Jiang Chaozong (;

Hepburn Hepburn may refer to: Surname People with the surname Hepburn (the most famous in recent times being actresses Katharine Hepburn and Audrey Hepburn): * Hepburn (surname) Linguistics * Hepburn romanization, a system for the romanization of Japa ...

: ''Kō Kōketsu''; 1861–1943) was a general in the late

Empire of China The earliest known written records of the history of China date from as early as 1250 BC, from the Shang dynasty (c. 1600–1046 BC), during the reign of king Wu Ding. Ancient historical texts such as the '' Book of Documents'' (early chapte ...

and an acting Premier of the Republic of China in 1917.

Biography

A native of

Xuancheng Xuancheng () is a city in the southeast of Anhui province. Archeological digs suggest that the city has been settled for over 4,000 years, and has been under formal administration since the Qin dynasty. Located in the lower Yangtze River drainage ...

Anhui Anhui , (; formerly romanized as Anhwei) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China, part of the East China region. Its provincial capital and largest city is Hefei. The province is located across the basins of the Yangtze River ...

, China, Jiang was posted to

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...

early in his career to serve the Qing governor

Liu Mingchuan Liu Ming-chuan (1836–1896), courtesy name Xingsan, lived in the late Qing dynasty. He was born in Hefei, Anhui. Liu became involved in the suppression of the Taiping Rebellion at an early age, and worked closely with Zeng Guofan and Li Hongz ...

. However, he was charged with corruption, and was forced to return to the mainland in 1889. He later entered the service of

Yuan Shikai Yuan Shikai (; 16 September 1859 – 6 June 1916) was a Chinese military and government official who rose to power during the late Qing dynasty and eventually ended the Qing dynasty rule of China in 1912, later becoming the Emperor of China. H ...

and was posted to

Nanzheng Nanzheng District (), formerly Nanzheng County (), is a district of the city of Hanzhong, Shaanxi province, China, bordering Sichuan Sichuan (; zh, c=, labels=no, ; zh, p=Sìchuān; alternatively romanized as Szechuan or Szechwan; form ...

Shaanxi Shaanxi (alternatively Shensi, see #Name, § Name) is a landlocked Provinces of China, province of China. Officially part of Northwest China, it borders the province-level divisions of Shanxi (NE, E), Henan (E), Hubei (SE), Chongqing (S), Sichu ...

, Jiang was contacted by Huang Chaoyong who asked for military help in crushing an uprising by the Gelaohui secret society. The Yang Xian militia leader was then approached by Jiang for assistance. With the start of the

Xinhai Revolution The 1911 Revolution, also known as the Xinhai Revolution or Hsinhai Revolution, ended China's last imperial dynasty, the Manchu-led Qing dynasty, and led to the establishment of the Republic of China. The revolution was the culmination of a d ...

, the fled to

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

, where he was protected by

Zhao Bingjun Zhao Bingjun () (1859 – February 26, 1914) was the third premier of the Republic of China from 25 September 1912 to 1 May 1913. Zhao was previously a public security official during the Qing dynasty and became minister of the interior during t ...

. He rose rapidly through the hierarchy of the Beiyang government, becoming chief of staff of the army, and was also a close confidant of Yuan Shikai. He was on the committee for the coronation of Yuan Shikai as emperor in 1915. Jiang leased land to the missionary

Ethel Margaret Phillips Ethel Margaret Phillips (1876–1951) was a British medical missionary who worked in China for approximately 43 years. Before becoming a medical missionary, Phillips gained admittance into the Victoria University of Manchester and subsequently ...

in 1915. His previous position was Chief of the Beijing Commandery and he temporarily replaced Wu Tingfang's as acting Premier from June 12 to June 24, 1917. During his tenure parliament was dissolved by his mandate. He was succeeded as Premier by

Li Jingxi Li Jingxi (; 1857–18 September 1925) was a politician in the Qing Dynasty and Republic of China. He was born in Anhui and was the nephew of Li Hongzhang. He was the Premier of State Council in May–July 1917. During the Qing Dynasty, he was t ...

. The monarchists

Zhang Xun Zhang Xun (; September 16, 1854 – September 11, 1923), courtesy name Shaoxuan (), art name Songshoulaoren (), nickname Bianshuai (, ), was a Chinese general and Qing loyalist who attempted to restore the abdicated emperor Puyi in the Manchu Re ...

and Kang Youwei drawn up a plan for the restoration of Emperor Puyi and

Qing dynasty The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing,, was a Manchu-led imperial dynasty of China and the last orthodox dynasty in Chinese history. It emerged from the Later Jin dynasty founded by the Jianzhou Jurchens, a Tungusic-speak ...

and showed up in Beijing, drawing Jiang into their plan. On July 1, on Zhang Xun's instructions, war minister

Wang Shizhen Wang Shizhen is the name of: *Wang Shizhen (Tang dynasty) (759–809), Tang dynasty warlord, de facto ruler of Chengde * Wang Shizhen (Ming dynasty) (1526–1590), Ming dynasty poet, writer, artist and litterateur. *Wang Shizhen (Beiyang government ...

, army commander Jiang Chaozong, and former Qing dignitary Liang Qichao acted on this plan, which failed. Jiang then served on the cabinet of

Qian Nengxun Qian Nengxun (1869 – June 5, 1924), courtesy name Ganchen (干臣) or Gancheng (干丞) was a Chinese politician from 1918 until his death in 1924. He served as the Premier of the Republic of China The Premier of the Republic of China, o ...

, but was forced from office less than a year later on charges of corruption. He then served in minor capacities within the Anhui Province under Wu Peifu and he

Zhili clique The Zhili clique () was one of several mutually hostile cliques or factions that split from the Beiyang clique during the Republic of China's Warlord Era. This fragmentation followed the death of Yuan Shikai, who was the only person capable of k ...

. Following the

Marco Polo Bridge incident The Marco Polo Bridge Incident, also known as the Lugou Bridge Incident () or the July 7 Incident (), was a July 1937 battle between China's National Revolutionary Army and the Imperial Japanese Army. Since the Japanese invasion of Manchuria ...

in July 1937, Jiang was sought out by the

Imperial Japanese Army The was the official ground-based armed force of the Empire of Japan from 1868 to 1945. It was controlled by the Imperial Japanese Army General Staff Office and the Ministry of the Army, both of which were nominally subordinate to the Emperor o ...

and was asked to come out of semi-retirement to serve as provisional mayor of Beijing. He joined to collaborationist Provisional Government of the Republic of China in December 1937. However, he was dismissed from that post after a short period, retaining a seat of the largely powerless Provisional Government Committee. With the establishment of the Reorganized Nationalist Government of the Republic of China under Wang Jingwei, he was appointed to the North China Policy Committee. Declared a

traitor Treason is the crime of attacking a state authority to which one owes allegiance. This typically includes acts such as participating in a war against one's native country, attempting to overthrow its government, spying on its military, its diplo ...

by the

Kuomintang The Kuomintang (KMT), also referred to as the Guomindang (GMD), the Nationalist Party of China (NPC) or the Chinese Nationalist Party (CNP), is a major political party in the Republic of China, initially on the Chinese mainland and in Tai ...

, Jiang died of old age in 1943.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jiang, Chaozong 1861 births 1943 deaths Chinese collaborators with Imperial Japan Qing dynasty generals Premiers of the Republic of China Politicians from Lu'an Mayors of Beijing Republic of China politicians from Anhui