Xi incident is an important event that shocked China and foreign countries in modern history. It ended the ten-year civil war, promoted the second ethnic cooperation, and opened up a new situation for the whole nation of War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression, thus becoming the hub of the changing situation. Its research has always been concerned by academic circles at home and abroad. In recent years, with the increasingly active academic debate, researchers have analyzed and examined it from different perspectives and levels, which has effectively promoted the research on Xi 'an incident to develop in depth. This paper summarizes some problems closely related to middle school history textbooks in the study of Xi Incident in recent years.

First, the cause of the Xi 'an incident

In this regard, the academic community mainly has the following three views:

1. On the intensification of social contradictions in China. It is believed that the An incident was not an accidental act of two generals, Zhang and Yang, but an inevitable link in the development and intensification of various social contradictions in China in 1930s. Shi also pointed out that the reasons for this incident are: first, fundamentally speaking, it was the Japanese imperialism's aggression against China that brought about new changes in domestic class relations; Second, the Red Army's attack on the Northeast Army made Zhang Xueliang feel that there was no way to continue to "suppress * * *"; Third, Chiang Kai-shek has been using "suppression * * *" to eliminate the miscellaneous army, which gradually awakened Zhang; Fourthly, the strong desire of Northeast Army soldiers to return to their hometowns influenced Zhang's transformation. Fifth, the positive influence of the party's policy of producing * * * prompted Zhang to give up "suppressing * * *" and turn to anti-Japanese.

2. On the development of contradictions within the Kuomintang. Ji Tianshu pointed out: "The Xi 'an incident was the result of the internal contradictions, struggles and development of the Kuomintang. It is not only the product of the struggle between the anti-Japanese and leftist factions within the Kuomintang and the right-wing and pro-Japanese factions headed by Chiang Kai-shek, but also the result of the sharp intensification of contradictions between small groups and miscellaneous brands within the Kuomintang camp. (3) "Ma explained the inevitability of the incident from the political differences between Zhang Xueliang and Chiang Kai-shek. Zhang Hejiang embarked on different political paths and gradually formed two fundamentally opposite political thoughts in different ways. Zhang formed a political and ideological system with patriotism as the mainstream; Jiang formed a political and ideological system of relying on imperialism abroad and dictatorship at home. Both of them advocated the reunification of China and tried to achieve it, but there were differences on how to achieve it and their attitudes towards Japanese imperialist invasion and China's * * * production party. When the struggle between the two sides of the contradiction developed out of control, Zhang and Yang took the form of remonstration for the fundamental interests of the country and the nation.

3. Anti-Japanese national united front theory. It is believed that China's anti-Japanese national united front strategy of the * * * production party has played a direct and important role in promoting Zhang and Yang's gradual acceptance of * * *' s anti-Japanese proposition, and has also played an indirect and important role in promoting Zhang and Yang's remonstrance with extreme measure and forcing Jiang to realize his anti-Japanese proposition. The reasons are as follows: First, from August 1935 to April 1936, China * * * actively carried out the United front work, which directly pushed Zhang and Yang onto the anti-Japanese road of Shanglian * *; 2.1From May to September, 1936, with the gradual establishment of China's anti-Japanese policy of * * * forcing Jiang and the wider development of the anti-Japanese national United front work, China * * * further pushed Zhang and Yang firmly onto the anti-Japanese road, realizing the "trinity" joint anti-Japanese situation of the Red Army, the Northeast Army and the Northwest Army; 3. From June of 1936 to the beginning of February of 10, with Chiang Kai-shek's "encirclement and suppression" of the Red Army and his oppression of Zhang and Yang, China * * * urged Zhang and Yang to shoulder the great historical responsibility of stopping the civil war and forcing Jiang to resist Japan from the perspective of saving the national crisis. ⑸

With the gradual expansion of research field of vision, some scholars have reinterpreted the causes of Xi 'an incident from different angles recently. For example, Xu Linxiang believes that the development and intensification of various social contradictions in China in 1930s not only existed in Xi 'an, but also existed in the whole country. He believes that the intelligence error of the Kuomintang at that time was one of the important reasons for the incident. Its performance is:

First, the Kuomintang's intelligence grasp is distorted and its action decision-making is wrong;

Second, the Kuomintang secret service organization was scattered and the emergency command failed;

Third, the secret telecommunications of the Kuomintang were interrupted and communication was blocked.

