Ts'en Ch'un-hsuan (1861 —March 1933), prominent Ch'ing official and rival of Yuan Shih-k'ai. He played a leading role in the anti- Yuan campaigns of 1915-16. He later joined the southern military government at Canton, serving as its head in 1918-19. A native of the Hsilin district of Kwangsi, Ts'en Ch'un-hsuan was the third of seven […]

Chou Shu-jen 周樹人 Alt. Lu Hsün 魯迅 Chou Shu-jen (1881-19 October 1936), known as Lu Hsün, a writer and social critic of such prominence that he became an almost legendary figure. Shaohsing, Chekiang, was the native place of Lu Hsün. He was born into a family of commercial and minor official background. Like his two […]

Chang Tso-lin 張作霖 T. Yü-t'ing 雨亭 Chang Tso-lin (1873-June 1928), known as the Old Marshal, military leader who consolidated control of the Northeast. He began as the leader of a local army in Fengtien and rose to rule Manchuria as a virtually autonomous state from 1919 to his death. After 1924, Chang extended his control […]

Wang Ching-wei 汪精衛 Orig. Wang Chao-ming 汪兆銘 Wang Ching-wei (4 May 1883-10 November 1944), Kuomintang leader and intimate political associate of Sun Yat-sen. At the time of the Sino-Japanese war, after more than a decade of feuding with Chiang Kai-shek for top authority in the Kuomintang, Wang became head of a Japanese-sponsored regime established at […]

Mao Tse-tung 毛澤東 T. Jun-chih 潤之 Mao Tse-tung (26 December 1893-), leader of the Chinese Communist party and founder of the People's Republic of China. Shaoshan, Hsiangt'an hsien, Hunan, was the birthplace of Mao Tse-tung. This agriculturally productive and culturally advanced section of Hunan produced two of the outstanding scholargenerals of the late Ch'ing period, […]