AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF HSU SHIH, A CHINESE COMMUNIST

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP82-00457R002400690008-6
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: S
• Document Page Count: 8
• Document Creation Date: November 9, 2016
• Document Release Date: January 22, 1999
• Sequence Number: 8
• Publication Date: March 31, 1949
• Content Type: REPORT

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CLASSIFICATION s ..~ . iS 0,211LY
REPORT NO.
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INFORMATION REPORT CD No.
COUNTRY . Chinn/Hong Kong
DATE DISTR. 31 :`arch 1949
SUBJECT Autobiography of IISU Sh.ih, a Chinese Comrmnist NO. OF PAGES 8
P' LACE
ACQUIRED
HATE OF I
25X1X6
CENTr,AL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY
(LISTED BELOW)
RETURN TO CIA LI AINY NO. of EN
SUPPLEMENT TO
REPORT NO.
The following is a partial translation of a Chinese Communist document
obtained in Hong Kong, Most of the names have been rendered L n ;,ade-Giles
romanization, but a few are reproduced as received, The original translation
contained the nmme of the author in transliterated Cantonese, as HUI Shutt,
In .cede-Giles romanication, this v uld probably have been IISU Shih,
Howover, the characters received were ( ) and read HSU Pao in the
:lade-Giles,. This discrepancy probably results from a confession of two
characters? (ship) and (gao)., The form IISU Shih is adopted
below as more rrobably corrects
Family background
I.,, I am a native of Fu shsn. ELI ) Nanhai district (y j ,) o y~y father
is a merchant. I have six brothers and a younger sister, vly four elder
brothers an university graduates. One of them is now a court magistrate.
Another is secretary to a Reconstruction Bureau. The two others are middle
school teachers, :,ly two younger brothers are teachers in a primary school,
:,fir sister is a student: HSU Chien (,' * ), the elder brother who is a
court magistrate, is a liberal and was formerly closely allied to our
comrades,, HSU luai.mirL (tT f? A), the elder brother in the Reconstruction
Bureau, used to be the secretary-general of a Kuomintmng ''istrict Party
office. He is a very subversive person. The other two elder brothers,
HSU Chien (10T ~.) and USU Kan (aT may become my comrades? My
little brother also may join the party.,
2, 1 have been away from my faraily for some eight years,; I understand there has
been very little change during this period?
Decision to join tho revolution
3s, My family was vaell_to-do and had good living standards before the war., .
Although my father was a msrchsnt. he was very in.erested in the rearing of
his children and encouraged us tD seek high goals;, Under his guidance we
were irribued with a middle-of-the -road outlook and a desire to attain high
positions in scoiety:..
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4 The outbreak of Sino-Japanese hostilities caused the bankruptcy of my
family. My ambition to climb to a high position in society began to waver,
;;yy situation appeared hopeless unless I joined the revolutions Formerly,,
I liked the idea of revolution because of its theoretical appeal. An easy
home life and submission to temptation had prevented my active participation
in the revolution. Now these obstacles no longer existed and there being
no reason for hesitation, after no little mental conflict, I made my choices
Ideological development
I was rather premature in parr thinking and feelings. Ity older brothers used
to explain to me such terms as "proletariat" and bourgeoisie," At the same
tine a friend of mine, LO Chang-ohien who was studying in
a law collegep influenced ;ne greatly by his many letters to ma, especially
after the "Mukden Incident,,," I was then in the graduating oletss of
primary, school. The arrest of LO was a great shock to me, a boy only
sixteen years of aged LO later became a renegade and even led the reactionaries
in rounding up a number of his comrades,
6, From my elder brothers I learned of the loss of A"anehuria because of the
non-resistance of the government., This and LO'S arrest instilled in me an
intense detestation of the ruling; government. However, I was, at the most,
only an ultra-nationalist? I admired Hitler and Mussolini. Every morning
I revered theirphotos in ,r study. I loved to read their biographies,,
7. While in junior-middle school I joined the, reading club sponsored by ray
brothers,, Through their influence I developed a blind worship of the
Chinese Communist Party and a blind abhorrence of the government., However,
I was unable to envisage victory of the revolution,.
