THE POLITICAL NETWORKS AND THOUGHT OF THE YOUNG WU TIECHENG, 1909-1925

Abstract

This thesis focuses on the origins of the rise of Wu Tiecheng (1888-1953), one of the senior statesmen of the Kuomintang (KMT) and Republican China, from 1909 to 1925. During this foundation period, Wu had been involved in various crucial party and government affairs within and beyond China. However, existing literature presented Wu in a simple narrative style and largely neglected this period which propelled him to become an influential and pragmatic politician later. This study explores three unique themes: guanxi and networks (both encapsulated as political networks); eloquence (including persuasion skills); and political thought, all of which consistently surfaced during Wu’s early career since 1909. They describe and construct an individual, thereby, making this modern Chinese figure’s partial academic biography beyond a simple narrative style. Thus, this thesis proposes to make several original contributions, particularly to modern Chinese biographical research and generally to modern Chinese history.