世事难料:陈克文日记所见之抗战

The Unpredictability of World Affairs: Understanding the War of Resistance Against Japan From The Diary of Chen Kewen

陈克文作为战时国民政府行政院高级公务员与中层事务官,为我们观察战时中国多重面相提供了独特视角。陈克文对战争初起之判断是和战皆不分明;确定战事已不可避免后,陈克文对战争的判断依据又有“城市中心论”之余韵;欧战、苏德战争及太平洋战争等与中国抗战有极大关联,且有利于中国之国际事件的发生,在陈克文笔下并未直接转化为胜利在即的喜悦。抗战胜利的到来虽然让陈克文欣喜万分,却又有猝不及防之感,犹如梦寐。飘忽不定,希望中总有渺茫的世事难料之感贯穿陈克文对整个抗战观察的全过程。对于领导国民政府抗战的领袖蒋介石,陈克文既有作为一般远观者的表层印象,又有作为政务、党务实操者的切身感受与评价,为我们认识和理解战时蒋介石提供了另一视角。陈克文笔下的战争与人事,为我们提供了另外一个观察抗战的维度。

As a senior civil servant and middle-level officer of the executive of the wartime National Government,Chen Kewen provided a unique perspective for us to observe the multiple aspects of wartime China.In the beginning,due to the situational entanglement of war and peace,Chen Kewen s opinion on the war was unclear.However,when he had observed that the war was inevitable,a“City-centered Theory”came into being and was served as a decision fundament for his judgement on the war.Although the European War,the Soviet-German war and the Pacific War were not directly translated as a joy of the coming victory in the writings of Chen Kewen,they had a great bearing on the War of Resistance Against Japan and were propitious to the occurrence of international events in China.The arrival of victory was like a dream to him.Delighted as he was,he still embraced a sense of complete off-guard at the same time.The unsettled situation in the war times and a sense of unpredictability of world affairs were presented throughout the whole process of his observation on the war.For the evaluation of Chiang Kai-shek,the leader of the National Government,he on the one hand could offer us a superficial impression as a ordinary observer,on the other hand his practice on dealing with the government and party affairs enabled him to make a approachable evaluation on Chiang Kai-shek which could provide us a new perspective to understand Chiang Kai-shek in the war time.The war and human affairs appeared in his diary would also present us a multidimensional picture of the War of Resistance Against Japan.