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Title: Chen Bulei diaries
Date (inclusive): 1931-1948
Collection Number: 2016C14
Contributing Institution: Hoover Institution Library and Archives
Language of Material:
Chinese
Physical Description:
3 manuscript boxes, 1 microfilm box
(1.3 Linear Feet)
Creator:
Chen, Bulei, 1890-1948
Physical Location: Hoover Institution Library & Archives
Microfilm closed; access copies available. Materials must be requested in advance via our reservation system. If there are
audiovisual or digital media material in the collection, they must be reformatted before providing access.
Use copies served one folder at a time. May not be photocopied or photographed.
Materials were acquired by the Hoover Institution Library & Archives in 2016.
[Identification of item], Chen Bulei diaries, [Box no., Folder no. or title], Hoover Institution Library & Archives.
Location of Original Materials
Originals in possession of Chen Di.
Born in Zhejiang Province, Chen Bulei was best known as Chiang Kai-shek's confidential assistant, in which position he phrased
the policies of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the Nationalist government. In the spring of 1926, Chen joined the
newly established Nationalist government in Nanjing under the leadership of Chiang Kai-shek. Henceforth, he became Chiang's
personal assistant, mainly responsible for drafting state papers and speeches for the Generalissimo. In 1930, Chen was appointed
vice minister of education; in 1934 he served in Chiang's field headquarters in Nanchang, and then in 1935 he became director
of the second department of the Generalissimo's attendance office, where he served as Chiang's confidential assistant for
over a decade.
After China entered the war with Japan in 1937, Chen's responsibilities grew, and Chiang Kai-shek made increasing use of Chen's
talent for phrasing the policies of the KMT and the Nationalist government and composing state papers. In 1939, Chen was appointed
deputy secretary general of the Supreme National Defense Council, the top organ of wartime China. The demands of the Japanese
war period, combined with the deterioration of the Nationalist political position after 1945, drained Chen's resources. He
was greatly concerned by the expansion of Communist power and by the rising tide of criticism of Chiang Kai-shek, and he increasingly
felt that his usefulness was spent.
On November 13, 1948, he took his own life with an overdose of sleeping drugs, leaving letters of explanation to his family,
to Chiang Kai-shek, and to several close friends.
Scope and Content of Collection
The personal diaries of Chen Bulei cover the period from March 5, 1931 to November 11, 1948. These diaries provide witness
to one of the most turbulent periods in modern Chinese history. As Chiang Kai-shek's confidential assistant throughout the
Nationalist era on the Chinese mainland, these daily records provide crucial insider's views on Nationalist China's politics,
party affairs, external relations, and war with Japan.
Chiang Kai-Shek diaries, Hoover Institution Library & Archives
Subjects and Indexing Terms
China -- History -- Republic, 1912-1949
Chiang, Kai-shek, 1887-1975