Lieutenant General Dai Li (Tai Li; ; May 28, 1897 – March 17, 1946) was a Chinese
spymaster. His courtesy name was Yunong (雨農). Born Dai Chunfeng (Tai Chun-feng; 戴春風) in Bao'an,
Jiangshan
Jiangshan () is a county-level city located in Quzhou prefecture-level city, in the southwest of Zhejiang Province, China, bordering Jiangxi province to the west. Located about 250 kilometers southwest of Hangzhou, the provincial capital, it is ...
,
Zhejiang province, he studied at the
Whampoa Military Academy, where
Chiang Kai-shek
Chiang Kai-shek (31 October 1887 – 5 April 1975), also known as Chiang Chung-cheng and Jiang Jieshi, was a Chinese Nationalist politician, revolutionary, and military leader who served as the leader of the Republic of China (ROC) from 1928 ...
served as Chief Commandant, and later became head of Chiang's military intelligence agency: the
Bureau of Investigation and Statistics
The National Bureau of Investigation and Statistics (Military Commission), (NBIS or BIS) (), commonly known as Juntong (), was the military intelligence agency of the Republic of China before 1946. It was devoted to intelligence gathering and co ...
() or ("jūntǒng" (军统) in short) of
Republican China (1912-1949).
Early life
Born Dai Chunfeng, he was just four years old when his father died, leaving his mother to raise him. By age six, Dai was enrolled in a private academy to begin studying Chinese Classics, and later graduated
valedictorian from
Wenxi County
Wenxi County () is a county in southern Shanxi province, China. It is under the administration of the prefecture level city of Yuncheng. As of 2020 it had a population of roughly 350,000.
The name Wenxi, which means "hearing the glad news", was u ...
Elementary School. His mother could not afford to send him to university, so at 16 he was forced to leave home and find his own way in the world. With neither secure income nor any guidance, he began living the rough life of the streets of
Shanghai. Until 1923, he was mentored by labor organizer and contract killer
Wang Yaqiao
Wang Yaqiao (; 2 September 1887 – 20 September 1936) was a Chinese gangster and assassin leader.
Biography
Wang was born Hefei, Anhui Province, to a country doctor. He was involved in socialist activism in his youth, which eventually brought ...
. Dai Chunfeng soon became a skilled gambler who could often be found in one of Shanghai's many casinos, trying to win enough money to make ends meet. It was in a Shanghai casino that he met
Du Yuesheng
Du Yuesheng (22 August 188816 August 1951), also known by Dou Yu-Seng or Tu Yueh-sheng or Du Yueh-sheng, nicknamed "Big-Eared Du",Lintner, Bertil. ''Burma in Revolt: Opium and Insurgency Since 1948''. Silkworm Books. 1999. p.309 was a Chinese m ...
, head of the criminal organisation known as the "
Green Gang
The Green Gang () was a Chinese secret society and criminal organization, which was prominent in criminal, social and political activity in Shanghai during the early to mid 20th century.
History
Origins
As a secret society, the origins and histor ...
".
Through Du Yuesheng he later met
Chiang Kai-shek
Chiang Kai-shek (31 October 1887 – 5 April 1975), also known as Chiang Chung-cheng and Jiang Jieshi, was a Chinese Nationalist politician, revolutionary, and military leader who served as the leader of the Republic of China (ROC) from 1928 ...
. It is unclear when Chiang and Dai first met, but it was likely around 1921. He later lost all of his money and was forced to return home to Bao'an. In 1927, Dai met his elementary school friend
Mao Renfeng who suggested that he enroll in the Whampoa Military Academy in Guangzhou, where Chiang was then Superintendent-Commandant. Dai took the suggestion, obtained a letter of recommendation from Du Yuesheng and set off for Guangzhou. Dai enlisted in the 1st Student Regiment of the sixth class of the
KMT Officer Training Academy. It was then that he changed his name to Dai Li which in Chinese refers to an assassin's hooded veil, reflecting the clandestine nature of his planned future career. Chiang soon made him a student informant within the academy to spy on Communist activities, where he played an instrumental role in the
Zhongshan Warship Incident
The Canton Coup of 20 March 1926, also known as the or the was a purge of Communist elements of the Nationalist army in Guangzhou (then romanized as "Canton") undertaken by Chiang Kai-shek. The incident solidified Chiang's power immediat ...
