the Fourth Red Army. Mao violated military discipline, moving his troops north independently. Zhang wanted to stop him, insisting that Red troops should not fight Red troops, and magnanimously allowed Mao to leave.

The next year, Zhang led his army to southern Gansu. Mao tried to prevent Zhang from joining him in northern Shaanxi, sending Zhou Enlai as an envoy, tricking Zhang into discussing grand plans with Mao alone while temporarily transferring command to Peng Dehuai.

Zhang fell into the trap, taking only a 20-man guard to meet Mao. Entering Mao’s sphere was akin to becoming a high-ranking captive. From then on, Zhang’s Fourth Red Army was controlled by Mao. Mao diverted the Fourth Red Army, sending them into the clutches of the Ma Clique in Gansu. The Western Route Army of over 20,000 was nearly annihilated: over 7,000 killed, 9,000 captured (of which more than 5,000 were executed), and around 2,000 scattered in the northwest. Only 4,000 were eventually rescued and brought to Yan’an.

Mao credited the destruction of the Western Route Army to Zhang’s supposed “escapism,” removing him from the position of Political Commissar of the Red Army. In March 1937, Mao ordered Zhang to be criticized in meetings, insulted, and attacked, attempting to brand him a Trotskyist and eliminate him.

IV. Escaping to Wuhan, Meeting Chiang: “Brothers Abroad, I’ve Been Foolish Too Long”

On April 5, 1938, Zhang used the occasion of paying respects at the Yellow Emperor’s Mausoleum to escape in a KMT vehicle to Xi’an. He then traveled to Wuhan and issued a declaration of leaving the CCP:

“I am unable to prevent the CCP’s corruption. After multiple failed resistances, should I, like Bukharin, await Stalin’s orders to be killed? Leaving the CCP and departing Yan’an is a necessary and just action.”

In Wuhan, Zhou Enlai, following Mao’s instructions, tried to detain Zhang. Upon arrival by train, Zhang was immediately escorted by Li Kenong and three others to a hotel for surveillance. Zhou Enlai, Wang Ming, and Bo Gu came to negotiate, attempting to convince Zhang to return. Zhang also met with Chen Lifu and Zhou Fohai, escorted by Zhou Enlai, before finally meeting Chiang Kai-shek. Zhang reportedly said: “Brothers abroad, I’ve been foolish too long.” Zhou immediately replied: “You’re foolish, I am not.”

V. Accepting a Gentleman’s Agreement: Leaving the Party Without Harming It

Zhang stayed in Wuhan for a few days. Zhou Enlai, following Mao, tried to persuade him to return or take a long leave. Zhang attempted to convince Zhou, Wang Ming, and Bo Gu to jointly oppose Mao, but Zhou, citing Stalin’s support, ignored Zhang—he could not beat Mao. Ultimately, Zhang accepted a “gentleman’s agreement”: leaving the CCP without harming it. Mao allowed Zhang’s wife and children to leave Yan’an unharmed. The next day, the CCP publicly announced Zhang’s expulsion.

Zhang then went to Shanghai, joined the KMT, published magazines, and kept his promise not to harm the party—he did not reveal any sensitive information about Mao or the CCP. In 1948, he left Shanghai for Taiwan and settled in Hong Kong in 1949, continuing to publish magazines.

VI. Memoirs Plain, Avoiding Party Secrets

In 1974, Zhang gave an interview to a newspaper in Toronto, Canada, saying:

“I have washed my hands of politics. Everything I did has been honestly accounted for; history will judge.”

His memoirs, My Recollections, recorded his life but avoided CCP internal secrets, keeping his promise not to harm the party. The work reads rather plainly, reflecting Zhang’s restraint.

VII. Late-Life Christian Faith and Renewed Life

Zhang Guotao died in Toronto in 1979 at age 82 and was buried in a Toronto cemetery. In later life, he embraced Christianity, leaving the CCP and renewing his life. His wife Yang Zilie lived to 95; they were buried together. Their children all settled happily in Canada: the eldest a university math professor, the second a doctor in New York, and the third an engineer in Canada.

Historian Sima Lu (1919–2019), recalling frequent meetings with Zhang in Hong Kong, said:

“He was kind, broad-faced, polite, scholarly—like a professor, full of bookish spirit. He said New Youth’s emphasis on science and democracy was as vital to China as water and air.”