Mr. Chen Kuo-fu, one of the leaders - of the Kuomintang Party, died at Taipei, Taiwan, on the 25th of August 1951, after having braved the tubercular attacks for close to forty years. In spite of his delicate health, Mr. Chen, during his life-time, never failed to live as normal man - never failed, in fact, to get mixed with people and be ready to give to his country what was the best in him. Indeed he was confined to bed most of the time, but that was, as the general impression went, just something like an afternoon nap. No one did seriously think that he was seriously sick. In appearance he was not only a normal man; he was more than a normal man-firm, energetic, and full of pep. If you should drop in to see him, at a time when it was not forbidden by the doctors, he would receive you warmly and engage you in entertaining talk for long hours so animatedly that you would wonder how a man so affected by tuberculosis could have managed to do it. But he managed it wonderfully, that's the greatness of him. So, not until the last minute was it realized that he could not hold out any longer-not until the last minute would his friends bring themselves to think that he would ultimately succumb. And even at the last minute, it was hoped that he might be able to pull through as he did on previous occasions. No wonder the news of his death should come to most of his friends as a thunderbolt, something unexpected, for it was the belief and hope of all that he could have lived longer, and he should.
"It Matters Not How Long We Live, But How"
Mr. Chen was born in 1892 in Wuhsing, a silk-producing district, adjacent to the famous Tai Lake, in the province of Chekiang. He was given a rigid education in Chinese and proved himself a brilliant scholar at his early age. In his teens he attended military academies, to equip himself well for the great work that was lying ahead of him: His was an epoch-making age. All young men were warmed up for revolution and he, too, did not fail to respond to the call of the time. Inspired by his uncle, General Chen Chi-mei, the hero of the 1911 Revolution of China, and carried away by the revolutionary principles advocated by Dr. Sun Yat-sen, he became downright a full-fledged revolutionist. He never shirked from doing what was right and so more than once he risked his life in the abortive plots and uprisings directed at the overthrowing of the Ching Dynasty. In his twenties he went to Japan to study; he wanted to get fully prepared, so he thought, so that when the day came he might not miss the boat. The day did come and he was duly embarked on the enterprise. The last hurl hit the mark. The Revolution was in a sense, accomplished, though not clean through.
Thoroughness Being His Motto.
After the downfall of the Ching Dynasty, there came a time of restlessness throughout the country. Many warlords rose as the aftermath of the Revolution, each biting off a piece of territory as his sphere of influence, to hold out against the Peking Government, which was pitiably reduced to nothing but a shadow. This state of affairs should not be tolerated, if China was to be prevented from drifting to utter ruin, especially at a time when the Japanese imperialism was looking out for a chance to strike. Mr. Chen and many of his comrades flocked to Canton where a provisional government was formed under the presidency of the late Dr. Sun Yat-sen with a view to unifying the country by peaceful means if possible. When all attempts at pacification turned out fruitless, the only course to take, it was found, was to wipe out all those who stood in the way of peace and unification. Accordingly, the Northern Campaign was initiated and launched in Canton with Generalissimo Chiang, Kai-shek as the Commander-in-Chief and Mr. Chen, as the man in charge of the Party organization. The Expedition, as it was otherwise called, was successfully consummated and in 1928, with the liquidation of the naughty warlords, China was once more unified.
Then the Communist element who had infiltrated the Kuomintang Party began to glow arrogant. Mr. Chen, seeing that they, with a background such as theirs, would eventually threaten the national existence - as they have been doing now, was far-sighted enough to suggest to the Party, as a man responsible for its organization, that steps be taken to root them out before it was too late. His proposal was unanimously accepted by the Party leaders and he was ordered to see to it that it was done thoroughly. In so doing, however, he made quite a number of enemies, and criticisms and blames were centered upon him, justifiably or unjustifiably. The regrettable thing was that even some of his friends turned against him, forgetful, for a moment, of the cause that they were fighting together for. But Mr. Chen was a man of iron will and did not care a farthing. All he knew was to be faithful to his Party and execute its will-nothing else. Thorough ness was his motto.
Since then a lot of water has flowed under the bridges. One after another, our great leaders faded. Now, to the sorrow of all, the turn has fallen upon Mr. Chen, the most valiant combatant of communism. When we come to think of it serenely one of these days, we will feel indebted to him for one thing at least: if such was not done then and there, the odds are, the Communists would have long grasped the control of China and ravaged the country to the bone; or, in other words, they would have been so firmly established in China that it would be absolutely impossible to eliminate them now. With the joining up of the four hundred and fifty millions with the Bolsheviks, say, ten years earlier, sure as hell, the face of the world would have been horribly.
His Political Career
Emerging as a Party Organizer, Mr. Chen began a successful political career extending over twenty-five years. After the establishment of the National Government in Nanking he was made Vice-President of the Control Yuan and concurrently Councilor of the National Government. From that time on he occupied many top posts in succession. As a public servant, was ever intent undoing things to improve the people's livelihood to uplift the standing of the nation. On the level, nothing he undertook was unsubstantial for nothing he thought about or planned for was not substantiated by action. Personal interest never entered into his mind. In his Sick-bed Sketches, he said:
"The ideals of a political leader should not be so exalted as to be vague. An ideal that is saturated with nothing but morality is necessarily vague. Such being the case, it would be very difficult to find out how far he has succeeded in having his ideals realized. Therefore an ideal as such should be given expression in constructive work purporting to ameliorate the people's livelihood."
