Cheng Hsiao-hsü (2 April 1860-28 March 1938), Manchu loyalist and assistant to P'u-yi (q.v.), was a prime mover in the creation of Manchoukuo. He served as premier at Hsinking (Changchun) from 1932 to 1935. Although his ancestral home was Minhou, Fukien, Cheng Hsiao-hsü was born in Soochow. His father, Cheng Shou-lien (T. Chung-lien), was a […]

P'u-yi (1906-17 October 1967), the last Manchu emperor. Born in Peking, P'u-yi was the son of Tsaifeng, the second Prince Ch'un and the nephew of the Kuang-hsü emperor. As the emperor neared death in 1908, some members of the Manchu hierarchy pressed the claims of P'u-lun and P'u-wei, older great-grandsons of the Taokuang Emperor in […]

Lo Chen-yü (3 August 1866-19 June 1940), an important Chinese classical scholar, archaeologist, and bibliographer, was a Manchu loyalist and a supporter of the Japanesesponsored regime in Manchoukuo. Although his native place was Shangyü, Chekiang, Lo Chen-yü was born in Huaian, Kiangsu. His father, Lo Shu-hsün (1842-1905; T. Yao-chin), opened a pawnshop in 1875 with […]

Meng Sen (1868-14 January 1938), supporter of constitutional government and a leader of the Chin-pu-tang. He became an authority on the Ming-Ch'ing transitional period and a professor of history at Peking University. A native of Yanghu hsien, Kiangsu, Meng Sen was born into a prominent family in a region where scholars abounded. After becoming a […]

Lin Shu (8 November 1852-9 October 1924), the first major Chinese translator of Western fiction and one of the last important prose writers in the Chinese classical style. He also was known for his outspoken opposition to the new literary movements of the May Fourth period. Minhsien, Fukien, was the birthplace of Lin Shu. He […]

Liu Ya-tzu (May 1887-June 1958), the last outstanding poet of the traditional school. He also was known as a scholar and as the founder of the Xan-she (Southern Society). Born in the Wuchiang district of Soochow, Liu Ya-tzu came from a land-holding literary family whose property provided means to educate several generations of its male […]

Ch'en San-li 陳三立 Ch'en San-li (1852 - 15 September 1937) helped to develop reform and modernization programs in Hunan while his father, Ch'en Pao-chen, was governor (1895-98). After the failure of the Hundred Days Reform of 1898, he was banished from government service. He then became a noted poet and essayist. The Ch'en San-li branch […]