Qi Xueqi (; August 28, 1900 – March 8, 1945) was an anti-Japanese commander of the

Kuomintang The Kuomintang (KMT) is a major political party in the Republic of China (Taiwan). It was the one party state, sole ruling party of the country Republic of China (1912-1949), during its rule from 1927 to 1949 in Mainland China until Retreat ...

(KMT).

Early life

Qi Xueqi was born in Tieluo () village, Yanglin () township, Ningxiang County,

Hunan Hunan is an inland Provinces of China, province in Central China. Located in the middle reaches of the Yangtze watershed, it borders the Administrative divisions of China, province-level divisions of Hubei to the north, Jiangxi to the east, Gu ...

province on August 28, 1900. He attended the Qi family's private homeschool. In 1912, his family moved to

Changsha Changsha is the capital of Hunan, China. It is the 15th most populous city in China with a population of 10,513,100, the Central China#Cities with urban area over one million in population, third-most populous city in Central China, and the ...

, the capital of Hunan. Qi Xueqi studied in Changjun middle school and showed strengths in literature and foreign language. Four years later, he went to

Beijing Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...

and studied at

Tsinghua University Tsinghua University (THU) is a public university in Haidian, Beijing, China. It is affiliated with and funded by the Ministry of Education of China. The university is part of Project 211, Project 985, and the Double First-Class Constructio ...

until 1920. While there Qi attended the great student movement on May 4, 1919. Zhou Demin's brief biography of General Qi Xueqi said that he came back to Changsha after graduating from Tsinghua and worked as a professor at Hunan University, teaching literature and foreign language, while other sources say that he had not graduated until 1923 when he went to the US. In 1923, Qi went to the city of

Northfield, Vermont Northfield is a New England town, town in Washington County, Vermont, United States. The town lies in a valley within the Green Mountains and has been home to Norwich University since 1866. It contains the Northfield (CDP), Vermont, village of No ...

in the US and majored in horsemanship at

Norwich University Norwich University is a private university in Northfield, Vermont, United States. The university was founded in 1819 as the "American Literary, Scientific and Military Academy". It is the oldest of six senior military college, senior militar ...

Career

When he returned to in 1929, he was appointed regimental commander of the 6th Military Police Regiment in

Nanjing Nanjing or Nanking is the capital of Jiangsu, a province in East China. The city, which is located in the southwestern corner of the province, has 11 districts, an administrative area of , and a population of 9,423,400. Situated in the Yang ...

. On January 28, 1932, he led his 6th Regiment to Shanghai when the Japanese attacked Zhabei District. As the commander of the 6th Military Police Regiment, he was on garrison duty in Shanghai and fought a fierce battle against the army of Japan. He was given many awards in the next several years for his bravery in battle. In 1938 Qi Xueqi came to

and was appointed commander of the city's tax policy. It was an official post with little to do. He applied to fight in the front because he thought that a soldier should be fighting instead of in the rear. In 1942, he was sent to Burma as vice-commander of the 38th division while the commander was

Sun Li-jen Sun Li-jen ( zh, t=孫立人 , s=孙立人 , p=Sūn Lìrén, first=t; December 8, 1900November 19, 1990) was a Kuomintang, Chinese Nationalist (KMT) General officer, general, a graduate of Virginia Military Institute in the United States, bes ...

. The task of the 38th division was assisting the Allies in their fight against the Japanese.

Death

When Qi was in prison camp, some other prisoners of war, Cai Zongfu, Zhang Jixiang and others, wanted to surrender to get money and become officers of the puppet government of

Wang Jingwei Wang Zhaoming (4 May 188310 November 1944), widely known by his pen name Wang Jingwei, was a Chinese politician who was president of the Reorganized National Government of the Republic of China, a puppet state of the Empire of Japan. He was in ...

. They attempted to persuade Qi to surrender with them, but he refused. In 1945, the Japanese surrendered. The prisoners were liberated and returned to China. Cai and Zhang worried that Qi would make their attempt of betray known, so they assassinated Qi.

Personal life

His mother was Mrs. Zhao (), His father was Qi Zhizhang (), aka. Qi Huang (). He had four sisters. He first married Mrs. Xiang () and then Tong Xijun ().

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Qi, Xueqi 1900 births 1945 deaths People from Ningxiang Members of the Kuomintang Norwich University alumni Tsinghua University alumni Chinese military personnel of World War II Chinese Nationalist military figures