World War II Database

Contributor: C. Peter Chen

ww2dbaseChen Mingshu was born into a Hakka family in Hepu County, Guangdong Province, China in 1889. In 1906, he enrolled in an elementary school associated with the military. He joined the revolution on the side of the rebels in 1911. In 1912, he enrolled in the Baoding Military Academy in Hebei Province, China. In 1913 and again in 1915, due to political reasons, he fled to Japan, where he furthered his studies. In early 1919, he joined the Guangdong forces and as the commanding officer of the 4th Regiment of the 1st Division; in Jun 1919, the division was dissolved, and he took a break from his military career to study Buddhism in Nanjing, China. In 1924, he returned to the Guangdong forces and was named the commanding officer of the 1st Brigade of the 1st Division. When the forces in Guangdong was assimilated into the Nationalist military, he became the commander of the 10th Division of the Chinese 4th Corps; in this role, he saw action in Guangdong and Guangxi provinces, consolidating Nationalist rule in southern China. He participated in the Northern Expedition in 1926. In Mar 1927, he arrived in Nanjing, and in May he was named the deputy head of the political bureau of the Chinese military. In Nov 1927, he was named the commanding officer of the Chinese 11th Division; it was around this time that he began to secretly work with the Communists. By the end of 1930, he had risen to corps level command. During the brief Japanese invasion of China between 1931 and 1932 (the First Battle of Shanghai), as the commanding officer of the 19th Route Army he played an active role in the defense. At about the same time, he also served as the acting head of the Legislative Yuan and the Department of Transportation. Later in 1932, his political ideals had strayed far from the Nationalist norm, thus he resigned his post in Oct and departed for France. In 1933, he returned to China to take a leadership role in the Fujian Rebellion, which was suppressed by the Nationalist military in the following year. He fled to Hong Kong where he would remain active in Chinese politics, including the formation of an anti-Chiang congress in 1948. In Sep 1949, he joined the Communists and served in several positions. He was forced out of power in 1957 during the Anti-Rightist Movement. He passed away in Beijing, China in 1965.

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Chen Mingshu Timeline