Republic of China Military Academy

22°37′09.0″N 120°21′56.2″E / 22.619167°N 120.365611°E / 22.619167; 120.365611

Republic of China (Taiwan) Military Academy
中華民國陸軍軍官學校
Former names
Whampoa Military Academy (1924–1926)
Central Military Academy (1927–1949)
Chinese Workers and Peasants Military Academy
MottoFraternity, Devotion, Sincerity
TypeService academy
EstablishedMay 1, 1924; 100 years ago (May 1, 1924)
SuperintendentMaj. Gen. Chang Chieh (張捷)
Location
Fengshan District, Kaohsiung
,
CampusSuburban
Websitewww.cma.edu.tw
Republic of China Military Academy
Main gate
Traditional Chinese中華民國陸軍軍官學校
Simplified Chinese中华民国陆军军官学校
Literal meaningRepublic of China Army Officer School
abbreviation
Traditional Chinese陸軍官校
Literal meaningArmy Officer School
Whampoa Military Academy
Main gate
Traditional Chinese黃埔
Simplified Chinese黄埔
Literal meaningYellow Port Army School

The Republic of China Military Academy (Chinese: 中華民國陸軍軍官學校; pinyin: Zhōnghúa Mīngúo Lùjūn Jūnguān Xúexiào; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Tiong-hôa Bîn-kok Lio̍k-kun Kun-koaⁿ Ha̍k-hāu), also known as the Chinese Military Academy (CMA) or Taiwan Military Academy, is the service academy for the army of Taiwan. It was founded by the Republic of China as the Whampoa Military Academy at Huangpu (Whampoa), Guangzhou in 1924. At the end of the Chinese Civil War the academy evacuated to the island of Taiwan and took its current name. Its graduates participated in the Northern Expedition, the Second Sino-Japanese War and the Chinese Civil War.

Establishment edit

The founding ceremony in 1924. On the stage is Sun Yat-sen, behind the table, and Chiang Kai-shek, in uniform.
Whampoa buildings in 2005.

By 1924, the Kuomintang (KMT) wanted to build a modern, and politically-reliable armed force. The KMT received money, materiel, and advisors from the Soviet Union; military advisors provided training and began reorganizing the KMT's forces along Soviet lines. As part of the reforms, political commissars were introduced for political and technical training and, in 1924, the KMT's 1st National Congress approved the creation of the Whampoa Military Academy to train junior officers for the what would become the National Revolutionary Army (NRA). The academy was established in May 1924[1] on Changzhou Island[citation needed] in Huangpu, Guangzhou with Chiang Kai-shek as superintendent.[2] Liao Zhongkai, the KMT treasury secretary, was the party's representative to the academy. Sun Yat-sen took the ceremonial position of the academy's premier.[3]

Early years edit

Zhou Enlai as director of the academy's political department in 1924.

The Chinese faculty included graduates from the Baoding Military Academy, the Yunnan Military Academy, and the Imperial Japanese Army Academy. There were also a small number of Soviet instructors trained at the Frunze Military Academy;[4] they were the academy's primary instructors.[5] Members of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) were admitted as faculty and students as part of the First United Front.[4] The political instructors were mostly Communists, as was the their director, Zhou Enlai.[6] The later People's Liberation Army also recruited Whampoa graduates.[7]

The academy's provided a 6-12 month[3] military-political program incorporating Western pedagogical methods and practical exercises. Military training was primarily infantry-focused, but also included classes for artillery, engineers, logistics, and heavy weapons. Political training was based on Sun Yat-sen's Three Principles of the People, KMT history, and Western politics and economics.[4] The program was inferior to those provided by contemporary professional armies, but it gave the NRA an advantage over the less professional Chinese armies of the Warlord Era.[3] The first class of 490 graduated in November.[2]

Alumni record of the first group students of Republic of China Military Academy.

The academy formed the first "model" regiment in October 1924, which suppressed a insurrection of angry merchants and their private militia forces late that month. The Whampoa force operated successfully during the Guangdong–Guangxi War and the Yunnan–Guangxi War[2] before becoming the foundation of the NRA.[7]

By the start of the Second Sino-Japanese War in 1937 the majority of Chinese divisions were commanded by Whampoa graduates.[3]

Training at Whampoa.

Relocations edit

Flag of the ROCMA

The original academy operated until 1926.[3] In 1928, following the Northern Expedition, it was relocated to Nanjing, the new capital, and renamed as the Central Military Academy. The CMA evacuated to Chengdu in 1938 during the Second Sino-Japanese War.[citation needed]

At the end of the Chinese Civil War, the CMA evacuated to Kaohsiung on Taiwan and was renamed to the Republic of China Military Academy.[citation needed]

The site of the Whampoa Military Academy is now a museum.[citation needed]

