Blue Shirt Society
A secret Chinese organization within the Guomindang (KMT). It was formed on 1 March 1932 in response to the Japanese invasion of Manchuria (Manchukuo) by members and graduates of the Whampoa Military ...
Boxer Rebellion
A Chinese nationalist uprising, in protest against the growing foreign encroachment into Chinese sovereignty. It took place against the background of foreign acquisition of bases on Chinese soil ...
Chiang Ching-kuo
(b. 18 Mar. 1910, d. 13 Jan. 1988).President of the Republic of China (Taiwan) 1978–88 Born in Fengwah, he studied at the University of Shanghai, and was then sent by his father, Chiang Kai‐shek, to ...
Chiang Kai-shek
1887–1975)Chinese nationalist statesman; president of China (1928–38; 1943–49) and later president of the nationalist Republic of China in Taiwan (Formosa) (1950–75). Although he never succeeded in ...
China
China is reforming into an economic superpower, but the Communist Party retains its political gripChina's vast landmass incorporates immense topographical and climatic diversity. But it can be ...
Chinese Revolution
The overthrow of the Manchu Qing dynasty and the establishment of a Chinese republic. After half a century of anti-Manchu risings, the imperial government began a reform movement that gave limited ...
Chou En-lai
1898–1976)Chinese communist statesman; prime minister (1949–76) and foreign minister (1949–58) of the People's Republic of China. Widely respected for his skill as a negotiator and for his knowledge ...
Communist Party
Founded in 1921, it attempted to raise the class consciousness of the White proletariat before accepting Moscow's orders to work for the establishment of a multi‐racial ‘native’ republic by 1931. Its ...
Guangzhou
Guangzhou had been a port at the mouth of the Pearl River from at least the second century bce, but until the Southern Song dynasty (1127–1279ce), it was primarily an ...
Guomindang
Early history (1912–49)Also known as the Chinese Nationalist Party, its origins go back to the end of the Qing dynasty. In April 1912 Song Jiaoren and Sun Yat-sen reorganized and merged several ...
Kuomintang
Chinese political party. Originally a revolutionary league, it was organized in 1912 by Song Jiaoren and Sun Yat-sen as a republican party along democratic lines to replace the Revolutionary Alliance ...
Mao Zedong
(1893–1976)Chinese statesman, chairman of the Communist Party of the Chinese People's Republic (1949–76) and head of state (1949–59). After studying Marxism as a student he was among the founders of ...
Nanjing
A city in eastern China, on the Yangtze River, formerly Nanking, which was the capital of various ruling dynasties and of China from 1368 until replaced by Beijing in 1421.
National Revolutionary Army
(NRA)A Chinese army organized by Sun Yat‐sen. It became the military arm of the Guomindang, though relations were always tense. Large contingents were provided by local warlords, and the loyalty of ...
Song Qingling
(b. 27 Jan. 1893, d. 29 May 1981).Chinese socialist Born at Shanghai, she was educated at Wesleyan College for Women at Macon, Georgia. She became Sun Yat‐sen's secretary in 1913, and married him in ...
Triad Societies
Chinese secret societies, originally formed in the late 17th century to overthrow the Manchu Qing dynasty and restore its Chinese Ming predecessor. The various societies forming the Triad shared a ...
Wang Ching-wei
1883–1944)Chinese revolutionary. A hero of the 1911 Chinese revolution, he was branded a traitor for his collaboration with the Japanese during World War II and his political vacillation.Born in ...
Wuchang Uprising
(10 October 1911)A revolt in the city of Wuchang that started the Chinese Revolution of 1911. An accidental explosion forced republican revolutionaries to begin a planned uprising earlier than ...
Yuan Shikai
(1859–1916)Chinese soldier and statesman, who established his military reputation in Korea and returned to China to undertake a programme of army reform. Yuan Shikai supported the empress dowager ...
Zhou Enlai
(b. Huaian, Jiangsu Province, 5 Mar. 1898; d. Beijing, 8 Jan. 1976)Chinese; Prime Minister, de facto director of Chinese foreign affairs 1949–76 Zhou Enlai was probably the most respected of all ...
