# Mao Zuquan

Mao Zuquan (Chinese: 茅祖權; 1883–1952) was a Chinese revolutionary, statesman, and legal scholar who played a significant role in the early years of the Republic of China (ROC). A founding member of the Kuomintang (KMT), he was actively involved in the 1911 Xinhai Revolution that led to the overthrow of the Qing dynasty. Throughout his political career, Mao held various government positions, including President of the Administrative Court and Secretary-General of the Judicial Yuan. Following the Chinese Civil War, he remained in mainland China, where he was arrested and later died in prison in 1952 after a hunger strike in opposition to the newly established People's Republic of China.

## Early life

Mao was born during the late Qing dynasty in 1883, in the Chinese county of Haimen, Nantong in Jiangsu near Shanghai. Born to a wealthy land-owning family, he was afforded access to strong classical education from an early age, studying in neighboring Empire of Japan during his youth.

## Political career

While in Japan, Mao joined the Tongmenghui, which was a secret society and underground resistance movement founded by Sun Yat-sen, Song Jiaoren, and others in Tokyo, with the goal of overthrowing China's imperial Qing dynasty.
The 1911 Xinhai Revolution ended the Manchu-led Qing dynasty, and resulted in the establishment of the Republic of China on January 1, 1912. The revolution marked the end of 2,000 years of imperial rule and the beginning of China's early republican era. In Nanjing, revolutionary armies established a provisional coalition government. During this time, Mao became one of the founding members of the Kuomintang Party of China and served as a delegate to the Kuomintang Central Executive Committee.
In 1912, Mao was appointed as a member of the Kuomintang National Assembly, (Chinese: 國民大會; pinyin: Guómín Dàhuì) which consisted of several major parliamentary bodies that existed in the Republic of China during the early 1900s. He quickly climbed through the ranks and became a prominent individual in the government as well as in Chinese society.
In January 1924, Mao was chosen at The First National Congress of the Kuomintang of China as an alternate executive member of the KMT's Central Committee.

### Western Hills Conference

Between November 23 and December 2, 1925, Mao attended the Western Hills Conference (Chinese: 西山會議派; pinyin: xīshān huìyì pài; Wade–Giles: hsi$^1$shan$^1$ hui$^4$i$^4$ pʻai$^4$), which was a gathering of select members of the KMT's Central Committee that took place at Biyun Temple in Xishan, Beijing. Convened under the title of the "Fourth Plenary Session of the First Central Committee of the Kuomintang of China," the meeting resulted in several significant decisions. It mandated the expulsion of all Communist Party members from the KMT, and dismissed key figures such as Mao Zedong from their executive or alternate positions within the Central Committee. Mao and the attendees later became known as the "Western Hills Group," a right-wing faction within the Kuomintang.

### Political Roles

In his later years, Mao served a number of political positions in the Nationalist Chinese government. From 1927 to 1928, he served as a member of the Jiangsu Provincial Government Committee and as the Director of the Civil Affairs Department. In 1933, he was appointed as the President of the Administrative Court of the Republic of China (1912–1949) and in 1943, he assumed the role of the Secretary-General of the Judicial Yuan of the Republic of China. His last major role was in 1948, when he served as the National Policy Advisor to the President of the Republic of China, Chiang Kai-shek, who had won 90.03% of the vote in the 1948 Chinese presidential election a few months prior.

## Death

When World War II ended, the government of the Republic of China regained control of the island of Taiwan after the surrender of Japan and placed it under martial law.
On the mainland, the civil war between the Kuomintang and the Chinese Communist Party forces, which took a de jure hiatus during the Second Sino-Japanese War, entered its final stage in 1945 following the Japanese surrender. However, it was clear towards the end of the war that the Communists were to gain control of mainland China.
At this time, the majority of Mao's family members were able to evacuate to Taiwan during what is now known as "The Great Retreat", an exodus of the remnants of the Kuomintang-ruled government to the island of Taiwan (Formosa) in December of 1949. The Kuomintang party member and officers and their family, as well as approximately 2 million troops and their family members took part in the retreat, bringing along with it 30 metric tons of gold and the majority of China's cultural artifacts.
Mao was unable to relocate with Chiang Kai-shek and his troops along with the majority of his family. In 1950, he was arrested while in Shanghai and was subsequently imprisoned. During his imprisonment, he was approached by Zhou Enlai, who was then the Premier of China, who offered him a position in the newly established government. However, Mao refused to cooperate. He remained incarcerated for two years until 1952, when he was found dead in his jail cell at the age of 69, having succumbed to a hunger strike. He was subsequently buried in an unmarked mass grave in Shanghai, China.

## Legacy

Many documents and records of the Nationalist government era and Imperial China were destroyed during the Cultural Revolution from 1966 to 1976. However, such that remains, including various archives of Mao's writings, his political work, as well as his photos and portraits, can be found in the Presidential Palace located in Nanjing, Jiangsu, China, which housed the Office of the President of the Republic of China since 1927 until the capital was relocated to Taipei in 1949. The palace now houses a museum called the China Modern History Museum where Mao's work can be found.
One of Mao's sons later became one of the chief meteorologists at the Civil Air Transport on Taiwan, which was at that time owned by the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and supported United States covert operations throughout East and Southeast Asia during the Cold War. Another one of Mao's sons, Sheng-taur “S.T.” Mau, was a distinguished civil engineering scholar and educator, and former dean of engineering at both New Jersey Institute of Technology and at California State University, Northridge before his death in 2024.
Mao's descendants now reside in Taiwan, China, as well as the United States.