A Study Of Cheng Dequan’s Mentoring Relationships

With an associates degree of Imperial College, Cheng Dequan went to NortheastChina in1891, at where his shogun career began as a scholar. When the Sino-Japanese Warbroke out, Cheng Dequan began to work for YiKeTangA, the General of Heilongjiangprovince, and in1899he started to serve at General Shou Shan’s shogunate. In BoxerRussian chaos, Cheng Dequan didn’t betray Shou Shan’s trust and he went to the front tonegotiate with the Russian invaders several times. To prove his loyalty, Cheng Dequanwould sacrifice his life. All those behaviors protected citizens of Qiqihar and as a reward,he was promoted to the adjutant of Qiqihar in1903. In1905, he was promoted again toDeputy General of Heilongjiang, which was the first time ever that the Chinese wouldgovern the three Northeastern Provinces. For the next few years, he respectively held apost in Heilongjiang, