169-696: Chiang Kai-shek (31 October 1887 – 5 April 1975) was a Chinese politician, revolutionary, and military commander who was the leader of the Nationalist Kuomintang (KMT) party and commander-in-chief and Generalissimo of the National Revolutionary Army (NRA) from 1926, and leader of the Republic of China (ROC) in mainland China from 1928. After Chiang was defeated in the Chinese Civil War by
338-456: A $ 120,000 inheritance, and the reason is that according to her niece, that she donated most of her wealth when she was still alive. Chiang, requiring support, tolerated corruption with people in his inner circles, as well as high-ranking nationalist officials, but not of lower-ranking officers. In 1934, he ordered seven military officers who embezzled state property to be shot. In another case, several division commanders pleaded with Chiang to pardon
507-415: A 1969 speech, Chiang related a story about his boat trip to Japan at nineteen years old. Another passenger on the ship, a Chinese fellow student who was in the habit of spitting on the floor, was chided by a Chinese sailor who said that Japanese people did not spit on the floor, but instead would spit into a handkerchief. Chiang used the story as an example of how the common man in 1969 Taiwan had not developed
676-437: A connection with the personal name of the person. As the courtesy name is the name used by people of the same generation to address the person, Chiang soon became known under this new name. Sometime in 1917 or 1918, as Chiang became close to Sun Yat-sen, he changed his name from Chiang Chih-ch‘ing to Chiang Chung-cheng ( Chinese : 蔣中正 ; pinyin : Jiǎng Zhōngzhèng ; Wade–Giles : Chiang Chung-cheng ). By adopting
845-598: A corrupt authoritarian regime which massacred civilians and suppressed political dissent. He is also criticized for his flooding of the Yellow River and for allowing the Honan Famine during the war with Japan. Chiang is also credited with transforming China from a semi-colony of various imperialist powers to an independent country by amending the unequal treaties signed by previous governments, as well as moving various national treasures and traditional artworks to
1014-636: A criminal officer, but as soon as the division commanders had left, Chiang ordered him shot. The deputy editor and chief reporter at the Central Daily News, Lu Keng , made headline international news by exposing the corruption of two senior officials, Kong Xiangxi ( H. H. Kung ) and T. V. Soong . Chiang then ordered a thorough investigation of the Central Daily News to find the source. However, Lu, risked execution by refusing to comply and protecting his journalists. Chiang wanting to avoid an international response and so jailed Lu instead. Chiang realized
1183-558: A cult figure after his death. The control by one single party began the period of "political tutelage", whereby the party was to lead the government while instructing the people on how to participate in a democratic system. The topic of reorganizing the army, brought up at a military conference in 1929, sparked the Central Plains War . The cliques, some of them former warlords, demanded to retain their army and political power within their own territories. Although Chiang finally won
1352-462: A frontal war against Japan and prioritizing anti-communist suppression was widely unpopular and provoked nationwide protests. In 1932, while Chiang was seeking first to defeat the Communists, Japan launched an advance on Shanghai and bombarded Nanjing. That disrupted Chiang's offensives against the Communists for a time, but it was the northern factions of Hu Hanmin's Guangdong government (notably
1521-534: A helpless lone war. We were alone in a desert, with no available or possible assistance could we look forward to. But our determination was never shaken, nor was hope abandoned. In early 1906, Chiang cut off his queue , the required hairstyle of men during the Ch‘ing dynasty , and had it sent home from school, shocking the people in his hometown. Chiang grew up at a time in which military defeats, natural disasters, famines, revolts, unequal treaties and civil wars had left
1690-613: A leaderless and decentralized way and that Sun was only later elected provisional president of the new Chinese republic. However, Sun did not have military power and ceded the provisional presidency of the republic to Yuan Shikai , who arranged for the abdication of Puyi , the last Emperor, on 12 February. On 25 August 1912, the Nationalist Party was established at the Huguang Guild Hall in Beijing , where
1859-695: A national leadership conference in Nanjing with Zhang Xueliang and General Ma Fuxiang during which Chiang and Zhang dauntlessly upheld that Manchuria was part of China in the face of the Japanese invasion. After the Japanese invasion of Manchuria in 1931, Chiang resigned as Chairman of the National Government. He returned shortly afterward and adopted the slogan "first internal pacification, then external resistance." However, his policy of avoiding
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#17327767218402028-617: A pen name for the articles that he published in a Chinese magazine he founded: Voice of the Army ( 軍聲 ). Jieshi is the pinyin romanization of this name, based on Standard Chinese , but the most recognized romanized rendering is Kai-shek which is in Cantonese romanization. Because the Republic of China was based in Canton (a Cantonese-speaking area), Chiang (who never spoke Cantonese but
2197-695: A photograph that had been taken in Japan c. 1895 or 1898. It showed members of the Revive China Society with Yeung Ku-wan as president, in the place of honor, and Sun, as secretary, on the back row, along with members of the Japanese Chapter of the Revive China Society. When told that it was not for sale, Chiang offered a million dollars to recover the photo and its negative, "The party must have this picture and
2366-648: A poorly planned and ill-supported armed rising to overthrow Yuan, and failed. Yuan, claiming subversiveness and betrayal, expelled adherents of the KMT from the parliament . Yuan dissolved the Nationalists, whose members had largely fled into exile in Japan, in November and dismissed the parliament early in 1914. Yuan Shikai proclaimed himself emperor in December 1915. While exiled in Japan in 1914, Sun established
2535-409: A prosperous family of salt merchants . Chiang's father died when he was eight, and he wrote of his mother as the "embodiment of Confucian virtues ". The young Chiang was inspired throughout his youth by the realization that the reputation of an honored family rested upon his shoulders. He was a naughty child. At a young age he was interested in the military. As he grew older, Chiang became more aware of
2704-499: A rock', is the beginning of line 2 of Hexagram 16 , " 豫 ". Others note that the first character of his courtesy name is also the first character of the courtesy name of his brother and other male relatives on the same generational line, while the second character of his courtesy name shih ( 石 —meaning "stone") suggests the second character of his "register name" tai ( 泰 —the famous Mount Tai ). Courtesy names in China often bore
2873-453: A town in Yixing , Jiangsu, about 38 km (24 mi) southwest of central Wuxi and 10 km (6.2 mi) from the shores of Lake Tai . He was the third child and second son of his father Chiang Chao-Tsung [ zh ] (also Chiang Su-an; 1842–1895; 蔣肇聰 ) and the first child of his father's third wife Wang Tsai-yu [ zh ] (1863–1921; 王采玉 ) who were members of
3042-667: A variety of styles. Rare books in the National Palace Museum range from the Song (960–1279) and Yuan (1271–1368) dynasties to the Ming (1368–1644) and Qing (1644–1912) dynasties, amounting to over 200,000 volumes. Yongle Encyclopedia and Complete Library of the Four Treasuries are among the examples. Historical documents in the museum include Jiu Manzhou Dang , a set of Manchu archives that are
3211-607: A way that had not been possible when the nation lacked an effective central government. Under that context, the Chinese Rural Reconstruction Movement was implemented by some social activists who graduated as professors of the United States with tangible but limited progress in modernizing the tax, infrastructural, economic, cultural, and educational equipment and the mechanisms of rural regions. The social activists actively co-ordinated with
3380-903: Is a centre-right to right-wing party and the largest in the Pan-Blue Coalition , one of the two main political groups in Taiwan. Its primary rival is the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), the largest party in the Pan-Green Coalition . As of 2024, the KMT is the largest single party in the Legislative Yuan . The current chairman is Eric Chu . The party originated as the Revive China Society founded by Sun Yat-sen in 1894 in Honolulu . The party underwent reorganization before and after
3549-461: Is a tiny boat carved from an olive stone. The incredibly fully equipped skilled piece is carved with a covered deck and moveable windows. The interior has chairs, dishes on a table and eight figures representing the characters of Su Shih 's Latter Ode on the Red Cliff . The bottom is carved in minute character the entire 300+ character text with the date and the artist's name. The paintings in
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#17327767218403718-453: Is both earthquake resistant and flood resistant. After its grand opening on 28 December 2015, the building was plagued by water leakage, which forced its closure in April 2016. The Southern Branch then reopened on 23 August 2016, after repairs to address the water leakage issues were completed. Complete inventory inspection has been taken three times in 1951–1954, 1989–1991 and 2008–2012 since
