Zhou Ziqi
Encyclopedia
Qing Dynasty
The Qing Dynasty was the last dynasty of China, ruling from 1644 to 1912 with a brief, abortive restoration in 1917. It was preceded by the Ming Dynasty and followed by the Republic of China....
and early republican period
History of the Republic of China
The History of the Republic of China begins after the Qing Dynasty in 1912, when the formation of the Republic of China put an end to over two thousand years of Imperial rule. The Qing Dynasty, also known as the Manchu Dynasty, ruled from 1644 to 1912...
. He was a member of the Communications Clique
Communications Clique
The Communications Clique was a powerful interest group of politicians, bureaucrats, technocrats, businessmen, engineers, and labour unionists in China's Beiyang government . It is also known as the Cantonese Clique because many of its leaders hail from Guangdong...
.
Biography
He was born in GuangzhouGuangzhou
Guangzhou , known historically as Canton or Kwangchow, is the capital and largest city of the Guangdong province in the People's Republic of China. Located in southern China on the Pearl River, about north-northwest of Hong Kong, Guangzhou is a key national transportation hub and trading port...
and spoke both Cantonese and Mandarin but he later moved back to his ancestral province of Shandong
Shandong
' is a Province located on the eastern coast of the People's Republic of China. Shandong has played a major role in Chinese history from the beginning of Chinese civilization along the lower reaches of the Yellow River and served as a pivotal cultural and religious site for Taoism, Chinese...
. He received higher education in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
at Columbia University
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
. Upon returning to China, he founded Tsinghua University
Tsinghua University
Tsinghua University , colloquially known in Chinese as Qinghua, is a university in Beijing, China. The school is one of the nine universities of the C9 League. It was established in 1911 under the name "Tsinghua Xuetang" or "Tsinghua College" and was renamed the "Tsinghua School" one year later...
for the purpose of preparing students (in English and science and math) to study in America, while he was in charge of sending students to study in America. He also served as president of the university in 1911.
As the governor of Shandong Province, he supported Yuan Shikai
Yuan Shikai
Yuan Shikai was an important Chinese general and politician famous for his influence during the late Qing Dynasty, his role in the events leading up to the abdication of the last Qing Emperor of China, his autocratic rule as the second President of the Republic of China , and his short-lived...
to reverse China from a (people-governing) republic to an empire (monarch) because he believed that the Chinese people, with 98% illiteracy, were not ready to govern themselves. They could only be manipulated by politicians and bring instability and chaos to the country. He later held the following positions: President of Bank of China, Minister of Communication, Minister of Military, Minister of Finance, Minister of Agriculture and Commerce, and the Inspector General of Salt.
He helped leak information about Twenty-One Demands
Twenty-One Demands
The ' were a set of demands made by the Empire of Japan under Prime Minister Ōkuma Shigenobu sent to the nominal government of the Republic of China on January 18, 1915, resulting in two treaties with Japan on May 25, 1915.- Background :...
of the Empire of Japan
Empire of Japan
The Empire of Japan is the name of the state of Japan that existed from the Meiji Restoration on 3 January 1868 to the enactment of the post-World War II Constitution of...
to the media. Zhou may have invited Columbia University political scientist Frank Johnson Goodnow
Frank Johnson Goodnow
Frank Johnson Goodnow, Ph.D., LL.B. was an American educator and legal scholar, born in Brooklyn, New York.-Personal life:...
to justify monarchism for China.
During Yuan's monarchic attempt, he was sent to Japan as a special envoy. The Japanese government under Okuma Shigenobu
Okuma Shigenobu
Marquis ; was a statesman in the Empire of Japan and the 8th and 17th Prime Minister of Japan...
rejected him and he returned to tell Yuan that his government lost foreign support. In 1916, Zhou fled to Japan after President Li Yuanhong
Li Yuanhong
Li Yuanhong was a Chinese general and political figure during the Qing dynasty and the republican era. He was twice president of the Republic of China.- Early history :...
ordered the arrest of Yuan's eight top monarchists. He returned to China after the charges were dropped in February 1918.
1915 He initiated a National Day for Planting Trees, which is carried on until this day in Taiwan (they only changed the day he designated from Qingming to the date of death of Dr. Sun Yat-Sen, March 12);
1916 He was wanted as the "traitor of the Republic" for supporting Yuan Shikai's manarch and took asylum in Japan;
1918 He was pardoned by President Feng Guozhang
1920 He was appointed as the Minister of Finance
As Xu Shichang's finance minister, he lost in a power struggle against Premier Jin Yunpeng
Jin Yunpeng
Jin Yunpeng was a Chinese General and politician of the Warlord Era of the Republic of China. He served as both Minister of War and then Premier of China several times....
in 1921 and was compelled to resign. Seeking revenge, he convinced Zhang Zuolin
Zhang Zuolin
Zhang Zuolin was the warlord of Manchuria from 1916 to 1928 . He successfully invaded China proper in October 1924 in the Second Zhili-Fengtian War. He gained control of Peking, including China's internationally recognized government, in April 1926...
to replace Jin with Liang Shiyi
Liang Shiyi
Liang Shiyi was premier of China's Beiyang government from 1921 to 1922.-Biography:Liang Shiyi was born in Sanshui, Guangdong in 1869. In the Qing dynasty, he was put in charge of railways, the most profitable ministry of the government. This allowed him to create the influential Communications...
, the head of the civilian Communications Clique
Communications Clique
The Communications Clique was a powerful interest group of politicians, bureaucrats, technocrats, businessmen, engineers, and labour unionists in China's Beiyang government . It is also known as the Cantonese Clique because many of its leaders hail from Guangdong...
. He later served as acting premier and acting president
President of the Republic of China
The President of the Republic of China is the head of state and commander-in-chief of the Republic of China . The Republic of China was founded on January 1, 1912, to govern all of China...
briefly in 1922 after Xu resigned. His presidency, the shortest in Chinese history, was interim as the Zhili clique tried to woo Li Yuanhong
Li Yuanhong
Li Yuanhong was a Chinese general and political figure during the Qing dynasty and the republican era. He was twice president of the Republic of China.- Early history :...
back into office. Complaining of Zhili interference, he left for the US to study film-making and returned to China to start a studio. He died the following year.
His surviving wife was beheaded by Red Guards
Red Guards
-Communist groups:*Red Guards , during the Finnish Civil War*Red Guards , during the Russian Revolution of 1917 and the Russian Civil War*Red Guards , in the Bavarian Soviet Republic...
at her Beijing home during the Cultural Revolution
Cultural Revolution
The Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, commonly known as the Cultural Revolution , was a socio-political movement that took place in the People's Republic of China from 1966 through 1976...
. Her fourth daughter was forced to witness the scene and lost her mind.
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