8, The Peiping student movement made a deep impression on me. .7hen I read the
Canton National Times' editorial stigmatising these students,, I cried in
sympathy f?'or theme
9. At the time of the Sian Incident I wished that the Young w'arshal had
executed CIIIANG Kai-shok. I rimed all hopes of China's salvation on the
Chinese Communists, Tales of the Chinese Communist guerrillas as told in
VIAND Ming's (-;L ) Struggle for.an Independent, Free and Happy New China
a copy of which my older ire er agora y gave me rem , made me think o
them as a mighty "heavenly army" shrouded with mystery,
10. At the time of the outbreak of Sino-Japanese hostilities I was in the
Kang Shuit :diddle School in Shaping,, IIoshen District. Because of my patriotic
enthusiasm I organized a re_tdin+; club and a student council. I also
actively engaged in propaganda work in the rural areas and solicited funds
for the 8th Route Army, These activities attracted the attention of the
headmaster of the school, who was HSIAO Fangs ( 0.) younger brother;,
When the headmaster learned that I was preparing tot ake the money I had
solicited to Canton, a sinister plot was planned against maw. However;, the
prefect of studies in the school gave me a timely warning which enabled me
to s teal my wary to Canton and turn. the sum over to Comrade YUN Kuanga-ying
(') through the introduction of HS IA Yen (& 4) of the National
Salvation Daily News,,
11. I became a good friend of the special representative in Hoshan District of
the Kuomintang Party offices, This encouraged me considerably,, While touring
the rural districts as a representative of my school, with the Foshan
Magistrate HSIEH Ho--mien ')during a national s alvation publicity
campaign, in my speeches I openly quoted from the pamphlet International
Relations of 193?, This naturally made them suspicious of me., It servod
to i us rag i love f or s how is off.,
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12. Some of my schoolmates were planning a trip to northern Shensi and
offered to help defray my travelling expenses,: I declined on the pretext
that to participate in the revolution it was not absolutely necessary
for youths to go to the oomiats,, as long as they knew where they
stood and would not forsake their position,. My excuse was based on an
article.ritten. by LIN Tvu-haan ( -+IL i) . Actually, my individualism
was hard at work, and I felt that the victory of the Chinese Communists
might not come for a long time
13. I was proud of my own ability and complacent in my progressive thoughts,,
I had the ability to porsuade others and could speak or write so as to
command attention among the masses., Also, my family could still afford
to pay for my university education. These considerations made me
optimistic as to my future, fly ambition to be prominent in an
officialdom of good, honest m n continued unabated,
l4~ Before long the middle school students of the province were ordered to
assemble at Enping (f -- ) for collective military training,,
Maltreatment caused somi of the Kwong Ngeh Middle School students to
lead an escape which I joined-,
15,, Soon after I returned to my native village Canton fell to the Japanese,,
We were evacuated to naiping i..istriet (41 The tranquillity of
home life did not agree with us, so my brothers and I joined the 131st
Squad of the 4/ar Servioe Squads. Our patriotism and desire to gain face
in the struggle of the nation forced us to overcome the serious objections
our father had to our m3mbership in this guerrilla unit, After a while
our unit was faced with oertaxn defeat by. the Japanese, and our capture
by them was inevitable. ,7e doserted the guerrillas and returned to our
home.,
16., I entered the Yuet Shan :.,hddlo School in Macao and studded hard, hoping
to be able later on to enter a famous university and eventually turn out
to be a great man. My marks rare excellent0 I also won high places in
speecl- contests.
17. Former schoolmates in the interior wrote reproachful letters to me..
Gradually my spirit was enlivened main. I entered the Provincial
Central Districts' Provisional n first- place, This brought honor to the Youth Corps
Training Class and improved their impression of ran However, t;toir
suspicions never ceased, and they continued to think of ways for exploiting
me to their advantage.
