Civil Rights
Movements, leaders, victories and the continuing fight for equality.
q2K BHP
Black History Portal
THE BHP WIRE —
HIDDEN TRUTHS
What's New!
Explore the people, places, events, achievements, struggles and stories that shaped our journey.
Movements, leaders, victories and the continuing fight for equality.
Innovation, patents, science, technology and world-changing contributions.
Pioneers, champions, Negro Leagues, records, activism and excellence.
Meet the people whose lives, choices and achievements shaped the journey.
Black towns, communities, institutions and places where history happened.
Moments that changed communities, movements, institutions and the nation.
Katherine Johnson’s mathematical calculations helped guide some of America’s most important early space missions while she confronted the racial and gender barriers faced by Black women in twentieth-century America.
MORE →Reflects the personal views, recollections, and perspective of the author, Mike Davis.
This is a personal recollection on the Move fire on May 13, 1985
Sun Li-jen | |
|---|---|
| 孫立人 | |
 Sun Li-jen | |
| Commander of the Republic of China Army | |
| In office March 1950 – June 1954 | |
| Preceded by | Gu Zhutong |
| Succeeded by | Huang Chieh |
| Personal details | |
| Born | December 8, 1900 Jinniu, Lujiang County, Luzhou Fu, Anhui, Qing China (present-day Lujiang County, Chaohu, Anhui, China) |
| Died | November 19, 1990 (aged 89) Taichung, Taiwan |
| Education | Tsinghua University (BS) Purdue University (BE) Virginia Military Institute (BA) |
| Occupation | Military officer, politician |
Awards | Order of Blue Sky and White Sun Order of the British Empire Several others (see below) |
| Nickname | "Rommel of the East" |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance |  Republic of China |
| Branch/service |  National Revolutionary Army |
Years of service | 1927–1955 |
| Rank |  General |
| Commands | Tax Police Regiment New 38th Division New 1st Army Republic of China Army |
| Battles/wars | |
Sun Li-jen (traditional Chinese: 孫立人; simplified Chinese: 孙立人; pinyin: Sūn Lìrén; art name Chung-neng (仲能; Zhòngnéng); courtesy name Fu-min (撫民; Fǔmín); December 8, 1900 – November 19, 1990)[1] was a Chinese National Revolutionary Army general best known for his leadership in the Second Sino-Japanese War and the Chinese Civil War. His military achievements earned him the laudatory nickname "Rommel of the East".[2] Sun's commands were credited with effectively confronting Japanese troops in the 1937 Battle of Shanghai and in 1943–1944 during the Burma campaign; his New 1st Army was known as the "Best Army under Heaven" (天下第一軍).
A graduate of the Virginia Military Institute, Sun did not have the full confidence of Chiang Kai-shek, possibly because of his foreign military training. He was relieved of battle command in the Chinese Civil War in 1946, and although he was made commander-in-chief in 1950 after the retreat of the Nationalist government to Taiwan, he was given only ceremonial roles. He was charged with conspiracy in 1955 and spent 33 years under virtual house arrest, released only after president Chiang Ching-kuo's death in 1988.
Sun was born in Jinniu (now modern Chaohu), Anhui, with ancestry in Shucheng County in 1900. His father, Sun Xize, was an official in Anhui. During the 1919 May Fourth Movement, he was part of the Scouts in the march at Tiananmen Square. In the same year he married Gong Xitao (龔夕濤) and was admitted in 1920 to Tsinghua University to study civil engineering. Sun played basketball at Tsinghua, becoming a star. He led the Chinese team to a gold medal at the 1921 Far Eastern Championship Games.[3]
With a Boxer Indemnity Scholarship, he transferred to Purdue University in the United States to complete his senior year in 1923, where he graduated in 1924. He briefly interned at Chicago Bridge & Iron Company in Chicago, Illinois as an engineer. Patriotism motivated him to change career and pursue military studies instead. As the Warlord Era was currently ongoing and China could not fully counter foreign influence, Sun decided that he could better serve his divided nation as a soldier rather than an engineer.[citation needed]
Sun entered the Virginia Military Institute in 1926. As he already held a bachelor's degree, he was able to graduate in the class of 1927.[1][4] In 1927 Sun toured Europe and Japan to see the latest military organization and strategic thinking, then returned to China in 1928 and became a corporal in the National Revolutionary Army and the Central Political Institute. He was then given command of the National Salt Gabelle Brigade, organized by Finance Minister T. V. Soong, which he trained the NRA's best trained and equipped troops. Four of the regiments later became the New 38th Division. His training center was located in Duyun, Guizhou.[5]
Sun led his troops fighting the Japanese during the Battle of Shanghai in 1937 and was badly wounded by mine fragments. After recovering, Sun returned to lead his troops at the front. After two years training, Sun's New 38th Division was sent by Chiang Kai-shek into Burma to protect the Burma Road under Zhang Zhen's 66th Army, together with Du Yuming's 5th Army and Gan Lichu's 6th Army as part of the Chinese Expeditionary Force. Sun led the 113th Regiment as part of the 38th Division through difficult terrain to relieve 7,000 British forces trapped by the numerically superior Japanese in the Battle of Yenangyaung. His command included British artillery and 7th Armoured Brigade (United Kingdom) tanks temporarily placed under his command by William Slim. For his successful campaign at Yenangyaung, Sun was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire by King George VI.[6][7]
Although unable to stop the Japanese from cutting the Burma Road, Sun gained the respect of Slim, the commander of the British 14th Army. Sun and his division retreated into India, while those of Du, against Sun's advice, retreated back into China and were badly mauled both by the wilderness and by the Japanese.[5]
Early in 1943, after the successful retreat into India, Sun's division was incorporated in the New First Army, and became a part of 'X Force', the Chinese force under the command of Joseph Stilwell, the American commander of all American and Chinese troops in the China Burma India Theater. The battle discipline of Sun's divisions reaffirmed Stilwell's respect for the Chinese soldier. His troops spearheaded the Burma campaign, Stilwell's 1943 drive to reconquer North Burma and re-establish the land route to China through the Ledo Road. Stilwell considered Sun the most capable Chinese field commander in the entire war. In 1945, at the invitation of American General Dwight D. Eisenhower, Sun toured the battlefields of Europe. He later commanded the New 1st Army to Guangzhou to accept the Japanese surrender in 1945.[8]
The end of the war with Japan did not bring peace to China. Sun's New 1st Army was deployed to Manchuria, where the Soviet armies left the Communist forces in control of strategic areas and the Nationalists could find support only by enlisting local bandits and surrendered Japanese troops. On May 20, 1946, Sun's troops defeated the People's Liberation Army to take a key railroad junction in the Battle of Siping; but only after a month of fighting. PLA general Lin Biao's troops had this saying: "As long as we don't have to fight the New 1st Army, we are not afraid of the Nationalist government's 1 million troops." Sun said that the PLA opposing the Nationalist army was like "flies attacking a tiger," but when the PLA had a growing series of local victories, Chiang Kai-shek's favorite Du Yuming repeatedly accused Sun of insubordination. Chiang sensed that Sun could not get the cooperation of Whampoa educated officers and replaced him with a general whom he considered more loyal. Sun was returned to a command post in Nanjing in July 1947, as the deputy commander-in-chief of the Army and commanding general of the Army Training Command.[8] The American Consul General in Mukden at that time, O. Edmund Clubb, later recalled that because of his American education Sun was regarded as an outsider: "personal loyalty was counted by the Nationalist regime as being more important than competence, and when you establish a standard like that you run into danger."[9]
As the commander of the Army Training Command and deputy commander of the Republic of China Army in 1947, Sun moved one training facility to Taiwan, independent from the ongoing civil war. Sun trained new officers and troops for the Nationalist government, hoping to change the tide of the civil war. The effort was too little, too late in comparison with the massive numbers of troops defeated, but one of the divisions he trained (201st Division of the 80th Army) was sent to Quemoy during the Battle of Guningtou in 1949. It was the front line defense force.[citation needed]
In 1950, Sun was named commander-in-chief of the Republic of China Army, while also serving as commander of the Taiwan Defense Command and of the Army Training Command. Sun was well respected by the Americans, and rumors that the CIA sought a coup to replace Chiang Kai-shek with Sun made Chiang and his son Chiang Ching-kuo eager to remove him from power.[citation needed]
First, Sun was reassigned as the ceremonial chief military adviser to Chiang Kai-shek in June 1954, preventing him from directly controlling any troops. In 1950, Chiang Ching-kuo became director of his father's secret police, a position he held until 1965.[10] Chiang Ching-kuo, educated in the Soviet Union, initiated Soviet style military structure, reorganizing and Sovietizing the officer corps while instituting surveillance. Sun Li-jen, who was educated at the American Virginia Military Institute, opposed this system.[11] On May 25, one of General Sun's subordinates, Lieutenant-Colonel Kuo Ting-liang, was arrested by Chiang Ching-kuo's associate, internal security chief Mao Jen-feng, and tortured into admitting conspiracy with a communist agent. On August 20, 1955, Sun was officially relieved from his duties and put under house arrest. A nine-person committee under Vice-president Chen Cheng was set up to investigate General Sun's involvement in the alleged spy case. The CIA also allegedly wanted to help Sun take control of Taiwan and declare its independence.[10][12] Sun, in addition to being under suspicion of collaborating with the CIA, was also accused of negligence in allowing his subordinate to participate in an alleged revolt involving Communist agents. One source suggests that the "plot" may simply have been a plan to present a petition to Generalissimo Chiang to do away with the army system of political commissars.[8]
