Panchen Lama (1883-1 December 1937), earthly manifestation of the buddha Amitabha. When the thirteenth Dalai Lama (q.v.) was in exile (1904-9, 1910-12), the ninth Panchen was de facto ruler of Tibet. The Panchen was forced into exile by the Dalai in November 1923. The eighth Panchen Rimpoche [precious sage], the earthly manifestation of the buddha […]

Yü Han-mou (1891-), Kwangtung Army commander and subordinate of Ch'en Chi-t'ang (q.v.) whose defection to the National Government in 1936 contributed to the avoidance of civil war between Canton and Nanking. In 1948 he served briefly as commander in chief of the Chinese land forces. Little is known about Yü Han-mou's family background or early […]

Wu Chung-hsin (15 March 1884-16 December 1959), military and political associate of Sun Yat-sen and Chiang Kai-shek who served as governor of Anhwei (1932) and Kweichow (1935), chairman of the Mongolian and Tibetan Affairs Commission (1936-44), and governor of Sinkiang (1944-45). Ancestors of Wu Chung-hsin had moved from Kiangsi to Lochiakang in the northern part […]

Sheng Shih-ts'ai (1895-), military adventurer from Manchuria who seized power in Sinkiang in 1933 and ruled that province for nine years with Soviet aid. In 1943 he switched allegiance to the Chinese Nationalists, who, however, dislodged him from his seat of power in 1944. The Kaiyuan district of Liaoning in southern Manchuria was the birthplace […]

Ma Chung-ying (1911- ? ), Chinese Muslim military leader, took part in the 1931 rebellion of Muslims in Sinkiang against Chinese rule. In 1933 his cavalry forces again attempted to remove Chinese authority from the area, but were pushed into southern Sinkiang by White Russian forces. Ma entered the Soviet Union in July 1934 and […]

Lo Wen-kan (1888-16 October 1941), Oxfordtrained barrister who served the Peking government as minister of justice and chief justice of the Supreme Court and the National Government as minister of justice and minister of foreign affairs. He retired from public life in 1935. I Panyü, Kwangtung, was the birthplace of Lo Wen-kan. After receiving his […]