3887-540: Is often exhibited together with the Jadeite Cabbage. A piece of jasper , a form of agate , the strata of which are cleverly used to create a likeness of a piece of pork cooked in soy sauce. The dyed and textured surface makes the layers of skin, lean meat, and fat materialized incredibly lifelike. Other various carvings of materials such as bamboo, wood, ivory, rhinoceros horn, and fruit pits are exhibited. The Carved Olive-stone Boat , carved by Chen Zuzhang,
4056-686: Is spelled using a Cantonese transliteration he adopted as opposed to Hanyu Pinyin, though pinyin was adopted by the Republic of China government in 2009 as its official romanization. Chiang was born on 31 October 1887, in Hsikow , a town in Fenghua , Zhejiang , China, about 30 kilometers (19 mi) west of central Ningbo . He was born into a family of Wu Chinese-speaking people with their ancestral home —a concept important in Chinese society —in Heqiao,
4225-728: Is the name under which Chiang is still commonly known in Taiwan. Often the name is shortened to "Chung-cheng" only. Many public places in Taiwan are named Chungcheng after Chiang. For many years passengers arriving at the Chiang Kai-shek International Airport were greeted by signs in Chinese welcoming them to the "Chung Cheng International Airport". Similarly, the monument erected to Chiang's memory in Taipei, known in English as Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall ,
4394-604: The 1911 Xinhai Revolution , which resulted in the collapse of the Qing dynasty and establishment of the Republic of China (ROC), with Sun as the first president. In 1919, Sun re-established the party under the name "Kuomintang" in the Shanghai French Concession . From 1926 to 1928, the KMT under Chiang Kai-shek successfully led the Northern Expedition against regional warlords and unified
4563-710: The 19th Route Army ) that primarily led the offensive against the Japanese during the skirmish. Brought into the NRA immediately after the battle, the 19th Route Army's career under Chiang would be cut short by being disbanded for demonstrating socialist tendencies. In December 1936, Chiang flew to Xi'an to co-ordinate a major assault on the Red Army and the CPC, which had retreated into Yan'an . However, Chiang's allied commander Zhang Xueliang, whose forces were used in his attack and whose homeland of Manchuria had been recently invaded by
4732-669: The 2016 election , but regained a legislative plurality in the 2024 election . The KMT is a member of the International Democracy Union . The party's guiding ideology is the Three Principles of the People , advocated by Sun Yat-sen and organized on a basis of democratic centralism . As the KMT strongly supports the ROC as the only representative of China, it strongly opposes both Chinese unification under
4901-778: The Canton Coup . The SS Yungfeng , renamed the Chung-shan in Sun's honour, had appeared off Changzhou , the location of the Whampoa Academy, on apparently-falsified orders and amid a series of unusual phone calls trying to ascertain Chiang's location. He initially considered fleeing Guangdong and even booked passage on a Japanese steamer but then decided to use his military connections to declare martial law on 20 March 1926 and to crack down on Communist and Soviet influence over
5070-605: The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in 1949, he continued to lead the Republic of China on the island of Taiwan until his death in 1975. He was considered the legitimate head of China by the United Nations until 1971 . Born in Chekiang , Chiang received a military education in China and Japan and joined Sun Yat-sen 's Tungmenghui revolutionary organization in 1908. After the 1911 Revolution , he
5239-724: The Chinese Red Army in 1934. The Communists, tipped off that a Nationalist offensive was imminent, retreated in the Long March during which Mao rose from a mere military official to the most influential leader of the Chinese Communist Party. Some academics and historians have classified Chiang's rule as fascist. The New Life Movement , initiated by Chiang, was based upon Confucianism mixed with Christianity, nationalism, and authoritarianism that have some similarities to fascism. Frederic Wakeman argued that
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5408-749: The Imperial Hanlin Academy were moved in five groups to Shanghai . In 1936, the collection was moved to Nanjing after the construction of the storage in the Taoist monastery Chaotian Palace was complete. As the Imperial Japanese Army advanced farther inland during the Second Sino-Japanese War , which merged into the greater conflict of World War II, the collection was moved westward via three routes to several places including Anshun and Leshan until
5577-654: The Manchu -dominated Ch‘ing dynasty unstable and in debt. Successive demands of the Western powers and Japan since the Opium War had left China owing millions of taels of silver. During his first visit to Japan to pursue a military career from April 1906 to later that year, he describes himself as having strong nationalistic feelings with a desire, among other things, to 'expel the Manchu Ch‘ing and to restore China'. In
5746-585: The Meiji Restoration , Chiang knew relatively little about the West. He also studied in Japan, but he was firmly rooted in his ancient Han Chinese identity and was steeped in Chinese culture . As his life progressed, he became increasingly attached to ancient Chinese culture and traditions. His few trips to the West confirmed his pro-ancient Chinese outlook and he studied the ancient Chinese classics and ancient Chinese history assiduously. In 1923, after
5915-596: The Ming and Qing dynasties in the Forbidden City . The National Palace Museum was originally established as the Palace Museum in the Forbidden City on 10 October 1925, shortly after the expulsion of Puyi , the last emperor of China, from the Forbidden City by warlord Feng Yuxiang . The articles in the museum consisted of the valuables of the former imperial family . In 1931, shortly after
6084-743: The Mukden Incident , the Nationalist Government ordered the museum to make preparations to evacuate its most valuable pieces out of the city to prevent them from falling into the hands of the Imperial Japanese Army . As a result, from 6 February to 15 May 1933, the Palace Museum's 13,491 crates and 6,066 crates of objects from the Exhibition Office of Ancient Artifacts, the Summer Palace and
6253-546: The Nanjing decade , various aspects of foreign imperialism, concessions and privileges in China were moderated by diplomacy. The government acted to modernize the legal and penal systems and attempted to stabilize prices, amortize debts, reform the banking and currency systems, build railroads and highways, improve public health facilities, legislate against traffic in narcotics, and augment industrial and agricultural production. Efforts were made to improve education standards, and
6422-579: The Nanjing incident in March 1927, the NRA stormed the consulates of the United States, the United Kingdom and Imperial Japan , looted foreign properties and almost assassinated the Japanese consul. An American, two British, one French, an Italian and a Japanese were killed. These looters also stormed and seized millions of dollars' worth of British concessions in Hankou , refusing to hand them back to
6591-1140: The National Central Museum , the National Central Library , and the National Beijing Library was stored in a railway warehouse in Yangmei following transport across the Taiwan Strait and was later moved to storage in a cane sugar mill near Taichung . In 1949, the Executive Yuan created the Joint Managerial Office for the National Beijing Palace Museum, the Preparatory Office of the National Central Museum, and
6760-436: The National Palace Museum in Taipei during the 1949 retreat . Like many other Chinese historical figures, Chiang used several names throughout his life. The name inscribed in the genealogical records of his family is Chiang Chou-t‘ai ( Chinese : 蔣周泰 ; pinyin : Jiǎng Zhōutài ; Wade–Giles : Chiang Chou-t‘ai ). This so-called "register name" ( 譜名 ) is the one by which his extended relatives knew him, and
6929-416: The Northern Expedition to suppress the warlords began. Chiang had to defeat three separate warlords and two independent armies. Chiang, with Soviet supplies, conquered the southern half of China in nine months. A split erupted between the Chinese Communist Party and the KMT, which threatened the Northern Expedition. Wang Jing Wei, who led the KMT leftist allies, took the city of Wuhan in January 1927. With
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7098-477: The Qing dynasty 's Qianlong Emperor reinterpreted by contemporary artists. Housed within the compound of the National Palace Museum, this classical Chinese Song and Ming style garden covers 1.88 hectares (18,800 m ). It incorporates the principles of such diverse fields as feng shui , Chinese architecture , water management, landscape design , and Chinese folklore and metaphor. It contains numerous ponds, waterworks, and wooden Chinese pavilions . It
7267-424: The SS Yungfeng , where Chiang joined them as soon as he could return from Shanghai, where he was ritually mourning his mother's death. For about 50 days, Chiang stayed with Sun, protecting and caring for him and earning his lasting trust. They abandoned their attacks on Chen on 9 August, taking a British ship to Hong Kong and traveling to Shanghai by steamer. Sun regained control of Canton in early 1923, again with
