188 SOCIAL SCIENCES IN CHINA Winter'95 officers and representatives at the negotiations of the CPC Central Committee, for example,"Zhang Zihua's Report on the Negotiations with the KMT in Nanjing,"which took place on 18 October 1936,and "Xiao K's Report to Dongtian and Laibo"of I November 1936(Xiao K refers to Pan Hannian);letters from high-level KMT officials to the CPC leaders,including a letter from Tan Zhen,Deputy President of the Judicial Yuan of the Nanjing Government,to Lin Boqu on 9 February 1936,and Lin's reply to Tan on 15 March;letters from the KMT representatives at the negotiations,Zeng Yangpu and Chen Xiaocen,to the CPC leader Zhou Enlai and others-"Chen Xiaocen's Letter to Zhou Enlai,Mao Zedong and Peng Dehuai"of 14 May 1936,and Chen Xiaocen's letters to Xiang Yu of 15 May,19 July,6 August,and 8 October 1936;Zhou Enlai's reply to Chen Xiaocen of 15 May 1936 and so on.With these valuable historical documents and other materials,the author may possibly have unravelled this historical mystery. The work also raises new issues related to the secret contacts and negotiations between the KMT and the CPC that took place in 1936: 1.The question of the date of the negotiations between Deng Wenyi,a military attache in the Nanjing Government's embassy to the Soviet Union,and Wang Ming and Pan Hannian,the CPC's delegates to the Third International. Some believe that the negotiations were held at the end of 1935 and others that they took place in early March 1936.Yang Kuisong maintains that they were actually held between 13 and 23 January 1936.Some academics also hold that the negotiations resulted in Wang Ming's decision to reassign Pan Hannian to China, and that they promoted direct discussions between the KMT and the CPC.But the author believes that the negotiations "did not bear any fruit."Although,in May 1937,Pan was reassigned to Hong Kong,he did not participate directly in discussions between the two parties,but undertook to overthrow Chiang Kai-shek. 2.The question of the status of Pastor Dong Jianwu and his purpose in going to the soviet area in northern Shaanxi.Yang Kuisong maintains that,"He originally belonged to the special task force of the CPC,"and that when he went to northern Shaanxi he was neither "a committee member of the Ministry of Finance,"nor "the commissioner for the northwest economy,"but an investigator sent by the Ministry of Finance.In relation to statements that Pastor Dong was entrusted by Soong Ching Ling to take the so-called "Soong's secret letter"and"a package of important documents"to the soviet area in northern Shaanxi,the book notes that there were no important documents or secret letter but a pack of Yunnan Baiyao (pulvis medicinalis albus,used to treat hemorrhage,wounds and bruises),and the call signs for Soong's transceiver. 3.The key question of the number of times the KMT made stipulations about the conditions,timing and content of the 1936 negotiations.Academics generally believe that the KMT only raised the question of the conditions for the negotia- tions three times,in May,mid October,and in November.The author,however, disagrees with this opinion.During the whole of 1936,even if the negotiations between Deng Wenyi and Wang Ming are excluded because of the difficulty in defining them at present,the KMT raised the question of the conditions for the negotiations at least six times:Chen Xiaocen raised the question in January (p. 7);followed on 27 February by Pastor Dong Jianwu during his tour of northern C1994-2012 China Academic Journal Electronic Publishing House.All rights reserved. http://www.cn’ 9 5 o fi e e r s a n d r e P r e s e n t a t i v e s a t t h e n e g o t i a t i o n s o f t h e C P C C e n t r a l C o m m i t t e e , fo r e x a m P l e , “ Z h a n g Z i h u a , 5 R e P o r t o n t h e N e g o t i a t i o n s w i t h t h e K M T i n N a nj i n g , , , w h i e h t o o k P l a e e o n 1 8 O e t o b e r 1 9 3 6 , a n d “ X i a o K , 5 R e P o r t t o D o n g t i a n a n d L a i b o , , o f 1 N o v e m b e r 1 9 3 6 ( X i a o K r e fe r s t o P a n H a n n i a n ) : l e t t e r s f r o m h i g h 一 l e v e l K M T o fi c i a l s t o t h e C P C l e a d e r s , i n e l u d i n g a l e t t e r fr o m Ta n Z h e n , D e P u t y P r e s i d e n t o f t h e J u d i e i a l Y u a n o f t h e N a nj i n g G o v e r n m e n t , t o L i n B o q u o n 9 F e b r u a r y 1 9 3 6 , a n d L i n , 5 r e P l y t o Ta n o n 1 5 M a r e h : l e t t e r s f r o m t h e K M T r e P r e s e n t a t i v e s a t t h e n e g o t i a t i o n s , Z e n g Y a n g P u a n d C h e n X i a o e e n , t o t h e C P C l e a d e r Z h o u E n l a i a n d o t h e r s 一 “ C h e n X i a o e e n , 5 L e t t e r t o Z h