Chiang (Ching-kuo) Diaries - Online Archive Of California

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Collection context

Summary

Title: Chiang Ching-kuo 蔣經國 diaries Dates: 1937-1979 Creators: Chiang, Ching-kuo, 1910-1988 Abstract: The Chiang Ching-kuo 蔣經國 diaries (1937-1979) contain photocopies of edited (redacted) and unedited diaries relating to political conditions in China and Taiwan. Extent: 18 manuscript boxes, 1 cubic foot box (11.7 Linear Feet) Language: Chinese Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], Chiang Ching-kuo 蔣經國 diaries, [Box no., Folder no. or title], Hoover Institution Library & Archives

Background

Scope and content:

The original personal diaries of Chiang Ching-kuo 蔣經國 were deposited at the Hoover Institution in December 2004 by Elizabeth Chiang Fang Chih-yi. The collection of Chiang's diaries span from May 1937, when he returned to China following 12 years of schooling and work in the Soviet Union, to December 1979, a year after he became president of the Republic of China on Taiwan and the year when the United States severed diplomatic ties with Taipei. The original diaries are dated from 1941 to 1944 and 1950 to 1979. The transcribed versions are dated from 1937 to 1940 and 1945 to 1949. The Hoover Institution did not receive a diary for 1948.

Chiang Ching-kuo was the son of Chiang Kai-shek, who led China from 1928 until 1949 and then ruled Taiwan with an iron fist after his Chinese Nationalist Party (Kuomintang) lost China's civil war to the Chinese Communists in 1949 until his death in 1975. By virtue of his position, Chiang Ching-kuo was involved in affairs of state even before 1949. He began his political career in southern Jiangxi Province in Central China, where he served as a commissioner to launch a series of administrative and economic reforms. Chiang subsequently took part in Kuomintang party affairs and in arduous negotiations between China and Soviet Russia following the end of World War II. After the Chinese Nationalists retreated to Taiwan in late 1949, Chiang was in charge of the island's secret police, political commissar in the military, and the national security apparatus. From 1955 to 1960, he administered the construction and completion of Taiwan's highway system. Chiang Kai-shek elevated his son to high office when Ching-kuo was appointed Taiwan's defense minister from 1965 until 1969. He was the country's Vice Premier between 1969 and 1972, during which period he survived a 1970 assassination attempt while visiting the United States. Chiang was made the Premier between 1972 and 1978. As his frail, elderly father entered his final years, Chiang Ching-kuo became de facto ruler and decision maker of the country. When Chiang Kai-shek died in April 1975, Vice President Yen Chia-kan became president for the balance of Chiang Kai-shek's term. Chiang Ching-kuo was elected to the presidency in the spring of 1978 and would continue to hold the position until his death in January 1988.

Chiang Ching-kuo's diaries will shine a light on a critically important period in modern Chinese history. They offer a rare glimpse into the inner world of a man who, as leader of Taiwan, oversaw the island's transition to democracy and navigated it through an exceptionally challenging period of the Cold War. Under his leadership, Taiwan emerged as one of the more politically and economically vibrant entities in the region. Those diaries written before 1949 will be equally valuable to the study of various political events on the Chinese mainland, complementing the diaries left behind by his father Chiang Kai-shek, as well as many other personal papers related to the history of modern China which were made public by the Hoover Institution in the past decades.

Biographical / historical:

Chiang Ching-kuo (Jiang Jingguo 蒋经国, 1910-1988), President of Taiwan, 1978-1988.

Acquisition information: Materials were acquired by the Hoover Institution Library Archives in 2007. Custodial history:

After Chiang's death on January 13, 1988, his personal diaries were obtained by his youngest son, Eddie Chiang Hsiao-yung, the late husband of the depositor, Elizabeth Chiang Fang Chih-yi.

Physical location: Hoover Institution Library & Archives Rules or conventions: Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Related resources

Related material:

Chiang Kai-shek 蔣介石 diaries, 2006C37, Hoover Institution Library & Archives.

Other descriptive data:

The original diaries contain sentences that were crossed out in ink. It is believed that these redactions were made years ago by Chiang Kai-shek, Chiang Ching-kuo, or another individual.

Since the diaries were deposited at Hoover, some passages have been redacted due to family privacy concerns; these will be made available after 2035. These will be redacted from the use copies with a "2020" annotation in the margin to distinguish them from the earlier redactions.

Indexed terms

Subjects: Statesmen -- Taiwan Places: Taiwan -- Politics and government -- 1945-1975China -- History -- Republic, 1912-1949Taiwan -- Politics and government -- 1975-1988

About this collection guide

Collection Guide Author: Finding aid prepared by Hoover Institution Library and Archives Staff Date Encoded: This finding aid was produced using ArchivesSpace on 2025-01-14 13:18:37.685188

Access and use

Restrictions:

Before examining the paper copies of the diaries, users must sign an agreement stating that (1) the content of the diaries may not be used, published, broadcast, or redistributed in any form without the written permission of the rights owners; (2) the diaries may not be photocopied nor photographed, so only handwritten notes may be taken; (3) cameras, cell phones, computers, scanners, and other image capture devices, as well as tape recorders and other recording devices, are not allowed while using the diaries; and (4) violations of the agreement may result in forfeiture of the privilege to access materials at the Hoover Institution Library & Archives.

Terms of access:

The content of the Chiang Ching-kuo diaries may be protected by copyright, privacy rights, or other rights and interests not owned by the Hoover Institution or Stanford University. The Hoover Institution cannot grant permission to use such content and is not responsible for any misuse by researchers of content from these diaries. Researchers are responsible for obtaining the necessary rights and permissions to use, publish, broadcast, or otherwise redistribute content in the Chiang Ching-kuo diaries.

Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], Chiang Ching-kuo 蔣經國 diaries, [Box no., Folder no. or title], Hoover Institution Library & Archives

Location of this collection: Hoover Institution Hoover Institution Library & Archives, Stanford University Stanford, CA 94305-6003, US Contact: (650) 723-3563 [email protected] Website Menu

Collection Overview

Identifier/Collection Number: 2007C1

Last Indexed: 2025-12-11

Permalink: https://oac.cdlib.org/findaid/ark:/13030/c8bv7nz9

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