Dai Jitao

In thisChinese name,thefamily nameisDai (Tai).

Dai Jitao
Đái quý đào
President of the Examination Yuan
In office 25 October 1928 – 30 June 1948
Preceded by	Position established
Succeeded by	Zhang Boling
Personal details
Born	Dai Liangbi (1891-01-06)6 January 1891 Guanghan,Sichuan,Qing Empire
Died	21 February 1949(1949-02-21)(aged 58) Guangzhou,China
Nationality	Chinese
Political party	Kuomintang
Spouse(s)	Niu Youheng Zhao Wenshu
Domestic partner(s)	Zhao Lingyi Michiko Tsubuchi Shigematsu Kaneko
Children	Dai Jiachang Tai An-kuo Chiang Wei-kuo

Dai JitaoorTai Chi-t'ao(Chinese:Đái quý đào;pinyin:Dài Jìtáo;January 6, 1891 – February 21, 1949) was a Chinese journalist, an earlyKuomintangmember, and the first head of theExamination Yuanof theRepublic of China.He is often referred to asDai Chuanxian(Chinese:Đái truyện hiền;Wade–Giles:Tai Ch'uan-hsien) or by his othercourtesy name,Dai Xuantang(Chinese:Đái tuyển đường;Wade–Giles:Tai Hsüan-t'ang).

Early life and education

Dai was bornDai Liangbi(Chinese:Đái lương bật;Wade–Giles:Tai Liang-pi) inGuanghan,Sichuanto a family of potters. He went toJapanin 1905 to study in anormal schooland enteredNihon University's law program in 1907. He graduated and returned to China in 1909.

Writings

Dai started to write for the ShanghaieseChina Foreign Daily( trung ngoại nhật báo ) andTianduo Newspaper( thiên đạc báo ) at 19. At this time, his sobriquet for himself was Dai Tianchou ( thiên cừu ), orHeaven-Revenge Dai,to signify his dissatisfaction for the Qing Empire. The Qing officials threatened him with imprisonment for his writings, so in 1911 he fled to Japan, and then toPenang,where he joinedTongmenghuiand wrote for itsGuanghua Newspaper( quang hoa báo ). Later that year, he returned toShanghaiafter theWuchang Uprisingand founded theDemocracy Newspaper( dân quyền báo ).

Political career

Dai Jitao as pictured inThe Most Recent Biographies of Chinese Dignitaries

Dai's fluency in Japanese, unusual for a Chinese young man, attracted the attention ofSun Yat-sen.He became Sun's translator and then his confidential secretary. After theKuomintangfailed to overthrowYuan Shikai,he went to Tokyo to join theChinese Revolutionary Partyin 1914.

He attended the first national congress of the Chinese Kuomintang in 1924, where he was elected a member of the Central Executive Committee, then later a member of the Standing Committee, and the Minister of Propaganda. Soon after Sun's death in 1925, he published a controversial book that reinterpreted Sun's legacy. He claimed Sun derived his ideology chiefly fromConfucianisminstead of Western philosophies and that Sun was a traditionalist. This was praised by the KMT's right-wing but condemned by leftists and communists. After the right's triumph, Dai's interpretation became the dominant one within the KMT. In 1926, he served as principal of theSun Yat-sen University,and the chief of politics atWhampoa Academy,withZhou Enlaias his deputy. From 1928 until 1948, he served as head of theExamination Yuan.

From October 1928 to June 1948, his official positions consisted of:

• State Councillor ( quốc dân chính phủ quốc phủ ủy viên )
• Director-General ofSun Yat-sen University( trung sơn đại học ủy viên trường )
• Member ofKuomintangCentral Executive Committee ( trung ương chấp hành ủy viên hội ủy viên ): 1924
  • Member of Standing Committee ( thường vụ ủy viên ): 1924
• Minister of Information ( tuyên truyện bộ trường ): 1924
• President of the Academia Historica ( quốc sử quán quán trường ): unable to attend due to illness

Dai was one of the lyricists of "National Anthem of the Republic of China".He also wrote:

• The Fundamentals of the Principles of Sun Yat-sen( tôn văn chủ nghĩa chi triết học cơ sở )
• The People's Revolution and Kuomintang( quốc dân cách mệnh dữ trung quốc quốc dân đảng )
• The Complete Book of Sun Yat-sen( tôn trung sơn toàn thư )
• National Flag Anthem of the Republic of China( trung hoa dân quốc quốc kỳ ca )

Later years and death

AfterSun Yat-sen's death in 1925, Dai changed his name to Chuanxian,Continuing-Virtue.He jumped into a river and was rescued by a fisherman. After this suicide experience, he converted toBuddhismand was accused by many of being superstitious. His works about Buddhism are published inThe Collection of Mr. Dai Jitao's Discussions on Buddhism( đái quý đào tiên sinh phật học luận tập ). He was widely known to be the birth father ofChiang Wei-kuo,the adoptive second son ofChiang Kai-shek.According to popular speculation, Dai believed knowledge of his extramarital affairs with the Japanese woman Shigematsu Kaneko would destroy his marriage and his career, so he entrusted Wei-kuo to Chiang Kai-shek, after the Japanese Yamada Juntaro(Sơn điền thuần thái lang)brought the infant to Shanghai.Yao Yecheng( diêu dã thành ), Chiang's wife at the time, raised Wei-kuo as her own. The boy called Dai his "Dear Uncle" ( thân bá ). Dai had also fathered a son,An-kuo( an quốc ), whom Dai later sent to Germany, to be educated at theTechnische Hochschulein Charlottenburg (nowTechnische Universität Berlin). An-kuo (Ango) andChiang Wei-kuo(Wego) were half brothers.

In 1949, with the Kuomintang losing theChinese Civil Warto theChinese Communist Party,Dai committed suicide by swallowing over 70 sleeping pills inGuangzhou.

See also

• Dai Jitao Thought

Further reading

• Lu, Yan;Re-Understanding Japan(University of Hawaii Press, 2004) is an English-language study of Dai Jitao and three other Chinese intellectuals, in context of their contributions to 20th-century Sino-Japanese relations.