Background
General Che Ch’ing-yun was born at Ching Chow, Zhili in 1881 and was a member of a well-known family.
General Che Ch’ing-yun was born at Ching Chow, Zhili in 1881 and was a member of a well-known family.
Mr. Che received a thorough education in Chinese in his youth.
The defeat of China suffered in the Sino-Japanese War in 1895 led General Che to realize the importance of military improvement in China and then he determined to make himself a soldier. Two years later Yuan Shih-kai started to train troops at Hsiao-Chan, the birth place of the Peiyang Army, General Che was enlisted in the engineering regiment where he subsequently gained the knowledge of gunnery and surveying. His graduation fell in the year of the Boxer Rising in 1900. He was detailed to report on the condition and operation of the Allied Troops.
Following the signing of the Protocol, the allied Troops were all withdrawn with the exception of the Russian forces which still occupied Port Arthur and the Chinese Eastern Railway. To report on the condition and action of the Russians, General Che was sent by the government to Siberia three times as a secret service agent. He travelled over the upper reach of the Amur River and visited the important cities east of Ural Mountains.
Upon the outbreak of the Russo-Japanese War, General Che returned to China and wrote a book on the military strength of Russia for the information of his own government. For three years during the War, General Che was with the Russian troops along the Yalu River and gained much experience in modern warfare. After the close of the War, he entered the Military Officers Academy and remained there until graduation.
Mr. Che finally became Commander-in-Chief of Defence at Chingkiangpu, Jiangsu. After the establishment of the Republic, President Yuan Shih-kai appointed General Che Commander of the 37th Brigade, with headquarters at Kiangpei, where he rendered service in the suppression of banditry.
In the winter of 1912 General Che was made a Brigadier General and appointed High Advisor to the Military Governor of Jiangsu. In the autumn of 1913 he was appointed director of the Nanking Mint acting concurrently as the Defence Commissioner of Wuhu. Subsequently he joined General Chang Hsun as Chief of Staff, but retired soon after.
In the spring of 1918 General Che was appointed Military Advisor to the Tuchun of Heilungkiang and Commander of the Chinese Eastern Railway guards. In the autumn of 1919 he was transferred to the capital of Heilungkiang to become Chief of the Provincial Police Administration and also Chief of the Tsi-tsihar Port Police.
In 1920 he was called to Peking and became a Junior Member of the Chiang Chun Fu and Military Advisor to both the High Inspector General of Chihli, Shandong and Honan and that of Hunan and Hubei.
In the autumn of 1921 General Che was appointed Commander-in-Chief of the Emergency Forces of Shensi and also Director-General of the Opium Suppression Bureau.
In 1922 General Che was appointed Provost Marshal of the Metropolis of Peking. In January 1924 he was given the brevet rank of Full General.