Chiang Kai-shek: A Fighter, Not a Lover

One of the more intriguing questions about the history of the Chinese Republic is the amorous exploits or lack thereof of Chiang Kai-shek.

But first the vexed question of his name. There are at least five names that he was known by during his life. Like all Chinese, his name changed as his life circumstances changed. Let’s concentrate on three. For his early life he was known as Jiang Zhiqing but when he went to Japan and edited a military magazine he adopted the pen-name of Jiang Jieshi. When he went down to Canton to join Sun Yat-sen’s government, local Western newspapermen used the Cantonese version of his name in reports. That was Chiang Kai-shek and this has stuck. But when he joined Sun Yat-sen, Chiang felt the need to change his name to one which referenced Sun’s own name. Sun’s name at this stage of his life, and ever after in official documents, was Sun Zhongshan. Chiang adopted the “zhong” element of Sun’s name and called himself Jiang Zhongzheng, meaning…