The Chen-Sha Family Collection centres on the lives of two revolutionaries: Sha Wenhan (1908–1964) and Chen Xiuliang (1907–1998). It contains multiple parts and can be navigated using the keyword search function in the upper right-hand corner, the Advanced Search tool, or by clicking on the subsections introduced below. Chinese-language explanations of the contents created as part of the original digitization project, including chronologies of the lives of Chen and Sha, can be found at this page.
Documents from Chen and Sha's revolutionary experiences before 1949 include forty-six items from the Communist Party Centre Shanghai Bureau period (1920s–1930s), covering firsthand accounts and historical analyses of the Shanghai Bureau's leadership, organization, and operational methods; the scope of underground Party work, encompassing student movements, worker organization, and the establishment of clandestine communication networks; intelligence gathering and counter-espionage activities. Some documents cover instigating defections within KMT military and political structures in the Shanghai and Nanjing areas.
Another soon-to-be-uploaded subsection primarily focusing on the years before 1949 features 359 items related to Party-building in Nanjing and activities during the Civil War between the Communists and Nationalists. This section covers the recollections of Chen Xiuliang, a key figure in the Nanjing underground Communist Party during the Civil War period, regarding her planning and leadership of resistance movements involving workers and students on the eve of the Communist takeover of Nanjing. It also details internal uprisings within the Kuomintang, such as the Chongqing Mutiny. Furthermore, it documents Chen's efforts after 1949 to report on the activities of the underground Party, and her endeavors to protect and advocate for the rights of underground Party members in the new political context. The section concludes with materials from official media outlets such as Xinhua Daily and Nanjing Communications, which record the post-1949 reconstruction of Nanjing, the establishment of local Party organizations, and other accounts of urban development and Party history in the region.
Chen Xiuliang's work experience in Shanghai and Nanjing during the 1950s is featured in a ninety-eight-item subsection that will be uploaded soon. This selection covers Chen Xiuliang being labeled as a "Rightist" when she was a top official in the Propaganda Department of the Zhejiang Provincial Party Committee in the 1950s. In addition, this section includes documents related to her rehabilitation. Notable among them are editorials in Zhejiang Daily and People's Daily after Chen Xiuliang was overthrown, her successor's sharp comments on her, and the obituary when she passed away in the 1990s.
The heart of the Chen-Sha Collection features 424 items from the 1957 rectification and Anti-Rightist Movement in Zhejiang Province. This section of the collection includes internal Party reports, big-character posters, self-criticisms, and detailed accounts of individuals labeled as "Rightists." Spanning primarily from 1956 to the early 1960s, the collection captures the political climate before, during, and after the movement. The majority of these items were collected, authored, or preserved by Chen Xiuliang, reflecting both her position within the Zhejiang Provincial Party system and her later efforts to record the political and personal elements of the campaign. The collection also contains records from provincial meetings and organizations such as the Zhejiang Historical Society and the Zhejiang Provincial People's Congress, illustrating how national directives were implemented at the local level.
Also related to the Anti-Rightist movement are seventy-nine documents about members of the alleged "Sha, Yang, Peng, and Sun Anti-Party Clique" in Zhejiang, referring to Provincial Governor Sha Wenhan, Vice-Governor Yang Siyi, Chief Prosecutor Peng Ruilin, and Sun Zhanglu, who was Minister of Finance and Trade in the province.
Chen Xiuliang's experience during the Cultural Revolution (1966–1976) is documented by way of 860 items. These include a series of reflections, recollections, and written self-examinations composed by Chen Xiuliang. They involve not only her own conduct but also provide accounts concerning fellow Party members with whom she had worked. Chen personally recorded detailed confessions of personal issues made by her comrades, along with her recollections of these individuals. Her own reports cover the period from her admission into the Communist Party, through her work in the underground organization, and into the era of socialist construction under Communist leadership following the liberation. Other documents handwritten by Chen include comprehensive ideological reflections during the Cultural Revolution, commentaries on the materials she was required to study at the time, ideological reports related to her revolutionary work in various capacities, accounts of her mindset during major events in which she participated, as well as personal disclosures regarding her own circumstances and those of her family. This section also contains evaluations and classifications of Chen Xiuliang made by Party organizations during the Cultural Revolution.
In addition, 130 documents dating from the Cultural Revolution include criticism documents and newsletters published by mass organizations, as well as speeches by leaders.
Another ninety-two items cover Chen Xiuliang's effort to rehabilitate herself and Sha Wenhan.
Thirty-six additional documents focus on colleagues' recollections of Sha Wenhan's work.
There is also a small subsection containing twenty-four articles published by Chen Xiuliang throughout her life.
Letters and correspondence to and from Sha and Chen constitute a large part of the family collection; we are in the midst of processing more than one thousand letters. Two subsections are currently available to researchers: eighty items including letters and reminiscences,plus ten letters that Chen Xiuliang wrote to Zhang Chongwen during the 1980s.
We are currently processing a part of the family collection that features photographs: 344 photos of Sha Wenhan, Chen Xiuliang, and members of their families dating from the 1920s through the 1990s; 94 photos of friends; 36 pictures including Liu Xiao; 15 pictures of Bao Dasan; 63 miscellaneous images including identification cards, architecture, and calligraphy; plus 63 images from the 2000s related to work on the collection itself.