Chang I-lin 張一麐 T. Chung-jen Cheng-chiao H. Kung-fu Min-yung Ta-huan chu-shih

Chang I-lin (1867-24 October 1943), government official, was a trusted secretary to Yuan Shih-k'ai for many years during the late Ch'ing and early republican periods.

A native of Wuhsien, Kiangsu, Chang I-lin was born into a gentry-official family. His father, Chang Shih-i, was a chin-shih of 1880 and a hsien magistrate in Chihli (Hopei). Together with his two brothers, one elder and one younger, Chang I-lin received a traditional Chinese education. After becoming a sheng-yuan at the early age of 12, he obtained a chü-jen degree in 1885. In 1903 he passed the special examination in political economy, administered by the Manchu court. Later that year Chang I-lin joined the secretariat of Yuan Shih-k'ai, then the governor general of Chihli. His ability won him Yuan's confidence, and when Yuan was summoned to Peking in 1907 to become minister of foreign affairs and grand councillor, Chang went with him. When Yuan was forced into retirement in 1908, Chang returned home. For a time in 1910 he served in the secretariat of Tseng-yun, then the governor of Chekiang.

When Yuan Shih-k'ai was recalled to duty after the outbreak of the revolution in 1911, Chang joined him in Peking. After his native province of Kiangsu declared independence from Manchu rule in December 1911, he served briefly as commissioner of civil affairs but when Yuan Shih-k'ai was elected provisional president, Chang returned to Peking to be chief secretary. He then became head of the office of confidential communications, an important section in the reorganized cabinet in Yuan's government. When Yuan embarked upon his monarchical adventure, however, Chang I-lin resigned his position as head of that office. He did, however, serve as minister of education until late 1915. In this position he promoted the development of the newly formulated chu-yin tzu-mu [phonetic alphabet], thus developing what came to be a continuing personal interest in the reform of the written script. Then he left Peking for the south.

In the last days of Yuan Shih-k'ai's rule, he again summoned Chang to his service. The difficult task of drafting the proclamation abolishing the monarchy was entrusted to the skillful hand of Chang I-lin. In 1917, when Feng Kuo-chang (q.v.) became acting president, Chang again became secretary to the president. In 1919, as the schism between north and south widened, Chang, as a prominent private citizen, attempted to find means for a peaceful unification of China. In 1921 he helped persuade Wu P'ei-fu (q.v.) to stop the civil war and was one of the planners of the Lu-shan conference for peace. When the conference failed, he abandoned participation in national politics and remained at home during the years from 1921 to 1931, promoting local welfare projects in the Soochow area.

The Japanese attack at Shanghai in January 1932 turned Chang's attention once more to national problems, and he worked energetically to aid wounded soldiers and war refugees. His efforts were redoubled when Japan again invaded Shanghai in August 1937. Then 70 years old, Chang proposed the formation of an Old Men's Army, to be limited to men 60 years old or more. Though few people took him seriously, he was in earnest, and he actually drafted a set of regulations for the organization. The duties he proposed for the old men were, in general, tasks which involved probable death, but demanded no strenuous physical labor, or tasks which involved leadership in protecting the people against the so-called unjust militarists and local bosses on the home front.

Soon, however, the advancing Japanese forces occupied Shanghai, Nanking, and Soochow. Donning the garb. of a Buddhist monk, Chang evaded the Japanese, made his way to Hong Kong, and thence to Chungking. To mobilize popular support, the Nationalist Government organized the People's Political Council in 1938, and Chang I-lin was appointed to membership. At the council's sessions, Chang, the eldest member of that body, often was outspoken in raising questions critical of and embarrassing to the Kuomintang and the National Government. In 1943, Chang contracted pneumonia; on 24 October he died in Chungking.

Chang I-lin's collected works, entitled Hsin£' 'ai-p''ing-shih chi [collection of studies with a clear conscience], were published in 1947. His random notes, the Ku-hung-mei-ko pi-chi [notes from the ancient pavilion of red plum blossoms], touch on many aspects of modern Chinese history, including such matters as Sino-Korean relations and the reform movement of 1 898. The marginal notes in the frequently quoted work on Yuan Shih-k'ai, the Yuan Shih-k'ai yü Chung-hua min-kuo [Yuan Shih-k'ai and the republic of China] of Pai Chiao, are also credited to Chang. On the commemoration of the fiftieth anniversary of the Shanghai Shun Pao [Shanghai news daily] in 1922, Chang contributed an article, 'Wu-shih-nien lai kuo-shih t'an-wang" [reminiscences of national affairs during the past fifty years].

The French journalist Fernand Farjenel gave an interesting account of a 1913 interview with Yuan Shih-k'ai, at which Chang I-lin was also present. The Frenchman described Chang as a "fussy little man" and a "scholar of the old school." He reported that Yuan depended on the opinions of Chang and of Liang Shih-i (q.v.) in all matters, stating that "these three were for the time being rulers of China." It is difficult to estimate the accuracy of Farjenel's observations, but there is little doubt that Chang I-lin was one of Yuan's most trusted assistants.