o u E n l a i , M a o Z e d o n g a n d P e n g D e h u a i , , o f 1 4 M a y 1 9 3 6 , a n d C h e n X i a o e e n , 5 I e t t e r s t o X i a n g Y u o f 1 5 M a y , 1 9 J u l y , 6 A u g u s t , a n d 8 O e t o b e r 1 9 3 6 : Z h o u E n l a i ’ 5 r e P l y t o C h e n X i a o e e n o f 1 5 M a y 1 9 3 6 a n d 5 0 o n . W i t h t h e s e v a l u a b l e h i s t o r i e a l d o e u m e n t s a n d o t h e r m a t e r i a l s , t h e a u t h o r m a y P o s s i b l y h a v e u n r a v e l l e d t h i s h i s t o r i e a l m y s t e r y . T h e w o r k a l s o r a i s e s n e w i s s u e s r e l a t e d t o t h e s e e r e t c o n t a e t s a n d n e g o t i a t i o n s b e t w e e n t h e K M T a n d t h e C P C t h a t t o o k P l a e e i n 1 9 3 6 : 1 . T h e q u e s t i o n o f t h e d 成e o f th e n ego tiatio n s b etw een D en g W en yi , a m i l i t a r y a t t a e h e i n t h e N a nj i n g G o v e r n m e n t , 5 e m b a s s y t o t h e S o v i e t U n i o n , a n d W a n g M i n g a n d P a n H a n n i a n , t h e C P C , 5 d e l e g a t e s t o t h e T h i r d I n t e r n a t i o n a l . S o m e b e l i e v e t h a t t h e n e g o t i a t i o n s w e r e h e l d a t t h e e n d o f 1 9 3 5 a n d o t h e r s t h a t t h e y t o o k P l a e e i n e a r ] y M a r e h 1 9 3 6 . Y a n g K u i s o n g m a i n t a i n s t h a t t h e y w e r e a e t u a l l y h e l d b e t w e e n 1 3 a n d 2 3 J a n u a r y 1 9 3 6 . S o m e a e a d e m i e s a l s o h o l d t h a t t h e n e g o t i a t i o n s r e s u l t e d i n W a n g M i n g , 5 d e e i s i o n t o r e a s s i g n P a n H a n n i a n t o C h i n a , a n d t h a t t h e y P r o m o t e d d i r e e t d i s e u s s i o n s b e t w e e n t h e K M T a n d t h e C P C . B u t t h e a u t h o r b e l i e v e s t h a t t h e n e g o t i a t i o n s “ d i d n o t b e a r a n y fr u i t .” A l t h o u g h , i n M a y 1 9 3 7 , P a n w a s r e a s s i g n e d t o H o n g K o n g , h e d i d n o t P a r t i c i P a t e d i r e e t l y i n d i s e u s s i o n s b e t w e e n t h e t w o P a r t i e s , b u t u n d e r t o o k t o o v e r t h r o w C h i a l l g K a i 一 s h e k . 2 . T h e q u e s t i o n o f t h e s t a t u s o f P a s t o r D o n g J i a n w u a n d h i s p u r P o s e i n g o i n g t o t h e s o v i e t a r e a i n n o r t h e r n S h a a n x i . Y a n g K u i s o n g m a i n t a i n s t h a t , “ H e o r i g i n a l l y b e l o n g e d t o t h e s P e e i a l t a s k fo r e e o f t h e C P C , , , a n d t h a t w l l e n h e w e n t t o n o r t h e r n S h a a n x i h e w a s n e i t h e r “a e o m m i t t e e m e m b e r o f t h e M i n i s t r y o f F i n a n e e , , , n o r “ t h e e o m m i s s i o n e r fo r t h e n o r t h w e s t e c o n o m y , , , b u t a n i n v e s t i g a t o r s e n t b y t h e M i n i s t r y o f F i n a n c e . I n r e l a t i o n t o s t a t e m e n t s t h a t P a s t o r D o n g w a s e n t r u s t e d b y S o o n g C h i n g L i n g t o t a k e t h e 5 0 一 e a l l e d “ S o o n g ’ 5 s e e r e t l e t t e r , , a n d “a P a e k a g e o f i m P o r t a n t d o e u m e n t s , , t o t h e s o v i e t a r e a i n n o r t h e r n S h a a n x i , t h e b o o k n o t e s t h a t t h e r e w e r e n o i m P o r t a n t d o c u m e n t s o r s e e r e t l e t t e r b u t a P a c k o f Y u n n a n B a i y a o 伽ulv is m edi cin a l’s alb us , u s e d t o t r e a t h e m o r r h a g e , w o u n d s a n d b r u i s e s ) , a n d t h e e a l l s i g n s fo r S o o n g , 5 t r a n s e e i v e r . 3 . T h e k e y q u e s t i o n o f t h e n u m b e r o f t i m e s t h e K M T m a d e s t i P u l a t i o n s a b o u t t h e e o n d i t i o n s , t i m i n g a n d e o n t e n t o f t h e 1 9 3 6 n e g o t i a t i o n s . A c a d e m i e s g e n e r a l l y b e l i e v e t h a t t h e K M T o n l y r a i s e d t h e q u e s t i o n o f t h e e o n d i t i o n s fo r t h e n e g o t i a - t i o n s t h r e e t i m e s , i n M a y , m i d O e t o b e r , a n d i n N o v e m b e r . T h e a u t h o r , h o w e v e r , d i s a g r e e s w i t h t h i s o P i n i o n . D u r i n g t h e w h o l e o f 1 9 3 6 , e v e n i f t h e n e g o t i a t i o n s b e t w e e n D e n g W e n y i a n d W a n g M i n g a r e e x c l u d e d b e c a u s e o f t h e d i fi e u l t y i n d e f i n i n g t h e m a t P r e s e n t , t h e K M T r a i s e d t h e q u e s t i o n o f t h e e o n d i t i o n s fo r t h e n e g o t i a t i o n s a t l e a s t s i x t i m e s : C h e n X i a o e e n r a i s e d t h e q u e s t i o n i n J a n u a r y ( P . 7 ) ; fo l l o w e d o n 2 7 F e b r u a r y b y P a s t o r D o n g J i a n w u d u r i n g h i s t o u r o f n o r t h e r n