From the perspective of modernization, Wang Shan believes that this incident occurred under the joint action of various modernization factors, which was the product of modern China people's concern about China's fate and another attempt of modern China people to pursue democratic politics. She pointed out that the change of modern China people from "traditional people" to "modern people", the change of nationalist consciousness from tradition to modernity, and a certain degree of democratization in political life were the preconditions for the incident. Li Yunfeng pointed out from the cultural point of view that the formation of Zhang and Yang's concept of progressive unity was obviously influenced by China producers and patriotic progressives. From this point of view, in addition to being deeply influenced by traditional culture, western cultural traditions and Suhua traditions have contributed greatly. Compared with Chiang Kai-shek's unified view based on the negative part of traditional culture, their progress is self-evident. When the opposition and conflict between the two unified views developed to the point where normal means could not solve them, the extraordinary Xi 'an incident broke out. ⑻

Second, the reasons for the peaceful settlement of the Xi 'an incident

The reason for the peaceful settlement of the Xi Incident has always been a hot issue in the study of the Xi Incident. There are three main viewpoints in academic circles:

1. On the role of * * * in anti-Japanese propaganda. Li Xin believes that the policy of peacefully resolving the Xi incident was formulated by the central authorities according to the needs of the anti-Japanese struggle. The party first affirmed the progressiveness of this incident, believing that it was "a representative of a part of the national bourgeoisie in China and one of the influential factions in the Kuomintang, dissatisfied with the Nanjing government's policy toward Japan, and demanded an immediate stop to' suppress * * *', stop all civil wars, unite to resist Japan, and accept China's anti-Japanese proposition". According to the struggle situation at home and abroad at that time, the party profoundly pointed out that there might be two prospects for the incident: one was the outbreak of a large-scale civil war, and the other was to stop the civil war and unite against Japan. * * * The production party should "adopt the strategy of uniting the left wing of the Kuomintang, striving for the middle wing and isolating the pro-Japanese faction, try its best to stop the outbreak of the new civil war, and urge Nanjing and Xi to resolve the incident peacefully on the basis of unity and resistance to Japan. Levies "Fang Chengyang also stressed that the China * * * production party played an important role in the peaceful settlement of this incident. Under the guidance of the Party's anti-Japanese national United front policy, the Central Committee not only independently formulated the principles and policies for the peaceful settlement of the incident, but also assisted Zhang and Yang in properly handling the incident. ⑽

2. On the intensification of contradictions within the Kuomintang. Ji Tianshu believes that the peaceful settlement of the Xi Incident is an inevitable trend of contradictions and struggles within the Kuomintang. The main reasons are as follows: firstly, Zhang and Yang initiated the incident in order to stop the civil war, unite against Japan and advocate a peaceful solution; Second, the powerful faction within the Kuomintang, namely the pro-British faction and pro-American faction headed by Song Meiling, Song Ziwen and Kong Xiangxi, firmly advocated a peaceful settlement; Third, at that time, the left wing of the Kuomintang in Nanjing, such as Feng Yuxiang and others, focused on the overall situation and advocated peaceful settlement of the incident, avoiding civil war and resisting Japan. Fourth, the most powerful local power faction in the Kuomintang also advocates a peaceful settlement of the incident. Although pro-Japanese factions and some local powerful factions tried to use the incident to launch a civil war for their own interests, this was only a secondary aspect of the contradiction. ⑾

3. resultant force theory. At present, this view is generally accepted by academic circles. The researchers believe that the peaceful settlement of the incident is the result of the interaction and promotion of many factors, but the expression is different:

(1) On the role of international and central authorities in the peaceful settlement of this incident. Zhang Qinggui believes that there are differences in principle between the international and central authorities in judging the nature of the incident, but they are basically consistent in the principles and policies for peaceful settlement of the incident. The policy of peaceful settlement formulated by the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China precedes the Communist Party of China (CPC)'s international policy in time, and there are also differences in content. Fan also pointed out that the policy of peaceful settlement of the incident is basically the same, but the fundamental starting point and guiding ideology are different, which leads to differences on how to deal with Chiang Kai-shek's specific problems. International producers advocate the unconditional release of Chiang Kai-shek in exchange for the establishment of China's anti-Japanese national united front, which is tantamount to supporting Chiang Kai-shek's anti-civil war policy.

(2) About the role of both sides in the peaceful settlement of the incident. Su Li believed that the settlement of the An Incident was based on the China Peace Plan, supplemented by some specific practices of the pro-American faction of the Kuomintang, and the resultant force of the two peace ideas was the key to the end of the incident. Zheng Derong also pointed out that the peaceful settlement of this incident was the result of the joint efforts of Xi, Nanjing and Yan 'an. Any one-sided emphasis on one aspect while ignoring or denying the role of other aspects is inconsistent with historical reality. Ji Yunfei evaluated the role of political representatives of all parties directly involved in the negotiations. He believes that the patriotic generals of the Kuomintang headed by Zhang Xueliang are the basic factors for the peaceful settlement of the incident; The China delegation headed by Zhou Enlai is the decisive factor for the peaceful settlement of the incident; Song Ziwen and Song Meiling, who represent the will of Chiang Kai-shek, are the key factors for the peaceful settlement of the incident.

