Yunnan general who launched the National Protection War against Yuan Shikai’s monarchy
From Hunan, he studied under Liang Qichao at the School of Current Affairs and received military training at the Imperial Japanese Army Academy. He joined the Tongmenghui in Guangxi, and in 1910 moved to Yunnan to command the New Army’s 37th Brigade and teach at the Yunnan Military Academy, where Zhu De was a pupil. He rose at Kunming on 30 October 1911 and became military governor of Yunnan, but after Song Jiaoren’s assassination Yuan Shikai removed him and kept him under watch in Beijing. In November 1915 he slipped out of Beijing and returned to Yunnan by way of Japan; on 25 December he declared Yunnan independent with Tang Jiyao and others and led the National Protection Army into Sichuan. After the monarchy collapsed he became governor-general and governor of Sichuan, but died that November in Fukuoka, Japan, where he had gone for treatment of tuberculosis.
Also known as: Tsai Ao · Cai Songpo
Activities and affiliations
-
1910–1911
Qing dynasty state institutionsCommander of the 37th New Army Brigade
Military command -
–1912
Tongmenghui (Chinese United League)
Military command -
1912–1913
Beiyang government and warlordsMilitary governor of Yunnan
Military command -
1915–1916
Beiyang government and warlordsCommander of the National Protection ArmyMain
Military command
Career Timeline
- 1899Went to study in Japan
- 1904–1910Trained officers in Guangxi
- 1910–1911Commander of the 37th New Army Brigade in Yunnan and instructor at the Yunnan Military Academy
- 1911–1913Military governor of Yunnan
- 1913–1915Held under house arrest in Beijing
- 1915–1916Led the National Protection Army in the National Protection War
- 1916Governor-general and governor of Sichuan