Who's Who in China (3rd edition)/Wen Shih-lin

Mr. Wen Shih-lin

溫世霖学支英

Mr. Wen Shih-lin was born at Tientsin, Chihli Province, in 1871. He entered the Peiyang Naval Pilot School in 1886. Owing to bodily weakness, he left the school before graduation. In the following years Mr. Wen devoted himself to educational and social works. In 1990 he founded one boy school and one girl school at Tientsin; two daily papers; one middle school for girls; vocational school; one girls' oratory club; one kindergarten; and several lecture halls. Subsequently Mr. Wen organized the Chihli Self Government Discussion Institution; Association for the Study of Constitutional Form of Government; Industrial Union; Union for the Advocation of Opening of Parliament. Mr. Wen played an important part in the movement of urging the Ching government to adopt parliamental system. He was a Member of the Tientsin Chapter of the Movement and also Chihli Representative of the Peoples' Delegation to demand of the Peking government to convoke parliament. In 1910, when the people of the whole country for the fourth time sent a delegation to Peking asking for early convocation of parliament, Mr. Wen was among the delegates in the capacity of the President of the Students' Association of the whole country. In the winter 1910-1911, Mr. Wen sent a circular telegram to the students of the whole country calling a general strike as a protest against the Peking government refusing to effect immediate convocation of parliament. He was at once arrested by the order of Viceroy of Chihli and was subsequently banished to Sinkiang Province. Mr. Wen arrived at Sinkiang in the summer of 1911. There he advocated the development of industry and organized Colonization Union. His action aroused the suspicion of the Sinkiang Provincial authorities who petitioned the Peking government to have him banished to Tibet. No sooner than Mr. Wen was about to be despatched to Tibet, the First Revolution broke out at Wuchang-October 1911. At once Mr. Wen got up a number of young patriots and declared independence at the place of his banishment. But his efforts failed and he had a narrow flight from the hands of the authorities. Mr. Wen escaping from Sinkiang returned to Tientsin by way of Siberia. Upon reaching Tients. n, he became Chief of the Department of Communications of the Tientsin-Peking-Paoting Section of the Tung Meng Hui, the Revolutionary Union. Mr. Wen was elected Member of the Lower House of the First Parliament which was convoked in April 1913 and dissolved by Yuan Shih-kai in January 1914. Before the dissolution the Kuo Ming Tang was proscribed as a seditious party and its members in the Parliament were ousted. Mr. Wen being a prominent inember of this Party fled first to Shantung where his movements were closely watched by the Provincial authorities and then to Shanghai. In the following two years, prior to the death of Yuan Shih-kai in June 1916, Mr. Wen took part in the revolts against Yuan Shih-kai. Then he was in close association with Tang Shao-i, Ku Chung-hsiu and Sun Hung-i. The First Parliament was reconvoked shortly after Yuan's death. Mr. Wen as member of the Parliament and took interest in political parties. A paity called the Ming Yu Hui was organized with Sun Yat-sen, Chang Tai-yen and Sun Hung-i as Executive Directors and he himself elected an Chief Administrative Member. In June 1917 the Parliament was for the second time dissolved. Mr. Wen who was considered a strong anti-government member had to take flight again. His efforts to influence the military leaders in the Lower Yangtze to raise opposition against the dominant faction in the north did not meet with success. Subsequently he went to Canton and joined the New government there which had just been established to uphold the Provisional Constitution. Both in the Chihli-Anfu War in 1920 and the Chihli-Fengtien War in 1922, Mr. Wen played part as advisor to the Chihli leaders. In August 1922 the First Parliament was reconvoked in Peking. Mr. Wen became a Member of the House again. He was given the Second Class Tashou Chiaho in October 1922 and the First Class Tashou Chiaho in January 1923. Mr. Wen is at present Leader of the Chuan Ming a political party most of whose members are old members of the Tang Ming Hui and the Ming Yu Hui.