Who's Who in China (3rd edition)/Ch'e Ch'ing-yun

General Che Ch'ing-yun
車慶雲字瑞峯

General Ch'e Ch'ing-yun was born at Ching Chow, Chihli, in 1881, and was a member of a well-known family. He received a thorough education in Chinese in his youth. The defeat of China suffered in the Sino-Japanese War in 1895, led General Ch'e to realize the importance of military improvement in China and then he determined to make himself a soldier. Two years later Yuan Shih-kai started to train troops at Hsiao-Chan, the birth place of the Peiyang Army, General Ch'e was enlisted in the engineering regiment where he subsequently gained the knowledge of gunnery and surveying. His graduation fell in the year of the Boxer Rising (1900. He was detailed to report on the condition and operation of the Allied Troops. Following the signing of the Protocol, the allied Troops were all withdrawn with the exception of the Russian forces which still occupied Port Arthur and the Chinese Eastern Railway. To report on the condition and action of the Russians, General Ch'e was sent by the government to Siberia three times as a secret service agent. He travelled over the upper reach of the Amur River and visited the important cities east of Ural Mountains. Upon the outbreak of the Russo-Japanese War, General Ch'e returned to China and wrote a book on the military strength of Russia for the information of his own government. For three years during the War, General Ch'e was with the Russian troops along the Yalu River and gained much experience in modern warfare. After the close of the War, he entered the Military Officers Academy and remained there until graduation. He finally became Commander-in-Chief of Defence at Chingkiangpu, Kiangsu. After the establishment of the Republic, President Yuan Shih-kai appointed General Ch'e Commander of the 37th Brigade, with headquarters at Kiang pei, where he rendered service in the suppression of banditry. In the winter of 1912, General Ch'e was made a Brigadier General and appointed High Advisor to the Military Governor, of Kiangsu. In the autumn of 1913, he was appointed director of the Nanking Mint, acting concurrently as the Defence Commissioner of Wuhu. Subsequently he joined General Chang Hsun as Chief of Staff, but retired soon after. In the spring of 1918, General Ch'e was appointed Military Advisor to the Tuchun of Heilungkiang and Commander of the Chinese Eastern Railway guards. In the autumn of 1919, he was transferred to the capital of Heilungkiang to become Chief of the Provincial Police Administration and also Chief of the Tsitsihar Port Police. In 1920 he was called to Peking and became a Junior Member of the Chiang Chun Fu, and Military Advisor to both the High Inspector General of Chihli, Shantung and Honan, and that of Hunan and Hupei. In the autumn of 1921, he was appointed Commander-in-Chief of the Emergency Forces of Shensi and also Director-General of the Opium Suppression Bureau. In 1922, General Ch'e Was appointed Provost Marshal of the Metropolis of Peking. In January 1924 he was given the brevet rank of Full General.