Li Mingyang

On 27 February 1891, Li was born in Xiao County of Anhui Province. From 1907 to 1911, he studied in military schools the Qing Government set up for the New Army. After the outbreak of the Wuchang Uprising, he went to Hubei to join the Xinhai Revolution, and was sent to Jiujiang to serve as a naval trainee. Later, he became a staff officer under Li Liejun, the Military Governor of Jiangxi.{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VbpKAQAAIAAJ |title=江苏地方志 |publisher= 江苏地方志编辑部|year=2005 |pages=54–55 |language=zh-hans |trans-title=Jiangsu Local Chronicles}}

In the fall of 1912, Li served as the Commandant of the Hukou Fortress. He also joined the revolutionary organization Tongmenghui in the same year. After the end of the Second Revolution that saw Yuan Shikai consolidated power, Li went into exile in Japan in 1913. In the following year, he moved to Germany and enrolled in Humboldt University of Berlin to study military courses. In 1915, Li returned to China and once again served under Li Liejun. He participated in the National Protection War as the Senior Staff Officer of the 2nd Army.{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MgSaAAAAIAAJ |title=二十世纪中华爱国名人辞典 |publisher=Jilin University Press |year=1990 |isbn=978-7-5601-0732-5 |pages=177 |language=zh-Hans |trans-title=Dictionary of Chinese Patriotic Celebrities in the 20th Century}}

In 1924, Li served as the Commanding Officer of the Jiangxi Army in Guangdong, stationed on the outskirts of Guangzhou. During this period, he got to know Zhou Enlai, the then Director of the Political Department at Whampoa Military Academy. In 1926, Li participated in the Northern Expedition as the Deputy Commander of the 9th Division of the 3rd Army as well as the Commander of the 26th Regiment. Following the capture of Nanchang on 7 November, he was promoted to the Commander of the 9th Division.{{Cite book |last1=Zhao |first1=Qinxuan |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0KxbAAAAIAAJ |title=朱克靖传 |last2=Kang |first2=Qingxing |date=2006 |publisher=Chinese Communist Party History Press |isbn=978-7-80199-459-2 |pages=57 |language=zh-Hans |trans-title=Biography of Zhu Kejing}} In March 1927, Li received an order from Chiang Kai-shek to arrest 14 individuals under his command who were affiliated with Chinese Communist Party. Li refused to carried out the order and secretly assisted the individuals in escaping to Jiujiang. In June 1928, he was relieved of his duties and subsequently resided in Nanking.{{Cite web |last1=Zhang |first1=Quanning |last2=Wang |first2=Lei |date=2011-07-28 |title=李明扬营救王尔琢脱险的一段秘闻 |trans-title=A secret story about Li Mingyang rescuing Wang Erzhuo from danger |url=https://www.chinanews.com.cn/cul/2011/07-28/3216623.shtml |access-date=2025-06-13 |website=Chinanews.com |language=zh-Hans}}

In 1930, Li was appointed Director of the Jiangsu Provincial Security Department upon the recommendation of Gu Zhutong, Chairman of the Jiangsu Provincial Government. He was dismissed from the position in 1932 and later established the Renhe Pharmaceutical Factory.

During the Second Sino-Japanese War, Li was appointed as the Commander-in-Chief of guerilla forces in the 5th Military Region. Following the Battle of Xuzhou, he led his forces to retreat to Huaiyin. Han Deqin, then acting Chairman of the Jiangsu Provincial Government, saw Li as a threat to his control of northern Jiangsu, but was forced to accept Li under order from Li Zongren, the Commander-in-Chief of the 5th Military Region.{{Cite book |last=Benton |first=Gregor |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ayLTpS8iujQC&pg=PA193 |title=New Fourth Army: Communist Resistance Along the Yangtze and the Huai, 1938-1941 |date=1999 |publisher=University of California Press |isbn=978-0-520-21992-2 |pages=193 |language=en}} Li Mingyang was directed to Taizhou, where he stationed his troops and recruited local armed forces.{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mwsRAQAAMAAJ |title=泰州志 |date=1998 |publisher=Jiangsu Ancient Books Publishing House |isbn=978-7-80643-092-7 |pages=855 |language=zh-Hans |trans-title=Taizhou Chronicles}} Around this time, he cooperated with the communist-led New Fourth Army on several occasions, including transportation of military supplies from Wang Jingjiu and transfer of intelligence from Nanking.{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=he58AAAAIAAJ |title=新四军与南京 |date=2005 |publisher=Chinese Communist Party History Press |isbn=978-7-80199-231-4 |pages=439 |language=zh-Hans |trans-title=The New Fourth Army and Nanjing}}

