Ep. 288 | China’s Himmler, Dai Li (Part 2)
The tale of Dai Li continues beginning with the passing of Sun Yat-sen in March 1926 and the rise of Chiang Kai-shek. The dreaded Blue Shirts are introduced along with Dai Li's rise up the ladder hanging on the coattails of Chiang.
He demonstrates his undying loyalty to the Generalissimo during the Xian Incident and sets up the organization that made him famous, the innocuous-sounding Bureau of Investigation and Statistics, a.k.a. The Juntong. We finish off the episode with Dai uncovering a devastating Communist-led spy ring operating inside the sanctum sanctorum of his organization.
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Terms in Episode
| Pinyin/Term | Chinese | English/Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Dài Lì | 戴笠 | 1897-1946, KMT spymaster, a.k.a. Chiang Kai-shek's Sabre, headed the Nationalist government's secret police and spy organizations |
| Wáng Yàqiáo | 王亚樵 | 1887-1936, Shanghai gangster, leader of the Anhui Gang and famed assassin |
| Dù Yuèshēng | 杜月笙 | 1888-1951, also known as Big Eared Du, Chinese mob boss and hardcore Chiang Kai-shek supporter |
| Jiāngshān | 江山 | Southern Zhejiang city where Dai Li was born |
| Máo Rénfèng | 毛人凤 | 1898-1956, Nationalist general and spymaster who (as we'll see in Part 3) succeeded Dai Li as head of the KMT spy agency |
| Lányīshè | 藍衣社 | The Blue Shirts Society, a secret ultra-nationalist society who worked alongside KMT secret police to supress anti nationalist elements across Chinese society |
| Jiǔ Yī Bā | 九一八 | The Mukden Incident of 9-18-1931, a false flag event staged by the Japanese military to be used as an excuse to invade and take over Manchuria |
| Běiyáng Clique | 北洋军 | A clique that gerew up around the Beiyang Army that was headed by a variety of warlords |
| Hú Hànmín | 胡汉民 | 1879-1936, major early KMT figure and leader |
| Wāng Jīngwèi | 汪精卫 | 1883-1944, another major KMT leader and major political rival to Chiang Kai-shek |
| Chén Lìfū | 陈立夫 | 1900-2001, brother of Chen Guofu, KMT politician, later headed up the Investigation Section of the Organization Department of the KMT |
| Zhāng Xuéliáng | 张学良 | 1901-2001, son of Zhang Zuolin, also referred to as The Young Marshall, led the Fengtian Clique after his father's assasination. One of the chief conspirators of the Xian Incident in December 1936 |
| Yáng Hǔchéng | 楊虎城 | 1893-1949, warlord and KMT military figure as well as a co-conspirator involved in the Xian Incident. |
| Xīān | 西安 | Capital of Shaanxi Province |
| Zhongshan Warship Incident | 中山舰事件 | The Canton Coup of 20 March 1926, also known as the Zhongshan Incident or the March 20th Incident, was a purge of Communist elements of the Nationalist army in Guangzhou |
| Jiāngxī | 江西 | Province in eastern China |
| Sòng Měilíng | 宋美龄 | 1898-2003, wife of Chiang Kai-shek and sister to Song Ailing, Song Qingling and TV Song |
| T.V. Sòng | 宋子文 | Known as Soong Tse-vung, 1894-1971, a major figure in Nationalist China politics |
| Chóngqìng | 重庆 | Formerly part of Sichuan, now a municipality reporting directly to Beijing. Also known as Chungking, it served as the wartime capital of China during the Sino-Japanese War |
| Jūntǒng | 军统 | The National Bureau of Investigation and Statistics (Military Commission),(NBIS or BIS) (Chinese: 國民政府軍事委員會調查統計局; pinyin: Guómín zhèngfǔ jūnshì wěiyuánhuì diàochá tǒngjìjú),commonly known as Juntong |
| Xú Ēnzēng | 徐恩曾 | 1896-1985, worked alongside the Brothers Chen (Guofu and Lifu) as well as Dai Li |
| Zhōng Tǒng | 中统 | The Central Bureau of Investigation and Statistics (CBIS) Chinese: 中國國民黨中央執行委員會調查統計局 (Zhōngguó Guómíndǎng Zhōngyāng Zhíxíng Wěiyuánhuì Diàochá Tǒngjì Jú),an intelligence unit under the Central Executive Committee of the Kuomintang. |
| Gù Shùnzhāng | 顾顺章 | 1903-1934, major CCP figure in the 1920's |
| Yán Bǎoháng | 阎宝航 | 1895-1968, former KMT member who defected to the Communists and served as a spy inside the halls of power in Chongqing. His son was Yan Mingfu |
| Zhāng Lùpíng | 张露萍 | 1921-1945, a young spy who operated inside the Juntong for several years alongside others |
| Yán’ān | 延安 | City in northern Shaanxi where Mao setup his revolutionary base during the 1930's and 40's |
| Yán Míngfù | 阎明复 | Born 1931, son of Yan Baohang, later became a official in the CCP's United Front and other departments, survived a major dressing down after his failure to crack down on the Tiananmen protestors |
| Yè Jiànyīng | 叶剑英 | 1897-1986, one of the PLA's Ten Marshals, one of the major military and politicalk figures of early PRC history |
| Kāng Shēng | 康生 | 1898-1975, Communist official best known for having overseen the work of the CPC's internal security and intelligence apparatus during the early 1940s and again at the height of the Cultural Revolution |
| Chén Guǒfū | 陈果夫 | 1892-1951, KMT politician, brother of Chen Lifu, also served in the Nationalist government. CC Clique member |
| H.H. Kǒng | 孔祥熙 | 1881-1967, Chinese financier married to Song Ailing. Also a major KMT politician and official and close comrade of Chiang Kai-shek |
| T.V. Sòng | 宋子文 | Known as Soong Tse-vung, 1894-1971, a major figure in Nationalist China politics |
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