Born October 31, 1887
Qikou, Zhejiang Province, China
Died April 5, 1975
Taipei, Taiwan

President of the Republic of China

Chiang Kai-shek was a longtime leader of China. First, he ruled Mainland China from 1927 to 1949. In 1949, Chinese communist forces defeated Chiang in a civil war. He fled to the island of Taiwan, where he established the Republic of China (ROC). He ruled over Taiwan in a dictatorial fashion into the 1970s.

Young revolutionary

Chiang Kai-shek was born in October 1887 in the village of Qikou, within the coastal Zhejiang Province, about 100 miles (160 kilometers) south of the city of Shanghai. His father, a salt merchant, died when Chiang was nine years old. Chiang's early education was in the Confucian tradition, instilling him with strong self-discipline. Confucianism is an educational system based on the teachings of the early...