Chen Bijun (, 5 November 1891 – 17 June 1959) was a Chinese politician. She was the acting head of the Canton (

Guangzhou Guangzhou, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Canton or Kwangchow, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Guangdong Provinces of China, province in South China, southern China. Located on the Pearl River about nor ...

) government for four months in 1944–1945.Lily Xiao Hong Lee:
Biographical Dictionary of Chinese Women: v. 2: Twentieth Century
'

Life

She was the daughter of the Chinese millionaire Chen Gengji and his second wife Wei Yuelang and was raised in

Penang Penang is a Malaysian state located on the northwest coast of Peninsular Malaysia along the Strait of Malacca. It has two parts: Penang Island, where the capital city, George Town, is located, and Seberang Perai on the Malay Peninsula. Th ...

British Malaya The term "British Malaya" (; ) loosely describes a set of states on the Malay Peninsula and the island of Singapore that were brought under British Empire, British hegemony or control between the late 18th and the mid-20th century. Unlike the ...

. Cheng Gengji had many children, and the household was boisterous and prosperous. Chen Bijun was regarding by her family members as a strong-willed child. Like Chen Gengji's other children, Chen Bijun received home schooling in traditional Chinese learning before attending Catholic boarding schools for an English-style education. In 1909, she moved to Japan on the pretext of furthering her studies and formally became a member of the

Tongmenghui The Tongmenghui of China was a secret society and underground resistance movement founded by Sun Yat-sen, Song Jiaoren, and others in Tokyo, Empire of Japan, on 20 August 1905, with the goal of overthrowing China's Qing dynasty. It was formed ...

revolutionary group. Her father was a royalist and unaware of her political activities; Chen Bijun's mother funded her activism. She was introduced to

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 ...

through a local Tongmenghui leader. Chen broke off her engagement to a cousin and went with Wang to Singapore to meet Sun Yat-sen. They become betrothed and held an informal wedding days before the failed assassination plot by Wang and other Tongmenghui members against Prince Chun. Wang's arrest followed two weeks after the failed attempt. He was released from prison in 1911 as part of the amnesty for political prisoners following the

Wuchang uprising The Wuchang Uprising was an armed rebellion against the ruling Qing dynasty that took place in Wuchang (now Wuchang District of Wuhan) in the Chinese province of Hubei on 10 October 1911, beginning the Xinhai Revolution that successfully overthr ...

. Chen and Wang formally married in 1912. They ultimately had six children together. Chen joined 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) with Wang. In 1924, she was one of only three women delegates of the KMT national congress along with

He Xiangning He Xiangning (; 27 June 1878 – 1 September 1972) was a Chinese revolutionary, feminist, politician, painter, and poet. Together with her husband Liao Zhongkai, she was one of the earliest members of Sun Yat-sen's revolutionary movement Tongm ...

and Tang Yungong, and elected a member of the KMT Central Supervisory Committee. During the 1936 kidnapping of Chiang Kai-shek, the

Xi'an Incident The Xi'an Incident was a Chinese political crisis that lasted from 12 to 26 December 1936. Chiang Kai-shek, the leader of the Nationalist government of China, was arrested in Xi'an by soldiers of the Northeastern Army under the command of Ge ...

, she unsuccessfully attempted to have her spouse depose Chiang Kai-shek in a coup.

Wartime activities

During the

Second Sino-Japanese War The Second Sino-Japanese War was fought between the Republic of China (1912–1949), Republic of China and the Empire of Japan between 1937 and 1945, following a period of war localized to Manchuria that started in 1931. It is considered part ...

, she and her husband regarded the communists as a worse threat than the Japanese, and defected to the Japanese and established a puppet government under Japanese control. Chen Bijun was elected member of the KMT Central Supervisory Committee for their government party. When her spouse died in 1944, he was replaced by Chen Gongbo. Chen Bijun left Nanjing and took control of the Canton government, which she kept for four months.

Post war

After the surrender of the Japanese in August 1945, she was offered but rejected an evacuation by the Japanese. She was arrested by the order of Chiang Kai-shek on 25 August and charged with treason. She refused to admit guilt. In 1949, she was imprisoned in Shanghai when the Communist took over the city. On the request of He Xiangning and

Soong Ching-ling Soong Ch'ing-ling (27 January 1893 – 29 May 1981), Christian name Rosamonde or Rosamond, was a Chinese political figure. She was the wife of Sun Yat-sen, therefore known by Madame Sun Yat-sen and the "''Father of the Nation, Mother of Mode ...

Mao Zedong Mao Zedong pronounced ; traditionally Romanization of Chinese, romanised as Mao Tse-tung. (26December 18939September 1976) was a Chinese politician, revolutionary, and political theorist who founded the People's Republic of China (PRC) in ...

and

Zhou Enlai Zhou Enlai ( zh, s=周恩来, p=Zhōu Ēnlái, w=Chou1 Ên1-lai2; 5 March 1898 – 8 January 1976) was a Chinese statesman, diplomat, and revolutionary who served as the first Premier of the People's Republic of China from September 1954 unti ...

offered her a pardon if she would admit guilty on the charge of treason, but as she refused, she remained in prison until her death.

In popular culture

The 2007 Chinese historical film '' Road to Dawn'' features the character "Xu Danrong" based on Chen played by Malaysian-born actress Angelica Lee.

References

{{Authority control 1891 births 1959 deaths Kuomintang collaborators with Imperial Japan Chinese people of World War II Chinese revolutionaries Expelled members of the Kuomintang People of the Chinese Civil War World War II political leaders Chinese anti-communists Chinese nationalists Chinese people who died in prison custody Tongmenghui members Chinese expatriates in France Malaysian emigrants to China People from George Town, Penang People convicted of treason Prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment by the People's Republic of China Prisoners who died in Chinese detention Inmates of Tilanqiao Prison