Background
He was born in Hofei, Anhwei, China in 1877.
He was born in Hofei, Anhwei, China in 1877.
I-tang Wang was a Metropolitan Graduate under the Ching regime, military counsellor to the Viceroy of Manchuria in 1907-1908. He also accompanied the Imperial Minister Tai Hung-tze to Russia to attend the Coronation of the Czar and visited various countries in Europe and America before returning to China, passed the returned students' examination held by the Imperial Government and was sent to Japan to pursue advanced studies. Then he joined the secretariate of Yuan Shih-kai after establishment of the Republic in 1912.
Mr. Wang was also an organizer of the Kung Ho Tang or the Republican Party in 1912, Senator of the first Parliament and was instrumental in electing Yuan Shih-kai President in 1913, member of the State Council specially created by Yuan to act as the national legislature in 1914, Civil Governor of Kirin in 1915-1916, Minister of Interior in 1916, founder of the Kuo Ming and the Chung Hua Universities at Peking in 1916.
Thrn he went to Germany and France to study military organization in 1916-1917 and occupied positions of president of the provisionad Senate in 1917, chief promoter and organizer of the Anfu club (a powerful political party with Tuan Chi-jui as its leader), speaker of the Lower House of the Anfu Parliament in 1918, chief Northern delegate to the internal peace conference held at Shanghai in 1919.
After the downfall of the Anfu party in 1920, he was dismissed from the delegation and was ordered to be apprehended. He took refuge in Japan where he studied military and political sciences in 1920-1924 and pardoned by the Peking Government in 1928. He was a member of the Peiping Political Council in 1934-1935 and visited Japan for several months in 1934, allegedly on mibsion. I-tang Wang was an author of the Chinese translation of the Kaiser's Memoirs in 1934 and member of the Hopei-Chahar Political Council since December 1935.