Chinese Culture & Famous People

Chiang Kai-Shek

Chiang Kai-Shek was born on Monday, October 31, 1887 in Hsikow and he was a famous head of state from China of Methodist religion. Chiang was the son of a salt merchant and grew up in the densely populated province of Zhejiang. He received a traditional Chinese schooling which centered around Confucianism, a religious system based on the Chinese philosopher Confucius (551–479 B.C.E. ).

He was a Chinese political leader and the major figure of Chinese history from 1927 to 1948. He led the Chinese Republic during World War II (1939–45) and was eventually forced from power by the Chinese Communists. After 1950 he served as president of the Republic of China on Taiwan.

In 1905 Chiang went to Ningpo to study and decided to pursue a military career. In 1906 he went to Tokyo where fellow Chekiangese Ch'en Ch'i-mei sponsored Chiang's entry into Sun Yat-sen's (1866–1925) revolutionary party, the T'ung-meng hui. When the revolution broke out in Wuhan, China, on October 10, 1911, Chiang returned to Shanghai, China, to fight under Ch'en. A series of triumphs by Ch'en and other revolutionists in the lower Yangtze Valley set the stage for the installation of Sun Yat-sen as temporary president of the Chinese Republic. In 1916, Ch'en was assassinated.

In the fall of 1917 Sun Yat-sen moved to Canton, China, where he tried to establish a military base through an alliance with a local warlord, Ch'en Chiung-ming. Chiang was assigned to Ch'en's staff, but as a Chekiangese, Chiang was not readily accepted among Ch'en's Cantonese followers.

Military organizer By early 1922 differences in policy between Sun and Ch'en had reached the breaking point and Sun and Chiang hid on a gunboat, a small, armed craft. But before long, fortune turned once again in Sun's favor, and by February 1923 he was back in Canton. On April 20 Chiang assumed duties as Sun's chief of staff. Sun by now had turned for support to the revolutionary group in Moscow, and Chiang headed a group to seek military assistance in the former Soviet Union, a formerly powerful country made up of Russia and several other nations.

On May 3, 1923, Chiang became commandant of the Whampoa Military Academy. There, with Soviet advisers and arms, Chiang organized a military elite, the Whampoa Clique. After Sun Yat-sen died on March 12, 1925, a power struggle followed, and Chiang won. With support from the chief Soviet adviser, Michael Borodin, Chiang made the most of these circumstances and established himself as an able leader. Chiang also rid the party of leading Communists, people that believe in a political system where goods and services are owned by the government.

However, Chiang was unable to untangle the remaining political and military rivalries. He briefly retired in 1927 to arrange his marriage to Soong Mei-ling. Chiang's bride was a member of a leading Christian family of Shanghai, and one of her sisters, Soong Ch'ing-ling, was the widow of Sun Yat-sen. As a condition of the marriage, Chiang agreed to study Christianity; he eventually became a devout (deeply religious) Methodist.

The year 1972 proved to be pivotal for Chiang Kai-shek and Taiwan because President Richard Nixon (1913–1994) visited the People's Republic of China. President Nixon also agreed that Taiwan was a part of China. These diplomatic setbacks, mixed with failing health, had many questioning Chiang Kai-shek's ability to lead the country. His son, Chiang Ching-kuo, who was appointed premier in May, assumed most of Chiang Kaishek's duties. For the last three years of his life, Chiang Kai-shek was the ceremonial leader of the Republic of China, but his son was the practical leader. Chiang Kai-shek suffered a fatal heart attack on April 5, 1975.