Yolbars (1888-), Uighur leader who opposed the oppressive administrations of Chin Shu-jen and Sheng Shih-ts'ai (qq.v.) in Sinkiang. After holding office in the National Government at Nanking and Chungking, he returned to Sinkiang to lead guerrilla forces against the Chinese Communists. The National Government appointed him governor of Sinkiang in April 1950. He retained that […]

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 […]

Saifudin (c. 1914-), Uighur political leader who served the so-called East Turkestan Republic as minister of education and head of the Hi youth organization. In December 1949 he became vice chairman of the Sinkiang provincial government, and in February 1950 he joined the Chinese Communist party. He was elected chairman of the Sinkiang Uighur Autonomous […]

Masud Sabri (1886-April 1951), Uighur educational reformer in Sinkiang who served the National Government in the 1930's and 1940's. He was governor of Sinkiang in 1947-48. Because he refused to support the People's Republic of China, he was arrested and executed in 1951. Born into a Uighur family in the Hi district of northwest Sinkiang, […]

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 […]

Chin Shu-jen (1883?-?), governor of Sinkiang province. His administrative methods resulted in a Muslim insurrection that lasted for more than three years. He was imprisoned in 1935 by the National Government for having negotiated a secret commercial agreement with the Soviet Union. Little is known about Chin Shu-jen's childhood except that he was born in […]

Huang Mu-sung (1885-20 March 1937), military man who served as dean of the Paoting Military Academy and deputy commander of the cadet corps of the Whampoa Military Academy. He represented the National Government on special missions to Sinkiang (1933) and Tibet (1934) and became chairman of the Mongolian and Tibetan Affairs Commission in 1935. He […]

Burhan 鮑爾漢 Alt. Burhan Shahidi Burhan (1894-), political leader, gained notice through his activities in Sinkiang politics for more than 30 years. He was governor of the province from 1949 through 1955. After 1955 he was a leading official representative of Communist China's Muslim minority. There are numerous pockets of obscurity in Burhan's career. His […]