Tai Chi-tao
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Tai Chi-tao (戴季陶; pinyin: Dài Jìtáo; 1890-February 21, 1949) was a Chinese journalist, an early Kuomintang member, and the first head of the Examination Yuan of the Republic of China. He is often referred to as Dài Chúanxían (戴傳賢; Wade-Giles: Tai Ch'uan-hsien) or by his other courtesy name, Dài Xŭantáng (戴選堂; Wade-Giles: Tai Hsüan-t'ang).
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[edit] Early Life and Education
Tai Chi-tao was born Dài Líangbì (戴良弼) in Guanghan, Sichuan to a family of potters. He went to Japan in 1905 to study in a normal school and entered Nihon University's law program in 1907. He returned to China in 1909 without a degree.
[edit] Journalism and Writings
Tai started to write for the Shanghaiese China Foreign Daily (中外日報) and Tianduo Newspaper (天鐸報) at 19. At this time, his sobriquet for himself was Dai Tianchou (天仇), or Heaven-Revenge Dai, to signify his dissatisfaction for the Qing Empire. The Manchus threatened him with imprisonment for his writings, so in 1911 he fled to Japan, and then to Penang, where he joined Tongmenghui (同盟會) and wrote for its Guanghua Newspaper (光華報). Later that year, he returned to Shanghai after the Wuchang Uprising and founded the Democracy Newspaper (民權報).
[edit] Political Career
Tai's fluency in Japanese, unusual for a Chinese young man, attracted the attention of Sun Yat-Sen. He became Sun's translator and then his confidential secretary. After the Kuomingtang failed to overthrow Yuan Shikai, he went to Tokyo to join the Chinese Revolutionary Party in 1914.
From October 1928 to June 1948, his official positions consisted of:
- (國民政府國府委員)
- (中山大學委員長)
- (中央執政委員會委員): 1924
- (常務委員): 1924
- Minister of Information (宣傳部長): 1924
- Chief of the Embassy (國使館館長): unable to attend due to illness
Tai was one of the lyricists of "National Anthem of the Republic of China". He also wrote:
- The Fundamentals of the Principles of Sun Yat-sen (孫文主義之哲學基礎)
- The People's Revolution and Kuomintang (國民革命與中國國民黨)
- The Complete Book of Sun Yat-sen (孫中山全書)
[edit] Later Years
After Sun Yat-sen's death in 1925, Tai changed his name to Dai Chuanxian, Continuing-Virtue Dai. He jumped into a river and was rescued by a fisherman. After this suicide experience, he converted to Buddhism and was accused by many to be superstitious. His works about Buddhism are published in The Collection of Mr. Dai Jitao's Discussions on Buddhism (戴季陶先生佛學論集). After many more failed attempts at suicide, he succeeded in 1949 in Guangzhou by taking over 70 pills. He is widely known to be the birth father of Chiang Wei-kuo, the second son of Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek. According to popular speculation, Tai believed knowledge of his extramarital affairs would destroy his marriage and his career, so he entrusted Wei-kuo to Chiang Kai-shek, after the Japanese Yamada Juntaro (山田純太郎) brought the infant to Shanghai. Yao Zhicheng (姚冶誠), Chiang's wife at the time, raised Wei-kuo as her own. The boy called Tai his "Dear Uncle" (親伯).
[edit] Further Reading
Lu, Yan; Re-Understanding Japan (University of Hawaii Press, 2004) is an English-language study of Tai Chi-tao and three other Chinese intellectuals, in context of their contributions to 20th-century Sino-Japanese relations.
