Ep. 288 | China’s Himmler, Dai Li (Part 2)

The tale of Dai Li continues beginning with the passing of Sun Yat-sen in March 1926 and the rise of Chiang Kai-shek. The dreaded Blue Shirts are introduced along with Dai Li's rise up the ladder hanging on the coattails of Chiang.

He demonstrates his undying loyalty to the Generalissimo during the Xian Incident and sets up the organization that made him famous, the innocuous-sounding Bureau of Investigation and Statistics, a.k.a. The Juntong. We finish off the episode with Dai uncovering a devastating Communist-led spy ring operating inside the sanctum sanctorum of his organization.

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Terms in Episode

Pinyin/Term	Chinese	English/Meaning
Dài Lì	戴笠	1897-1946, KMT spymaster, a.k.a. Chiang Kai-shek's Sabre, headed the Nationalist government's secret police and spy organizations
Wáng Yàqiáo	王亚樵	1887-1936, Shanghai gangster, leader of the Anhui Gang and famed assassin
Dù Yuèshēng	杜月笙	1888-1951, also known as Big Eared Du, Chinese mob boss and hardcore Chiang Kai-shek supporter
Jiāngshān	江山	Southern Zhejiang city where Dai Li was born
Máo Rénfèng	毛人凤	1898-1956, Nationalist general and spymaster who (as we'll see in Part 3) succeeded Dai Li as head of the KMT spy agency
Lányīshè	藍衣社	The Blue Shirts Society, a secret ultra-nationalist society who worked alongside KMT secret police to supress anti nationalist elements across Chinese society
Jiǔ Yī Bā	九一八	The Mukden Incident of 9-18-1931, a false flag event staged by the Japanese military to be used as an excuse to invade and take over Manchuria
Běiyáng Clique	北洋军	A clique that gerew up around the Beiyang Army that was headed by a variety of warlords
Hú Hànmín	胡汉民	1879-1936, major early KMT figure and leader
Wāng Jīngwèi	汪精卫	1883-1944, another major KMT leader and major political rival to Chiang Kai-shek
Chén Lìfū	陈立夫	1900-2001, brother of Chen Guofu, KMT politician, later headed up the Investigation Section of the Organization Department of the KMT
Zhāng Xuéliáng	张学良	1901-2001, son of Zhang Zuolin, also referred to as The Young Marshall, led the Fengtian Clique after his father's assasination. One of the chief conspirators of the Xian Incident in December 1936
Yáng Hǔchéng	楊虎城	1893-1949, warlord and KMT military figure as well as a co-conspirator involved in the Xian Incident.
Xīān	西安	Capital of Shaanxi Province
Zhongshan Warship Incident	中山舰事件	The Canton Coup of 20 March 1926, also known as the Zhongshan Incident or the March 20th Incident, was a purge of Communist elements of the Nationalist army in Guangzhou
Jiāngxī	江西	Province in eastern China
Sòng Měilíng	宋美龄	1898-2003, wife of Chiang Kai-shek and sister to Song Ailing, Song Qingling and TV Song
T.V. Sòng	宋子文	Known as Soong Tse-vung, 1894-1971, a major figure in Nationalist China politics
Chóngqìng	重庆	Formerly part of Sichuan, now a municipality reporting directly to Beijing. Also known as Chungking, it served as the wartime capital of China during the Sino-Japanese War
Jūntǒng	军统	The National Bureau of Investigation and Statistics (Military Commission),(NBIS or BIS) (Chinese: 國民政府軍事委員會調查統計局; pinyin: Guómín zhèngfǔ jūnshì wěiyuánhuì diàochá tǒngjìjú),commonly known as Juntong
Xú Ēnzēng	徐恩曾	1896-1985, worked alongside the Brothers Chen (Guofu and Lifu) as well as Dai Li
Zhōng Tǒng	中统	The Central Bureau of Investigation and Statistics (CBIS) Chinese: 中國國民黨中央執行委員會調查統計局 (Zhōngguó Guómíndǎng Zhōngyāng Zhíxíng Wěiyuánhuì Diàochá Tǒngjì Jú),an intelligence unit under the Central Executive Committee of the Kuomintang.
Gù Shùnzhāng	顾顺章	1903-1934, major CCP figure in the 1920's
Yán Bǎoháng	阎宝航	1895-1968, former KMT member who defected to the Communists and served as a spy inside the halls of power in Chongqing. His son was Yan Mingfu
Zhāng Lùpíng	张露萍	1921-1945, a young spy who operated inside the Juntong for several years alongside others
Yán’ān	延安	City in northern Shaanxi where Mao setup his revolutionary base during the 1930's and 40's
Yán Míngfù	阎明复	Born 1931, son of Yan Baohang, later became a official in the CCP's United Front and other departments, survived a major dressing down after his failure to crack down on the Tiananmen protestors
Yè Jiànyīng	叶剑英	1897-1986, one of the PLA's Ten Marshals, one of the major military and politicalk figures of early PRC history
Kāng Shēng	康生	1898-1975, Communist official best known for having overseen the work of the CPC's internal security and intelligence apparatus during the early 1940s and again at the height of the Cultural Revolution
Chén Guǒfū	陈果夫	1892-1951, KMT politician, brother of Chen Lifu, also served in the Nationalist government. CC Clique member
H.H. Kǒng	孔祥熙	1881-1967, Chinese financier married to Song Ailing. Also a major KMT politician and official and close comrade of Chiang Kai-shek
T.V. Sòng	宋子文	Known as Soong Tse-vung, 1894-1971, a major figure in Nationalist China politics

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