Wu Yü-chang (1878-14 December 1966), republican revolutionary and educator who later became a Chinese Communist official. He was known for his leadership of the movement to romanize the Chinese written language. Born in Yunghsien, Szechwan, Wu Yü-chang was the second of three sons born into a well-todo gentry family. After receiving his early education in […]

Wang Yün-wu (9 July 1888-), editor in chief (1921-29) and general manager (1930-45) of the Commercial Press, republican China's largest publishing house. From May 1946 to April 1947 he was minister of economic affairs, and in 1948 he served as minister of finance during the ill-fated gold yuan currency conversion. In Taiwan, he was vice […]

T'ao Hsing-chih (1891-25 July 1946), educational theorist and reformer who based his ideas on those of John Dewey and Wang Yangming. His theories of "life education" were embodied in the mass education and rural education movements of the 1920's and in the work-study and "national crisis education" programs of the 1930's. Born into a family […]

T'ang Erh-ho (1871-8 November 1940), Japanese-trained physician and anti-Manchu revolutionary who founded and served as chancellor of Peking Medical College. In the 1920's he held cabinet posts in the Peking government. He became an official in the Japanese-sponsored government at Peiping in 1937. Born into a Muslim family in Hangchow, T'ang Erh-ho was the son […]

Soong Ch'ing-ling (1892-), was the wife of Sun Yat-sen. She was active in social welfare work, and after 1949 she held a variety of posts in the People's Republic of China. The second daughter of Charles Jones Soong (q.v.), Soong Ch'ing-ling was born in Shanghai. Like her elder sister, Soong Ai-ling, she received her early […]

Soong Mei-ling (c. 1897-), was the wife of Chiang Kai-shek and a leader of Chinese women. A native of the Wench'ang district of Hainan Island, Kwangtung, Soong Mei-ling was born in Shanghai. She was the fourth of six children and the youngest of the girls in her family. Because her father, Charles Jones Soong (q.v.), […]

Shih Ying (1879-4 December 1943), engineer, administrator devoted to the modernization of China, and member of the Western Hills faction of the Kuomintang. As mayor of Nanking in 1932-35 he instituted impartial law enforcement and enacted sumptuary measures. Yanghsin, Hupeh, was the birthplace of Shih Ying. His great-grandfather and grandfather had been scholars, but a […]

Shen Yin-mo (1887-), professor of history and literary man who later won fame as a calligrapher. Wuhsing, Chekiang, was the native place of Shen Yin-mo. After receiving a traditional primary education in the Chinese classics, he attended the Chiahsing Normal School and later joined his brothers, Shen Shih-yuan and Shen Chien-shih, in Japan for advanced […]

Ch'ien Hsuan-t'ung (12 September 1887-17 January 1939), applied the critical methods of Hu Shih to the study of Chinese classical texts. He taught for many years at Peking University, where he contributed articles to the Hsin ch'ing-nien [new youth] and served as one of its editors. He was also a leader in the movement to […]

Ma Hsü-lun ( 27 April 1884-), educator, revolutionary, and government official, was a professor of Chinese philosophy at Peking University in 1916-36. He became sympathetic to the Communist cause during the Sino- Japanese war, and he was named minister of education when the Central People's Government was established in 1949. From 1952 to 1954 he […]