7436-508: The Shanghai International Settlement police observed him and eventually charged him with various felonies. These charges never resulted in a trial, and Chiang was never jailed. Chiang became a founding member of the Nationalist Party (a forerunner of the KMT) after the success (February 1912) of the 1911 Revolution . After the takeover of the Republican government by Yuan Shikai and the failed Second Revolution in 1913, Chiang, like his KMT comrades, divided his time between exile in Japan and
7605-408: The Song dynasty (960–1279), along with Ding porcelain , Jun ware , Guan and Ge ; the museum has major collections of all of these. Those from the official kilns of the Ming (1368–1644) and Qing (1644–1912) dynasties, such as the doucai porcelains of the Chenghua reign during the Ming dynasty and painted enamel porcelains from the early Qing, are also of excellent quality. One of
7774-452: The Tongmenghui and five smaller pro-revolution parties merged to contest the first national elections. Sun was chosen as the party chairman with Huang Xing as his deputy. The most influential member of the party was the third ranking Song Jiaoren , who mobilized mass support from gentry and merchants for the Nationalists to advocate a constitutional parliamentary democracy. The party opposed constitutional monarchists and sought to check
7943-417: The Tongmenghui days, was sent to Moscow for several months' military and political study. At the first party congress in 1924 in Guangzhou , Guangdong, which included non-KMT delegates such as members of the CCP, they adopted Sun's political theory, which included the Three Principles of the People : nationalism, democracy and people's livelihood. When Sun Yat-sen died in 1925, the political leadership of
8112-413: The Tongmenghui , a group committed to the overthrow of the Qing dynasty and to establish a republic in China. The group supported the Xinhai Revolution of 1911 and the founding of the Republic of China on 1 January 1912. Although Sun and the Tongmenghui are often depicted as the principal organizers of the Xinhai Revolution, this view is disputed by scholars who argue that the Revolution broke out in
8281-468: The Western Hills Group , began to show soon after the cleansing against the communists, and Chiang later imprisoned Hu. Though Chiang had consolidated the power of the KMT in Nanjing, it was still necessary to capture Beijing to claim the legitimacy needed for international recognition. Beijing was taken in June 1928, from an alliance of the warlords Feng Yuxiang and Yan Xishan . Yan Xishan moved in and captured Beiping on behalf of his new allegiance after
8450-436: The Wuchang uprising , Chiang returned to China in 1911, intending to fight as an artillery officer. He served in the revolutionary forces, leading a regiment in Shanghai under his friend and mentor Chen Qimei , as one of Chen's chief lieutenants. In early 1912 a dispute arose between Chen and Tao Chengzhang , an influential member of the Revolutionary Alliance who opposed both Sun Yat-sen and Chen. Tao sought to avoid escalating
8619-630: The attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941. Chinese Communists and many conservative anti-communist writers have argued that Chiang was pro-capitalist based on the alliance thesis (the alliance between Chiang and the capitalists to purge the communist and the leftist elements in Shanghai , as well as in the resulting civil war). However, Chiang also antagonized the capitalists of Shanghai by often attacking them and confiscating their capital and assets for government use even while he denounced and fought against communists. Critics have called that " bureaucratic capitalism ". Historian Parks M. Coble argues that
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#17327767218408788-490: The death of Zhang Zuolin in 1928. His successor, Zhang Xueliang , accepted the authority of the KMT leadership, and the Northern Expedition officially concluded, completing Chiang's nominal unification of China and ending the Warlord Era . After the Northern Expedition ended in 1928, Yan, Feng, Li Zongren and Zhang Fakui broke off relations with Chiang shortly after a demilitarization conference in 1929, and together they formed an anti-Chiang coalition to openly challenge
8957-400: The national government relocated to Taiwan . Following the death of Sun Yat-sen, Chiang Kai-shek emerged as the KMT leader and launched the Northern Expedition to defeat the northern warlords and unite China under the party. With its power confirmed in the southeast, the Nationalist Government appointed Chiang Kai-shek commander-in-chief of the National Revolutionary Army (NRA), and
9126-399: The surrender of Japan in 1945. In 1947, it was shipped back to the warehouse in Nanjing. The Chinese Civil War resumed following the surrender of the Japanese, ultimately resulting in Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek 's decision to evacuate the arts to Taiwan, which had been handed over to the ROC in 1945. When the fighting worsened in 1948 between the Communist and Nationalist armies,
9295-510: The 1990s. The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) was under Comintern instructions to cooperate with the KMT, and its members were encouraged to join while maintaining their separate party identities, forming the First United Front between the two parties. Mao Zedong and early members of the CCP also joined the KMT in 1923. Soviet advisers also helped the KMT to set up a political institute to train propagandists in mass mobilization techniques, and in 1923 Chiang Kai-shek, one of Sun's lieutenants from
9464-456: The CCP. After the Marco Polo Bridge incident in 1937, Chiang mobilised China for the Second Sino-Japanese War , and over the next eight years led the war of resistance, mostly from Chungking . As the leader of a major Allied power , Chiang attended the Cairo Conference to discuss terms for the Japanese surrender . When the Second World War ended, the civil war with the Communists (led by Mao Zedong ) resumed; in 1949, Chiang's government
9633-408: The Chinese Revolutionary Party on 8 July 1914, but many of his old revolutionary comrades, including Huang Xing, Wang Jingwei , Hu Hanmin and Chen Jiongming , refused to join him or support his efforts in inciting armed uprising against Yuan. To join the Revolutionary Party, members had to take an oath of personal loyalty to Sun, which many old revolutionaries regarded as undemocratic and contrary to
9802-434: The Comintern, but returned at Sun's demand, and accepted Chou En-lai as his political commissar. The early years at Whampoa allowed Chiang to cultivate a cadre of young officers loyal to both the KMT and himself. Throughout his rise to power, Chiang also benefited from membership within the nationalist Tien-ti-hui fraternity, to which Sun Yat-sen also belonged, and which remained a source of support during his leadership of
9971-409: The Communists and their Soviet advisers led to the beginning of the Chinese Civil War . Wang Jingwei's National Government was weak militarily, and was soon ended by Chiang with the support of a local warlord ( Li Zongren of Guangxi ). Eventually, Wang and his leftist party surrendered to Chiang and joined him in Nanjing. However, the cracks between Chiang and Hu's traditionally Right-Wing KMT faction,
10140-414: The Dang Guo of the KMT. Any successes that the Nationalists achieved, however, were met with constant political and military upheavals. Many of the urban areas were now under the control of the KMT, but much of the countryside remained under the influence of weakened-but -undefeated warlords, landlords, and Communists. Chiang often resolved issues of warlord obstinacy through military action, but such action
10309-428: The Fuchun Mountains (Wu-yung version) by Huang Gongwang of the Yuan dynasty is one of the rarest and most dramatic works. Walking on a Mountain Path in Spring is another significant work. The museum has a vast collection of calligraphy works from the hands of major calligraphers, scholars and important courtiers in history. The calligraphy works date from the Jin (266–420) and Tang (618–907) dynasties, with
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#173277672184010478-485: The Japanese factories and their supplies. Full-scale civil war between the Communists and the Nationalists erupted in 1946. The Communist Chinese armies, the People's Liberation Army (PLA), previously a minor faction, grew rapidly in influence and power due to several errors on the KMT's part. First, the KMT reduced troop levels precipitously after the Japanese surrender, leaving large numbers of able-bodied, trained fighting men who became unemployed and disgruntled with
10647-421: The Japanese, did not support the attack on the Communists. On 12 December, Zhang and several other Nationalist generals, headed by Yang Hucheng of Shaanxi kidnapped Chiang for two weeks in what is known as the Xi'an Incident . They forced Chiang into making a " Second United Front " with the Communists against Japan. After releasing Chiang and returning to Nanjing with him, Zhang was placed under house arrest, and
10816-423: The KMT and its Canton government accepted aid from the Soviet Union after being denied recognition by the western powers. Soviet advisers—the most prominent of whom was Mikhail Borodin , an agent of the Comintern —arrived in China in 1923 to aid in the reorganization and consolidation of the KMT along the lines of the Russian Communist Party (Bolsheviks) , establishing a Leninist party structure that lasted into
