David D. BUCK

An actor portraying Chiang Kai-shek in a play about the Xi’an Incident, during which Chiang was kidnapped by overzealous Nationalist Party generals. PHOTO BY JOAN LEBOLD COHEN.
The Xi’an Incident of 1936 is often considered a turning point in Chinese history. As a result of the incident, in which two Nationalist generals, Zhang Xueliang and Yang Hucheng, arrested President Chiang Kai-shek, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) won breathing room from