China Diary: The Life of Mary Austin Endicott

7. Shanghai Exile

China’s revolutionary history reached a watershed in 1927. The Nationalist Party led by Chiang Kai-shek had recently formed a coalition with the Communist Party. During the year the Endicotts spent in Shanghai, this coalition was secretly (and brutally) sabotaged by Chiang. There was much tension in the air, but most non-Chinese, living in the seclusion of the foreign concessions, had little understanding of the significance of the political developments going on around them. The Endicotts were no exception. In spite of the uncertainties during this evacuation, Mary’s morale improved because of living in a thriving exile community. It became a time of making subtle but important changes in some of her views. Until then she had taken her affluent background for granted. Within a short time of arriving, she was forced to re-examine this attitude. Later her views on China turned around. The first item on her Shanghai agenda, however, was a concern about her parents’ plan to come to visit her in China: Dear Family, The more we think of it the more we feel it might be unwise for Mother to attempt to come out here now.…We are concerned lest the strain of the past months has undermined her health.…Then, of course, there may be a crisis here which would be unpleasant for a few days, though it is difficult to think that it could be seriously dangerous to the lives of foreigners here. (to family, 4 February 1927) Perhaps, thought Mary, it would be better for her to return to Canada right away, risking a few months of separation from Jim in order to lessen her mother’s anxieties. To go or not to go? The question—made possible by her affluence—preoccupied her for weeks, even as the Chinese Revolution swirled around her. After several cables and numerous letters, the Austins agreed to visit their daughter at a pleasant summer resort in Japan. 7 Shanghai Exile 67 While Mary was negotiating the Austins’ visit, atrocities were occurring outside the Foreign Settlement. The Shanghai Trade Union Federation called a general strike on February 19 to celebrate the coming of the Kuomingtang Northern Expeditionary Army. However, Chiang Kai-shek halted the advance of the KMT army, allowing Shanghai warlord police to kill labour leaders, beheading many in the streets. Jim was shocked when his language teacher took him to see the heads displayed on lamp posts; Mary took care not to reveal these and later brutalities to her mother. The “Mayor’s Daughter’s” private income from dividends was a mixed blessing; she and Jim used it to pay for some of their exile expenses (thus saving the mission money), but this extra financial freedom led to an unanticipated blunder: shortly after arriving in Shanghai they moved into a comfortable flat in the French Concession, vacated by a couple going on furlough. Then, to their dismay, foreign refugees poured into Shanghai from all over China and were forced to live in cramped quarters. Mary explained to her mother that they would move to a smaller place as soon as possible because it was not seemly to be the only family really comfortably situated. Jim’s father, now the Moderator of the United Church, would soon be coming on an official visit, making it particularly important to avoid engendering negative feelings from other missionaries. On March 20, as the Kuomintang Army again approached Shanghai, the city was taken over, in advance, by radical trade unionists, becoming the “greatest mass insurrection in history,” according to the 1998 TVO documentary Soong Sisters: Destiny’s Children. The next day, March 21, workers seized control of the police stations and raised the new Nationalist flag on all government buildings outside the foreign concession. Seeing the new flags, the Endicotts assumed (mistakenly) the Kuomintang Army, coming from Canton, to the south, had captured Shanghai: Dear Mother, The fall of Shanghai to the south has not upset us, so far. The fighting has been in the Chinese territory adjacent to the Foreign Settlement…and we are trying to carry on activities as usual. It is thrilling to see the southern [Nationalist] flag flying all over the place—a white sun on a blue square 68 China Diary: The Life of Mary Austin Endicott in the upper left-hand corner of a red rectangle.…One hopes that it is the symbol of better days for China. (to...