Mr. Chu Yu-chi was a Chinese civil servant who devoted his career to the national service and occupied such positions as Chief of the Kuan Kang Salt Transportation Office in Shandong, Director of the Provincial Stamp Tax Bureau of Kirin, Minister of War and etc.
Background
Mr. Chu Yu-chi was born at Paoshan Hsien, Jiangsu province in 1886. His father, the late Chu Chih-chao, assisted Li Hung-chang in founding the China Merchants Navigation Company, in establishing telegraphic communication between China and Korea and in opening the Kaiping and Pingchuan Mines. The initiation of the building of the Shanghai-Woosung Railway was also his. When his father was in the North as the Yung Ting Ho Taotai and Director General of the North China Telegraph Administration, Mr. Chu was with him serving as private secretary.
Career
In 1906 Mr. Chu joined the secretariat of General Chiang Kuei-ti who was then the Commander-in-Chief of the I Chun Troops.
At the outbreak of the First Revolution in 1911 Mr. Chu was in Taiyuan Fu, Shenxi where he was visiting a relative who was the magistrate, where they were besieged by iting a relative who was the magistrate, where they were besieged by bandits. Mr. Chu happened to be inside that city, volunteered his services to organize a volunteer corps for the defense of the city and finally saved the city.
In 1914 Mr. Chu became Chief of the Kuan Kang Salt Transportation Office in Shandong. During 1915-1916 he was Director of the Chuang Ho Salt Taxation Bureau, in Liaoning Province.
In 1917 Mr. Chu was appointed Director of the Provincial Stamp Tax Bureau of Kirin. While in that province, he started several large lumber producing companies with joint Sino-Japanese capitals at work in the forests of that province. Among these may be mentioned the Hailing and the Ching-yun.
In 1926 Mr. Chu was transferred to the Ministry of Finance in Peking where he served in different capacities. In 1921 he was given a concurrent position in the Ministry of War. In September 1923 Mr. Chu was appointed Director of the Shanghai Mint. Following this appointment he served twice as Chief of the General Affairs Department of the Ministry of Finance during the period when the Cabinet was performing the functions of the President.
