Chiang-Kai Shek and the Secret Societies in Japan

In Japan, Chiang enrolled in 11th Session of Zhenwu Military Academy in 1908. Ding Zhongjiang stated that while practicing sword in Japan on one morning, Chiang was spotted by Chen Qimei, an activist in Sun Yat-sen's "Tong Meng Hui" organization. (Chen Qimei, inspired by his brother Chen Qicai's career success due to overseas studies in Japan, was sponsored for studies in a Tokyo police academy in Japan by his brother at age 30 in 1906 and thereafter joined the revolutionary movement.)

KMT records stated that Chiang Kai-shek, in 1908, for a second time, went to Japan where he joined "Society Of Alliance" ['tong men hui'] with Chen Qimei's referral and earnestly read Zou Rong's "Revolutionary Ranks" ['ge ming jun']. Li Ao pointed out that Chiang never went to Japan's infantry cadet academy for studies but served in 1910 as a second-class private in a Japanese field cannons column [i.e., the 19th Echelon of the Field Cannon Army of the 13th Japanese Division] after studies in Zhenwu Academy. (To rebut the deceit, Li Ao, in his book "Li Ao On Chiang Kai-shek, Book One", listed all Chinese graduates from Japan's infantry cadet academy from 1st Session to 10th Session to prove the non-existence of Chiang Kai-shek. Li Ao cited Li Zongren in pointing out Chiang Kai-shek's false claim as a 6th session graduate of the cadet. Note: Jiang Zuobin was 4th session graduate; Wang Zhaoji, Li Genyuan, Liu Chunhou [Liu Cunhou?], Luo Peijin, Yan Xishan, Sun Chuanfang, Lu Xiangting, Zhou Yinren, Tang Jiyao, Li Liejun, and Cheng Qian were 6th session graduates of Japan Cadet; Xu Shuzheng was 7th session graduate; Zhang Huizan was 8th session graduate; and Wang Boling & Zhang Qun were 10th session graduates.) Book "Biography Of Tang Jiyao" clearly provided the process of Japanese military school system, with internship a pre-requirement for entering the academy.

Li Ao pointed out that KMT records deliberately lied in stating that Chiang Kai-shek first met Sun Yat-sen in June 1910. Sun Yat-sen, after being expelled from Japan years ago, had a 15-day stopover in Japan before being sent away to Singapore by Japan in the summer of 1910. Meanwhile, Chen Qimei, being not in Japan for the whole year of 1910, would not be able to present Chiang to Sun at all. In Japan, Chiang also became the youngest of three sworn blood brothers with Chen Qimei & Huang Fu. However, Li Ao pointed out that Huang Fu's "Iron & Blood Great Men Society" ['zhang fu hui'], a small circle of cadet students who later became the nucleus of provincial military leaders during 1911 uprising, did not see Chiang Kai-shek on the roster. (Li Ao did not know that the pre-requirement of membership in 'zhang fu hui' would be the cadet identity.) Chiang Kai-shek, during the summer break in 1911, came back to Xikou-zhen Town, Fenghua-xian County, Zhejiang Prov to see his newly born son Jiang Jingguo who was born by Chiang's first wife Mao Fumei. KMT records stated that Jiang Jingguo was born on April 27th 1910 [March 18th 1910 per lunar calendar]. Li Ao pointed out that either Chiang Kai-shek had slipped back into China sometime in 1909 or satiric writer Jiang Nan's assassination death might be related to the description of deviation of Jiang Jingguo's personal appearances from that of his father.