10985-468: The KMT as prime recruits for the PLA. Second, the KMT government proved thoroughly unable to manage the economy, allowing hyperinflation to result. Among the most despised and ineffective efforts it undertook to contain inflation was the conversion to the gold standard for the national treasury and the Chinese gold yuan in August 1948, outlawing private ownership of gold, silver and foreign exchange, collecting all such precious metals and foreign exchange from
11154-404: The KMT fell to Wang Jingwei (" Reorganization Group ") and Hu Hanmin (" Western Hills Group "), respectively the left-wing and right-wing leaders of the party. However, the real power was in the hands of Chiang Kai-shek, who was in near complete control of the military as the superintendent of the Whampoa Military Academy . With their military superiority, the KMT confirmed their rule on Canton,
11323-410: The KMT government and military. Chiang was alarmed by the expansion of communist influence; he wanted to suppress internal conflicts before confronting foreign aggression. The KMT were aided by German military advisors. The CSR was destroyed in 1934 after a series of KMT offensives. The communists abandoned bases in southeast China for Shaanxi in a military retreat called the Long March ; less than 10% of
11492-403: The KMT until his death in 1975, and was succeeded by his son Chiang Ching-kuo , who became president in 1978. Like Mao, Chiang is a controversial figure. Supporters credit him with unifying the nation and ending the Century of Humiliation , leading the resistance against Japan, and economic development in mainland China and Taiwan. Critics portray him as a brutal right-wing dictator and head of
11661-403: The KMT, and Canton Governor Chen Chiung-ming , who wanted to implement a federalist system with Canton as a model province. On 16 June 1922 Ye Ju , a general of Chen's whom Sun had attempted to exile, led an assault on Canton's Presidential Palace . Sun had already fled to the naval yard and boarded the SS Haichi , but his wife narrowly evaded shelling and rifle-fire as she fled. They met on
11830-401: The Kuomintang. Sun Yat-sen died on 12 March 1925, creating a power vacuum in the Kuomintang. A contest ensued among Wang Ching-wei , Liao Chung-k‘ai , and Hu Han-min . In August, Liao was assassinated and Hu was arrested for his connections to the murderers. Wang Ching-wei , who had succeeded Sun as chairman of the Canton regime, seemed ascendant but was forced into exile by Chiang following
11999-422: The National Beijing Palace Museum and other five institutions made the decision to send some of the most prized items to Taiwan. Hang Li-wu , later director of the museum, supervised the transport of some of the collection in three groups from Nanjing to the harbor in Keelung , Taiwan between December 1948 and February 1949. By the time the items arrived in Taiwan, the Communist army had already seized control of
12168-595: The National Central Library, to oversee the organization of the collection. For security reasons, the Joint Managerial Office chose the mountain village of Beigou, located in Wufeng, Taichung , as the new storage site for the collection. The following year, the collection stored at the cane sugar mill was transported to the new site in Beigou. With the National Central Library 's reinstatement in 1955,
12337-463: The National Central Museum. The National Palace Museum's main building in Taipei was designed by Huang Baoyu and constructed from March 1964 to August 1965. Due to the insufficient space to put on display over 600,000 artifacts, the museum underwent expansions in 1967, 1970, 1984 and 1996. In 2002, the museum underwent a major US$ 21 million renovation revamping the museum to make it more spacious and modern. The renovation closed about two-thirds of
12506-406: The National Palace Museum collection from Beijing, so not all of the collection could be sent to Taiwan. A total of 2,972 crates of artifacts from the Forbidden City moved to Taiwan accounted for only 22% of the crates originally transported south, although the pieces represented some of the very best of the collection. The collection from the National Beijing Palace Museum, the Preparatory Office of
12675-806: The National Palace Museum date from the Tang dynasty (618–907) to the modern era. The collection covers over one thousand years of Chinese painting , and encompasses a wide range of genres, including landscape, flower and bird, figure painting, boundary painting, etc. Among the most popular paintings in the collection is the Qing Palace Version of Along the River During the Qingming Festival by five Qing dynasty court painters (Chen Mu, Sun Hu, Jin Kun, Dai Hong and Cheng Zhidao). Dwelling in
12844-450: The National Palace Museum has only made six large overseas exhibitions in countries which have passed laws to prevent judicial seizure of the treasures: the United States in 1996, France in 1998, Germany in 2003, Austria in 2008, Japan in 2014 and Australia in 2019. The past overseas exhibitions are as follows: The National Palace Museum operates under the Executive Yuan as a level-two agency. It has been headed by many directors over
13013-432: The National Palace Museum span over thousands of years with a variety of genres. Among the collections of bronzes , Zong Zhou Zhong ( Bell of Zhou ), commissioned by King Li of Zhou , is the most important musical instrument cast under his royal decree. Mao Gong Ding (Cauldron of Duke of Mao) of the late Western Zhou dynasty (1046–771 BCE) carries the longest Chinese bronze inscriptions so far extant. In 1995,
13182-552: The National Revolutionary Army, the military academy, and the party. The right wing of the party supported him, and Joseph Stalin , anxious to maintain Soviet influence in the area, had his lieutenants agree to Chiang's demands on a reduced Communist presence in the KMT leadership in exchange for certain other concessions. The rapid replacement of leadership enabled Chiang to effectively end civilian oversight of
13351-463: The Nationalist government but soon realized the widespread corruption. Military supplies that were sent appeared on the black market. Significant sums of money that had been transmitted through T. V. Soong, China's finance minister, soon disappeared. President Truman famously referred to the Nationalist leaders, "They're thieves, every damn one of them." He also said, "They stole $ 750 million out of
13520-511: The Nationalist government ultimately lay with Chiang. All major policy changes on military, diplomatic, or economic issues required his approval. According to historian Odd Arne Westad , "no other leader within the [KMT] had the authority to force through even the simplest decisions. The practical power of high-ranking officials like ministers or the head of the Executive Yuan was more closely tied to their relationship with Chiang than with
13689-854: The New Life Movement was " Confucian fascism ". Chiang also sponsored the creation of the Blue Shirts Society , in conscious imitation of the Blackshirts in the Italian Fascist Party and the Sturmabteilung of the Nazi Party. Its ideology was to expel foreign (Japanese and Western) imperialists from China and to crush communism. Close ties with Nazi Germany also gave the Nationalist government access to German military and economic assistance during
13858-538: The PRC and formal Taiwan independence . As the KMT opposes non-peaceful means to resolve the cross-strait disputes while still strongly adhering to the ROC constitution , the party favors a closer relationship with the PRC and accepts the 1992 Consensus , which defines both sides of the Taiwan Strait as " one China " but maintains its ambiguity to different interpretations. It seeks to maintain Taiwan's status quo rather than
14027-581: The Palace Museum in Beijing has agreed to lend relics to the National Palace Museum for exhibitions since 2009. The Palace Museum curator Zheng Xinmiao has said that the artifacts in both mainland and Taiwan museums are "China's cultural heritage jointly owned by people across the Taiwan Strait." A number of Chinese artifacts dating from the Tang and Song dynasties, some of which had been owned by Emperor Zhenzong , were excavated and then came into
14196-539: The ROC losing its United Nations seat and most countries, including its ally the US, switching diplomatic recognition to the CCP-led People's Republic of China (PRC) in the 1970s. In the late 1980s, Chiang Ching-kuo , Chiang Kai-shek's son, lifted martial law and the ban on opposition parties. His successor Lee Teng-hui continued democratic reforms and was re-elected in 1996 through a direct presidential election ,
14365-473: The Soviet Model. Chiang was also particularly committed to Sun's idea of "political tutelage". Sun believed that the only hope for a unified and better China lay in a military conquest, followed by a period of political tutelage that would culminate in the transition to democracy. Using this ideology, Chiang built himself into the dictator of the Republic of China, both in the Chinese mainland and after
14534-468: The UK government. Both Nationalists and Communist soldiers within the army participated in the rioting and looting of foreign residents in Nanjing. NRA took Beijing in 1928. The city was the internationally recognized capital, even when it was previously controlled by warlords. This event allowed the KMT to receive widespread diplomatic recognition in the same year. The capital was moved from Beijing to Nanjing,