More than 300 of Sun's close subordinates were placed under arrest and many more were relieved of their duties. Sun remained under house arrest for more than three decades: his charge was not relieved until March 20, 1988, shortly after the death of Chiang Ching-kuo. Two years later he died of pneumonia and sepsis at home at the age of 89.[13] His funeral was conducted with full military honors and with the presence of the Minister of National Defense and top generals.[citation needed]
In 2001, Sun's reputation was cleared after a government investigation into the purported coup attempt. In January 2011, President Ma Ying-jeou formally apologized to Sun Li-jen's family and Sun's house in Taichung was opened as a memorial hall and museum.[14]
General Sun was survived by his two sons Sun An-ping (孫安平) and Sun Tien-ping (孫天平), two daughters Sun Chung-ping (孫中平) and Sun Tai-ping (孫太平), and sister Sun Pi-jen (孫璧人).[15]
Order of Blue Sky and White Sun (1944/1945)[16]
Fourth Class of the Order of the Sacred Tripod (with Special Cravat) (1947)[16]
Third Class of the Order of the Cloud and Banner (with Yellow Grand Cordon) (1947)[16]
Fourth Class of the Order of the Cloud and Banner (with Special Cravat) (1943)[16]
Order of Loyalty and Diligence (1947)[16]
Medal of the Armed Forces, A-1[16]
Medal of Victory in the War of Resistance (1946)[16]
Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire (United Kingdom, 1943)[17]
Commander of the Legion of Merit (United States, 1948)[18]
Medal of Freedom with silver palm (United States, 1945)[16]
{{cite book}}: |first= has generic name (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link),pp. 165-167| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| People | |
| Other | |
Source: Wikipedia. Article content is retrieved live through the MediaWiki API.
Sun Li-jen (traditional Chinese: 孫立人; simplified Chinese: 孙立人; pinyin: Sūn Lìrén; art name Chung-neng (仲能; Zhòngnéng); courtesy name Fu-min (撫民; Fǔmín); December 8, 1900 – November 19, 1990) was a Chinese National Revolutionary Army general best known for his leadership in the Second Sino-Japanese War and the Chinese Civil War. His military achievements earned him the laudatory nickname "Rommel of the East". Sun's commands were credited with effectively confronting Japanese troops in the 1937 Battle of Shanghai and in 1943–1944 during the Burma campaign; his New 1st Army was known as the "Best Army under Heaven" (天下第一軍). A graduate of the Virginia Military Institute, Sun did not have the full confidence of Chiang Kai-shek, possibly because of his foreign military training. He was relieved of battle command in the Chinese Civil War in 1946, and although he was made commander-in-chief in 1950 after the retreat of the Nationalist government to Taiwan, he was given only ceremonial roles. He was charged with conspiracy in 1955 and spent 33 years under virtual house arrest, released only after president Chiang Ching-kuo's death in 1988.
X Force was the portion of the National Revolutionary Army's Chinese Expeditionary Force that retreated from Burma into British India in 1942. Chiang Kai-shek sent troops into Burma from Yunnan in 1942 to assist the British in holding back the Japanese. These Chinese forces became broken up, and in the retreat out of Burma part of these forces entered India. These were cantoned at Ramgarh Cantonment in the Bihar Province (now in Jharkhand State), brought up to five-Division strength (Chinese New 30th, New 22nd, New 38th, 14th and 50th Divisions), and re-equipped and re-trained by American instructors at British expense. Each of the five divisions had about 15,000 troops, for a total of 75,000 for the whole force. The New 30th and New 38th Divisions formed the New 1st Army which was commanded by Sun Li-Jen. The New 22nd, 14th and 50th Divisions formed the New 6th Army which was commanded by Liao Yaoxiang. They were named X Force and used by General Joseph Stilwell as the spearhead of his drive to open a land route to China (the Ledo Road). The outstanding Chinese commander in X Force was General Sun Li-Jen, who led the Chinese 38th Division and was praised by the British Fourteenth Army Commander General (later Field Marshal) William Slim in his book Defeat into Victory. The Chinese forces which re-entered Burma from Yunnan were correspondingly known as Y Force.
