Chan Ta-pei 詹大悲 T. Chih-ts'un 質存 Chan Ta-pei (1888-1927) was a prominent anti-Manchu revolutionary in Hupeh, a constant supporter of Sun Yat-sen, an equally constant foe of Yuan Shih-k'ai, and a Kuomintang official. In 1927 he was associated with the left wing of the Kuomintang at Wuhan. He was executed as a Communist partisan. A native of Ch'ich'un, Hupeh, Chan Ta-pei was born into a family of scholarly background. Even as a boy his unusual memory and literary flair were apparent. Growing up at a time when the imperial examination system was being abolished, Chan, after his basic education in the Chinese classics, sought enrollment at the Huang-chou Middle School. This was a well-known school, and at the time he sought admission there were nearly 20,000 applicants from all parts of eastern Hupeh. Although he was the youngest of the candidates, Chan Ta-pei took first place in the examinations. His performance made a great impression on the school principal. Later, however, apparently because of a streak of youthful arrogance, Chan got into trouble with the school superintendent and was expelled.

In the years immediately preceding the revolution of 1911, Hupeh province became one of the major centers of anti-Manchu activity in China. Chan Ta-pei was drawn into revolutionary activity through a schoolmate, Yuan Ssu-yuan, who recommended him for membership in the T'ung-meng-hui. Units of the new army in the Wuhan area were then the primary target of revolutionary propaganda, and Chan Ta-pei became chief editor of an anti-Manchu journal, the Shang-wu pao [commercial journal], established at Hankow by Yuan Ssu-yuan. Chan soon established contact with a secret organization of military officers in the 41st Regiment of the Hupeh Army and attempted to convert junior officers to the cause of revolution. These activities were discovered by the Manchu authorities, however, and the Shangwu pao was closed down. Chan Ta-pei then participated in the organization of the Wen-hsueh-she, headed by the Hunanese radical Chiang I-wu (d. 1913 at 29 sui), and began publishing a new newspaper, the Ta-chiang pao [Yangtze daily]. Reorganized from the Chen-wu hsueh-she early in 1911, the Wen-hsueh-she soon developed into one of the major anti-Manchu subversive organizations in Hupeh. That summer the Ch'ing government announced the nationalization of railroads. In the adjacent province of Szechwan there was great popular opposition to the decision. Chan Ta-pei vigorously opposed the measure and carried his opposition to T'ang Hua-lung (q.v.), then speaker of the Hupeh provincial advisory council. Chan's stand—that it was appropriate for the railways to come under state ownership but not under the ownership of the Manchu court—reportedly impressed T'ang Hua-lung and led the Hupeh advisory council to give strong support to the Szechwanese position. Chan himself wrote a strong article, "Rebellion Is the Cure for China," which he published in the Ta-chiang pao. Ho Hai-ming, another anti- Manchu revolutionary, joined in with an article entitled "Peace Is What Will Destroy China." Jui-cheng (ECCP, I, 128), governor general of Hu-kuang, was enraged over the articles. He threw Chan Ta-pei into prison and sought to arrest Ho Hai-ming. Chan declared that he would assume full responsibility for the Ta-chiang pao and that he alone should be punished. The authorities would not permit this, however, and Ho Hai-ming surrendered himself. Newspaper circles in Wuhan launched a campaign to have them freed. Jui-cheng, angered, sentenced them to 18 months in prison, a step which had the effect of giving Chan Ta-pei a nation-wide reputation overnight.

On 10 October 1911, the Wuchang revolt took place. The revolutionaries also captured Hanyang and Hankow; and Jui-cheng, the governor general, fled from the city. Chan Tapei was freed from prison and was elected head of the Hankow branch of the revolutionary military headquarters. The chief headquarters at Wuchang was then headed by Li Yuan-hung (q.v.), who was not a revolutionary comrade. At that time the commander at Hankow, Chang Ching-liang, acted in collusion with the Manchu army. Chan Ta-pei ordered Chang's execution without reference to Li Yuan-hung, a resolute action which won great applause among the republican revolutionaries. Hankow, however, remained in danger of counterattack by the Ch'ing forces, and Chan Ta-pei went to Kiukiang to seek the support of the revolutionary army in Kiangsi. Help failed to arrive in time, however, and Hankow was lost. Chan then went to Shantung to join Hu Ying, Shantung tutuh [military governor] of the revolutionary side, who was planning a northern expedition from Chefoo. But peace was achieved, and soon the republic was officially established.

