Chiang Peng-chien (; 25 April 1940 – 15 December 2000) was a Taiwanese politician who was a co-founder and the first chairperson of the Democratic Progressive Party. Chiang was elected a member of the

Legislative Yuan The Legislative Yuan is the unicameral legislature of the Republic of China (Taiwan) located in Taipei. The Legislative Yuan is composed of 113 members, who are directly elected for 4-year terms by people of the Taiwan Area through a parallel ...

in 1983 and became a member of 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 Legislativ ...

in 1996.

Early life

Chiang Peng-chien was born April 25, 1940, in Daitōtei,

Taihoku Prefecture Taihoku Prefecture (台北州; ''Taihoku-shū'') was an administrative division of Taiwan created in 1920, during Japanese rule. The prefecture consisted of modern-day Keelung, New Taipei City, Taipei and Yilan County. Its government office, ...

, Japanese-era Taiwan. His father was a

shoemaker Shoemaking is the process of making footwear. Originally, shoes were made one at a time by hand, often by groups of shoemakers, or cobblers (also known as ''cordwainers''). In the 18th century, dozens or even hundreds of masters, journeymen a ...

from

Fujian Fujian (; alternately romanized as Fukien or Hokkien) is a province on the southeastern coast of China. Fujian is bordered by Zhejiang to the north, Jiangxi to the west, Guangdong to the south, and the Taiwan Strait to the east. Its c ...

, China. In 1955, Chiang entered the

Taipei Municipal Jianguo High School Taipei Municipal Jianguo High School (, CKHS; formerly Chien Kuo from the Wade-Giles transliteration) is a public high school for boys located in Zhongzheng District, Taipei, Taiwan. The school was established in 1898 during the early years of ...

. He was then accepted to

National Taiwan University National Taiwan University (NTU; ) is a public research university in Taipei, Taiwan. The university was founded in 1928 during Taiwan under Japanese rule, Japanese rule as the seventh of the Imperial Universities. It was named Taihoku Imper ...

, majoring in law. After graduation, he passed the

bar examination A bar examination is an examination administered by the bar association of a jurisdiction that a lawyer must pass in order to be admitted to the bar of that jurisdiction. Australia Administering bar exams is the responsibility of the bar associa ...

in 1964. Chiang began practicing law after earning his

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.

. Chiang founded the

Taiwan Association for Human Rights The Taiwan Association for Human Rights (TAHR; ) is a Taiwan based non-governmental organization which was established on International Human Rights Day, December 10, 1984. TAHR is the oldest independent human rights Human rights are mora ...

. On

Human Rights Day Human Rights Day is celebrated annually around the world on 10 December every year. The date was chosen to honor the United Nations General Assembly's adoption and proclamation, on 10 December 1948, of the Universal Declaration of Human Right ...

in 1979, members of the

Formosa Magazine ''Formosa Magazine'', also known as Mei-li-tao (), was a magazine created by Tangwai individuals in Taiwan during the summer of 1979. It opposed the Kuomintang's political monopoly in the Republic of China government. A police raid of the ''Fo ...

and other

Tangwai The ''Tangwai'' movement, or simply ''Tangwai'' (), was a loosely knit political movement in Taiwan in the mid-1970s and early 1980s. Although the ruling Kuomintang (KMT) had allowed contested elections for a small number of seats in the Legi ...

pro-democracy advocates went on a

demonstration Demonstration may refer to: * Demonstration (acting), part of the Brechtian approach to acting * Demonstration (military), an attack or show of force on a front where a decision is not sought * Demonstration (political), a political rally or prote ...

. Many of the participants were arrested by the

government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government ...

and tried in

military court A court-martial or court martial (plural ''courts-martial'' or ''courts martial'', as "martial" is a postpositive adjective) is a military court or a trial conducted in such a court. A court-martial is empowered to determine the guilt of mem ...

. Chiang defended

Lin Yi-hsiung Lin Yi-hsiung (; born 24 August 1941) is a politician from Taiwan. He was a major leader of the democratization movement in Taiwan. He graduated from the Department of Law of National Taiwan University. He was first exposed to politics in 1976 ...

, one of the Kaohsiung Eight.

Political career

Chiang became involved in politics and supported the

Tangwai movement The ''Tangwai'' movement, or simply ''Tangwai'' (), was a loosely knit political movement in Taiwan in the mid-1970s and early 1980s. Although the ruling Kuomintang (KMT) had allowed contested elections for a small number of seats in the Legi ...

. He was elected a member of the

in 1983. In September 1986, about 130 pro-democracy advocates, including Chiang, gathered at the Grand Hotel in

Taipei Taipei (), officially Taipei City, is the capital and a special municipality of the Republic of China (Taiwan). Located in Northern Taiwan, Taipei City is an enclave of the municipality of New Taipei City that sits about southwest of the ...

to establish the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP). On November 10, 1986, he was elected the first chairperson of the party. In 1994, Chiang was a candidate for the DPP's nomination in the 1994 Taipei mayoral election. He competed against legislators

Chen Shui-bian Chen Shui-bian (; born 12 October 1950) is a retired Taiwanese politician and lawyer who served as the president of the Republic of China (Taiwan) from 2000 to 2008. Chen was the first president from the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) whi ...

and

Frank Hsieh Frank Hsieh Chang-ting (; born May 18, 1946) is a Taiwanese politician and former defense attorney. A cofounder of the Democratic Progressive Party, he has served on the Taipei City Council, the Legislative Yuan, as the mayor of Kaohsiung City ...

and lost. He returned to the Legislative Yuan in January 1995, replacing David Hou as an at-large legislator on the DPP party list. In 1996, Chiang became a member of the

. He worked to prevent any activities associated with black gold and actively investigated sensitive cases involved with former political oppression.

Death and legacy

Chiang died in December 2000 of

pancreatic cancer Pancreatic cancer arises when cells in the pancreas, a glandular organ behind the stomach, begin to multiply out of control and form a mass. These cancerous cells have the ability to invade other parts of the body. A number of types of panc ...

. His widow Peng Feng-mei donated his writings and books to the

Academia Historia An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary or tertiary higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membership). The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, ...

for display.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chiang, Peng-chien 1940 births 2000 deaths Democratic Progressive Party chairpersons Taipei Members of the Legislative Yuan National Taiwan University alumni Taiwanese democracy activists Taiwanese human rights activists Taiwanese people of Hoklo descent Democratic Progressive Party Members of the Legislative Yuan Members of the 1st Legislative Yuan in Taiwan Deaths from pancreatic cancer Party List Members of the Legislative Yuan Deaths from cancer in Taiwan Taiwanese political party founders Taiwanese Members of the Control Yuan Members of the 2nd Legislative Yuan