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Chinese general and warlord (1901–2001)

Chang Hsueh liang (; June 3, 1901According to other accounts, 1898 or 1900 – October 15, 2001), also romanized as Zhang Xueliang and known later in life as Peter H. L. Chang, was a Chinese warlord who ruled Manchuria from 1928 to 1936 and the commander in chief of the Northeastern Army after the assassination of his father, Zhang Zuolin. A reformer who was sympathetic to nationalist ideas, he completed the official reunification of China at the end of the Warlord Era by pledging loyalty to the Nationalist government in Nanjing. He nonetheless retained Manchuria's de facto autonomy until the Empire of Japan invaded and occupied the region in 1931. He was frustrated by Chiang Kai shek's policy of "first internal pacification, then external resistance" and helped plan and lead the 1936 Xi'an Incident. Northeastern soldiers under Chang's command arrested Chiang to force him to negotiate a Second United Front with the Chinese Communist Party against Japan. Chiang eventually agreed, but upon his release he had Chang arrested and sentenced to 50 years of house arrest, first in mainland China and then in Taiwan. Although never personally a communist, Chang is regarded by the Chinese Communist Party and the People's Republic of China as a patriotic hero for his role in ending the encirclement campaigns and beginning the war of resistance against Japan.

Chang Hsueh liang was born in Haicheng, Liaoning province on June 3, 1901. Chang was educated by private tutors and, unlike his father, the warlord Zhang Zuolin, he felt at ease in the company of westerners.

Chang graduated from Fengtian Military Academy, was made a colonel in the Fengtian Army, and appointed the commander of his father's bodyguards in 1919. In 1921 he was sent to Japan to observe military maneuvers, where he developed a special interest in aircraft. Later, he developed an air corps for the Fengtian Army, which was widely used in the battles that took place within the Great Wall during the 1920s. In 1922, he was promoted to major general and commanded an army sized force. Two years later, he was also made commander of the air units. Upon the death of his father in 1928, he succeeded him as the leader of the Northeast Peace Preservation Forces (popularly "Northeastern Army"), which controlled China's northeastern provinces of Heilongjiang, Fengtian, and Jilin. In December of the same year he proclaimed his allegiance to the Kuomintang (KMT; Chinese Nationalist Party).

The Japanese believed that Chang Hsueh liang, who was known as a womanizer and an opium addict, would be much more subject to Japanese influence than was his father. On this premise, an officer of the Japanese Kwantung Army therefore killed his father, Zhang Zuolin, by exploding a bomb above his train while it crossed under a railroad bridge. Surprisingly, the younger Chang proved to be more independent and skilled than anyone had expected and declared his support for Chiang Kai shek, leading to the reunification of China in 1928. With the assistance of Australian journalist William Henry Donald and Dr. Harry Willis Miller, he overcame his opium addiction in 1933 with the administering of Cantharidin auto serum therapy. In accordance with this strategy, Chang's armies withdrew from the front lines without significant engagements, leading to the effective Japanese occupation of Chang's former northeastern domain. There has been speculation that Chiang Kai Shek wrote a letter to Chang asking him to pull his forces back, but Chang later stated that he himself issued the orders. Apparently, Chang was aware of how weak his forces were compared to the Japanese and wished to preserve his position by retaining a sizeable army. Nonetheless, this would still be in line with Chiang's overall strategic standings. Chang later traveled in Europe before returning to China to take command of the Encirclement Campaigns, first in Hebei Henan Anhui and later in the Northwest.

On April 6, 1936, Chang met with CPC delegate Zhou Enlai to plan the end of the Chinese Civil War. KMT leader Generalissimo Chiang Kai shek at the time took a passive position against Japan and considered the communists to be a greater danger to the Republic of China than the Japanese, and his overall strategy was to annihilate the communists before focusing his efforts on the Japanese. Chiang had him placed under house arrest.

Chang was portrayed by Andy Lau in a cameo appearance in the 1994 martial arts film Drunken Master II. Chang was centrally featured in the 1981 Chinese film The Xi'an Incident (Xi'an Shibian), directed by Cheng Yin, with Chang played by Jin Ange. A 2007 TV series on the Xi'an Incident was produced and aired in mainland China, with Chang Hsueh liang being portrayed by Hu Jun. Chang is a main figure in the American novel Soul Slip Peak (2013). The Peter H. L. Chang reading room at Columbia University's Butler Library is named after Chang. The library hosts a collection of Chang's papers. Beijing microbrewery Great Leap Brewing named its Little General IPA after Chang. A Chinese TV series titled 少帅 is based on Chang's life.