| This dissertation examines the development of the ideology and political practice of the Kuomintang through the careers of Tai Chi-tao, Ch'en Kuo-fu, and Teng Wen-i. These men were active, respectively, in ideological construction, party organization, and political work within the army and played pivotal roles both in their own spheres of activity and in influencing the party's definition of itself and its function as an agent of social change after 1925.;The responses of Kuomintang leaders to the perplexing problems of national revival which they faced in the Nanking decade (1928-1937) reflected beliefs about the nature of political man and the responsibilities of the party as an agent of social reform that were derived from the party's history as a revolutionary organization. The defining framework which related the careers of Tai, Ch'en, and Teng was a party style which was the product of a unique political experience. This study examines the way in which the history of the Kuomintang influenced its members and predisposed them to arrive at the political conclusions which they put into practice as a ruling party. |