The three months of training ended, On the day after graduation CIfI'IN Yu-fu
one of the Blue Shirt leaders in Chiuchian g (-f2_. jt) and
concurrently Chiuchiang Youth Corps Branch secretary, had a personal
conversation with me Tie wv~anted rre to go to Chungking with him eL her to
work or study,. I refused his offer on the ground that I had inten?:ions of
enrolling in the Literature and 3offence College of Kwangtung? Thi.s was the
turning point of ny lifer.
L'lembership in the Chinese Cc m niut Party
2l, At this college the organization was mating definite progress. I followed
the advice of UTJANG Hai-yen ( *)and severed all relations with
CHEN Hung-fan, prefect of studies in the Youth Corps, HUANG was the
organizations special representative at the college, I was in a dtate of
mental confusion Because I had been in the Youth Corps, progressive
schoolmates thought I was a. "white,." Because I avoided the company of
the secret-service students and often opposed them, I was also broader as
a "red." Those conflicting forces affected me so reach that one night I
could not refrain from crying my heart out, WANG., u iderstood nW
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predicam nt and sought to prepare me to become a member. I was very
happy, Yet, I feared that after becoming a member "my face would bear
a taint" and I would at once be arrested by the reactionaries. I sought
the advice of my good friend and schoolmate CHENG Yen -wen ( p Ji jc-),
who was already a member-. He said., "For the sake of your on safety;,
you can get better cover by joining than not because the party is
thoughtful of the security of its men.," Thus I made my decision to
join the organization., Howelrer, personal considerations still entered
my mind, Schoolmate IHUANG was of the opinion that I was valuable, despite
my shortcomings,, He accepted my request to become a member. 'fhereaftera
he took great pains to educate me,, It was then Lay 1941. I :v as
refreshed in spirit after the move. I sawn the guiding star and was no
longer groping in the dark.
Party activities
22r The organization made plans to oust HSU Sung-ping (' . the
prefect of the college and a CC Clique man? On the first night we
as. aulted his right-hand man Professor CIIIANG (y.S. ) and succeeded in
forcing him to quit the college:, On the second night we assaulted IISU
but failed in our objective- Two schoolmates were apprehended and
put into prison. I was dismissed from the college.,
23. Through CWN Hung-fan I became prefect of morals in the Chung Ching
:'Jli.ddle School of t"dharnpoE'_,, This I did with the consent of the organization,,
This school was the rendezvous of secrot-service a tudents, By giving me
the position CHEN'evidently intended to watch over me closely and to
exploit me, Under the crga_.isation's guidance I did an excellent job
of covering up.,
24, I err as soon transferred to the post of political supervisor in the
"Overseas Chinese Youth Returnees' Camp" which was under the direction
of CHEN Hung-fan0 At this tiacce I also came into contact with the CC
Clique,, and LIU '/ei-sea t `4 '
( '~3- ) was anxious that I join the Clique,
I was helping CC Clique peooleledit their mouthpieces Red Earth and
Cultural News,, Since I refused to leave the "Youth Re urn'eea7-Camp?r
they hadto finally give up their attempts to have me join,,
With the Hunan Tobacco LIonopoly Bureau
26. It -vas about 194(3). Tha organization was aissolveclb The secret-
service agents were causing us much discomfort, j,yr former teacher,
Professor CHEN Chia-chi ,%}, was going to Hunan to become
secretary to the Hunan Urnopoly Bureau Director. I availed myself of
the opportunity to go with him and resigned from my post in the
"Youth Returnees' Camp" on the pretext that the rearuaeration was
insufficient for my own subsiatenoe:, I became the Hangyang Tobacco
=aonopoly Bureau's rexresantative detailed to factories,., Working along
-L,rith me was Comrade HS IE'R ( : ' ) of the North River intelligence staff
During my stay of one year in Hamgyang, I remembered the party slogan
spoken by my chief in Chiuchiang: "Be a model government civil s erva_n:t;
don't be corrupt,," I re.^usod bribes from all factory m nagers~
However, this only served to allow graft to flow direct to the chief of
the bureau who made a great da;ti of money, whereas I became his
scapegoat as a result of slander by my associates., Comrade HSIEH
knows hat I did.,
Life of a refunea
26. Later I wastransferred to Clzaxu,sha.. As I was out of contact with the
3
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organization for over one year and unable to combat the putrifying envi.ron?