14703-660: The US. This became an issue which proved to be a hindrance of its relationship with US government . US President Harry S. Truman wrote that " the Chiangs , the Kungs and the Soongs (were) all thieves", having taken $ 750 million in US aid. National Palace Museum The National Palace Museum , also known as Taipei Palace Museum , is a national museum headquartered in Taipei , Taiwan . Founded in Beijing in 1925,
14872-752: The United Nations Chinese unification Taiwan independence movement Taiwanese nationalism Tangwai movement The Kuomintang ( KMT ), also referred to as the Guomindang ( GMD ), the Nationalist Party of China ( NPC ) or the Chinese Nationalist Party ( CNP ), is a political party in the Republic of China , initially based on the Chinese mainland and then in Taiwan since 1949. The KMT
15041-545: The abolition of polygamy and foot binding . Under Chiang's leadership, the Republic of China government also enacted a women's quota in the parliament, with reserved seats for women. During the Nanjing Decade, average Chinese citizens received education that they had been denied by the dynasties. That increased the literacy rate across China and also promoted the ideals of Tridemism of democracy, republicanism, science, constitutionalism, and Chinese nationalism based on
15210-466: The anti-capitalist rhetoric of Sun Yat-sen and directed the Kuomintang media to attack the capitalists and capitalism openly. He supported government-controlled industries instead. Coble says that the rhetoric had no impact on governmental policy and that its use was to prevent the capitalists from claiming legitimacy within the party or society and to control them and their wealth. Authority within
15379-1700: The battle dispelled Japan's claims that it could conquer China in three months and also demonstrated to the Western powers that the Chinese would continue the fight. By December, the capital city of Nanjing had fallen to the Japanese resulting in the Nanjing Massacre . Chiang moved the government inland first to Wuhan and later to Chongqing. Kuomintang Lai Ching-te ( DPP ) Hsiao Bi-khim ( DPP ) Cho Jung-tai ( DPP ) 11th Legislative Yuan Han Kuo-yu ( KMT ) Shieh Ming-yan acting Vacant Vacant Vacant Control Yuan Chen Chu Lee Hung-chun Local government Central Election Commission Kuomintang Democratic Progressive Party Taiwan People's Party Others New Power Party Taiwan Statebuilding Party People First Party Taiwan Solidarity Union New Party Non-Partisan Solidarity Union Newspapers United Daily News Liberty Times China Times Taipei Times Propaganda Censorship Film censorship Lin Chia-lung Cross-Strait relations Special state-to-state relations One Country on Each Side 1992 Consensus Taiwan consensus Chinese Taipei Australia–Taiwan relations Canada–Taiwan relations France–Taiwan relations Russia–Taiwan relations Taiwan–United Kingdom relations Taiwan–United States relations Republic of China (1912–1949) Chinese Civil War One-China policy China and
15548-527: The billions that we sent to Chiang. They stole it, and it's invested in real estate down in São Paolo and some right here in New York." Soong Mei-ling and Soong Ai-ling lived luxurious lifestyles and held millions in property, clothes, art, and jewelry. Soong Ai-ling and Soong Mei-ling were also the two richest women in China. Despite living a luxurious life for almost her entire life, Soong Mei-ling left only
15717-542: The collection from the National Beijing Library was simultaneously incorporated into the National Central Library. The Joint Managerial Office of the National Beijing Palace Museum and the Preparatory Office of the National Central Museum stayed in Beigou for another ten years. During the decade, the office obtained a grant from the Asia Foundation to construct a small-scale exhibition hall in
15886-484: The communist army survived. A new base, the Shaan-Gan-Ning Border Region , was created with Soviet aid. KMT secret police persecuted suspected communists and political opponents with terror . In The Birth of Communist China , C.P. Fitzgerald describes China under the rule of the KMT thus: "the Chinese people groaned under a regime Fascist in every quality except efficiency." In 1936, Chiang
16055-651: The communists in Shanghai , triggering the Chinese Civil War . As the leader of the ROC during the Nanking decade , Chiang sought to modernise and unify the nation, although hostilities with the CCP continued. His government presided over economic and social reconstruction while trying to avoid a war with Japan. In 1936, he was kidnapped in the Sian Incident , and obliged to form an anti-Japanese Second United Front with
16224-532: The communists in the civil war. From 1949 to 1987, the KMT ruled Taiwan as an authoritarian one-party state after the February 28 incident . During this period, martial law was in effect and civil liberties were curtailed as part of its anti-communism efforts, with the period known as the White Terror . The party oversaw Taiwan's economic development , but experienced diplomatic setbacks , including
16393-531: The contractors and the museum, the firm pulled out in 2008. Museum director Chou Kung-shin stated in August 2010 that new architects Kris Yao for the project would commence, with construction completed in 2015. The project cost NT$ 7.9 billion (US$ 268 million) and spread over 70 hectares (700,000 m ). The museum itself, 9,000 square meters in total, was designed by the Taiwan-based firm Artech Inc. and
16562-486: The course of the 1930s and the 1940s when the Nationalist government's revenues were less than $ 30 million per year. The Soong family's eldest son, T.V. Soong , was the Chinese premier and finance minister, and the eldest daughter, Soong Ai-ling , was the wife of Kung Hsiang-hsi , the wealthiest man in China. The second daughter, Soong Ching-ling , was the wife of Sun Yat-sen, China's founding father. The youngest daughter, Soong Mei-ling, married Chiang in 1927, and following
16731-413: The exiled Chinese Revolutionary Party. In 1917, Sun Yat-sen moved his base of operations to Canton, where Chiang joined him in 1918. At this time Sun remained largely sidelined; without arms or money, he was soon expelled from the city and exiled again to Shanghai, only to return to Canton with mercenary help in 1920. After his return, a rift developed between Sun, who sought to militarily unify China under
16900-423: The first time in the ROC history. The 2000 presidential election ended 72 years of KMT's dominance in the ROC. The KMT reclaimed power from 2008 to 2016, with the landslide victory of Ma Ying-jeou in the 2008 presidential election , whose presidency significantly loosened restrictions on economic and cultural exchanges with the People's Republic of China. The KMT lost the presidency and its legislative majority in
17069-586: The foreign great powers with suspicion, wrote in a letter that they "all have it in their minds to promote the interests of their own respective countries at the cost of other nations" and saw it as hypocritical for any of them to condemn one another's foreign policy. He used diplomatic persuasion on the United States, Nazi Germany, and the Soviet Union to regain lost Chinese territories, as he viewed all foreign powers as imperialists that were attempting to exploit China. During April 1931, Chiang Kai-shek attended
17238-568: The foreign powers and the Qing dynasty. The KMT government demanded that the foreign powers renegotiate the treaties on equal terms. Before the Northern Expedition, the KMT began as a heterogeneous group advocating American-inspired federalism and provincial autonomy. However, the KMT under Chiang's leadership aimed at establishing a centralized one-party state with one ideology. This was even more evident following Sun's elevation into
17407-464: The formal authority of their position. Chiang created multiple layers of power in his administration which he sometimes played off against each other to prevent individuals or cliques from gathering power that could oppose his authority. Contrary to the critique that Chiang was highly corrupt, he was not involved in corruption himself. However his wife, Soong Mei-ling, ignored her family's involvement in corruption. The Soong family embezzled $ 20 million in
17576-464: The formal independence or the unification. The KMT traces its ideological and organizational roots to the work of Sun Yat-sen , a proponent of Chinese nationalism and democracy who founded the Revive China Society at the capital of the Republic of Hawaii , Honolulu , on 24 November 1894. On 20 August 1905, Sun joined forces with other anti-monarchist societies in Tokyo, Empire of Japan , to form
17745-739: The formation of the First United Front , Sun Yat-sen sent Chiang to spend three months in Moscow studying the political and military system of the Soviet Union. Although Chiang did not follow the Soviet Communist doctrine, he, like the Communist Party, sought to destroy warlordism and foreign imperialism in China , and upon his return established the Whampoa Military Academy near Guangzhou, following
17914-463: The fragmented nation , leading to the fall of the Beiyang government . KMT was the sole ruling party of the ROC in China from 1928 to 1949, however the party had no actual control over a lot of territory during this period due to the civil war with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and the war against Japanese aggression. The party retreated to Taiwan in December 1949, following its defeat by