In 1911, when Wuchang Uprising broke out, Chiang Kai-shek, at the request of Chen Qimei, immediately returned to Shanghai with Zhang Qun & Chen Xingshu by faking a leave of absence and then mailing uniforms back to his Japanese officer. In Shanghai, he joined the staff of Chen Qimei (Ch'en Ch'i-mei, aka Chen Yingshi) and organized 'dare-to-die column' for recovering Shanghai from Manchu rule. (Li Dongfang's "Complete Biography of Chiang Kai-shek" claimed that Chiang returned to China from Japan, met with Chen Qimei and was dispatched to Zhejiang Prov for preparatory work, then went back to Japan to report to his Japanese officer when vacation ran up, and did not leave for China till two months later, i.e., after Xin Hai Revolution. Further, Chiang had returned to China with about 120 students and cadet practitioners, with acquiesce of Japanese officers, per Li Dongfang.)

On Nov 3rd 1911, Chen Qimei was arrested by Manchu while leading the attack on Manchu's Shanghai Manufacturing Bureau. The next day, revolutionaries sacked the garrison and freed Chen. Chen's crony, later in a meeting, coerced Shanghai revolutionary factions into making Chen the governor-general by means of a display of firearms at the meeting. In Zhejiang Prov, on the morning of Nov 4th, Chiang, with five columns or 100 comrades, participated in attacking Manchu Governor Zeng-yun's office. A Manchu battalion chief, Gu Naibin, echoed the uprisng. Chiang later joined the Jiangsu-Zhejiang allied forces in attacking Jiangsu's provincial capital, i.e., Nanking.

In the Yangtze Delta, Restoration Society prevailed in the fights against Manchu, with numerous martyrs such as Xiong Chengji, Xu Xilin and Qiu Jin etc. Chiang Kai-shek, on Jan 14th 1912, was responsible for assassinating Tao Chengzhang the leader of Restoration Society. (Li Ao cited Deng Wenyi's "Chairman Chiang Kai-shek" in stating that Chiang Kai-shek, on Jan 14th 1912, personally shot Tao Chengzhang inside of Guangci Hospital at the order of Chen Qimei. Three days earlier, Tao Chengzhang received a letter from Sun Yat-sen demanding an explanation for Tao's 1909 accusations of 14 crimes. At the times of Chiang Kai-shek death in 1975 and Mao Tse-tung death in 1976, I read about an article in regards to Guangci Hospital murder. Shang Mingxuan pointed out that Chiang bought over a Restoration Society traitor called Wang Zhuqing for the job at 2:00 am on Jan 14th.)

Ding Zhongjiang's pro-KMT writing stated that i) Chiang Kai-shek later went overseas for an inspection tour and handed over the control of his army to Zhang Qun and that ii) Zhang Qun subsequently delivered the same army to Chen Qimei when Zhang Qun himself went to Britain for a tour of foreign industries. Chen Jieru's memoirs stated that Chiang Kai-shek quit his job in 1912 because the rank was too low for him. Jiang Huiguo mentioned that Chiang Kai-shek went into hiding in his Zhejiang hometown after the assassination of Tao Chengzhang.

Ding Zhongjiang stated that during the Second Revolution, both Chiang Kai-shek and Zhang Qun returned to Shanghai from Japan and that Chiang Kai-shek called on his followers to support Chen Qimei as the commander-in-chief of 'Shanghai Army for Campaigning Against Yuan Shi-kai Imperial Enthronement'. During the Second Revolution War, in Shanghai, Chen Qimei ordered that Chiang Kai-shek attack the Gaochang-miao Weapons Depot which was guarded by Yuan Shi-kai's 1300 navy soldiers under Zheng Rucheng. Chiang Kai-shek attacked Gaochang-miao for few days in vain, and then rerouted towards Songjiang and attacked it in vain, either. Li Dongfang's "Complete Biography of Chiang Kai-shek" claimed that Chiang's mother had sold properties for providing financial support to Chiang Kai-shek, Niu Yongjian & Chen Qimei.

