Tang Zaili (; 1882–1964), courtesy name Zhifu (挚夫 or 执夫), was a Chinese civil servant and prominent military figure in the

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 later the

Republic of China 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 northeast ...

. He was Military Counselor to

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 ...

, President of the

, and later served as China's Chief Military Delegate at the

Paris Peace Accords The Paris Peace Accords, () officially titled the Agreement on Ending the War and Restoring Peace in Viet Nam (''Hiệp định về chấm dứt chiến tranh, lập lại hòa bình ở Việt Nam''), was a peace treaty signed on January 27, 1 ...

in 1919.

Early life

Tang was born in 1882 in

Shanghai Shanghai (; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four direct-administered municipalities of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the Huangpu River flow ...

. After passing competitive exams conducted by the Shanghai School of Languages in 1898 and was sent to Japan as a government student, becoming in October 1901 among the first group of Chinese students to attend the Imperial Japanese Army Academy. There he studied applied artillery and engineering and graduated in 1904. He returned to China to serve as staff officer at the Training Bureau under

who was then

Viceroy A viceroy () is an official who reigns over a polity in the name of and as the representative of the monarch of the territory. The term derives from the Latin prefix ''vice-'', meaning "in the place of" and the French word ''roy'', meaning "k ...

Beiyang The term Beiyang (; pinyin: Běiyáng; Wade-Giles: Peiyang) literally means Northern Ocean.Shandong Shandong ( , ; ; alternately romanized as Shantung) is a coastal province of the People's Republic of China and is part of the East China region. Shandong has played a major role in Chinese history since the beginning of Chinese civilizati ...

in 1906. Two years later he became chief of the department of the Training Bureau of the Metropolitan Forces. In the same year he was commissioned Lieutenant-Colonel of the artillery, chief staff officer of the maneuvers at Zhuozhou,

Zhili Zhili, alternately romanized as Chihli, was a northern administrative region of China since the 14th-century that lasted through the Ming dynasty and Qing dynasty until 1911, when the region was dissolved, converted to a province, and renamed ...

and inspected the National Maneuvers of Japan. In 1910 he was dispatched to Urga (present day Ulaanbaatar),

Mongolia Mongolia; Mongolian script: , , ; lit. "Mongol Nation" or "State of Mongolia" () is a landlocked country in East Asia, bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south. It covers an area of , with a population of just 3.3 million, ...

as the chief of the military staff to train recruits for the Mongolian army. He was particularly disliked by the local population because of his aggressive tactics in recruiting and training a

sinicized Sinicization, sinofication, sinification, or sinonization (from the prefix , 'Chinese, relating to China') is the process by which non-Chinese societies come under the influence of Chinese culture, particularly the language, societal norms, cul ...

military. Recalled to Beijing within a year after complaints from local Mongol officials, he then became the staff officer of

and upon the establishment of the

in 1912, Yuan Shikai sent him as one of the Northern Delegates to negotiate with the

Nanjing Nanjing (; , Mandarin pronunciation: ), alternately romanized as Nanking, is the capital of Jiangsu province of the People's Republic of China. It is a sub-provincial city, a megacity, and the second largest city in the East China region. T ...

government to effect the unification of the North and the South. Starting in 1914, Tang rose through the ranks of the president's council, becoming Chief of the General Staff in December 1915 and then Military Counselor to President Yuan in July 1916. He was promoted as a Brigadier-General and awarded the Fourth Order of Merit.

Paris Peace Conference

In 1918 Tang was sent to Europe as the Chinese representative at the Allied Military Council. During the first part of 1919 he was Chief Military representative on the Chinese Delegation to the Paris Peace Conference. Following the conference he traveled extensively through Europe, visiting the

Balkans The Balkans ( ), also known as the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throughout the who ...

as well as

Central Central is an adjective usually referring to being in the center of some place or (mathematical) object. Central may also refer to: Directions and generalised locations * Central Africa, a region in the centre of Africa continent, also known as ...

and

Southern Europe Southern Europe is the southern regions of Europe, region of Europe. It is also known as Mediterranean Europe, as its geography is essentially marked by the Mediterranean Sea. Definitions of Southern Europe include some or all of these countrie ...

. Tang returned to China in the summer of 1920 and was made a ''Jiangjun'' (General) of the College of Marshals. In 1922 he was appointed a Member of the Commission on Mongolian Affairs.

Railway Guards

In 1923 Tang was appointed director-general of the Railway Guards, the railway security service established following the Lincheng Incident of 1923 in which a

Shandong Shandong ( , ; ; alternately romanized as Shantung) is a coastal province of the People's Republic of China and is part of the East China region. Shandong has played a major role in Chinese history since the beginning of Chinese civilizati ...

warlord captured the Shanghai to Beijing express train and held 25 westerners and 300 Chinese hostage. He resigned his position in 1928. In 1960, Tang became the librarian in Shanghai Museum of History and Culture. He died in Shanghai in 1964.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tang, Zaili 1882 births 1964 deaths Generals from Shanghai