Mao Renfeng (Chinese: 毛人鳳; Wade–Giles: Mao Jên-fêng; 5 January 1898 – 11 December 1956) was a Republic of China general and spymaster who headed the Bureau of Investigation and Statistics (BIS, also known as the Counterintelligence Bureau and, after 1955, the Intelligence Bureau) from 1946 until his death, succeeding his childhood friend Dai Li, who died in a plane crash in 1946. Between 1946 and 1949, his spy agency played a prominent role in the Chinese Civil War. In 1949, he fled to Taiwan with the rest of the Nationalist government, where he died 7 years later. The CIA reported Mao Renfeng and general Tang Enbo, among other loyalists of Chiang Kai-shek, to have convened with the Generalissimo in Kaohsiung on 20 June 1949. More than two years later, a report was furnished to the CIA with the following content: 1. Chiang Ching-kuo's Political Department and Mao Renfeng's Secrets Bureau are engaged in a bitter struggle for supremacy. 2. The Political Department is now the most powerful organization on Taiwan since it has most of the funds and experienced men from the former Dai Li Organization, Secrets Bureau, San Min Chu I [Youth Corps], and Youth Army. The Department has been successful in propaganda and intelligence work on Taiwan, but its intelligence service in Communist China is weak. 3. The Secrets Bureau, weakened by the loss of men to the Political Department, is attempting to use its guerrilla force to build up a third force in order to break the Chiang family's control of the government. In an attempt to overthrow Chiang Ching-kuo, again Mao Renfeng and Mao Sen are working together secretly in an effort to secure U.S. backing for a third force. With such backing, the Secrets Bureau hopes to regain its prestige. Colonel Li Long is acting as liaison between the Maos. 4. While Madame Chiang appears to be backing Mao Renfeng in his guerrilla activities, it is not likely that she is aware of his actions relative to a third force. 5. Mao Renfeng is a bitter enemy of Chiang Ching-kuo and takes every opportunity to denounce him to the Americans. He is quoted as having said that if Chiang Ching-kuo controls Taiwan for 30 years, it will be like the USSR. In addition, the Secrets Bureau is trying to use political pressure to cut down Chiang Wei-kuo's Armored Force. It is backing a plan to distribute armored force units throughout the Army so that they will be controlled by the Army and not by Chiang Wei-kuo. At present, Chiang often ignores important orders from Army Headquarters. 6. According to many Nationalist officials, the Secrets Bureau is deliberately promoting friction between the two leading factions in the Army. These factions are led by Chiang Wei-kuo and Sun Liren. Beginning on 25 May 1955, Mao's BIS secret agents, in conjunction with political warfare officers and military police, began arresting and torturing the subordinates of General Sun Li-jen for being pro-American in an alleged coup against Chiang Kai-shek's regime, for collaborating with the Central Intelligence Agency to take control of Taiwan, and for declaring Taiwanese independence; by October, more than 300 officers had been arrested and detained by the BIS and the Taiwan Garrison Command on charges of high treason for conspiring with Communist spies to stage a coup. General Sun was also placed under house arrest for 33 years until 20 March 1988, which was one of the cases of political persecution in the history of the White Terror. His son, Robert Yu-Lang Mao, is currently chairman of Hewlett-Packard China.
The term Tsinghua clique refers to a group of Chinese Communist Party (CCP) politicians that have graduated or have taught at Tsinghua University (Chinese: 清华大学; pinyin: Qīnghuá Dàxué). They are members of the fourth generation of Chinese leadership, and are purported to hold powerful reformist ideas (a number have studied in the United States following graduation from Tsinghua, and some are said to be influenced by the reform ideals of Hu Yaobang). Just like their predecessors, they attach great importance to socialism with Chinese characteristics. Their ascendance to power is likely to have begun in 2008 at the CCP's 17th National Congress. Many Tsinghua graduates rise to political prominence. Among the 7 standing committees at the Politburo, there is one Tsinghua graduate; among the 25 Politburo committee members, there are three. Key figures are reported to currently include: Xi Jinping Wang Qishan Chen Xi Li Xi Hu Heping Chen Jining Zhang Guoqing Yang Yue Retired or deceased: Zhang Dongsun Zhang Junmai Luo Longji Fei Xiaotong Pan Guangdan Qian Weichang Peng Peiyun Kang Shien Wu Guanzheng Hu Qili Huang Ju Yao Yilin Song Ping Li Ximing Wang Hanbin Zhou Guangzhao Zheng Tianxiang Zhu Rongji Hu Jintao Wu Bangguo, although he is generally considered more loyal to Jiang Zemin's Shanghai clique Lin Wenyi, chairman of the Taiwan Democratic Self-Government League Liu Yandong The Tsinghua clique also referred to a group of Nationalist Chinese politicians who held high power in the Republic of China government and fled to Taiwan with the government during the Chinese Civil War. All of them are deceased: Yeh Kung-chao Yu Guohua Yen Zhenxing Mei Yi-chi Luo Jialun Hu Shih Sun Li-jen
Before the 1921 destruction of Tulsa’s Greenwood District, Black residents had created a remarkable center of business and community life. The district included stores, professional offices, entertainment venues and homes owned by Black citizens. Understanding Greenwood means learning what was built—not only what was burned.
MORE →Brown v. Board of Education in 1954.