List of superintendents edit

Note: "class year" refers to the alumnus's class year, which usually is the same year they graduated. However, in times of war, classes often graduate early.
A "—" in the class year column indicates a superintendent who is not an alumnus of the Academy.
#StartEndNamePhotoClass yearNotability
1.2 May 1924October 1947Chiang Kai-shek Generalissimo; 1st president of the Republic of China
2.October 1947September 1949Lt. Gen. Guan Linzheng (關麟徵) General; ROC Army Commander-in-Chief
3.September 1949December 1949Lt. Gen. Chang Yao-ming (張耀明)1924Lieutenant general; superintendent of the ROC Military Academy
4.October 195031 October 1954Lt. Gen. Lo Yu-lun (羅友倫)1929General; ROC Combined Services Force Commander-in-Chief
5.1 September 195431 March 1957Lt. Gen. Hsieh Chao-chih (謝肇齊)1929Lieutenant general; vice president of the Army, Navy and Air Force Joint Staff University
6.1 April 195731 December 1960Lt. Gen. Hsu Ju-cheng (徐汝誠)1929Lieutenant general; deputy chief of the General Staff for Operations, MND-GSH
7.1 January 1961March 1965Lt. Gen. Ai Ai (艾靉)1926Lieutenant general; deputy executive Minister of National Defense
8.March 196531 March 1970Lt. Gen. Chang Li-fu (張立夫)1929Lieutenant general; superintendent of the ROC Military Academy
9.1 April 1970February 1973Lt. Gen. Lin Chu-yao (林初耀)1933Lieutenant general; superintendent of the ROC Military Academy
10.February 197331 March 1976Lt. Gen. Chin Tsu-hsi (秦祖熙)1937Lieutenant general; superintendent of the ROC Military Academy
11.1 April 1976December 1977Lt. Gen. Yen Pai-chien (言百謙)1941General; director of the Joint Operations Training Department, MND
12.December 1977December 1979Lt. Gen. Hsu Li-nung (許歷農)1939General; director of the General Political Warfare Department, MND
13.December 197930 June 1981Lt. Gen. Chu Chih-yuan (朱致遠)1939Lieutenant general; ROC Army Vice Commander-in-Chief
14.1 July 198130 June 1983Lt. Gen. Lu Kuang-yi (盧光義)1949Lieutenant general; director of the Military Intelligence Bureau, MND
15.1 July 198330 June 1985Lt. Gen. Huang Hsing-chiang (黃幸強)1949General; ROC Army Commander-in-Chief
16.1 July 1985December 1986Lt. Gen. Huang Yao-yu (黃耀羽)1952Lieutenant general; deputy director-general of the National Security Bureau
17.December 198630 June 1989Lt. Gen. Tang Yuan-pu (湯元普)1960Lieutenant general; superintendent of the ROC Military Academy
18.1 July 198960 June 1991Lt. Gen. Hu Chia-chi (胡家麒)1961Lieutenant general; superintendent of the ROC Military Academy
19.1 July 1991September 1993Lt. Gen. Yang Te-chih (楊德智)1964General; ROC Combined Services Force Commander-in-Chief
20.September 1993July 1996Lt. Gen. Ma Teng-ho (馬登鶴)1960Lieutenant general; ROC Combined Services Force Vice Commander-in-Chief
21.July 1996July 1997Lt. Gen. Tung Chao-yang (童兆陽)1965Lieutenant general; ROC Army Vice Commander-in-Chief
22.July 1997January 1998Lt. Gen. Ting Yu-chou (丁渝洲)1966General; secretary-general of the National Security Council
23.January 199828 February 2002Lt. Gen. Chang Yueh-heng (張岳衡)1965Lieutenant general; superintendent of the ROC Military Academy
24.1 March 200230 June 2005Lt. Gen. Yang Kuo-chiang (楊國強) 1972Lieutenant general; incumbent director-general of the National Security Bureau
25.1 July 200530 June 2006Lt. Gen. Wang Ken-lin (王根林)1971Lieutenant general; superintendent of the ROC Military Academy
acting1 July 200631 July 2006Lt. Gen. Chia Fu-yi (賈輔義)1970Lieutenant general; superintendent of the ROC Military Academy (acting)
The rank of the superintendent was demoted from lieutenant general to major general by the disarmaments policy of the then President Chen Shui-bian.
26.1 October 2006July 2010Maj. Gen. Chen Liang-pei (陳良沛)1979Major general; superintendent of the ROC Military Academy
27.July 201030 June 2012Maj. Gen. Chuan Tzu-jui (全子瑞) 1981Lieutenant general; incumbent ROC Army Chief of Staff
28.1 July 2012February 2015Maj. Gen. Liu Te-king (劉得金)1983Lieutenant general; incumbent director of the Telecommunications Development Office, MND-GSH
29.February 2015presentMaj. Gen. Chang Chieh (張捷)1985Major general; incumbent superintendent of the ROC Military Academy

Faculties edit

  • Center for General Education
  • Department of Civil Engineering
  • Department of Physics
  • Department of Foreign Languages
  • Department of Political Science
  • Department of Management Science
  • Department of Chemistry
  • Department of Electrical Engineering
  • Department of Mechanical Engineering
  • Department of Information Management[8]

Notable alumni edit

Transportation edit

The academy is within walking distance south of Dadong Station of the Kaohsiung MRT.

See also edit

References edit

Citations edit

  1. ^ Hsu 2012, pp. 20–21.
  2. ^ a b c Hsu 2012, p. 21.
  3. ^ a b c d e f Crean 2024, p. 55.
  4. ^ a b c Hsu 2012, pp. 19–21.
  5. ^ Hammond, Ken (2023). China's Revolution and the Quest for a Socialist Future. New York, NY: 1804 Books. p. 26. ISBN 9781736850084.
  6. ^ Hsu 2012, p. 20.
  7. ^ a b Hsu 2012, p. 22.
  8. ^ "Academic Units". R.O.C. Military Academy.
  9. ^ James A. Millward (2007). Eurasian crossroads: a history of Xinjiang. Columbia University Press. p. 193. ISBN 978-0-231-13924-3.
  10. ^ Michael Dillon (1999). China's Muslim Hui community: migration, settlement and sects. Richmond: Curzon Press. p. 89. ISBN 0-7007-1026-4.
  11. ^ Christian Tyler (2004). Wild West China: the taming of Xinjiang. New Brunswick, New Jersey: Rutgers University Press. p. 98. ISBN 0-8135-3533-6.

Sources edit

Further reading edit

External links edit