In the spring of 1913 the Kuomintang planned to have Chan Ta-pei elected to the post of speaker of the Hupeh provincial assembly. Chan thus was first elected a member of the assembly. But the assassination of Sung Chiao-jen (q.v.) in March 1913 led to a new political crisis, and Chan began to assemble comrades to organize an expedition against Yuan Shih-k'ai. The plot was discovered, however, and one of his comrades was executed. In July 1913 the so-called second revolution was launched by the Kuomintang leaders, and Chan went to Kiukiang to join the Kiangsi tutuh Li Liehchün (q.v.). Li Lieh-chun was soon defeated, however, and the revolutionaries had to flee, most of them going to Japan.

When Sun Yat-sen reorganized the Kuomintang into the Chung-hua ko-ming-tang in Tokyo in 1914, Chan immediately joined the new party. He was sent to Shanghai with other comrades to bring about the defection of troops in that area. News of the plot leaked out, and Feng Kuo-chang (q.v.) laid a trap for the leaders. Chan escaped unharmed and returned to Japan. When the campaign against Yuan Shih-k'ai began late in 1915, Chan Ta-pei left Japan to return to his native Hupeh and to raise a force against Yuan. On arrival at Shanghai, however, he was arrested and imprisoned in the International Settlement. When Yuan Shih-k'ai died in June 1916, Chan was released and was given a public ovation.

The Parliament was restored in Peking at this time, and the various provincial assemblies were also resumed. Chan Ta-pei was elected speaker of the Hupeh provincial assembly as the revolutionaries had planned. Now, however, Wang Chan-yuan, the Peiyang military governor of Hupeh, prevented Chan from taking office. Shortly thereafter Chang Hsun (q.v.) and other northern militarists forced President Li Yuan-hung to leave office. Parliament was suspended. Sun Yat-sen, with the support of the navy, formed a revolutionary government at Canton in 1917 to uphold the constitution. Chan Ta-pei was sent by Sun to Szechwan to attempt to win the support of the military leaders in that province for the southern government.

In 1920 Chan Ta-pei went to Canton and served as a propaganda official at Sun Yat-sen's headquarters. In 1921 Sun assumed the presidency in May, and he again sent Chan Ta-pei on a mission to Szechwan to enlist the support of the military leaders there. When Chan returned from west Chijia to Canton in 1922, the revolt of Ch'en Chiung-ming (q.v.) occurred. Chan followed Sun Yat-sen to the gunboat Yung-feng, which served as Sun's temporary headquarters during the trouble.

In January 1924 Chan Ta-pei was a delegate to the First National Congress of the reorganized Kuomintang. When the National Government was formed at Canton in 1925, he served as a councillor. In January 1926, at the Second National Congress of the Kuomintang, dominated by Wang Ching-wei (q.v.) and his supporters, Chan was elected an alternate member of the Central Executive Committee. When the Northern Expedition captured Wuhan in the autumn of 1926 Chan returned to his native Hupeh and became a member of the Wuhan branch of the Central Political Council. He also served as a member of the Hupeh provincial government council and in that capacity promoted the organization of the water conservation bureau and allotted funds for the repair of the dikes in Hupeh. These measures attracted popular support.

Early in 1927 Chan Ta-pei also served as commissioner of finance in the Hupeh provincial government. Wuhan was then under the control of the left- Kuomintang faction and the Communists, who were still allied with the Kuomintang. Chan Ta-pei was never overly prudent in his personal relationships. Because of his association with Communist elements at Wuhan, he was evidently considered to be a Communist. With the purge of the Communists at Shanghai in the spring of 1927 and the establishment of the National Government at Nanking soon afterward, the arrest of prominent Communists was ordered. The name of Chan Ta-pei appeared on the list.

Toward the end of 1927, when the government launched its expedition against T'ang Sheng-chih (q.v.), who was attempting to hold Wuhan against Nanking, the commander of a unit in the army of Hu Tsung-to, who led the expedition, apprehended Chan. Since prudence was not the order of the day, Chan was summarily executed as a partisan of the Communists. His former comrades learned of his tragic situation too late to save him.

Chan Ta-pei was survived by his widow, by a son named Chan Shih-hua, and by a daughter, Chan Chih-fang.