ant 1 was in, I led a demoralized life. Soon afterwards Changsha fell. to
the Japanese. I drifted to Z?4:nryang;; Kwsilin, Liuchow, `eduohow and Hsinhsing
3P where I settled down at a friend's house, During these
wanderings I depended on a schoolmate? CHENG ( ) for economic aid,
27: on my way to Kwongning, where I was to become prefect of studies in a
twiddle school, I was captured by the Japanese:, '`heir atte :ipts to have
mr do propaganda work on the 'i uchow front were not successful. s''+ith
surprising leniency the Japanese? released me after twvo days detention,
. then went to Reiping ( ) - ) . At the Changsha Teachers' Training-
School I met my former ohiof a HUANG Hai-yen HUANG, who
is now deceased, advised coo to join the "forces,
28, I went back to mya native: ,rill it enemy-occupied Fu shan,. There I
raised enough money for a trip t Macao on my way to Chungshan? I
,intended, tp, join the Poa L River Column.
in Chinese Communist military unit
29, During my trip I encounto::^ed an old schoolmate of the Literature and
Science College in Canton named CHUNG (! ,. ). As I was well-acquainted
wita his background, I in! orrod him of my decision to join the Pearl River
Column, He persuaded u ';o join the East River Column instead? In
December 1943 I was undergoing training in the areas under the control
of that unit, as a mmaamber of its Cadres Training Class;.
50. After one month of training I was appointed assistant -editor of the
Forward Post, I was greatly i:nvpired by the s tern attitude for work
asd rri~od~ of ~livin; of Comrade YANG Ch' i (? - ) , a colleague on the
staff of the publication,
31 e iiyf next position was head of a publicity and education section in a
detachment of the North River units.,
The Resistance News
32 m When our troops entered Yingtak (- C f i t) I was much pleased when I
was given the job of editing the Resistance News, a newspaper which the
unit had just started to publish.,
) , It was because of his
+3 , Head of the Party Branch -was HUANG Ch' in (4 J~F
glib tongue and pleasing personality that he was elected to the position,
He was artful and treacherous., I did not like him, Under him the
organization was not successful end became a useless appendix to the
fighting unit? He was very friendly to LI Tung-ming (. OA
political commissar, who 'knew of IiUANG'S faults but took no action
concerning; them because of their friendship. I was opposed to entrusting
1LUJT G with important duties. iItren Political Commissar LI consulted ram
on the matter, I betrayed my responsibility to the party and did not
reveal ray unfavorable impressions of WANG for fear of offending a
superior officer.
34. The policy of the North River units was then rightist. This was manifest
in matters concerning the reduction of rent and interest, and a united
front, I never doubted +ha anu .dness of their policy, Only now do I'
realize t"t it was illol;icsl. . I was of the opip.ion that united front
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required alliance with the upper strata of society., Yet, I felt that
reduction of rent and interest was essential. I asked Commissar LI if
I should raise the issues involved in the Resistance News" LI said
they could be "shelved" for the time being_ because o 'my blind faith
in LI I dropped the matter, although I did not concur with his viewse
Soon after the reactionaries launched their offensive against us, we
became disintegrated becauee we had alienated ourselves from the peasants
and were in close accord with the "enlightened squires" of the country,.
35. At first the Resistance News consisted only of one sheet published with
the duplicating mac ine0_'- ommissar LI expressed a desire that the newasraper
consist of more than one sheet. The publication of one sheet kept me quite
busy. Besides, there was little news available from monitoring radio news
broadcasts