Second Revolution ended with the defeat of Li Liejun by Yuan Shi-kai's army and the loss of Nanchang in Jiangxi Prov on Aug 18th of 1913. In Anhui Prov, Yuan Shi-kai's crony, Ni Sichong, took over governor-general post on Aug 28th of 1913. In Jiangsu Prov, Zhang Xun sacked Nanking. In Shanghai area, Yuan Shi-kai conferred the post of "zhen shou shi" (i.e., garrison commissary) of Shanghai onto Zheng Rucheng, "zhen shou shi" of Songjiang onto Yang Shande, and governor-general of Fujian Prov onto Liu Guanxiong. In Guangdong Prov, Long Jiguang assumed governor-general post and Chen Jiongming fled on August 5th. In Sichuan Prov, Xiong Kewu declared independence on Aug 9th but resigned within one month. In Hunan Prov, Li Yuanhong recommended Tang Xiangming (Tang Hualong's brother) to Yuan Shi-kai for the governor-general post to have Tan Yankai and Zhao Hengti replaced on Oct 24th of 1913.

After the failure of the Second Revolution, Chiang Kai-shek & Zhang Qun left for Japan. Zhang Qun re-entered Japan's cadet in Tokyo to become the 10th session graduate in 1915. It was through Chen Qimei that Chiang Kai-shek first met Sun Yat-sen in early 1914. (Li Ao did list two speeches by Chiang Kai-shek to validate the timing of the first possible encounter between Chiang Kai-shek and Sun Yat-sen to be in Shanghai sometime in 1913. Before that, Chiang Kai-shek, for sake of elevating himself to the rank of Sun Yat-sen, made himself a sworn brother with both Zhang Jingjiang and Chen Qimei. Zhang Jingjiang [Chang Ching-chiang], in 1909, gained Sun Yat-sen's confidence by donating half of his Paris assets during the anti-Manchu revolutionary time period.)

On July 8th of 1914, in Japan, Sun Yat-sen re-organized his party into Chinese Revolutionary Party. Chen Qimei was the first to press his fingerprints on the personal allegiance form while some other revolutionaries were turned away by Sun Yat-sen's stringent demand. Chiang Kai-shek was No. 102 on the roll among 741 members who had registered from Dec 1913 to July 1914. Chiang was dispatched back to Shanghai for organizing rebellions. After Shanghai rebellion aborted, Chiang was sent to Manchuria for checking out the revolutionary movement, which turned out to be a scam by someone for obtaining revolutionary funding per Ding Zhongjiang. In Oct of 1915, Chen Qimei regrouped his forces for a rebellion. On Nov 10th, Zheng Rucheng was assassinated by Chen Qimei's men. On Dec 5th, uprising aborted when only one warship, Zhaohe-jian, echoed the rebels on the Huangpujiang River. Chen Qimei and Chiang Kai-shek slipped away when they heard Chen Guofu intentionally argued with French police downstairs. Chen Jieru memoirs claimed that Chiang Kai-shek believed that this aborted rebellion had helped propel the nationwide struggles against Yuan Shi-kai's imperial enthronement. Zhang Qun accepted a teaching job at Batavia in 1915 for making a living and would not return to China till Yuan Shi-kai's death the next year. Zhang Qun termed the struggle against Yuan Shi-kai imperial enthronement as the "Third Revolution". On March 22nd 1916, Yuan Shi-kai abandoned his emperor's title after about 81 days' enthronement. In April 1916, Chiang Kai-shek and Yang Hu went to join a rebellion in Jiangyin Battery of Jiangsu Prov. But on May 18th 1916, Chen Qimei was assassinated by Yuan Shi-kai's cronies after a setup by Li Haiqiu in luring Chen Qimei into a trap by means of asking Chen act as a guarantor of a mining enterprise in exchange for funding the revolutionary movement. Further details could be seen at "Struggles Against Yuan Shi-kai's Imperial Enthronement by Chinese Revolutionary Party".

