Like his new idols Kang and Liang, Chen decided to continue his studies in Japan. There Chen became radicalized, cutting off his Qing-mandated queue, but was soon deported for aggressive behavior towards Qing agents in Japan. Back in China, he briefly joined an anti-Qing assassination squad. Chen soon decided, however, that China’s problems went deeper… Read more »
Deng spent most of his career in the Communist military. While he never gained a reputation as a guerrilla hero, he built strong ties within the party’s military leadership. He commanded troops on the front lines of the Anti-Japanese war in the 1930s and 40s, and served as chief political officer in the Huai-Hai Campaign, which sealed… Read more »
Cracking down on her nephew’s brief reforms, Cixi ordered the executions of reformers like Kang Youwei and Liang Qichao. Kang and Liang escaped to Japan, the first in a line of exiled dissidents. Sun Yat-sen, Chiang Kai-shek, Chen Duxiu, Lu Xun and many other important Chinese reformers would follow in their footsteps, some on the run… Read more »