Wu Heling (; 1896 – 1980) was a politician in the

Republic of China Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...

. He was born in Harqin Right Banner,

Josutu League The Josutu League (, ) was the southernmost Leagues of China, league of Inner Mongolia during Qing rule. It occupied land that forms part of the modern-day Chinese provinces of Liaoning, Hebei, and Chifeng in China's Inner Mongolia. The name of Jo ...

(now Harqin Banner,

Chifeng Chifeng,; also known as Ulanhad ( (Улаанхад хот), ''Ulaɣanqada qota'', , "red cliff") also known as Ulankhad in Mongolian, is a prefecture-level city in Southeastern Inner Mongolia, People's Republic of China. It borders Xilin Gol Le ...

Inner Mongolia Inner Mongolia, officially the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, is an Autonomous regions of China, autonomous region of China. Its border includes two-thirds of the length of China's China–Mongolia border, border with the country of Mongolia. ...

. His Mongolian name was Ünenbayal.. His name is usually transcribed into

Chinese character Chinese characters are logographs used to write the Chinese languages and others from regions historically influenced by Chinese culture. Of the four independently invented writing systems accepted by scholars, they represent the only on ...

s as ; see for example . He was ethnic Mongol, and participated in the Mongolian Autonomous Movement. Heling became an important politician in the Mongolian United Autonomous Government and the Mongolian Autonomous Federation ().

Early life and education

Wu graduated from the

Chengde Chengde, formerly known as Jehol and Rehe, is a prefecture-level city in Hebei province, situated about northeast of Beijing. It is best known as the site of the Mountain Resort, a vast imperial garden and palace formerly used by the Qing e ...

Normal School in what was then

Rehe Province Rehe, previously romanized as Jehol, was a former Chinese special administrative region and province centered on the city of Rehe, now known as Chengde. Administration Rehe was north of the Great Wall and east of Mongolia in southwestern M ...

, and afterwards the Beijing Law College. In 1918 he entered

Peking University Peking University (PKU) is a Public university, public Types of universities and colleges in China#By designated academic emphasis, university in Haidian, Beijing, China. It is affiliated with and funded by the Ministry of Education of the Peop ...

, while he worked at the Ministry of Interior of the

Beiyang Government The Beiyang government was the internationally recognized government of the Republic of China (1912–1949), Republic of China between 1912 and 1928, based in Beijing. It was dominated by the generals of the Beiyang Army, giving it its name. B ...

. He also provided support to

jasagh A jasagh (; ; ) was the head of a Mongol Banner (Inner Mongolia), banner or khoshun during the Qing dynasty and the Bogd Khanate of Mongolia, Bogd Khanate. The position was held by hereditary succession by certain Mongol princes, most of whom wer ...

Gungsangnorbu Gungsangnorbu (1871 – 1930) was an Inner Mongolian jasagh and politician of the Republic of China. Some scholars describe him as a moderate, progressive moderniser caught between the influence of conservative older leaders and young radicals. ...

of Harqin Right Banner at the office for Mongolian and Tibetan Affairs. At that time, he also worked at

Beijing Normal University Beijing Normal University (BNU) () is a public university in Haidian, Beijing, Haidian, Beijing, China. It is affiliated with the Ministry of Education (China), Ministry of Education of China, and co-funded by the Ministry of Education and the B ...

and was vice-secretary-general of the Beijing Young Christian Association. He graduated from Peking University in 1926, and not long after joined the

Kuomintang The Kuomintang (KMT) is a major political party in the Republic of China (Taiwan). It was the one party state, sole ruling party of the country Republic of China (1912-1949), during its rule from 1927 to 1949 in Mainland China until Retreat ...

Political career

In April 1929 Wu was appointed chief of the office for Mongolian Banner to Beiping, and Counselor 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 ...

, National Government. The following January he transferred to the position of Chief Office for Mongolian Affairs of the Mongolian and Tibetan Affairs Commission. In June 1932 he returned to his old job as the Counselor of the Commission. In March 1934 he was appointed a member of the Mongol Local Autonomy Political Affairs Committee and of the Mongolian and Tibetan Affairs Commission. In September he was appointed Chief of Counselor of the Counseling Agency, Mongolian Local Autonomy Political Council. In May 1936 Yondonwangchug and

Demchugdongrub Demchugdongrub (8 February 1902 – 23 May 1966), also known as Prince De ( zh, 德王), courtesy name Xixian ( zh, 希賢), was a Qing dynasty Chinese Mongol prince descended from the Borjigin imperial clan who lived during the 20th century and ...

established

Mengjiang Mengjiang, also known as Mengkiang, officially the Mengjiang United Autonomous Government, was an autonomous zone in Inner Mongolia, formed in 1939 as a puppet state of the Empire of Japan, then from 1940 being under the nominal sovereignty ...

, in which Wu also participated: he was appointed Director of the Counseling Bureau and Sub-General () and to other positions. In October 1937 he was appointed President of the House of Counselors of Mengjiang. In September 1939 he became Counselor of the House of Counselors in that government. He was promoted to the position of Chairman of the House the following year. In 1941 he was appointed President of the House for Political Affairs, Mongolian Autonomous Federation. Later he also sat as President of the Preparatory School for Studying in Japan. After the Mongolian Autonomous Federation collapsed, Wu returned to Chiang Kai-shek's National Government, and was appointed Chief of the Advertising Association of the Military Commission. In 1949 he participated in the Western Mongolian Autonomous Movement; after the failure of this movement, he escaped to

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...

. Wu died in 1980 in Taichung, Taiwan.

Notes

References

Bibliography

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Mongolian Culture Web () * * * {{Authority control 1896 births 1980 deaths People from Tongliao Republic of China politicians from Inner Mongolia Mongolian collaborators with Imperial Japan Taiwanese politicians Taiwanese people of Mongolian descent