After 1916, Chiang Kai-shek's intermediate career was shrouded in mystery and notoriety. Chiang was depicted as quite decadent, anything you could imagine what a Shanghai Bund rascal, speculator or broker would be. Chen Jieru memoirs claimed that Chiang Kai-shek had become decadent as a result of the death of Chen Qimei. Chen Jieru memoirs stated that Chiang Kai-shek, from 1917 to 1920, was "unemployed" in Shanghai; however, editor of the memoirs corrected this statement in pointing out that it did not conform with some historical writings. Zhang Qun claimed that he and Chiang Kai-shek served Sun Yat-sen as attaché inside of Sun Yat-sen's "grand marshal office" which was established on Aug 31st 1917 after Cheng Biguang's Navy escorted Sun Yat-sen to Canton from Shanghai. Available evidence would be a "grand marshal" entourage photo taken on March 3rd 1918, with Chiang Kai-shek inside. Chiang, from 1918 onward, had served Sun Yat-sen on and off. From March 1918 to June 1922, Chiang had been in active duty for one and half years, and participated in one real war, i.e., the Battle of Yongtai. In 1920, Chiang Kai-shek joined Zhang Jingjiang, Dai Jitao and Chen Guofu in trading stocks on Shanghai Bund, and declined Sun Yat-sen's invitations numerous times. Li Ao, after spending over two days sorting through Chiang Kai-shek's traces, pointed out that Chiang Kai-shek, for 14 times, from 7/31/1918 to 2/21/1924, had either quit the jobs or deserted the posts or resigned his work, with the first occurrence being 7/31/1918 quitting the "tactician" job under Chen Jiongming [after four month service] and the last occurrence being 2/21/1924 quitting the Whampoa academy preparatory committee due to Sun Yat-sen's plan [?] in assigning the "principal" job onto Xu Chongzhi.

To gain an glimpse of Chiang Kai-shek's past, one would have to rely upon "Chie Jieru's Memoirs", a book that was published in a different name entitled "I Had Been Chiang Kai-shek's Wife For Seven Years" (Solidarity Publishing House, July 2002, Peking, China, ISBN 7-80130-593-0). On the Shanghai Bund, Chiang Kai-shek, per Harold Isaacs, "came into contact with Yu Ya-ch'ing, then already a powerful comprador, and Chang Ching-chiang, a millionaire banker and dealer in bean curd and curios. Chiang also associated with Huang Ching-yung, one of Shanghai's notorious underworld leaders, and is generally believed to have become a member at this time of the most powerful secret society in Shanghai, known as the Green Circle ['qing bang']. Gangsters, bankers, military men, murderers, thieves, smugglers, and brothel-keepers helped draw the original lines of the portrait the world was to come to recognize as Chiang Kai-shek." Chiang Kai-shek, who went into financial entanglements with powerful richmen, would later be bailed out by those tutors or sponsors, to be shipped to Canton for service under Sun Yat-sen. Recent revelation of Chiang Kai-shek's private diaries, purportedly written during the Shanghai Bund time period, had quite some pages about his abortive fights against lust and sex. It is extremely difficult to make a linkage of this kind of decadent Chiang Kai-shek to a later political figure who instructed his elder son as to diligent studies of ancient Chinese classics (such as "shuo wen jie zi") in the private aspect and commanded the Whampoa Cadet Army in the public aspect. In 1927, Chiang Kai-shek forced Chen Jieru into a trip to USA for sake of marrying Song Meiling. Chen Jieru received warm welcome from governor of Hawaii and Chinese compatriots in US in almost all cities, but was denied assistance by China's diplomatic legation. After return to China, Chen Jieru spent her time in Shanghai till she fled to Chongqing in the aftermath of the Pacific War. Chen Jieru, in 1961, under the arrangement of CCP leader Zhou Enlai, migrated to HK where she authored the memoirs that was sold out by her dealer to Chiang Kai-shek's cronies. There could be a communist red hand in the publication of Chen Jieru's memoirs.

http://www.republicanchina.org/tragedy.html