18083-505: The generals who had assisted him were executed. The Second United Front had a commitment by Chiang that was nominal at best and was all but dissolved in 1941. The Second Sino-Japanese War broke out in July 1937, and in August, Chiang sent 600,000 of his best-trained and equipped soldiers to defend Shanghai . With over 200,000 Chinese casualties, Chiang lost the political cream of his Whampoa -trained officers. Although Chiang lost militarily,
18252-546: The hands of the Kuomintang General Ma Hongkui , who refused to publicize the findings. Among the artifacts were a white marble tablet from the Tang dynasty, gold nails, and bands made out of metal. It was not until after Ma died that his wife went to Taiwan in 1971 from the United States to bring the artifacts to Chiang Kai-shek , who turned them over to the National Palace Museum. In October 2022, it
18421-662: The havens of the Shanghai International Settlement . In Shanghai, Chiang cultivated ties with the city's underworld gangs, which were dominated by the notorious Green Gang and its leader Du Yuesheng. On 18 May 1916 agents of Yuan Shikai assassinated Chen Qimei. Chiang then succeeded Chen as leader of the Chinese Revolutionary Party in Shanghai. Sun Yat-sen's political career reached its lowest point during this time—most of his old Revolutionary Alliance comrades refused to join him in
18590-537: The help of mercenaries from Yunnan and of the Comintern . Undertaking a reform of the KMT, he established a revolutionary government aimed at unifying China under the KMT. That same year Sun sent Chiang to Moscow, where he spent three months studying the Soviet political and military system. There Chiang met Leon Trotsky and other Soviet leaders, but quickly came to the conclusion that the Russian model of government
18759-577: The house and gardens were donated to the National Palace Museum and turned into a museum and memorial. The Southern Branch of the National Palace Museum is located in Taibao , Chiayi County , Taiwan , and set on 70 hectares (700,000 m ) of land. There is also a lake and Asian style garden on the grounds. Planning for the southern branch began in 2000. The building was to be designed by architect Antoine Predock and began construction in 2005. However, due to serious construction delays and disputes between
18928-502: The influence of compatriots to support the revolutionary movement to overthrow the Manchu -dominated Qing dynasty and to set up a Han -dominated Chinese republic. He befriended Chen Qimei , and in 1908 Chen brought Chiang into the Tungmenghui , an important revolutionary brotherhood of the era. Finishing his military schooling at Tokyo Shinbu Gakko, Chiang served in the Imperial Japanese Army from 1909 to 1911. After learning of
19097-618: The issues that surrounded him and in his speech to the Kuomintang in 1945 said: As you all know I was an orphan boy in a poor family. Deprived of any protection after the death of her husband, my mother was exposed to the most ruthless exploitation by neighbouring ruffians and the local gentry. The efforts she made in fighting against the intrigues of these family intruders certainly endowed her child, brought up in such an environment, with an indomitable spirit to fight for justice. I felt throughout my childhood that my mother and I were fighting
19266-564: The legitimacy of the Nanjing government. In the Central Plains War , they were defeated. Chiang made great efforts to gain recognition as the official successor of Sun Yat-sen. In a pairing of great political significance, Chiang was Sun's brother-in-law. He had married Soong Mei-ling , the younger sister of Soong Ching-ling , Sun's widow, on 1 December 1927. Originally rebuffed in the early 1920s, Chiang managed to ingratiate himself to some degree with Soong Mei-ling's mother by first divorcing his wife and concubines and promising to sincerely study
19435-513: The local governments in the towns and villages since the early 1930s. However, the policy was subsequently neglected and canceled by Chiang's government because of rampant wars and the lack of resources after the Japanese War and the civil war. Despite being a conservative, Chiang supported modernization policies such as scientific advancement, universal education, and women's rights. The Kuomintang supported women's suffrage and education and
19604-406: The mainland in 1949. The museum has accumulated nearly 700,000 artifacts of significant historical or artistic values. With a collection of this size, only 1% of the collection is exhibited at any given time. The rest of the collection is stored in temperature-controlled vaults. The museum houses several treasured items that are the pride of their collection and famous worldwide. The antiquities in
19773-403: The marriage, both families became intimately connected, which created the "Soong dynasty" and the "Four Families". However, Soong was also credited for her campaign for women's rights in China, including her attempts to improve the education, culture, and social benefits of Chinese women. Critics have said that the "Four Families" monopolized the regime and looted it. The US sent considerable aid to
19942-428: The meantime, they used a " milk name " ( 乳名 ), given to the infant shortly after his birth and known only to the close family. So the name that Chiang received at birth was Chiang Jui-yüan ( Chinese : 蔣瑞元 ; pinyin : Jiǎng Ruìyuán ). In 1903, the 16-year-old Chiang went to Ningbo as a student, and chose a " school name " ( 學名 ). This was the formal name of a person, used by older people to address him, and
20111-533: The mid-1930s. In a 1935 speech, Chiang stated that "fascism is what China now most needs" and described fascism as the stimulant for a declining society. Mao once derogatorily compared Chiang to Adolf Hitler, referring to him as the "Führer of China". Sino-German relations rapidly deteriorated as Germany grew closer to Japan and almost completely broke down when Japan launched a full-scale invasion of China in 1937, which Germany failed to mediate. However, China did not declare war on Germany, Italy, or even Japan until after
20280-436: The military after 15 May, though his authority was somewhat limited by the army's own regional composition and divided loyalties. On 5 June 1926, he was named commander-in-chief of the National Revolutionary Army [NRA] and, on 27 July, he finally launched Sun's long-delayed Northern Expedition , aimed at conquering the northern warlords and bringing China together under the KMT. The NRA branched into three divisions: to
20449-477: The most popular pieces of jade carvings in the museum is the Jadeite Cabbage , a piece of jadeite carved into the shape of a cabbage head, and with a large and a small grasshopper camouflaged in the leaves. The ruffled semi-translucent leaves attached is due to the masterful combination of various natural color of the jade to recreate the color variations of a real cabbage. The Meat-shaped Stone
20618-612: The museum acquired the Taihe Shakyamuni , a statue of The Buddha from the Northern Wei Dynasty, that represents a pivotal shift from early Indian style towards Chinese Buddhist style . With 21 pieces out of fewer than 80 surviving, the museum has the world's largest collection of Ru ware , one of the rarest Chinese ceramics , made exclusively for the court and one of the Five Great Kilns of
20787-461: The museum in Waishuanxi was completed in August 1965. The new museum site was christened the "Chung-Shan Museum" in honor of the founding father of the ROC, Sun Yat-sen , and first opened to the public on the centenary of Sun Yat-sen's birthday. Since then, the museum in Taipei has managed, conserved and exhibited the collections of the National Beijing Palace Museum and the Preparatory Office of
20956-526: The museum section and the museum officially reopened in February 2007. Permanent exhibitions of painting and calligraphy are rotated once every three months. Approximately 3,000 pieces of the museum's collection can be viewed at a given time. Although brief, these exhibitions are extremely popular. In 2014, the museum organized the top three best-attended exhibitions worldwide, including paintings and calligraphic works by Tang Yin , as well as depictions of
21125-501: The museum started to bring collections to Taiwan in 1948. According to official report, the museum houses Chinese calligraphy, porcelain, bronzes, paintings, jades and many other artifacts, with 22% (2,972 out of 13,491 crates) of the boxes originally transported south from the Forbidden City. Other additions include transfers from other institutions, donations, and purchases made by the museum. A large number of these artifacts were brought by Chiang Kai-shek before his Kuomintang forces fled
21294-548: The museum was re-established in Shilin , Taipei in 1965, later expanded with a southern branch in Taibao , Chiayi in 2015. The museum holds a permanent collection of nearly 700,000 pieces of artifacts and artworks, primarily comprising items relocated from the Beijing Palace Museum and five other institutions in the mainland China during the government of the Republic of China 's retreat to Taiwan . Before
21463-411: The name Chung-cheng, he was choosing a name very similar to the name of Sun Yat-sen, who is known among Chinese as Chung-shan ( 中山 —meaning "central mountain"), thus establishing a link between the two. The meaning of uprightness, rectitude, or orthodoxy, implied by his name, also positioned him as the legitimate heir of Sun Yat-sen and his ideas. It was readily accepted by members of the Kuomintang , and
