Who's Who in China (3rd edition)/Li Shu-ch'eng

General Li Shu-cheng

李書城学小调

General Li Shu-ch'eng was born at Ch'ien-chiang Hsien, Hupei Province, in 1873 and was a salaried licentiate or Linsheng in the Ching' Dynasty. He received a middle school e lucation in the Ching-Hsin Institute of Learning in Hupei. Later he was sent by Viceory Chang Chih-tung to Japan to obtain a higher education. He first studied in normal college then joined the Military Cadets Academy where he graduated in November 1908. While in Japan General Li became a member of the Tung Ming Hui, the revolutionary organization headed by Dr. Sun Yat-sen. Owing to his intimate relation with Dr. Sun he became a prominent figure with the Tung Ming Hui. Upon his return to China in 1909, General Li was appointed Director of the Military Academy attached to the headquarters of the Kuangsi Army. Subsequently he was transferred to Peking where he received the appoiintment as a Member of the Chun Tzu Fu which is equivalent to the General Staff of the present day. In the autumn of 1911 General Li went south to join the revolution. After the outbreak of the first revolution in October 1911, he became Chief Staff Officer to General Huang Hsing, Commander-in-Chief of Hanyang Defence. In January 1912 Dr. Sun Yat-sen was elected Provisional President in Nanking and General Li accepted the secretaryship to the President. From March to May 1912, General Li was Chief of Staff to General Huang Hsing the Administrator protem in Nanking. After Yuan Shih-kai assumed the presidency in Peking, General Li was made Lieutenant General and subsequently appointed Deputy Chief of the Military Affairs Bureau in the President's office. In 1914 General Li went to America accompanying Huang Hsing. He returned to China in 1916 and at once became Military Advisor to President Li Yuan-hung. In 1917 the Southern Leaders formed a new government in Canton to defend the Provisional Constitution. Many of the southwestern provinces joined in this movement and General Li first served as Director-General for the Defence of Western Hunan and concurrently Commander-in-Chief of the First Constitutional Army of Hupei. In 1919 General Li was appointed by the Canton Militray Government Director-General of the Alien Subjects Repatriation Bureau. In December 1920 the Peking government made General Li a Chiangchun of the College of Marshals. In July 1922 he was appointed Advisor to President Li Yuan-hung. In September 1922 he became a Councillor of the Cabinet which position he is still holding. In October 1922 he was awarded the Second Order of Wenfu.