Chen Lifu

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title: "Chen Lifu" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["1900-births", "2001-deaths", "members-of-the-kuomintang", "chinese-anti-communists", "chinese-people-of-world-war-ii", "politicians-from-huzhou", "republic-of-china-politicians-from-zhejiang", "taiwanese-people-from-zhejiang", "university-of-pittsburgh-alumni", "chinese-men-centenarians", "taiwanese-men-centenarians", "members-of-the-1st-legislative-yuan"] description: "Chinese politician" topic_path: "history" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chen_Lifu" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Chinese politician ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox officeholder"]

Field	Value
name	Chen Lifu
native_name	陳立夫
native_name_lang	zh
image	陈立夫肖像.jpg
image_size	250px
office1	Minister of Education of the Republic of China
term_start1	January 1938
term_end1	December 1944
predecessor1	Wang Shijie
successor1	Zhu Jiahua
birth_date	21 August 1900
birth_place	Wucheng County, Zhejiang, Qing China (present-day Wuxing District, Huzhou)
death_date
death_place	Taichung, Taiwan
nationality	Republic of China
party	Kuomintang
otherparty
height
spouse	Sun Lu-ching
children	4
mother
father
relatives	Chen Qiye (father)

| | education | Beiyang University (BS) University of Pittsburgh (MS) | ::

| honorific_prefix = | name = Chen Lifu | native_name = 陳立夫 | native_name_lang = zh | honorific_suffix = | image = 陈立夫肖像.jpg | image_size = 250px | image_upright = | alt = | caption = | order1 = | office1 = Minister of Education of the Republic of China | term_start1 = January 1938 | term_end1 = December 1944 | deputy1 = | predecessor1 = Wang Shijie | successor1 = Zhu Jiahua | prior_term1 = | pronunciation = | birth_name = | birth_date = 21 August 1900 | birth_place = Wucheng County, Zhejiang, Qing China (present-day Wuxing District, Huzhou) | death_date = | death_place = Taichung, Taiwan | death_cause = | resting_place = | resting_place_coordinates = | citizenship = | nationality = Republic of China | party = Kuomintang | otherparty = | height = | spouse = Sun Lu-ching | children = 4 | mother = | father = | relatives = Chen Qiye (father)

Chen Qimei (uncle) Chen Qicai (uncle) Chen Guofu (brother) Chen Tsu-li (half brother) | residence = | education = Beiyang University (BS) University of Pittsburgh (MS) | occupation = | profession = | known_for = | signature = | signature_alt =

Chen Lifu (; 21 August 1900 – 8 February 2001) was a politician in the Republic of China. He was a close advisor of Chiang Kai-shek. With his brother Chen Guofu, he led the CC Clique within the Kuomintang.

Life and career

Chen was born in modern Wuxing District, Huzhou, Zhejiang in 1900. His father, Chen Qiye and his uncles, Chen Qimei and Chen Qicai were all anti-Qing revolutionaries and later Kuomintang members. In 1925, he formally joined the Kuomintang (KMT) in San Francisco after receiving his master's degree in mining engineering from the University of Pittsburgh. On 9 January 1926, Chiang Kai-shek hired Chen as his confidential secretary. In 1927, Chiang appointed Chen to head the Investigation Section of the Organization Department of the KMT Chen and elder brother Chen Guofu became heads of the Kuomintang's secret service, leading a political faction known as the CC Clique.

In late 1935, China faced the looming threat of war with Japan, and Chiang decided to send Chen to the Soviet Union to negotiate a treaty of mutual military assistance. However, Chen flew to Berlin in disguise, and while preparing to go on to Moscow, preliminary negotiations broke down and he was recalled. In the fall of 1936, Chen was Chiang's representative at a series of secret meetings with Chinese Communist Party representative Pan Hannian, where the two sides attempted to negotiate a united front against the Japanese. This attempt failed, leading to the Xi'an Incident.

In 1938, Chen was again promoted, becoming the minister of education. Chen held this position until 1944. After the end of the Second Sino-Japanese War, he became vice president of the Legislative Yuan.

Chen went to the United States to support Thomas E. Dewey's campaign in the 1948 United States presidential election, a move that earned the Kuomintang the ire of Harry S. Truman. With the Kuomintang defeat in the Chinese Civil War, Chen went to Taiwan. Under pressure from Chen Cheng after the falling out of relations between the CC Clique and Chiang Kai-Shek, he resigned from politics and moved to the United States. He did not permanently return to Taiwan until 1968, 3 years after Chen Cheng's death.

In 1993, Chen published a memoir titled The Storm Clouds Clear Over China which documented his role in Chinese politics and the Chinese Civil War. In his memoir, Chen denied the existence of the CC Clique and refused to provide an English name for the movement.

In Taiwan, Chen served as the vice chairman of the Chinese Cultural Renaissance committee, the chairman of the Confucius-Mencius Society, and the chairman of the China Medical University. He died in Taichung on 8 February 2001 at the age of 100.

References

Bibliography

References

1. "陳立夫".
2. "Chen Lifu: Storm Clouds Clear Over China".

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