Tang Shaoyi

In thisChinese name,thefamily nameisTang.

Tang Shaoyi Đường Thiệu nghi
1stPremier of the Republic of China
In office 5 August 1922 – 19 September 1922
President	Li Yuanhong
Preceded by	Yan Huiqing
Succeeded by	Wang Chonghui
In office 13 March 1912 – 27 June 1912
President	Yuan Shikai
Preceded by	Position established
Succeeded by	Lu Zhengxiang
2ndMinister of Mail and Communications of the Imperial Cabinet
In office 26 October 1911 – 1 November 1911
Monarch	Xuantong Emperor
Prime Minister	Yikuang,Prince Qing
Preceded by	Sheng Xuanhuai
Succeeded by	Position abolished
Personal details
Born	(1862-01-02)2 January 1862 Xiangshan County,Guangdong,Qing dynasty,China
Died	30 September 1938(1938-09-30)(aged 76) Shanghai,Republic of China
Political party	Unity Party
Alma mater	Queen's College, Hong Kong Columbia University
Chinese name
Traditional Chinese	Đường Thiệu nghi
Simplified Chinese	Đường Thiệu nghi
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Táng Shàoyí Wade–Giles T'ang2Shao4-i2 Yue: Cantonese Yale Romanization Tòhng Siuh Yìh Jyutping Tong4 Siu6 Ji4

Tang Shaoyi(Chinese:Đường Thiệu nghi;2 January 1862 – 30 September 1938), also spelledTong Shao Yi,courtesy nameShaochuan(Thiếu xuyên), was a Chinese statesman who briefly served as the first Premier of theRepublic of Chinain 1912. In 1938, he was assassinated by the staff of theBureau of Investigation and StatisticsinShanghai.

Early life

Tang was a native ofXiangshan County,Guangdong. Tang was educated in the United States, attending elementary school in Springfield,Massachusetts,and high school in Hartford, Connecticut.He later studied atQueen's College, Hong Kong,and thenColumbia Universityin New York on theChinese Educational Mission.He was a member ofColumbia College's class of 1882 before being recalled back to China by theQing government.Tong was a classmate and close friend of future Columbia presidentNicholas Murray Butler.

Career

Tang Shaoyi

Tang was a friend ofYuan Shikai;and during theXinhai Revolution,negotiated on the latter's behalf inShanghaiwith the revolutionaries'Wu Tingfang,ending up with the recognition of Yuan asPresident of the Republic of China.He had been a diplomat withYuan Shikai's staff in Korea.In 1900, he was appointed head of the Shandong Bureau of Foreign Affairs under governor Yuan Shikai.

Widely respected, he became the Republic's firstPrime Ministerin 1912, but quickly grew disillusioned with Yuan's lack of respect for therule of lawand resigned.He later took part inSun Yat-sen's government inGuangzhou.Tang Shaoyi opposed, on constitutional grounds, Sun's taking of the "Extraordinary Presidency"in 1921; Tang resigned from his position. In 1924, he refused an offer to be foreign minister under warlordDuan Qirui's provisional government inBeijing.

Assassination

In 1937, Tang bought a house onRoute Fergusonin theShanghai French Concessionand retired there.The following year, the Japaneseinvadedand occupied Shanghai (though not yet the foreign concessions). Japanese generalKenji Doiharaattempted to recruit Tang to become president of the new pro-Japanese puppet government, and Tang was willing to negotiate with the Japanese. TheKuomintang's intelligence agencyJuntonglearned about the negotiation, and its chiefDai Liordered his assassination. On 30 September 1938, Tang was killed in his living room by a Juntong squad who pretended to be antique sellers.

Family

Tang Shaoyi's daughter Tang Baoyue (English name May Tang) was married to the prominent diplomatV. K. Wellington Koo.She died in October 1918 during the1918 flu pandemic,after falling ill for only a week.Another daughter Lora Tang was married to the well-known Singapore philanthropist Lee Seng Gee, former chairman of theLee Foundation. Another daughter from his first wife, Isobel, was married to Henry K. Chang (Chang Chien), the Chinese Ambassador and Consul General at San Francisco (1929).