Background
Mr. Wang Yuang-chiang was born at Ching Hsien, Fengtien province in 1871
Mr. Wang Yuang-chiang was born at Ching Hsien, Fengtien province in 1871
Mr. Wang received the title of Yu-kung in the imperial examinations of the Tsing Dynasty and was later appointed chief of police of Liaoyang, Fengtien.
During the time of the Russo-Japanese War Mr. Wang did a great deal in keeping his district free from banditry and disorder incident to the war. At the time of the First Revolution he was councillor to the Viceroy of the Three Eastern Provinces. He was appointed magistrate of the Tieh-ling Hsien in 1913 and later was promoted to be the Tao-yin of Tung-pien Section of the Fengtien province.
In 1916 Mr. Wang was Director of Police Administration of Fengtien province and in the year following was transferred to Shenyang to be the Finance Commissioner of Fengtien. He reformed the provincial and did away with the corruptive systems in the province.
Under Mr. Wang’s administration the province was cleared of all foreign indebtedness and payed the military and civil expenses of the province regularly. A considerable surplus was left over in the provincial exchequer last year after deducting all expenditures.
After the Chihli-Fengtien War of 1922 Mr. Wang was appointed by General Chang Tso-lin as Acting Civil Governor of Fengtien and was actually in control of all civil affairs of the province.
Mr. Wang was very energetic and his activities cover construction, fortifications, reconstruction of the province and advancement of education. He started the Northeastern University in Shenyang of which he was the President. He also established a number of industrial and vocational schools in all parts of the province.
Although Mr. Wang was a scholar of the old school, his ideas were modern and in his administration were to be found a large number of returned students from foreign countries. He was largely responsible for the construction of the Hulutao Commercial Port and the Shenyang-Haichen Railway. Besides his interest in reconstruction he was also a poet and historian and had a profound knowledge of Chinese philosophy.