Gao Lingwei (; Hepburn: Kō Ryōi); (1870–1940) was a Chinese politician during the late

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-spea ...

and the early Republic of China. A

Tianjin Tianjin (; ; Mandarin: ), alternately romanized as Tientsin (), is a municipality and a coastal metropolis in Northern China on the shore of the Bohai Sea. It is one of the nine national central cities in Mainland China, with a total popu ...

native, he was appointed to

Hubei Hubei (; ; alternately Hupeh) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China, and is part of the Central China region. The name of the province means "north of the lake", referring to its position north of Dongting Lake. The ...

where he held many offices relating to finance and education including a stint as superintendent of the provincial military academy. There he became a protégé of

Zhang Zhidong Zhang Zhidong () (4 September 18375 October 1909) was a Chinese politician who lived during the late Qing dynasty. Along with Zeng Guofan, Li Hongzhang and Zuo Zongtang, Zhang Zhidong was one of the four most famous officials of the late Qing ...

in China's modernization effort and was appointed governor of

Hunan Hunan (, ; ) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China, part of the South Central China region. Located in the middle reaches of the Yangtze watershed, it borders the province-level divisions of Hubei to the north, Jiangxi ...

. After 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 ...

, he returned to Tianjin and subsequently became a minister in many Warlord era cabinets. In 1923, he became the

Acting President An acting president is a person who temporarily fills the role of a country's president when the incumbent president is unavailable (such as by illness or a vacation) or when the post is vacant (such as for death, injury, resignation, dismissal ...

while

Cao Kun General Cao Kun (; courtesy name: Zhongshan () (December 12, 1862 – May 15, 1938) was a Chinese warlord and politician, who served the President of the Republic of China from 1923 to 1924, as well as the military leader of the Zhili clique ...

"campaigned" for the presidency by bribing the National Assembly. Finally, he served briefly as Cao's first premier.

Biography

Early career

Gao Lingwei was born in

in 1868. He successfully passed the

Imperial examination The imperial examination (; lit. "subject recommendation") refers to a civil-service examination system in Imperial China, administered for the purpose of selecting candidates for the state bureaucracy. The concept of choosing bureaucrats by ...

s and was afterwards assigned to the province of

for official appointment. He was the sub-director of the high school attached to Chin Hsin College, and superintendent of the Military Academy in Hubei. Later, he became the director of the Hubei Government Mint. While holding the position of Viceroy of Hunan and Hubei,

ordered the establishment of an arsenal, industrial plants and copper and silver mints, and also encouraged the establishment of schools in his territory. Gao Lingwei participated in all these activities to the satisfaction of the Great Viceroy. In 1906, he was promoted to be the Commissioner of Education in Hubei. It was at a time when the Central Government tried to concentrate power in

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 ...

and local finances were consequently stringent and funds for education became very scant. Despite such circumstances Gao Lingwei found the necessary funds was able to increase the number of schools in that province by tenfold in a few months. In 1909 Gao Lingwei was promoted to be the Provincial Treasurer, a very high provincial appointment at that time. After serving in that important capacity for some time, one of his parents died, and according to the ancient custom, he had to retire from official duties for three years.

Warlord era politician

When the

came in 1911, Gao Lingwei went to Tianjin and continued living in retirement. During his retirement in Tianjin, at the request of his friends, he did all he could to direct the organization of banks along modern lines in different parts of the country. In August 1913 he was appointed the acting chief of the Financial Bureau of

Zhili Province 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 ...

