Li Jishen

Li Jishen (simplified Chinese: 李济深; traditional Chinese: 李濟深; Wade–Giles: Li Chi-shen; 5 November 1885 – 9 October 1959) was a Chinese military officer and politician, general of the National Revolutionary Army of the Republic of China, Vice President of the People's Republic of China (1949–1954), Vice Chairman of the National People's Congress (1954–1959), Vice Chairman the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (1949–1959) and founder and first Chairman of the Revolutionary Committee of the Kuomintang (1948–1959). Initially a supporter of Chiang Kai-shek and Kuomintang, Li Jishen helped purge and execute Communists in the 1927 Shanghai massacre, but eventually became one of Chiang's top internal rivals. Li accused Chiang of weakness in the face of Japanese aggression and of submission to Western financial interests. The two eventually reached an understanding, and Li went on to hold military commands during the Second Sino–Japanese War. However, after the end of the war, new disagreements with Chiang led to Li's expulsion from the Kuomintang. After this, for a time, he became leader of the splinter Revolutionary Committee of the Kuomintang (RCCK), then switched sides and joined the Communists, collaborating with Mao Zedong and holding political office in the new People's Republic of China. Li married several times and fathered many children. One of his sons, Li Peiyao, also served as Chairman of the RCCK.