Guardian of the Hwai River
It was with such constitution of mind that Mr. Chen fell to work-and he tried none but the most difficult piece of work. As Vice-Chairman of the Hwai River Conservancy Commission, an organ under the direct supervision of Generalissimo Chiang, he worked out a long-range plan to divert the water-course of the Hwai River and to harness it to serve the useful purposes of navigation, irrigation and water power development. Since the Yellow River - the most baffling river in China-changed its course, its waters have conveniently found a passage into the Hwai River basin. The latter, being thus over-burdened, was stretched to a breaking point and not infrequently gave way between the Sho Ho and the Hungtze Lake, inundating an area covering several thousand sq. km. Under the constant threat of flood, the" inhabitants along the valley led a miserably uncertain life. This is just the point where Mr. Chen wanted to strike, and he did. Large-scale operations were started according to the plan; numerous dikes were set up; river beds, excavated and stone protection works and locks, constructed-along a frontage stretching about 1,000 km. from Honan down to Anhwei and Kiangsu-to help water emptying into the sea. The project was only suspended during the Sino-Japanese War, but was resumed immediately after the V-J Day with the financial assistance of the UNRRA. But for the destructive force, in the form of the Communists, coming down from the North to cut in short, the program would have been 100% completed, to benefit millions of people in the Hwai River valley. In 1935, it is to be recalled, when Mr. Chen was Governor of Kiangsu, an S 0 S was flashed to him to the effect that the Yellow River had swept away its southern bank at Tungchuan in Shantung. Without losing one minute, Governor Chen commanded a labor force of 120,000 persons to rush up a dike and necessary repairs along the Weishan Lake about one hundred km. in length within twelve days. When the water came tumbling down, it was immediately toned down without being given a chance to play havoc. The Hsuchow section was immunized from the flood. A million lives were saved together with their farmland.
As Governor of Kiangsu
From October in 1933 to the end of 1937 Mr. Chen was Governor of Kiangsu. During that period, he introduced a series of renovation programs, covering rural reconstruction, adjustment of food production and distribution, protective food price control, cooperative movement, educational reforms, economic readjustment, etc. None of these was a mere plan on paper; he put everything into effect according to the schedule. He scribbled in his Sick - Bed Sketches:
"Exalted ideals have to be translated into actions. Only with such ideals as the guiding principles can a political leader expand the sphere of his work and achieve bigger things. Though it sometimes happens that an ideal does not quite agree with the fact and is thus incapable of being easily understood, yet, if given time to ripen, eventually
It will be fully understood and appreciated." Mr. Chen never cared much for an ideal which is not practical or which is inconceivable to the common people. He did not profess that he was a philosopher, but essentially it requires a real philosopher to know that he would not force abstract ideas upon people, including his own philosophy. In point of fact, he was accessible to all. If there is one thing that is inaccessible in him, it is this: he knew the trick of making everything accessible to everybody. Indeed, in such a frame of mind, he would have worked miracles as Governor of Kiangsu, if not stemmed by the Japanese invasion in 1937.
A Faithful follower of the Generalissimo
It goes without saying that Mr. Chen was one of the most faithful followers of Generalissimo Chiang and, a bosom friend of his, too. As a best trusted member of his staff, Mr. Chen was placed in a key position, Chief of the Personnel Division, on the Commission of Military Affairs in Chungking, when the Sino-Japanese War was at its hottest. During that time he was never in good health and more than once, it was reported, he almost collapsed under the pressure of heavy work. However, he executed his duties exactly as he was expected to. In a position like that, one is bound to displease others, for no one can be expected to please everybody. Though well aware that many hated him, he unswervingly stuck to one principle: to obey the orders of the Supreme Commander and to carry out what the law dictated. His conception of the law is:
"It is for the wise to make the law and the less wise to observe it. If the maker does not respect the law he has made or even goes so far as to violate it himself, people would be in a dilemma and finally shake off the yoke altogether. The wise would thus make a fool of himself."
As A Banker and Economist
After the conclusion of the Sino-Japanese War in 1945, Mr. Chen devoted his time and energy to banking and industrial enterprises-all in the name and interest of the Party and the Government. In his capacity as Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Farmers' Bank of China, he expressed his opinions as to the proper conducting of banking business:
"1. A bank as such should have as its aim to serve the community, But not merely to make a profit.
"2. The banking system of a rural country should be planned for the primary purpose of encouraging the agricultural production and adjusting rural economics.
"3. Local autonomy should be backed up by economic stability which the bank activities should help to bring about. So if the local banks are not allowed to exist side by side with the central banking system, the district banks at least should remain to serve as the basic units."
