Chang Tao-fan (; 12 July 1897 - 12 June 1968) was a prominent figure and long-time central member 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 ...

. He was the fourth

President of the Legislative Yuan The president of the Legislative Yuan is the presiding officer of the Legislative Yuan of the Republic of China. The incumbent president is Yu Shyi-kun, a Democratic Progressive Party legislator and the second DPP President of the Legislative ...

, and former President of

Broadcasting Corporation of China The Broadcasting Corporation of China (BCC) is a broadcasting company in the Republic of China (also known as Taiwan). It was founded as the Central Broadcasting System in Nanjing in 1928. History The Central Broadcasting System is considere ...

Life

Chang was born in Kuichou (current

Guizhou Guizhou (; formerly Kweichow) is a landlocked province in the southwest region of the People's Republic of China. Its capital and largest city is Guiyang, in the center of the province. Guizhou borders the autonomous region of Guangxi to t ...

), China. In his early years, he went to

Tianjin Tianjin (; ; Mandarin: ), alternately romanized as Tientsin (), is a municipality and a coastal metropolis in Northern China on the shore of the Bohai Sea. It is one of the nine national central cities in Mainland China, with a total popu ...

to live with his relative there, and graduated from

Tianjin Nankai High School Tianjin Nankai High School () is a college-preparatory high school in Tianjin, China. This is the original Nankai High School, and it is often referred to as Nankai High School in Tianjin to differentiate it from Chongqing Nankai Middle School, ...

. When Chang was a student he was very active in politics, and joined the

Chinese Revolutionary Party 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 Taiw ...

. In 1919, Chang went to study in

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located enti ...

with the financial aid from then Chinese government. Chang spent three years in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

Slade School of Fine Art The UCL Slade School of Fine Art (informally The Slade) is the art school of University College London (UCL) and is based in London, England. It has been ranked as the UK's top art and design educational institution. The school is organised as ...

, an art school of the

University College London , mottoeng = Let all come who by merit deserve the most reward , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £143 million (2020) , budget = � ...

. Chang also spent more than one year in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. ...

at the

École des Beaux-Arts École des Beaux-Arts (; ) refers to a number of influential art schools in France. The term is associated with the Beaux-Arts style in architecture and city planning that thrived in France and other countries during the late nineteenth centur ...

. He married a French woman, Suzanne Grimonprez, in 1928 although he had met and admired

Jiang Biwei Jiang Biwei (; 9 April 1899 – 12 December 1978) was influential in the lives of the painter Xu Beihong and the politician Chang Tao-fan. She published her memoirs and she is portrayed in Chinese historical dramas. Life Early life Jiang was b ...

, but she was the partner of the artist

Xu Beihong Xu or XU may refer to: People and characters * Xu (surname), one of two Chinese surnames ( or /), transliterated as Xu in English * ǃXu, a name for the ǃKung group of Bushmen; may also refer to the ǃKung language or the ǃKung people * ǃXu ( ...

. According to Xu's second wife,

Liao Jingwen Liao Jingwen (; April 1923 – 16 June 2015) was assistant to and third wife of artist Xu Beihong. After his death in 1953, she served as head of the Xu Beihong Memorial Museum and the curator of his extensive art collection. Early life Liao wa ...

, Chang spread gossip about Xu having an affair with the student and artist,

Sun Duoci Sun Duoci (; 1912 – March 1975) was a Chinese artist. Famous for her oil paintings, sketches and ink and wash works, she was an accomplished artist, as well as a calligrapher and writer. One of her pieces has sold at auction for more than $1 ...

, in order to drive a wedge between the couple. In 1937, he was exchanging letters with Jiang Biwei who was now single, as her partner had fallen for his student, the painter

. Chang knew that the Japanese were thought to be about to bomb Nanjing and he arranged for Jiang Biwei to escape to

Chongqing Chongqing ( or ; ; Sichuanese pronunciation: , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ), alternately romanized as Chungking (), is a municipality in Southwest China. The official abbreviation of the city, "" (), was approved by the State Cou ...

. Here, they could correspond and secretly see each other but she could not appear as his consort if he was on official business. (Jiang Biwei was married to a man she had abandoned to live with Yu). Chang was a married man and the vice-minister of education. He arranged for Jiang to be given a job. Chang adopted Biwei's daughter, Lilian, or Lilian was Chang and Biwei's daughter outside wedlock. Lilian was raised by Chang's wife Suzanne. Chang's French wife was a difficulty in Chinese society and Chang sent her abroad for some years. Chinese students who had brought back foreign wives were considered foolish.

Career

Before 1949

Chang had been a senior and central member of the

for a long time, so he is considered as belonging to the central club clique (

CC Clique The CC Clique (), or Central Club Clique (), was one of the political factions within the Kuomintang (The Chinese Nationalist Party), in the Republic of China (1912–49). It was led by the brothers Chen Guofu and Chen Lifu, friends of Chiang Kai ...

). From 1923 to September 1926, Chang was a head of the Kuomintang London Branch. From January 1928 to 1930, Chang was the

Secretary-General Secretary is a title often used in organizations to indicate a person having a certain amount of authority, power, or importance in the organization. Secretaries announce important events and communicate to the organization. The term is derive ...

of the

Nanjing Nanjing (; , Mandarin pronunciation: ), Postal Map Romanization, alternately romanized as Nanking, is the capital of Jiangsu Provinces of China, province of the China, People's Republic of China. It is a sub-provincial city, a megacity, and t ...

Government. From August 1928 to 1930, Chang was Provost of National Tsing Tao University (current

Qingdao University Qingdao University ( abbreviation: QDU/QDU Med school; ) is a key provincial research university located in Qingdao, Shandong, China. The university was first established in 1985. In 1993, the former Qingdao University, Qingdao Medical Colleg ...

) in

Shandong province Shandong ( , ; ; alternately romanized as Shantung) is a coastal province of the People's Republic of China and is part of the East China region. Shandong has played a major role in Chinese history since the beginning of Chinese civilizati ...

. From December 7, 1932 to April 8, 1936, Chang was the Executive Vice-minister of the Ministry of Transportation and Communications in China. In 1935, Chang founded the National Theater School (). From January 1940 to 1941, Chang was Provost of

National Chengchi University National Chengchi University () is a public research university in Taipei. The university is also considered as the earliest public service training facility of the Republic of China. First established in Nanjing in 1927, the university was subs ...

Taiwan years

In 1949, Chang moved to Taiwan with

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 ...

. From January 1950 to 1968, Chang was the President of '' China Daily News'' in Taiwan. From March 17, 1952 to Feb 24, 1961, Chang was the fourth President of the

Legislative Yuan The Legislative Yuan is the unicameral legislature of the Republic of China (Taiwan) located in Taipei. The Legislative Yuan is composed of 113 members, who are directly elected for 4-year terms by people of the Taiwan Area through a parallel ...

. Chang died in

Taipei Taipei (), officially Taipei City, is the capital and a special municipality of the Republic of China (Taiwan). Located in Northern Taiwan, Taipei City is an enclave of the municipality of New Taipei City that sits about southwest of the ...

at age 70.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chang, Tao-fan People from Liupanshui 1897 births 1968 deaths Republic of China politicians from Guizhou Taiwanese Presidents of the Legislative Yuan Educators from Guizhou National Chengchi University faculty Alumni of the Slade School of Fine Art Taiwanese people from Guizhou Members of the 1st Legislative Yuan Members of the 1st Legislative Yuan in Taiwan

Life

Career

Before 1949

Taiwan years

See also

References