Mao Zuquan

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Mao Zhu-Quan
茅祖权
Personal details
Born1883
Haimen, Jiangsu, Qing China
Died1950
Shanghai, People's Republic of China
Political party Kuomintang
OccupationSecretary-General of the Republic of China,

Justice Minister of the Republic of China,

R.O.C. Presidential National Policy Consultant,

Head of the Jiangsu Civil Administration

Mao Zuquan (Chinese: 茅祖權; 1883–1952)[1] was a Chinese Kuomintang politician of the Republic of China (1912–49), before the Republic of China government relocated to the island of Taiwan in 1949.[2][3][4]

Early life[]

Mao was born during the late Qing dynasty in 1883, in Jiangsu, specifically Haimen, near Shanghai. Brought up by a wealthy land-owning family, he was a well-educated scholar who studied in neighboring Japan as a student during his youth. Shortly after returning to China, he entered politics and quickly gained prominence in Chinese politics.

Political career[]

The early 1900s was a tumultuous period in Chinese history. The 1911 Revolution, also known as the Xinhai Revolution, ended China's last imperial dynasty, the Manchu-led Qing dynasty, and resulted in the establishment of the Republic of China on January 1, 1912.[5] The revolution marked the end of 2,000 years of imperial rule and the beginning of China's early republican era.[6] In Nanjing, revolutionary armies established a provisional coalition government. Mao was one of the founding members of the Kuomintang Party in China following the fall of the Qing dynasty and the formation of the provisional coalition government.

He was later appointed as a member of the Kuomintang National Assembly in 1912. The National Assembly (Chinese: 國民大會; pinyin: Guómín Dàhuì) refers to several major parliamentary bodies that existed in the Republic of China during the early 1900s. He quickly climbed through the ranks and became a prominent individual in the Chinese government and Chinese society; in 1924, he was chosen by China's Kuomintang Central Committee as a candidate for the position of an Executive Committee Member of the Kuomintang.

In his later years, Mao served a number of political positions in the Nationalist Chinese government. He was appointed as the head of the Jiangsu Civil Administration on Mainland China under the rule of the government of the Republic of China. He also served as Nationalist China Secretary of the Official Punishment Committee as well as the Secretary-General to the President of the Republic of China. He also served as the Presidential National Policy Consultant as well as Nationalist Republic of China's first Minister of the Ministry of Justice (Republic of China).[4][3]

Death[]

The Chinese Civil War between Chiang Kai-shek’s Kuomintang forces and Mao Zedong's Chinese Communist Party (CCP) entered its final stage in 1945, following the surrender of Japan.[7]

However, it was clear towards the end of the war that the Communists were to gain control of mainland China. The majority of Mao Zhuquan's family members were able to evacuate to the island of Taiwan during the end of the Civil War during what is now known as "The Great Retreat." The Great Retreat refers to the exodus of the remnants of the Kuomintang-ruled government of the Republic of China to the island of Taiwan (Formosa) in December 1949 toward the end of active battles in the Chinese Civil War. The Kuomintang party members and family of party members, its officers and approximately 2 million troops took part in the retreat, fleeing the advance of the Communist People's Liberation Army.

Mao Zhuquan stayed behind on the mainland, hoping that the political tides would eventually turn, rather than relocate with Chiang Kai-shek and his troops to the island with the rest of his family. However, in 1950, he was arrested by the Communist Party of China while in Shanghai and was subsequently imprisoned for refusing to cooperate with the new government. He was imprisoned for two years until 1952, when he was found dead at the age of 64, in his jail cell as a result of a hunger strike in opposition to the Chinese Communist Party and the leaders of 1950s China .[3][4] He was subsequently buried in an unmarked mass grave in Shanghai, China.

Legacy[]

Many documents and records of the Kuomintang era and Imperial China were destroyed during the Cultural Revolution from 1966 to 1976. However, those that are remaining, including various archives of Mao's writings, his political work, as well as his photos can be found in the Presidential Palace located in Nanjing, Jiangsu, China, which housed the Office of the President of the Republic of China since 1927 until the capital was relocated to Taipei in 1949. The palace now houses a museum called the China Modern History Museum where Mao's work can be found.

His living descendants now reside in Taiwan, China, as well as the United States, in Los Angeles, California and Houston, Texas.

References[]

  1. ^ 《二十世纪中国人物传记资料索引·下篇4》作生于1883年，卒于1952年
  2. ^ 二十世纪中国人物传记资料索引 下篇 4，上海辞书出版社，2010年
  3. ^ a b c 余克礼、朱显龙，中国国民党全书（下），陕西人民出版社，2001年
  4. ^ a b c 茅祖权，NR百科，于2015-02-02查阅
  5. ^ Li Xing. [2010] (2010). The Rise of China and the Capitalist World Order. Ashgate Publishing, Ltd. ISBN 0-7546-7913-6, ISBN 978-0-7546-7913-4. p. 91.
  6. ^ Li, Xiaobing. [2007] (2007). A History of the Modern Chinese Army. University Press of Kentucky. ISBN 0-8131-2438-7, ISBN 978-0-8131-2438-4. pp. 13, 26–27.
  7. ^ Zhànzhēng, Jiefàng. "Civil War 1945-1949".
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