Editing Chiang Ching-kuo (section)

===Early life===
[[File:Chiang Ching-kuo youth 3.jpg|thumb|right|Chiang Ching-kuo in his youth]]
The son of Chiang Kai-shek and his first wife, [[Mao Fumei]], Chiang Ching-kuo was born in [[Fenghua]], Zhejiang, with the [[Chinese courtesy name|courtesy name]] of '''Jiànfēng''' ({{lang|zh-hant|建豐}}). He had an adopted brother, [[Chiang Wei-kuo]]. "Ching" literally means "longitude", while "kuo" means "nation"; in his brother's name, "wei" literally means "parallel (of latitude)". The names are inspired by the references in Chinese classics such as the ''[[Guoyu (book)|Guoyu]]'', in which "to draw the longitudes and latitudes of the world" is used as a metaphor for a person with great abilities, especially in managing a country.

While the young Chiang Ching-kuo had a good relationship with his mother and grandmother (who were deeply rooted to their Buddhist faith), his relationship with his father was strict, utilitarian and often rocky. Chiang Kai-shek appeared to his son as an authoritarian figure, sometimes indifferent to his problems. Even in personal letters between the two, Chiang Kai-shek would sternly order his son to improve his Chinese calligraphy. From 1916 until 1919 Chiang Ching-kuo attended the "Grammar School" in "Wushan Temple" an important temple in Xikou Town. Then, in 1920, his father hired tutors to teach him the [[Four Books]], the central texts of [[Confucianism]]. On 4 June 1921, Ching-kuo's grandmother died. What might have been an immense emotional loss was compensated for when Chiang Kai-shek moved the family to Shanghai. Chiang Ching-kuo's stepmother, historically known as the Chiang family's "Shanghai Mother", went with them. During this period Chiang Kai-shek concluded that Chiang Ching-kuo was a son to be taught, while Chiang Wei-kuo was a son to be loved.

During his time in Shanghai, Chiang Ching-kuo was supervised by his father and made to write a weekly letter of 200–300 Chinese characters. Chiang Kai-shek also underlined the importance of classical books and of learning English, two areas he was hardly proficient in himself.<ref>letter of 4 August 1922</ref> On 20 March 1924, Chiang Ching-kuo was able to present to his now-nationally famous father a proposal concerning the grass-roots organization of the rural population in [[Xikou, Fenghua|Xikou]].<ref>Wang Shun-ch'i, unpublished article, 1995. The letter is in the Nanking archive</ref> Chiang Ching-kuo planned to provide free education to allow people to read and to write at least 1000 characters. In his own words:
<blockquote>I have a suggestion to make about the Wushan School, although I do not know if you can agree to it. My suggestion is that the school establish a night school for common people who cannot afford to go to the regular school. My school established a night school with great success. I can tell you something about the night school:
Name: Wuschua School for the Common People
Tuition fee: Free of charge with stationery supplied
Class hours: 7&nbsp;pm to 9&nbsp;pm
Age limit: 14 or older
Schooling protocol: 16 or 20 weeks.
At the time of the graduation, the trainees will be able to write simple letters and keep simple accounts. They will be issued a diploma if they pass the examinations. The textbooks they used were published by the Commercial Press and were entitled "One thousand characters for the common people." I do not know whether you will accept my suggestion. If a night school is established at Wushan, it will greatly benefit the local people.
</blockquote>

In early 1925, Chiang entered Shanghai's [[Pudong College]], but Chiang Kai-shek decided to send him on to Beijing because of warlord action and spontaneous student protests in Shanghai. In Beijing, he attended the school organized by a friend of his father, [[Wu Zhihui]], a renowned scholar and linguist. The school combined classical and modern approaches to education. While there, Ching-kuo started to identify himself as a ''progressive revolutionary'' and participated in the flourishing social scene inside the young Communist community. The idea of studying in Moscow now seized his imagination.<ref>Cline, Chiang Ching-kuo remembered, p. 148</ref> Within the help program provided by the Soviet Union to the countries of East Asia there was a training school that later became the [[Moscow Sun Yat-sen University]]. The participants to the university were selected by the CPSU and KMT members, with a participation of CPC Central Committee.<ref>Aleksander Pantsov, "From Students to dissidents. The Chinese Troskyites in Soviet Russia (Part 1)", in issues & Studies, 30/3 (March 1994), Institute of international relations, Taipei, pp. 113–14</ref>

Chiang Ching-kuo asked Wu Zhihui to name him as a KMT candidate. Wu did not try to dissuade him, even though Wu was a key figure of the right-leaning and anti-Communist "Western Hills Group" of the KMT. In the summer of 1925, Chiang Ching-kuo traveled south to [[Whampoa Military Academy]] to discuss his plans for study in Moscow with his father. Chiang Kai-shek was not keen, but after a discussion with [[Chen Guofu]] he finally agreed. In a 1996 interview, Ch'en's brother, [[Chen Li-fu]], recalled that Chiang Kai-shek accepted the plan because of the need to have Soviet support at a time when his hold over the KMT was tenuous.<ref>Ch'en Li-fu, interview, Taipei, 29 May 1996.</ref>