Chiang Kai-shek (1887-1975) was born into a salt merchant family in Xikou, a town in the coastal province of Zhejiang.

Chiang studied the classics early in life but never took an imperial examination. Instead, in 1905, Chiang cut off his Manchu-style queue and departed for Japan.

Unlike other Chinese reformers in Japan at the time, Chiang’s goal was to study military strategy and tactics. In Japan, Chiang became acquainted with Sun Yat-sen and his republican Revolutionary Alliance.

A young Chiang Kai-shek