(3) International forces and the peaceful settlement of the Xi Incident. Zhu Chaonan analyzed the attitudes of several major countries towards the incident and thought that Britain and the Soviet Union played the most important role. Britain advocates that the two sides adopt a compromise attitude and settle disputes peacefully. Its principle is to maintain Chiang Kai-shek's existing dominant position, accept the political conditions put forward by Zhang and Yang to stop the civil war and unite against Japan, and ensure the personal safety of Zhang and Yang afterwards. When the Soviet government learned of this incident, it immediately took an accusing attitude towards Zhang Xueliang and decided that this was a plot of Japanese imperialism. The Soviet Union tried its best to maintain and praise Chiang Kai-shek, hoping that Chiang Kai-shek could resume his original position as commander-in-chief. Li Peiliang pointed out that although Japan, the Soviet Union, Britain, the United States and other countries do not support Zhang and Yang's actions, their attitudes are not consistent, and it is necessary to analyze the international public opinion after the incident. ⒅

Third, the evaluation of Xi 'an incident.

In recent years, the academic research on this issue is mainly reflected in the following three aspects:

1.Xi incident and social progress in China. Liu Peiping believes that the Xi 'an incident and its peaceful settlement occupy an important social position in the history of social development in China. The reasons are as follows: First, the incident was a turning point of social contradictions in China, marked by the peaceful settlement of the Xi 'an incident, and the main social contradiction in China changed from the contradiction between different classes represented by the two parties in China to the contradiction between Japanese imperialism and the Chinese nation; Second, the incident and its peaceful settlement were the turning point of China from civil war to anti-Japanese war; Third, the incident and its peaceful settlement are the turning point of the Chinese nation from disunity and division to unity and unification; Fourthly, the incident and its peaceful settlement are the turning point of China's social politics from autocracy to gradual democracy. Fifthly, the incident and its peaceful settlement are also the turning point of China's * * * production party from "illegal" to "legal". This series of turning points laid the foundation for War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression's victory and established the leading position and core position of the China * * * Production Party in the social development of China. From the perspective of modernization, Wang Shan emphasized the peaceful settlement of the incident, which not only promoted the transformation of China people's national consciousness from the intuitive stage to the conscious stage, but also accelerated the integration of China people and modern society, further improving the degree of political democratization in China in the early days of the Anti-Japanese War; In addition, it also enabled all departments of Nanjing National Government to operate normally, so that after the outbreak of the Anti-Japanese War, they could quickly organize their forces to face unexpected situations. Its measures to save and develop the economy have created conditions for the orderly and effective economic development of new China in the future. ⒇

2.Xi incident and the Kuomintang ruling group's policy toward Japan. In this regard, there are currently two opposing views. Zhang Zhongliang believes that the fundamental reason why the Kuomintang clique embarked on the anti-Japanese road through compromise with Japan is that it has anti-Japanese requirements and aspirations, and even if there is no incident, it will embark on the anti-Japanese road. Before the incident, great changes had taken place in the international and domestic political situation, so it was necessary and possible for Chiang Kai-shek to turn to anti-Japanese. It was the Japanese army that sent troops to North China to force Jiang to take the road of resistance against Japan [2 1]. Li Peiliang disagreed with the above view, and thought that although Chiang Kai-shek's ruling clique had certain anti-Japanese aspirations and demands, it would never compromise with Japan and embark on the road of anti-Japanese without the promotion of the incident. Because the Kuomintang's compromise with Japan and its domestic policy of "suppressing * * *" are an organic whole, and the domestic decision of "suppressing * * *" is bound to be a compromise with Japan, while the compromise with Japan serves the domestic "suppressing * * *". On the issue of "suppression of * * *" and anti-Japanese, Chiang Kai-shek insisted on "suppression of * * *" as the center of domestic and foreign policies. 〔22〕

3.Xi incident and the development of China * * * production party. Academic circles also have different views on this. Wang Zhen believes that the outbreak of the incident eased the crisis situation of China and the Red Army, and objectively preserved the strength for the great development of the China revolution; Moreover, the incident enhanced the prestige of China's * * * production party, strengthened the revolutionary force, and laid the foundation for the ultimate overthrow of Japanese imperialism and Chiang Kai-shek dynasty [23]. Zhang believes that this incident has brought extremely limited opportunities to the historical development of China's * * * production party, and the rapid development of China * * * is due to the objective laws of historical development, rather than the opportunities provided by this incident. The reasons are as follows: First, China was in a difficult situation before the incident, but after a long-term struggle against "encirclement and suppression" and a great strategic shift, it has a strong ability to adapt to the difficult environment, opened up and consolidated the base areas that can continue to develop in the future, and the prospects are optimistic. Second, before the incident, China, proceeding from the overall situation of the Chinese nation's resistance to Japan and national salvation, called on the Kuomintang to stop fighting and negotiate peace, peacefully reunify and resist Japan, and never feared civil war. Third, although this incident is accidental, the hidden inevitability is the sharp contradiction between the anti-Japanese demands of the people of the whole country and Chiang Kai-shek's policy of "suppressing * * *". Even if this contradiction did not break out in the Xi incident, it would be manifested in other forms. Because of this, the China * * * production party deeply realized this point and handled this incident according to the situation. The Xi 'an incident played a role in promoting historical progress.