.
Role in KMT
As the Chief of the
Kuomintang
The Kuomintang (KMT), also referred to as the Guomindang (GMD), the Nationalist Party of China (NPC) or the Chinese Nationalist Party (CNP), is a major political party in the Republic of China, initially on the Chinese mainland and in Tai ...
(KMT) Army's secret service in China, Dai Li helped to develop China's first modern intelligence organization in 1928: the "Clandestine Investigation Section" directly under the Northern Expeditionary Army's Headquarters with the aim of an early victory of the war to quell the nationwide unrest and minimize the loss of life by making the most of military and political intelligence. By the end of the
Second Sino-Japanese War, this small section would evolve to the very complex and controversial
Investigation and Statistics Bureau of Chinese
National Military Council, which was the predecessor of the Military Intelligence Bureau in the
Ministry of National Defense of Taiwan.
The benign title of the
Investigation and Statistics Bureau belied the true nature of its
secret police work, which made Dai one of the most powerful men in
republican China. Dai was also the head of the
Blue Shirts Society
The Blue Shirts Society (藍衣社), also known as the Society of Practice of the Three Principles of the People (, commonly abbreviated as SPTPP), the Spirit Encouragement Society (勵志社, SES) and the China Reconstruction Society (中華� ...
, an ultranationalist organization that did security and intelligence work for Chiang. In 1930s and 1940s, his agents from ''
Military-Statistics Bureau'' (the then military intelligence agency of the KMT) were successful in penetrating the
Chinese Communist Party (CCP) as well as Imperial
Japanese puppet organizations.
Dai worked with the
United States during
World War II and was taught new methods of espionage resulting in his guerrilla force growing to some 70,000 men. In return for the partnership, he made available maps of the
South China
South China () is a geographical and cultural region that covers the southernmost part of China. Its precise meaning varies with context. A notable feature of South China in comparison to the rest of China is that most of its citizens are not n ...
coast and intelligence on
Japanese maneuvers and provided safe haven for downed
Allied aircrew. After the signing of the
Sino-American Cooperative Organization Treaty in 1942, Dai was appopinted the head of Sino-American intelligence activities.
While he avoided public entertainments and remained a mysterious figure to his countrymen, Dai was privately known for his wild drinking parties.
Death
Dai died in a plane crash on March 17, 1946. It was speculated that this was possibly arranged by the
Chinese Communist Party's intelligence and security chief,
Kang Sheng
Kang Sheng (; 4 November 1898 – 16 December 1975) was a Chinese Communist politician best known for having overseen the CCP's internal security and intelligence apparatus during the early 1940s and again at the height of the Cultural Revolut ...
, of the
Central Social Affairs Department
The Central Social Affairs Department (SAD) () was the intelligence & counter-intelligence organ of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) leadership prior to established in 1936 and is considered the predecessor of the contemporary Chinese Ministry ...
(SAD). Rumors circulated that the crash had been arranged by the American
Office of Strategic Services (OSS) because of Dai's anti-Americanism since it had happened on an American plane.
In popular culture
* In the Nickelodeon animated TV series ''
Avatar: The Last Airbender'', the intelligence service and secret police of the Earth Kingdom capital city, Ba Sing Se, is named “Dai Li” in reference to him.
References
*
*
Wakeman, Frederic E. ''Spymaster: Dai Li and the Chinese Secret Service.'' Berkeley: University of California Press, 2003.
Military Intelligence B..-History
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dai, Li
1897 births
1946 deaths
Politicians from Quzhou
Republic of China politicians from Zhejiang
Spymasters
Members of the Kuomintang
Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in China
People from Jiangshan
Chinese nationalists
Chinese fascists
Politicide perpetrators
Directors of intelligence agencies