Who's Who in China (3rd edition)/Chu Shao-hsin

Mr. Chu Shao-hsin

朱兆華字黑青

Mr. Chu Shao-hsin was born at Hua Hsien, Kuangtung province, in 1880. In his youth he was educated in the Chinese classics by his father and his uncle who both enjoyed high repute as distinguished writers. In 1896 he attended the prefectural competitive examinations and obtained the literary degree of Hsiu ta'ai or Licentiate. In 1897 he became a lin-sheng or salaried licentiate and was then admitted as a scholar to the Kuang Ya College, Canton, where he became an instructor in literature. From 1903 to 1907 Mr. Chu attended the Imperial University of Peking where he received the literary degree of Chujen or provincial graduate (equivalent to M. A. in western schools). In February 1908 Mr. Chu was sent to America by the board of Education to pursue advanced studies and also to open a Chinese public school in New York City. For three years he studied commerce and finance at New York University and later took post-graduate courses in Political Science and Law at Columbia University where he was graduated in 1911 with the degree of B. S. C. In 1912 he obtained the degree of M. A. Mr. Chu returned to China in December 1912 and at first joined the Government University of Peking, as Professor in Economics. Later he was appointed Secretary and Political Councillor to the President's Office under Yuan Shih-kai. In April 1913 the First Parliament was inaugurated in Peking and Mr. Chu was a Senator representing Chinese Overseas. He served with distinction on the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Senate and was also a member of the Constitutional Drafting Committee which held its sessions in the Temple of Heaven. He was a member of the Kuomingtang party. After the dissolution of Parliamently Yuan Shih-kai in January 1914 he was appointed the Mixed Court magistrate of Kulongsu in Amoy, Fukien province. This position he later resigned to return to Peking to practise law where he was elected by the Peking Lawyers' Association as its vice-president. When the first parliament was reconvoked by President Li Yuan-hung in June 1916 Mr. Chu again served as senator until June 1917 when it was again dissolved. Mr. Chu was then appointed Commissioner of Foreign Affairs for Kiangsu Province. There he came in touch with the late General Feng Kuo-chang, then the Vice-President with headquarters at Nanking. In August 1917 Feng Kuo-chang assumed the Presidency and asked Mr. Chu to join him as English Secretary. Mr. Chu was appointed Consul-General in San Francisco in 1918 and served until February 1921, when he was transferred to the Chinese Legation in London as First Secretary and Councillor. In May 1920 Mr. Chu was awarded the Third Order of Paokuang Chiaho. During the absence of Dr. Wellington Koo, the Minister to London who attended the Assembly of the League of Nations in Geneva and the Washington Conference and then returned to China on leave and subsequently became Minister for Foreign Affairs at Peking. Mr. Chu also acted as Charge d'Affaires to the Court of St. James. In February 1922 Mr. Chu was appointed to represent China on the Opium Advisory Committee, constituted under the League of Nations. In September 1922 he attended the Third Assembly of the League of Nations as China's delegate-substitute. In October 1922 he was awarded the Second Order of Tashou Chiaho. In July 1923, Mr. Chu was given the rank of Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary. He is still Chinese Charge d'Affaires at London