21632-467: The national academy of sciences, Academia Sinica , was founded. In an effort to unify Chinese society, the New Life Movement was launched to encourage Confucian moral values and personal discipline. Guoyu ("national language") was promoted as the official language, and the establishment of communications facilities (including radio) was used to encourage a sense of Chinese nationalism in
21801-422: The national government as having moved to Wuhan. In 1927, when he was setting up the Nationalist government in Nanjing, he was preoccupied with "the elevation of our leader Dr. Sun Yat-sen to the rank of 'Father of our Chinese Republic'. Dr. Sun worked for 40 years to lead our people in the Nationalist cause, and we cannot allow any other personality to usurp this honored position". He asked Chen Guofu to purchase
21970-573: The negative at any price. They must be destroyed as soon as possible. It would be embarrassing to have our Father of the Chinese Republic shown in a subordinate position". On 12 April 1927, Chiang carried out a purge of thousands of suspected Communists and dissidents in Shanghai, and began large-scale massacres across the country collectively known as the "White Terror" . During April, more than 12,000 people were killed in Shanghai. The killings drove most Communists from urban cities and into
22139-469: The new National Palace Museum to show that Taiwan is the better China. Now that the communist party has redefined its mission to protect China's cultural past, Beijing has requested the return of the artefacts displayed by the museum. The museum refuses to do so, and its fears that artefacts might be indirectly repatriated to the Chinese mainland prevent them from being loaned to other countries. Relations regarding this treasure have warmed in recent years and
22308-554: The new capital of Nanjing to be enshrined in a mausoleum, the Sun Yat-sen Mausoleum . In the West and in the Soviet Union, Chiang Kai-shek was known as the "Red General". Movie theaters in the Soviet Union showed newsreels and clips of Chiang. At Moscow, Sun Yat-sen University portraits of Chiang were hung on the walls; and, in the Soviet May Day parades that year, Chiang's portrait was to be carried along with
22477-513: The next fifteen years or so, Chiang was known as Chiang Chih-ch‘ing Chinese : 蔣志清 ; pinyin : Jiang Zhīqīng ; Wade–Giles : Chiang Chih-ch‘ing . This is the name by which Sun Yat-sen knew him when Chiang joined the republicans in Kwangtung in the 1910s. In 1912, when Chiang was in Japan, he started to use the name Chiang Kai-shek ( Chinese : 蔣介石 ; pinyin : Jiǎng Jièshí ; Wade–Giles : Chiang Chieh-shih ) as
22646-404: The one he used in formal occasions, such as when he was married. In deference to tradition, family members did not use the register name in conversation with people outside of the family. The concept of a "real" or original name is/was not as clear-cut in China as it is in the Western world. In honor of tradition, Chinese families waited a number of years before officially naming their children. In
22815-463: The one he would use the most in the first decades of his life (as a person grew older, younger generations would use one of the courtesy names instead). Colloquially, the school name is called "big name" ( 大名 ), whereas the "milk name" is known as the "small name" ( 小名 ). The school name that Chiang chose for himself was Chih-ch‘ing ( Chinese : 志清 ; pinyin : Zhīqīng ; Wade–Giles : Chih-ch‘ing , which means "purity of aspirations"). For
22984-473: The original capital of the Ming dynasty , and thus a symbolic purge of the final Qing elements. This period of KMT rule in China between 1927 and 1937 was relatively stable and prosperous and is still known as the Nanjing decade . After the Northern Expedition in 1928, the Nationalist government under the KMT declared that China had been exploited for decades under the unequal treaties signed between
23153-474: The people and issuing the Gold Standard Scrip in exchange. As most farmland in the north were under CCP's control, the cities governed by the KMT lacked food supply and this added to the hyperinflation. The new scrip became worthless in only ten months and greatly reinforced the nationwide perception of the KMT as a corrupt or at best inept entity. Third, Chiang Kai-shek ordered his forces to defend
23322-521: The phrase "bureaucratic capitalism" is too simplistic to adequately characterize this phenomenon. Instead, he says, the regime weakened all social forces so that the government could pursue policies without being responsible nor responsive to any outside political groups. By defeating any potential challenge to its power, government officials could amass sizable fortunes. With that motive, Chiang cracked down pro-communist worker and peasant organizations, as well as rich Shanghai capitalists. Chiang also continued
23491-474: The portraits of Karl Marx, Vladimir Lenin, Joseph Stalin, and other Communist leaders. The United States consulate and other Westerners in Shanghai were concerned about the approach of "Red General" Chiang as his army was seizing control of large areas of the country in the Northern Expedition. Having gained control of China, Chiang's party remained surrounded by defeated warlords who remained relatively autonomous within their own regions. On 10 October 1928, Chiang
23660-471: The power of Yuan. The Nationalists won an overwhelming majority in the first National Assembly election in December 1912. However, Yuan soon began to ignore the parliament in making presidential decisions. Song Jiaoren was assassinated in Shanghai in 1913. Members of the Nationalists, led by Sun Yat-sen, suspected that Yuan was behind the plot and thus staged the Second Revolution in July 1913,
23829-654: The precepts of Christianity. He read the copy of the Bible that May-ling had given him twice before making up his mind to become a Christian, and three years after his marriage he was baptized in the Soong's Methodist church. Although some observers felt that he adopted Christianity as a political move, studies of his recently opened diaries suggest that his faith was strong and sincere and that he felt that Christianity reinforced Confucian moral teachings. Upon reaching Beijing, Chiang paid homage to Sun Yat-sen and had his body moved to
23998-516: The provincial capital of Guangdong . The Guangxi warlords pledged loyalty to the KMT. The KMT now became a rival government in opposition to the warlord Beiyang government based in Beijing . Chiang assumed leadership of the KMT on 6 July 1926. Unlike Sun Yat-sen, whom he admired greatly and who forged all his political, economic, and revolutionary ideas primarily from what he had learned in Hawaii and indirectly through Hong Kong and Japan under
24167-509: The purge. The NRA formed by the KMT swept through southern and central China until it was checked in Shandong , where confrontations with the Japanese garrison escalated into armed conflict. The conflicts were collectively known as the Jinan incident of 1928. Now with an established national government in Nanjing, and supported by conservative allies including Hu Hanmin, Chiang's expulsion of
24336-589: The quarrel by hiding in a hospital, but Chiang discovered him there. Chen dispatched assassins. Chiang may not have taken part in the assassination, but would later assume responsibility to help Chen avoid trouble. Chen valued Chiang despite Chiang's already legendary temper, regarding such bellicosity as useful in a military leader. Chiang's friendship with Chen Qimei signaled an association with Shanghai's criminal syndicate (the Green Gang headed by Du Yuesheng and Huang Jinrong ). During Chiang's time in Shanghai,
24505-533: The re-establishment of the museum in Shilin in 1965, these collections were temporarily housed in various locations across Taiwan. Spanning 8,000 years of history from the neolithic age to the modern era, the museum's collection reflects a comprehensive record of Chinese history. Like the Palace Museum in Beijing, the museum's extensive array of artifacts and artworks were based on the imperial collections of
24674-679: The rural countryside, where the KMT was less powerful. In the year after April 1927, over 300,000 people died across China in the anti-communist suppression campaigns, executed by the KMT. One of the most famous quotes from Chiang (during that time) was, that he would rather mistakenly kill 1,000 innocent people, than allow one Communist to escape. Some estimates claim the White Terror in China took millions of lives, most of them in rural areas. No concrete number can be verified. Chiang allowed Soviet agent and advisor Mikhail Borodin and Soviet general Vasily Blücher (Galens) to "escape" to safety after
24843-433: The sourcebook of Manwen Laodang and a primary source of early Manchu history. Other official documents such as the court archives are available for research in the history of the Qing dynasty. Due to fears that the artifacts may be impounded and claimed by China due to the controversial political status of Taiwan , the museum does not conduct exhibitions in mainland China. Since the museum's 1965 establishment in Taipei,
25012-573: The spirit of public sanitation that Japan had. Chiang decided to pursue a military career. He began his military training at the Baoding Military Academy in 1906, the same year Japan left its bimetallic currency standard, devaluing the Japanese yen . He left for Tokyo Shinbu Gakko , a preparatory school for the Imperial Japanese Army Academy intended for Chinese students, in 1907. There, he came under
