Jiang Guangnai (; 17 December 1888 – 8 June 1967) was a general and statesman in 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 ...

and the

People's Republic of China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

, and was born in

Dongguan Dongguan,; pinyin: alternately romanized via Cantonese as Tungkun, is a prefecture-level city in central Guangdong Province, China. An important industrial city in the Pearl River Delta, Dongguan borders the provincial capital of Guangzhou t ...

Guangdong ) means "wide" or "vast", and has been associated with the region since the creation of Guang Prefecture in AD 226. The name "''Guang''" ultimately came from Guangxin ( zh, labels=no, first=t, t= , s=广信), an outpost established in Han dynasty ...

Defense of Shanghai

He became a bodyguard to

Sun Yat-sen Sun Yat-senUsually known as Sun Zhongshan () in Chinese; also known by Names of Sun Yat-sen, several other names. (; 12 November 186612 March 1925) was a Chinese physician, revolutionary, statesman, and political philosopher who founded the Republ ...

and, in 1932, was promoted to general and Commander in Chief of the 19th Route Army, leading it in the successful defense of

Shanghai Shanghai, Shanghainese: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: is a direct-administered municipality and the most populous urban area in China. The city is located on the Chinese shoreline on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the ...

against Japanese invasion in the January 28 incident.

Fujian Incident

After the cease-fire was brokered, the 19th Army was reassigned by Chiang Kai-shek to suppress

Chinese Communist The Communist Party of China (CPC), also translated into English as Chinese Communist Party (CCP), is the founding and sole ruling party of the People's Republic of China (PRC). Founded in 1921, the CCP emerged victorious in the Chinese Civil W ...

insurrection in

Fujian Fujian is a provinces of China, province in East China, southeastern China. Fujian is bordered by Zhejiang to the north, Jiangxi to the west, Guangdong to the south, and the Taiwan Strait to the east. Its capital is Fuzhou and its largest prefe ...

. It won some battles against the Communists but then negotiated peace with them. Jiang Guangnai joined an insurrection that, on 22 November 1933, established a new

People's Revolutionary Government of the Republic of China The Fujian People's Government (also spelled as the Fukien People's Government, ), officially the People's Revolutionary Government of the Republic of China (), was a short-lived anti-Kuomintang government that established a Democratic Republi ...

(), free from the control of Chiang's Nanjing government. The new Fujian government was not supported by other warlords or by all elements of the communists and was quickly crushed by Chiang's armies in January 1934. Jiang escaped with his family to

Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

and the rest of the army was disbanded and reassigned into other units of the National Revolutionary Army.

World War II

During

WWII World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

from 1939 to 1944 he returned to become Deputy Commander in Chief of the 4th War Area and in 1945 Deputy Commander in Chief of the 7th War Area.

Later years

After the Communist victory, Mao assigned Jiang to be Minister of Textiles of the new People's Republic of

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

from 1950. Most high-ranking officials struggled with the

Red Guards The Red Guards () were a mass, student-led, paramilitary social movement mobilized by Chairman Mao Zedong in 1966 until their abolition in 1968, during the first phase of the Cultural Revolution, which he had instituted.Teiwes According to a ...

during the

Cultural Revolution The Cultural Revolution, formally known as the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, was a Social movement, sociopolitical movement in the China, People's Republic of China (PRC). It was launched by Mao Zedong in 1966 and lasted until his de ...

. Jiang, however, was saved by

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 ...

. Zhou carefully and cleverly arranged for Jiang to join him and

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 ...

Tiananmen The Tiananmen , also Tian'anmen, is the entrance gate of the Forbidden City imperial palace complex and Imperial City in the center of Beijing, China. It is widely used as a national symbol. First built in 1420 during the Ming dynasty, Ti ...

to inspect the Red Guards, some of whom had just stormed Jiang's home the previous day. During the inspection Jiang was positioned almost next to Mao. Zhou personally walked over to Jiang in front of the Red Guards, asking him how he was doing after the "visit" by the Red Guards the day before. In front of Mao, Jiang was quick to reply that the Red Guards were still relatively civilized. After that, they did not bother Jiang again. He died in 1967 in Beijing.

Legacy

Jiang Guangnai's residence in Dongguan is now a museum. After his death, his daughter, Jiang Dinggui 蒋定桂 (b. 1947) became a worker in a textile factory, and features on the 5-jiao renminbi note issued in 1972.

KTLA KTLA (channel 5) is a television station in Los Angeles, California, United States, serving as the West Coast flagship station of The CW. It is the largest directly owned property of the network's majority owner, Nexstar Media Group, and is ...

television reporter Liberté Chan is a descendant of Jiang Guangnai.

References

External links

Mention of chiang

Listing of Jiang's success against Japan

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jiang, Guangnai 1888 births 1967 deaths Chinese military personnel of World War II National Revolutionary Army generals from Guangdong Republic of China warlords from Guangdong People of the Northern Expedition People of the Central Plains War Politicians from Dongguan People's Republic of China politicians from Guangdong Republic of China people who surrendered to the Chinese Communist Party