CH'EN CHIUNG-MING

born Jan. 13, 1875, Haifeng, Kwangtung province, China died Sept. 22, 1933, Hong Kong Pinyin Chen Jiongming Chinese military leader whose support allowed Sun Yat-sen to establish in Canton (1920) the revolutionary government that later spawned both the Chinese Nationalist and the Chinese Communist movements. Originally a Nationalist revolutionary, Ch'en by 1918 had become the military leader of southern Fukien and eastern Kwangtung provinces. Occupying Canton in 1920, he took over the governorship of Kwangtung province and established Sun Yat-sen in Canton with the office of president extraordinary. Ch'en thereupon proceeded to expand his power into all of Kwangsi province, but when Sun, who was anxious to unify the country, ordered Ch'en to advance into central China, he refused and instead attacked Canton, temporarily ousting Sun. Ch'en was driven out of the city later that year, and in 1925 his forces were demolished by the Nationalist forces of Chiang Kai-shek.