He tried to build up from the bottom. This is, of course, only the plain truth, but no one at that time would care to see that far. No one, I declare, would prefer to look at the large picture. If we had worked in the direction as pointed out by Mr. Chen, keeping the farmers' interest always in mind, as we are doing now in Taiwan, it might be hoped that the Communists would not have been given an opportunity to gnaw at the heart of our rural society. It was the conviction of Mr. Chen that the failure of the Government on the mainland was due more to economic reasons than military.
The Big family?
Because he occupied so many positions of authority and played such great influence over so many fields, his enemies began to call his as one of the "four big families" in China. And the common people, it is to be regretted, blindly echoed and blindly helped to land on him a kick. A big family, as it is understood, is a fabulously rich family and, under that premise, he is supposed to be exceedingly rich. He did not feel the need of explaining things, for fact, he thought, speaks louder than words. It is now all clarified. On his death, it is said, there was only several thousand dollars, Taiwan currency, in the bank to his name. He died literally a poor man. Who ever has seen a "big family" which is financially so weak? Ever since the collapse of the Ching Dynasty, governmental appointments have been looked upon as business propositions. "It's for money that I go a thousand li (about one third of a mile) to be an official," as the common saying goes. The situation has never been much improved. Rarely did anyone who had held very high governmental posts die in recent years, without having behind him a million for his heirs to squander. In his position, Mr. Chen could have become a millionaire, but he did not.
"A Cracked Bowl"
As early as in his twenties Mr. Chen fell victim to T.B. of which he was never. entirely cured. His was long ago stamped as a dead case. It was only a miracle, according to some doctors, that he should be still alive after thirty-five, when his .T.B. had got to the third and the last stage. Indeed he had fits over and over again, but every time he got the upper hand; for he invariably pulled out of it without a scratch. The explanation, if I am permitted to venture one, is that either the doctors have misjudged his case-or there are actually more than three stages to go in a case of consumption. The plain fact is that he managed to live to sixty, and even then, it was believed that he might still hold on, if he could financially afford to move, as some of his friends suggested, to Pei-tou (a hot-springs resort), where the climate might prove to be more congenial to his health. This cannot be a miracle. A friend of mine, a doctor too, has told me that there arc no such things as stages; if T.B. is active and progressing violently, it may immediately reach the third stage; but if it is duly arrested, it is as good as non-existent. In short, there was pooled up a sea of medical opinions, sonic quite unsolicited about his case. But, to Mr. Chen, they meant little, if not nothing at all. He had his own philosophy to direct things. In his famous book From Medicine to Politics, he wrote, " A cracked porcelain bowl serve the longest.” A porcelain bowl, as it is, is certainly so fragile that one has to handle it with extreme care. If, by a slip of the hand, it should be let fall to the ground, it will, more often than not, no longer be good as a bowl. But if by chance a bowl is just a link cracked, the mother would tell her child, "Now, dear, you got to be careful, it's cracked." Chances are, the cracked bowl might still hold together as a bowl and be in service on the table after all the good ones have gone, prematurely, to the rubbish. This is, perhaps, the philosophy that Mr. Chen adopted in keeping himself fit for the crowding political duties he was called upon to perform for the past twenty-five years.
Once, in Chungking, my wife unfortunately got infected with T.B. and we went to Mr. Chen for advice. He said to us after having heard our case: "Tuberculosis is not· always mortal. It all depends upon how you treat it. A T.B. dominated person may even live longer than any others if he knows the trick. Worry and anxiety kills more people than T.B. It's a cracked bowl; of course, but the cracked bowl may serve the longest, take my word upon it. If a cat, for instance, should bounce to the dinner table to steal the fried fish particularly prepared for you, in entire ignorance of your presence as an invalid, and you know just how to remain where and smile at the feat the cat is performing, you have learned the trick." My wife, however, did not learn the trick.
The Thinker
Mr. Chen was in poor health for the best part of his life and he was frequently laid up. It is perhaps because he spent most of his time in bed that he was in a better mood to think. Actually, he thought a lot about everything without, however, getting out of touch with the revolving world. As I have mentioned, all his plans, whether political or economic, or anything, have philosophical backgrounds and he was sage enough to make dreams realistic. In the spring of this year, I met Mr. Chen in Taipei and told him, in the course of small talk, that I had been fifty and would very soon be too old to be useful. "No," he snapped, "No one is intellectually mature until he is fifty. As for me, it was not until was at the outside of fifty that could be sure of anything that came to think of or do." I deeply, appreciated the encouragement he thus gave me.
Among the many books that Mr. Chen has written, the best known are From Medicine to Politics, A New Book of Rites, Educational Reforms, Memoirs of My Governorship-Days in Klangsu, Cooperative Movement in China, Bitter Things About Medicine, Odds and Ends, Shore Stories, Beginning of Cooperation, a Play, etc. His Last Sketches in Sick-Bed, especially, reflect his political thinking as a matured statesman and will prove helpful to those who are holding the rein of the government.
Mr. Chen has been variously styled as patriot, revolutionist, party-organizer, statesman, educationist, banker, economist, etc., but he is seldom called a philosopher. If you dig deeper into his writings and sort out his thoughts, to get better acquainted with him, you will more and more be convinced that Mr. Chen is not only a prominent statesman, but also one of the most remarkable philosophers that China has ever produced.