Who's Who in China (3rd edition)/Meng En-yuan

General Meng En-yuan

孟恩遠字曙村

General Meng En-yuan was born at Tientsin, in 1855. In his youth he was very poor and was an ordinary trader. He had no opportunity of receiving any education. He is illiterate and used very often to tell his friends that he only learned four Chinese characters in his life-time, namely Meng, En, Yuan (His name) and Hu (Tiger). Whenever there was any official document for his signature, he simply signed on it the word “Hu." In consequence he has been called by his friends "Hu Chiang-chun" or Tiger General. At the age of about twenty, tired of his un-interesting life, General Meng enlisted himself in the army and well liked his new career. Gradual promotions followed. In a few years he was appointed Commander of a Section of the Patrol Force of Chihli. Later he became Commander of a Company of the Force and finally was promoted to be Commander of the Force. In 1908 General Meng became director of the Kirin Patrol Force, upon the establishment of the Republic, he was appointed Division Commander of the Twenty-Third Division with his headquarters at Kirin. In November 1912 he was given the office of Deputy Military Commissioner Kirin. In June 1914 the Central government awarded, General Meng the rank of Chenan Chiang-chun and ordered him to superintend the military affairs of Kirin. In July 1916 General Meng was appointed Tuchun or military governor of Kirin. In July 1917, when General Chang Hsun's monarchical movement was launched, he was in Peking attending a military conference. By an edict, Emperor Hsun Tung ordered him to be Governor of Kirin. Union the overthrow of Chang Hsun's attempt, he secretly returned to Kirin to resume his old office. Subsequently the Peking government tried to remove General Meng from office. In anticipation of its intention to remove their chief, some of General Meng's followers stationed from Kirin to Changchun declared independence of Peking. General Chang Tso-ling, military governor of Fengtien, mobilized his troops in position to fight them upon the order of the Central government. It was at the time when Peking got itself ready to fight the South and needed all available troops, having no desire to have any dissension in its own camp. The proposal to dismiss General Meng from the Tuchunship of Kirin was finally given up. In 1919 General Meng failed to agree with General Chang Tso-ling, military governor of Fengtien, and also Inspecting Commissioner of the Three Eastern Provinces, over the appointment of a protegee of the latter to be the civil governor of Kirin. As General Chang is virtually higher than General Meng in official rank, he succeeded in having the latter dismissed in July 1919. The compensation for the dismisal was found in his being appointed a Chiangchun with a special title "Hui Wei.” General Meng was awarded the Third Order of Merit in January 1920 and First Class Tashou Chiaho Decoration in October 1920. General Meng has been a resident in Tientsin, interested in many industrial enterprises.