Lin Sen
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Lin Sen (Chinese: 林森, pinyin: Lín Sēn) (1868 – August 1, 1943), courtesy name Zichao (子超), sobriquet Changren (長仁), was President of the National Government of the Republic of China from 1931 until his death.
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[edit] Early Life
Born in Shangan Township (尚幹鄉), Minhou County (閩侯縣), Fujian, Lin worked in the Telegram Bureau of Taipei in 1884. After the First Sino-Japanese War, he engaged in guerilla activities against the Japanese occupiers. He returned to the mainland and worked in the Shanghai customs office in 1902. He then became an anti-imperial revolutionary, joining the Tongmenghui in 1905, and was an overseas organizer for the Kuomintang. He became speaker of the senate in the National Assembly and followed Sun Yatsen to Guangzhou where he continue to lead its "extraordinary session". When the assembly defected to the Beiyang government, he remained with Sun and later served as governor of Fujian.
Lin was a member of the right-wing Western Hills faction based in Shanghai. The group was formed in Beijing shortly after Sun's death in 1925. They called for a party congress to expel the communists and to declare social revolution as incompatible with the KMT's national revolution. The party pre-empted this faction and the ensuing congress expelled Western Hills' leaders and suspended the membership of the followers. They supported Chiang Kai-shek's purge of the communists in 1927. Lin rose to become the leader of the Western Hills faction and undertook a world tour after the demise of the Beiyang government.
[edit] As President
In 1931, President Chiang's arrest of Hu Hanmin caused uproar within the party and military. Lin and other high ranking officials called for the impeachment of Chiang. The Japanese invasion of Manchuria prevented the civil war from erupting however it did cause Chiang to resign in December. Lin was appointed in his place but only as a sign of personal respect and held few powers. He never used the Presidential Palace, which Chiang continued to reside in, and preferred his modest rented house. A widower, he used his position to promote monogamy and combat concubinage which became a punishable felony in 1935. When the Second Sino-Japanese War entered full swing in 1937, he moved to the wartime capital of Chongqing. He spurned all offers to defect and collaborate with the Japanese puppet government.
[edit] Death
On 10 March 1943, his car was involved in an accident. Two days later, he had a stroke while meeting the Canadian delegation. He died on August 1 at the age of 76 and a month of mourning was declared. He was the longest serving head of state in the ROC while it still held mainland China.
Lin visited Qingzhi ("Green Plant") Mountain in Lianjiang, Fuzhou, Fujian and was fascinated by it, which encouraged him to style himself "Old Man Green Plant" (青芝老人 Qingzhi Laoren) in his old age. His monument, built beside Qingzhi Mountain in 1926 before his death, was damaged in the Cultural Revolution, and was restored in 1979.
[edit] Legacy
Lin had adopted his nephew, K.M. James Lin, as his son. While studying as a graduate student in Ohio State University, he eloped with a store clerk. The marriage didn't last long due to the scandal and pressure by the president.
There are roads named after Lin Sen in Taipei, Kaohsiung, Tainan, and other towns and cities in Taiwan due to his role in fighting the Japanese invasion of Taiwan and as ROC president.
| Preceded by Chiang Kai-shek |
President of the National Government 1931–1943 |
Succeeded by Chiang Kai-shek |
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