RAS Shanghai – The Warlord and the Engineer – 5th November
Posted: November 2nd, 2011 | No Comments »Saturday 5th November, 2011 @ 4.00pm
Venue: Sashas, 11 Dongping Road (corner of Hengshan Road) 3rd Floor event space
SIMON GJEROE
The Warlord and the Engineer: The Mukden Tiger – Zhang Zuolin – and his Danish Weapons Advisor
MUKDEN CITY GATE
A unique peek into the life and times of the mightiest warlord in China during the chaotic 1920s, as well as expat life in the capital of Northeast China, Shenyang.
Robert Christensen, a Dane, went to Mukden (present day Shenyang) in 1922 accompanying the Manchurian Warlord Zhang Zuolin’s biggest ever order of weapons machinery. Shortly after, he was hired by Zhang to build up the largest arsenal in all of China and consequently had the chance to document, in Kodak stills and silent film footage, the life and death of the short hot-tempered former bandit who ruled Manchuria as his own. Zhang lived a life of luxury in his small castle where he had five wives, was driven around in bright yellow bulletproof limousines, and amassed enormous personal wealth.
Zhang Zuolin
He often threw huge banquets for the foreign community in town, where, standing on a chair in the middle of the room, he would present his dreams for a new China – which of course invariably included himself as ruler of all.
Robert Christensen, with a very profitable contract in hand, became one of Zhang’s trusted foreign advisors and admirers. In his seven years of service he was able to follow Zhang from the great dreams and successes of the beginning, through the conquest of large swathes of eastern China including Beijing, to the final collapse of his armies, complete bankruptcy of the Manchurian economy, and his eventual assassination in 1928. Christensen also recorded Chinese street scenes with avid curiosity, documenting the development and change of Mukden, as well as the life of an expat living through good times, with baijiu and champagne flowing freely.
An afternoon of fascinating tales from the roaring 20s, where warlords shifted sides and assassinated each other as often as they changed concubines, and where the majority of expats lived in the lap of luxury, while most Chinese struggled through absolute poverty. And all of this with bombs dropping all around of them…
Simon will share with us some of his research and show us a short documentary (23minutes), originally made in Danish, later purchased by British Television and interests the sound track dubbed into English.
Robert Christiensen
Simon Rom Gjeroe from Beijing Postcards is currently writing a book and preparing a documentary film on the subject, with a working title of “The Warlord and the Engineerâ€, for which he has done extensive research in both Denmark and China. He obtained his Master of Arts in Chinese and Modern East Asian Studies, from universities in Denmark and Chengdu. An independent scholar of Chinese history and culture, he has published both a book on Danish missionaries in Manchuria from 1893 – 1960, a guide book on Beijing for the Scandinavian market as well as many articles on China related history, culture and travel for Danish and international magazines.
Entrance: RMB TBA (RAS members) and RMB TBA (non-members) those unable to make the donation but wishing to attend may contact us for exemption, prior to the RAS Lecture Series. Membership applications and membership renewals will be available at these events. Â Â RSVP: to RAS Bookings at: bookings@royalasiaticsociety.org.cn
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