Cai Rukai (; 1867 – 1923) was a Chinese politician and educator of the late

Qing dynasty The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing, was a Manchu-led Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China and an early modern empire in East Asia. The last imperial dynasty in Chinese history, the Qing dynasty was preceded by the ...

and early Republican period.

Biography

Cai was born in

Nanchang Nanchang is the capital of Jiangxi, China. Located in the north-central part of the province and in the hinterland of Poyang Lake Plain, it is bounded on the west by the Jiuling Mountains, and on the east by Poyang Lake. Because of its strate ...

Jiangxi ; Gan: ) , translit_lang1_type2 = , translit_lang1_info2 = , translit_lang1_type3 = , translit_lang1_info3 = , image_map = Jiangxi in China (+all claims hatched).svg , mapsize = 275px , map_caption = Location ...

in 1867. During the reign of

Guangxu Emperor The Guangxu Emperor (14 August 1871 – 14 November 1908), also known by his temple name Emperor Dezong of Qing, personal name Zaitian, was the tenth Emperor of China, emperor of the Qing dynasty, and the ninth Qing emperor to rule over China ...

in the

, he successfully achieved the rank of ''Juren'' () on the

imperial examination The imperial examination was a civil service examination system in History of China#Imperial China, Imperial China administered for the purpose of selecting candidates for the Civil service#China, state bureaucracy. The concept of choosing bureau ...

. In January 1906 he became supervisor of Imperial Peiyang University, and served until December 1911. In 1912, after the establishment of the

Republic of China Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...

, he became director of Zhili Education Bureau, a position at provincial level. Under the Beiyang government, he served as President of National Peiyang University between February 1913 and March 1914, and then he rose to become Minister of Education. In December 1915, after

Yuan Shikai Yuan Shikai (; 16 September 18596 June 1916) was a Chinese general and statesman who served as the second provisional president and the first official president of the Republic of China, head of the Beiyang government from 1912 to 1916 and ...

's accession to the throne, Yuan conferred the title of "Barons of the First Rank" () to him. In 1921 he was appointed general manager of Nanchang–Jiujiang railway, serving in the post until he died in 1923.

Personal life

Cai has a daughter, Cai Baozhen (), who once served as president of Beijing Children's Library, she was married to Ying Qianli (1900–1969), a prominent Catholic layman and educator.

References

Additional sources

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Cai, Rukai 1867 births 1923 deaths Educators from Jiangxi Republic of China politicians from Jiangxi Qing dynasty government officials Politicians from Nanchang Empire of China (1915–1916) Presidents of universities and colleges in China