Background
Admiral Chen Tso-cheng was born in Zhili province in 1865.
Admiral Chen Tso-cheng was born in Zhili province in 1865.
At the age of 16 Mr. Chen entered Tianjin Naval College from which he graduated with honors in 1884. He was then sent by the government to pursue higher naval studies in England, where he specialized in gunnery at Greenwich. In 1888 he served abroad on a British man-of-war in the Mediterranean.
On returning to China Mr. Chen was appointed teacher on various training ships in the Chinese navy and also held important posts in almost all of the Chinese Naval Colleges. Admiral Chen was especially proficient in mathematics, having invented the angle trisector, which was used in the solution of cubic equations. He taught mathematics in the Normal school, the High Normal and the Technical College, Peking. For distinguished work in the navy, the Chinese government made him a captain in 1914 and Eear-Admiral in 1924. Admiral Chen was Director of the Shanghai College, Chiaotung Ta Hsu University.