Qi Xueqi (; August 28, 1900 – March 8, 1945) was an anti-Japanese commander of 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 ...

(KMT).

Early life

Qi Xueqi was born in Tieluo () village, Yanglin () township, Ningxiang County,

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 ...

province on August 28, 1900. He attended the Qi family's private homeschool. In 1912, his family moved to

Changsha Changsha (; ; ; Changshanese pronunciation: (), Standard Chinese, Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is the Capital city, capital and the largest city of Hunan Province of China. Changsha is the 17th most populous city in China with a popul ...

, the capital of Hunan. Qi Xueqi studied in Changjun middle school and showed strengths in literature and foreign language. Four years later, he went 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 ...

and studied at

Tsinghua University Tsinghua University (; abbr. THU) is a national public research university in Beijing, China. The university is funded by the Ministry of Education. The university is a member of the C9 League, Double First Class University Plan, Projec ...

until 1920. While there Qi attended the great student movement on May 4, 1919. Zhou Demin's brief biography of General Qi Xueqi said that he came back to Changsha after graduating from Tsinghua and worked as a professor at

Hunan University Hunan University (HNU; ; pinyin: Húnán Dàxué''),'' colloquially abbreviated as HúDà (湖大), is a national key public research university located in Changsha, Hunan, and a Double First Class University as well as a member of Project 211 ...

, teaching literature and foreign language, while other sources say that he had not graduate until 1923 when he went to the US. In 1923, Qi went to the city of

Northfield, Vermont Northfield is a town in Washington County, Vermont, United States. The town lies in a valley within the Green Mountains and has been home to Norwich University since 1866. It contains the village of Northfield, where over half of the population ...

in the US and majored in horsemanship at Norwich University.

Career

When he returned to in 1929, he was appointed regimental commander of the 6th Military Police Regiment in

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 ...

. On January 28, 1932, he led his 6th Regiment to Shanghai when the

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

attacked

Zhabei District Zhabei, formerly romanized as Chapei, is a neighborhood and a former district of Shanghai with a land area of and a resident population of 847,300 as of 2013. It is the location of the Shanghai railway station, one of the main railway stations ...

. As the commander of the 6th Military Police Regiment, he was on garrison duty in Shanghai and fought a fierce battle against the army of Japan. He was given many awards in the next several years for his bravery in battle. In 1938 Qi Xueqi came to

and was appointed commander of the city's tax policy. It was an official post with little to do. He applied to fight in the front because he thought that a soldier should be fighting instead of in the rear. In 1942, he was sent to Burma as vice-commander of the 38th division while the commander was

Sun Li-jen Sun Li-jen (; December 8, 1900November 19, 1990) was a Chinese Nationalist (KMT) general, a graduate of Virginia Military Institute, best known for his leadership in the Second Sino-Japanese War and the Chinese Civil War. His military achiev ...

. The task of the 38th division was assisting the Allies in their fight against the Japanese.

Death

When Qi was in prison camp, some other prisoners of war, Cai Zongfu, Zhang Jixiang and others, wanted to surrender to get money and become officers of the puppet government of

Wang Jingwei Wang Jingwei (4 May 1883 – 10 November 1944), born as Wang Zhaoming and widely known by his pen name Jingwei, was a Chinese politician. He was initially a member of the left wing of the Kuomintang, leading a government in Wuhan in oppositi ...

. They attempted to persuade Qi to surrender with them, but he refused. In 1945, the Japanese surrendered. The prisoners were liberated and returned to China. Cai and Zhang worried that Qi would make their attempt of betray known, so they assassinated Qi.

Personal life

His mother was Mrs. Zhao (), His father was Qi Zhizhang (), aka. Qi Huang (). He had four sisters. He first married Mrs. Xiang () and then Tong Xijun ().

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Qi, Xueqi 1900 births 1945 deaths People from Ningxiang Members of the Kuomintang Norwich University alumni Tsinghua University alumni Chinese military personnel of World War II Chinese Nationalist military figures