25181-470: The spirit of the revolution. As a result, he became largely sidelined within the Republican movement during this period. Sun returned to China in 1917 to establish a military junta at Canton to oppose the Beiyang government but was soon forced out of office and exiled to Shanghai . There, with renewed support, he resurrected the KMT on 10 October 1919, under the name Kuomintang of China ( 中國國民黨 ) and established its headquarters in Canton in 1920. In 1923,
25350-438: The spring of 1956. The exhibition hall, opened in March 1957, was divided into four galleries in which it was possible to exhibit more than 200 items. In the autumn of 1960, the office received a grant of NT$ 32 million from AID . The Republic of China (ROC) government also contributed more than NT$ 30 million to establish a special fund for the construction of a museum in the Taipei suburb of Waishuanxi. The construction of
25519-548: The support of the Soviet agent Mikhail Borodin , Wang declared the National Government as having moved to Wuhan. Having taken Nanjing in March, Chiang halted his campaign and prepared a violent break with Wang and his communist allies. Chiang's expulsion of the CCP and their Soviet advisers, marked by the Shanghai massacre on 12 April, led to the beginning of the Chinese Civil War . Wang finally surrendered his power to Chiang. Once this split had been healed, Chiang resumed his Northern Expedition and managed to take Shanghai. During
25688-460: The urbanized cities. This decision gave CCP a chance to move freely through the countryside. At first, the KMT had the edge with the aid of weapons and ammunition from the United States (US). However, with the country suffering from hyperinflation , widespread corruption and other economic ills, the KMT continued to lose popular support. Some leading officials and military leaders of the KMT hoarded material, armament and military-aid funding provided by
25857-424: The war, the conflicts among the cliques would have a devastating effect on the survival of the KMT. Muslim Generals in Gansu waged war against the Guominjun in favor of the KMT during the conflict in Gansu in 1927–1930 . In 1931, Japanese aggression resumed with the Mukden Incident and occupation of Manchuria, and the CCP founded the Chinese Soviet Republic (CSR) in Jiangxi while secretly recruiting within
26026-474: The west was the returned Wang Jingwei, who led a column to take Wuhan ; Bai Chongxi 's column went east to take Shanghai; Chiang himself led in the middle route, planning to take Nanjing before pressing ahead to capture Beijing . However, in January 1927, Wang Jingwei and his KMT leftist allies took the city of Wuhan amid much popular mobilization and fanfare. Allied with a number of Chinese Communists and advised by Soviet agent Mikhail Borodin , Wang declared
26195-472: The widespread problems that corruption was creating and so he undertook several anti-corruption campaigns before and after World War II with varying success. Before the war, both campaigns, the Nanjing Decade Cleanup of 1927–1930 and the Wartime Reform Movement of 1944–1947, failed. After the World War II and the Civil War, both campaigns, the Kuomintang Reconstruction of 1950–1952 and the Governmental Rejuvenation of 1969–1973, succeeded. Chiang, who viewed all of
26364-415: The years: Note that, in 1949, the Joint Managerial Office of the National Central Museum and National Central Library was established. In 1955, the Joint Managerial Office of the National Palace Museum and National Central Museum was established. According to writer Ian Johnson , many cultural items were destroyed under communist rule, including during the Cultural Revolution , so the Kuomintang designed
26533-406: Was a founding member of the KMT, becoming one of Sun's closest lieutenants and head of the Whampoa Military Academy . After Sun's death in 1925, Chiang became commander-in-chief of the NRA, and led the Northern Expedition from 1926 to 1928, which nominally reunified China under a Nationalist government in Nanking . During the campaign, the KMT–CCP alliance broke down in 1927 and Chiang massacred
26702-416: Was a native Wu speaker ) became known by Westerners under the Cantonese romanisation of his courtesy name, while the family name as known in English seems to be the Mandarin pronunciation of his Chinese family name, transliterated in Wade–Giles. "Kai-shek" soon became Chiang's courtesy name ( 字 ). Some think the name was chosen from the classic Chinese book the I Ching ; "介于石" ; '[he who is] firm as
26871-503: Was completed and opened in 1985. There is also another Chinese Style Garden nearby called the Shuangxi Park and Chinese Garden . The National Palace Museum also maintains the residence of Chinese painter Chang Dai-chien , also in Shilin, Taipei. The residence, known as the Chang Dai-chien Residence or the Abode of Maya , was constructed in 1976 and completed in 1978. It is a two-story Siheyuan building with Chinese-style gardens occupying approximately 1,911 m . After Chang's death in 1983,
27040-419: Was costly in terms of men and material. The Central Plains War alone nearly bankrupted the Nationalist government and caused almost 250,000 casualties on both sides. In 1931, Hu Hanmin, an old supporter of Chiang, publicly voiced a popular concern that Chiang's position as both premier and president flew in the face of the democratic ideals of the Nationalist government. Chiang had Hu put under house arrest, but Hu
27209-401: Was defeated and retreated to the island of Taiwan , where he imposed martial law and persecuted critics in the White Terror , which lasted until his death. Presiding over a period of economic reforms and prosperity , from 1948 Chiang won five elections to six-year terms as President of the ROC in which he faced minimal opposition or was elected unopposed. He was also Director-General of
27378-402: Was kidnapped by Zhang Xueliang in the Xi'an Incident and forced into the Second United Front , an anti-Japanese alliance with the CCP; the Second Sino-Japanese War started the following year. The alliance brought little coordination and was treated as a temporary cease fire in the civil war. The New Fourth Army Incident in 1941 ended the alliance. Japan surrendered in 1945, and Taiwan
27547-406: Was named "Chung Cheng Memorial Hall" in Chinese. In Singapore, Chung Cheng High School was named after him. His name is also written in the free area of the Republic of China as "The Late President Honorable Chiang" ( 先總統 蔣公 ), where the one-character-wide space in front of his name known as Nuo tai shows respect. He is often called Honorable Chiang . The "Chiang Kai-shek" in this article
27716-408: Was named director of the State Council, the equivalent to President of the country, in addition to his other titles. As with his predecessor Sun Yat-sen, the Western media dubbed him "generalissimo". According to Sun Yat-sen's plans, the KMT was to rebuild China in three steps: military rule , political tutelage , and constitutional rule . The ultimate goal of the KMT revolution was democracy, which
27885-409: Was not considered to be feasible in China's fragmented state. Since the KMT had completed the first step of revolution through seizure of power in 1928, Chiang's rule thus began a period of what his party considered to be "political tutelage" in Sun Yat-sen's name. During this so-called Republican Era, many features of a modern, functional Chinese state emerged and developed. From 1928 to 1937, known as
28054-510: Was not suitable for China. Chiang later sent his eldest son, Chiang Ching-Kuo , to study in Russia. After his father's split from the First United Front in 1927, Ching-Kuo was retained there, as a hostage until 1937. Chiang wrote in his diary, "It is not worth it to sacrifice the interest of the country for the sake of my son." When Chiang returned in 1924 Sun appointed him Commandant of the Whampoa Military Academy . Chiang resigned after one month in disagreement with Sun's close cooperation with
28223-573: Was released after national condemnation. Hu then left Nanjing and supported a rival government in Canton. The split resulted in a military conflict between Hu's Guangdong government and Chiang's Nationalist government. Throughout his rule, complete eradication of the Communists remained Chiang's dream. After he had assembled his forces in Jiangxi , Chiang led his armies against the newly established Chinese Soviet Republic . With help from foreign military advisers such as Max Bauer and Alexander von Falkenhausen , Chiang's Fifth Campaign finally surrounded
28392-406: Was returned to the Republic of China on 25 October of that year. The brief period of celebration was soon shadowed by the possibility of a civil war between the KMT and CCP. The Soviet Union declared war on Japan just before it surrendered and occupied Manchuria , the north eastern part of China. The Soviet Union denied the KMT army the right to enter the region but allowed the CCP to take control of
28561-482: Was revealed that three artefacts from the Ming and Qing dynasties, reportedly worth a US$ 77 million, had been damaged. In response to inquiries, the museum admitted that two teacups were found broken in February and April that year, and a plate was dropped in May. Director Wu Mi-cha suspected that the teacups might have been damaged due to unsatisfactory storage practices, which the museum is working to improve. In August 2022, PLA drills around Taiwan raised concern over
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