. In September 1913 he was ordered to act concurrently as Chief of the Preparation Bureau for the Collection of National Taxes in Zhili. He was relieved of these two posts in April 1914. In 1915 Gao Lingwei was the High Advisor to the Office of the Tuchun of the Three Eastern Provinces. In August 1917, he became a member of the Legislative Yuan from Zhili. In August 1920, he was appointed as the Vice-Minister of Agriculture and Commerce. In January 1921 he received the Second Class Tashou Chiaho. In July 1921 he was appointed as the Vice-President of the Bank of Agriculture and Commerce. In October 1921 he was appointed as the Minister of Finance and awarded the First Class Tashou Chiaho. In November 1921 he was ordered to become the concurrently Director General of the Currency Bureau and also the Director General of the Salt Administration. In December 1921, he was transferred to become the Minister of the Interior. In this capacity he served in January 1922 the following concurrent positions: Director-General of Famine Relief; Director General of the Metropolitan Municipal Administration; and President of the Yangtze River Commission. In March 1922 Gao Lingwei was awarded the First Class Wenfu. In May 1922 he was ordered to act concurrently as Minister of Communications. This acting post was only held by him for half a month. In June 1922 Gao Lingwei was relieved of the portfolio of the Interior Ministry. On the 18th of the same month he was appointed to be the Civil Governor of Zhili, but he did not assume office and on the 24th he was relieved of the post of governor. In August 1922 he was appointed as the Acting Minister of Finance, in September he was transferred to become the Acting Minister of Agriculture and Commerce. In October 1922 Gao Lingwei was awarded the First Class Tashou Paokuang Chiaho. In November 1922 he was transferred to be the Acting Minister of the Interior. In January 1923 he was appointed as the Minister of the Interior. In February he was ordered to hold concurrently the Presidency of the Yangtze River Commission. In October 1923 Gao Lingwei was appointed Premier of China. He held this position was held until January 1924, when he was appointed to be the Director General of the Customs Administration to succeed Sun Baoqi, who had been appointed as the Premier. However, in October 1924, the armies of the warlord

Feng Yuxiang Feng Yuxiang (; ; 6 November 1882 – 1 September 1948), courtesy name Huanzhang (焕章), was a warlord and a leader of the Republic of China from Chaohu, Anhui. He served as Vice Premier of the Republic of China from 1928 to 1930. He wa ...

overthrew President Cao Kun, and Gao Lingwei fled to Tianjin, and from there to Shanghai.

Later career

In 1926, Gao Lingwei returned from Shanghai to Tianjin, where he lived at the Japanese concession. He came into contact there with

Duan Qirui Duan Qirui (; ) (March 6, 1865 – November 2, 1936) was a Chinese warlord and politician, a commander of the Beiyang Army and the acting Chief Executive of the Republic of China (in Beijing) from 1924 to 1926. He was also the Premier of the R ...

, Wang Yitang and Zhang Yanqing, the future foreign minister of Manchukuo) and was active in promoting Sino-Japanese relations. He began cooperating with the Japanese secret services from 1930. In 1935, Gao Lingwei was made a member of the Hebei-Chahar Political Council. After the start of the

Second Sino-Japanese War The Second Sino-Japanese War (1937–1945) or War of Resistance (Chinese term) was a military conflict that was primarily waged between the Republic of China and the Empire of Japan. The war made up the Chinese theater of the wider Pacific Th ...

, he joined the pro-Japanese Provisional Government of the Republic of China led by

Wang Kemin Wang Kemin (; Wade-Giles: Wang K'o-min, May 4, 1879 – December 25, 1945) was a leading official in the Chinese republican movement and early Beiyang government, later noted for his role as in the collaborationist Provisional Government ...

, who appointed him acting Mayor of Tianjin. From December 17, 1937 he was appointed governor of Hebei province. However, he resigned his post in May 1938 and moved to Beijing, where he died of a heart attack in 1940.

References

* Dryburgh, Marjorie. ''North China and Japanese Expansion 1933-1937''. Routledge (2013) * Li, Chien Nung. ''The Political History of China, 1840-1928''. Stanford University Press (1967) , - , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Gao, Lingwei 1868 births 1939 deaths Republic of China politicians from Tianjin Presidents of the Republic of China Mayors of Tianjin Premiers of the Republic of China Chinese collaborators with Imperial Japan 20th-century Chinese heads of government