Chen Lifu

In this Chinese name, the family name is Chen.

Chen Lifu
陳立夫
Chen Lifu as pictured in The Most Recent Biographies of Chinese Dignitaries
Minister of Education of the Republic of China
In office January 1938 – December 1944
Preceded by	Wang Shijie
Succeeded by	Zhu Jiahua
Personal details
Born	21 August 1900 Wuxing, Zhejiang, Qing China (present-day Huzhou)
Died	8 February 2001(2001-02-08) (aged 100) Taichung, Taiwan
Nationality	Republic of China
Political party	Kuomintang
Spouse	Sun Lu-ching
Children	4
Relatives	Chen Qimei (uncle) Chen Guofu (brother) Chen Tsu-li(half brother)
Education	Beiyang University (BS) University of Pittsburgh (MS)

Chen Lifu (traditional Chinese: 陳立夫; simplified Chinese: 陈立夫; pinyin: Chén lì-fū; Wade–Giles: Ch'en Li-fu; 21 August 1900 – 8 February 2001) was a politician in the Republic of China. He was a close advisor of Chiang Kai-shek. With his brother Chen Guofu, he led the CC Clique within the Kuomintang.

Life and career

Chen was born in Wuxing, Zhejiang (modern Huzhou) in 1900. His father, Chen Qiye was a Kuomintang politician, and his uncle Chen Qimei was an important revolutionary. In 1925, he formally joined the Kuomintang (KMT) in San Francisco after receiving his master's degree in mining engineering from the University of Pittsburgh.^[1] On 9 January 1926, Chiang Kai-shek hired Chen as his confidential secretary.^[2] In 1927, Chiang appointed Chen to head the Investigation Section of the Organization Department of the KMT^[3] Chen and elder brother Chen Guofu became heads of the Kuomintang's secret service, leading a political faction known as the CC Clique.^[4]

In late 1935, China faced the looming threat of war with Japan, and Chiang decided to send Chen to the Soviet Union to negotiate a treaty of mutual military assistance. However, Chen flew to Berlin in disguise, and while preparing to go on to Moscow, preliminary negotiations broke down and he was recalled.^[5] In the fall of 1936, Chen was Chiang's representative at a series of secret meetings with Chinese Communist Party representative Pan Hannian, where the two sides attempted to negotiate a united front against the Japanese.^[6] This attempt failed, leading to the Xi'an Incident.

In 1938, Chen was again promoted, becoming the minister of education. Chen held this position until 1944.^[7] After the end of the Second Sino-Japanese War, he became vice president of the Legislative Yuan.

Chen went to the United States to support Thomas E. Dewey's campaign in the 1948 United States presidential election, a move that earned the Kuomintang the ire of Harry S. Truman. With the Kuomintang defeat in the Chinese Civil War, Chen went to Taiwan. Under pressure from Chen Cheng and others, he resigned from politics and moved to the United States. He did not return to Taiwan until 1968, 3 years after Chen Cheng's death.^[8]

In Taiwan, Chen served as the vice chairman of the Chinese Cultural Renaissance committee, the chairman of the Confucius-Mencius Society, and the chairman of the China Medical University. He died in Taichung on 8 February 2001 at the age of 100.^[8]

References

1. Ch'en 1994, pp. 16–18.
2. Ch'en 1994, p. 23.
3. Ch'en 1994, p. 65.
4. van de Ven 2003, p. 181.
5. Yang 2020, pp. 62–63.
6. Sheng 1992, p. 158.
7. Ch'en 1994, p. 147.
8. "陳立夫". Chinese Culture University. Retrieved 2025-09-13.

Bibliography

• Ch'en, Li-fu (1994). The storm clouds clear over China, the memoir of Ch'en Li-fu, 1900-1993. Stanford, California: Hoover Press.
• Sheng, Michael (1992). "Mao, Stalin, and the Formation of the Anti-Japanese United Front: 1935-1937". The China Quarterly (129): 149–170.
• van de Ven, Hans (2003). War and Nationalism. New York: Routledge.
• Yang, Kuisong (2020). "Sino-Soviet Diplomacy Under the Threat of War". In Shen, Zhihua (ed.). A Short History of Sino-Soviet Relations, 1917–1991. Translated by Xia, Yafeng. Singapore: Palmgrave Macmillan and Social Sciences Academic Press.