Tien Chung-chin (; 1899–1977) was a Chinese-born politician. His political career began in China, with an appointment to the

Control Yuan The Control Yuan is the supervisory and auditory branch of the government of the Republic of China (Taiwan). Prior to constitutional reforms in the 1990s, the Control Yuan, along with National Assembly (electoral college) and the Legislati ...

in 1931. He was subsequently elected to the in 1946, and became the Minister of Examination in 1948. Tien retained the role as the government of the Republic of China retreated to Taiwan, serving until 1950. He took office as minister of the

Mongolian and Tibetan Affairs Commission The Mongolian and Tibetan Affairs Commission (MTAC) was a ministry-level commission of the Executive Yuan in the Republic of China. It was disbanded on 15 September 2017. History The first model was created during the Qing dynasty in 1636 ...

for the first time in 1951 and remained until 1954. He subsequently served as Minister of the Interior from 1958 to 1960, then returned to the Mongolian and Tibetan Affairs Commission until 1963. He died in office as President of the Judicial Yuan in 1977, having held the position since 1971.

Career

Tien Chung-chin was born in 1899 and known by the

courtesy name A courtesy name (), also known as a style name, is a name bestowed upon one at adulthood in addition to one's given name. This practice is a tradition in the East Asian cultural sphere, including China, Japan, Korea, and Vietnam.Ulrich Theob ...

Yunching ().左双文，九一八事变后的《国民外交杂志》及其政治主张，史学月刊2007年第3期
A native of

Qingcheng County Qingcheng County () is a county in the east of Gansu province, China. It is under the administration of the prefecture-level city of Qingyang. History The history of Qingcheng dates back to prehistoric settlements 200,000 years ago. And written ...

, he attended Peking University, where he participated in the

May Fourth Movement The May Fourth Movement was a Chinese anti-imperialist, cultural, and political movement which grew out of student protests in Beijing on May 4, 1919. Students gathered in front of Tiananmen (The Gate of Heavenly Peace) to protest the Chines ...

. Soon after graduation in 1923, Tien began advanced study in the United States. Starting in 1925, Tien enrolled in the

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW, simply Washington, or informally U-Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington. Founded in 1861, Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast; it was established in Seattl ...

, then transferred to the

University of Missouri The University of Missouri (Mizzou, MU, or Missouri) is a public land-grant research university in Columbia, Missouri. It is Missouri's largest university and the flagship of the four-campus University of Missouri System. MU was founded in ...

before earning a master's and doctoral degree from the

University of Illinois The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (U of I, Illinois, University of Illinois, or UIUC) is a public land-grant research university in Illinois in the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana. It is the flagship institution of the Univer ...

. Tien returned to China in 1930, joining the faculty of Northeastern University. In February 1931, Tien was appointed to the

. In January 1936, he was named the leader of the Gansu Provincial Department of Education. After the

Xi'an Incident The Xi'an Incident, previously romanized as the Sian Incident, was a political crisis that took place in Xi'an, Shaanxi in 1936. Chiang Kai-shek, leader of the Nationalist government of China, was detained by his subordinate generals Chang ...

, Tien was named chairman of the Shaanxi Provincial Government. He began a second term on the Control Yuan in 1938. Concurrently, Tien also served as president of

Lanzhou University Lanzhou University () is a major research university in Lanzhou, Gansu, China. Founded in 1909, it is one of the key universities under China's Ministry of Education (Double First Class University Plan, former Project 985 and Project 211). It ...

.田炯锦，华夏经纬网，2003-07-17
/ref> In November 1946, he was elected to the . Tien also retained his Control Yuan position, which included oversight of Gansu and Shaanxi. On 13 July 1948, Tien took office as the inaugural Minister of Examination.刘寿林等编，民国职官年表，北京：中华书局，1995年 Tien left for Taiwan in 1949. From 1951 to 1954, he led the

. In 1958, Tien succeeded Wang Depu as interior minister. Upon stepping down from the ministry of the interior in 1960, Tien served on the Mongolian and Tibetan Affairs Commission for a second time, until 1963. In 1971, he was nominated to succeed

Xie Guansheng Xie Shouchang (; 19 November 1897 – 22 December 1971) known by his courtesy name Xie Guansheng () was a Chinese jurist who served as Minister of Justice from 1937 to 1948. After the government of the Republic of China moved to Taiwan, Xie was P ...

as President of the Judicial Yuan. Tien held the office until his death in Taipei on 30 March 1977.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tien, Chung-chin 1899 births 1977 deaths Taiwanese Presidents of the Judicial Yuan Republic of China politicians from Gansu Taiwanese people from Gansu University of Illinois alumni National University of Peking alumni University of Washington alumni University of Missouri alumni Northeastern University (China) faculty Lanzhou University faculty Members of the Control Yuan