In October 1940, several armed conflicts broke out between the New Fourth Army and the 89th Army of the National Revolutionary Army under Han Deqin. During the battle, Li's troops refrained from engaging in combat, instead passively witnessed the annihilation of Han's forces. Commander of the New Fourth Army Chen Yi later remarked that had Li intervened, the New Fourth Army might have been forced to retreat across the Yangtze River.{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mRQ4AQAAIAAJ |title=江苏党史资料 |date=1988 |publisher= 中共江苏省委党史工作委员会|pages=243 |language=zh-Hans |trans-title=Jiangsu Party History Materials}} On 31 October, Li met Chen Yi and Wu Faxian in a conference held in Qutang, where he agreed to cooperate with the New Fourth Army in future battles against the Imperial Japanese Army.{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=e3suAAAAMAAJ |title=南通市志 |date=2000 |publisher=Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences Press |isbn=978-7-80618-667-1 |pages=46 |language=zh-Hans |trans-title=Nantong City Annals}}

In February 1941, as Japanese forces advanced toward Taizhou, Li retreated to rural area of central Jiangsu to continue guerilla campaign against the Japanese. On 6 June of the same year, Japanese military had Li surrounded in Wujiaze of Xinghua. With reinforcement from his subordinate officer Chen Zhongzhu, Li managed to break out of the encirclement.{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=L8FKAQAAIAAJ |title=江蘇地方志 |date=1995 |publisher= 《江苏地方志》编辑部|pages=37 |language=zh-Hans |trans-title=Jiangsu Local Chronicles}} In the summer of 1943, Han Deqin withdrew from northern Jiangsu and retreated to Fuyang, Anhui. In December of the same year, Military Affairs Commission of the Nationalist government appointed Li as the Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the Shandong-Jiangsu Military Region.{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4BUQAQAAMAAJ |title=中华民国大事记 |date=1997 |publisher=Chinese Literature and History Press |isbn=978-7-5034-0790-1 |pages=1105 |language=zh-Hans |trans-title=Chronicle of the Republic of China}}

On 28 May 1945, Li was captured by Japanese forces while traveling by boat near Tangdian Village in Taizhou. He was first taken to Yangzhou, then transferred to a Japanese military facility in Shanghai. He was eventually released in July 1945 through negotiations involving his acquaintances within the Wang Jingwei regime. Following Japanese surrender in August 1945, Li traveled to Nanjing to attend the surrender ceremony.{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IIRMAQAAIAAJ |title=当代军事文摘 |date=2005 |publisher= 《当代军事文摘》编辑部|pages=61 |language=zh-Hans |trans-title=Contemporary Military Abstracts}}

In early 1946, Li went to Chongqing to meet with Chiang Kai-shek. However, due to prior accusations made by Han Deqin, Li was placed under house arrest upon arrival. He was ultimately spared formal charges after intercession from prominent figures such as Li Liejun, Shao Lizi and Zhang Zhizhong.

After the war, Li left the military and served as the chairman and general manager of the Yangzi Timber Factory in Shanghai. In 1949, the acting President Li Zongren appointed him as a national policy adviser. Under the president's order, he led a delegation of the Nationalist government to Yangzhou to negotiate with the commanders of the Third Field Army Su Yu and Chen Yi. When negotiations failed to came to a resolution, Li led his troops to defect to the communist side.

Following the foundation of the People's Republic of China, Li became a member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference. In 1954, Li joined the Revolutionary Committee of the Chinese Kuomintang.{{Cite web |title="大事明白"的李明扬 |trans-title=Li Mingyang, who “understands important matters” |url=http://www.minge.gov.cn/n1/2023/0517/c415693-32688315.html |access-date=2025-06-13 |website=Revolutionary Committee of the Chinese Kuomintang |language=zh-Hans}}

On 17 November 1978, Li died of illness in Beijing.{{Cite book |last=Liu |first=Jizeng |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hAANAAAAYAAJ |title=中国国民党名人录 |date=1991 |publisher=Hubei People's Press |isbn=978-7-216-00803-7 |pages=133 |language=zh-Hans |trans-title=Directory of Figures in the Chinese Kuomintang}}

{{Reflist}}

Category:1891 births

Category:1978 deaths

Category:People from Xiao County

Category:National Revolutionary Army generals from Jiangsu

Category:Members of the Revolutionary Committee of the Chinese Kuomintang

Category:Members of the 1st Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference

Category:Delegates to the 1st National People's Congress

Category:Delegates to the 2nd National People's Congress

Category:Delegates to the 3rd National People's Congress

Category:Delegates to the 5th National People's Congress