Cai E

Cai E

Cai E or Tsai Ao , born as Cai Genyin , ( Chinese  蔡 鍔  /  蔡 锷 , Pinyin Cài È , W.-G. Ts'ai O ; maiden name 艮 寅 , Gěnyín , Ken-yin ; Zì 松坡 , Sōngpō , Sung- p'o ; * December 18, 1882 in Shaoyang , Hunan ; † November 8, 1916 in Fukuoka , Japan ) was a Chinese military man and warlord . He played an important role in the immediate aftermath of the Xinhai Revolution of 1911.

Life

In 1898 Cai E studied at the Yuelu Academy and continued his military studies in Japan in 1899 . In 1900 he returned to China, where he joined the reform movement of Tang Caichang against the monarchy. After the crackdown, Cai returned to Japan and later joined Tongmenghui , a company founded by Sun Yatsen in Tokyo in 1905 . In 1911 he took part in the Xinhai Revolution , which heralded the end of the millennial monarchy and thus the Chinese imperial dynasties. After the revolution, Cai E commanded an army of the military government in Yunnan as a general .

When in 1915 Yuan Shikai , de facto interim president of the newly established republic, proclaimed himself emperor and founded the Hongxian dynasty (1915-1916), Cai E and Governor Tang Jiyao declared Yunnan's independence.

Cai E and Tang Jiyao launched a campaign to protect the republic from Yunnan and took military action against Yuan Shikai. In Sichuan they defeated Yuan Shikai's 80,000-strong army with only 20,000 soldiers. With the growing support for their military campaign from several provinces and their governors and generals, the revolutionaries were ultimately able to force Yuan Shikai to distance himself from the monarchy and abdicate as emperor and later as president. Yuan Shikai died of kidney failure months later.

After Yuan Shikai's death, Cai E served as Vice President of the Republic and Governor of Sichuan Province. He later traveled back to Japan for medical treatment. He died there shortly after his arrival in November 1916. He was only 33 years old.

Cai E is seen by many as the man and general who might have changed the course of history in China or would have changed it even more if he had not died so early. If his efforts to preserve the republic and the opposition to Yuan Shikai had not been successful, China's history would have taken a very different course today. Although Yuan Shikai's plans to reinstate the monarchy were not supported by many, including many of his own commanders, he nonetheless enjoyed the loyalty of his most important troops in key positions in the country and also had support from abroad. One can therefore assume that Cai E, an idealist, patriot and ambitious supporter of the republic, was possibly the spark that sparked the military resistance.

In Yunnan, Cai E served as an inspiration and role model for a young Zhu De , who would later become one of the best military strategists and generals in modern China and a member and co-creator of the Communist Red Army , which was later renamed the People's Liberation Army of the People's Republic of China Commander in chief he became.

Web links

Commons : Cai E  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

• 陈贤庆 (Chen Xianqing), 民国 军阀 派系 谈 (The Republic of China warlord cliques discussed), 2007 revised edition
• Rulers of China, Cai E.

Note: This article places the family name before the person's first name. This is the usual order in Chinese. Cai is the family name here, Genyin is the first name.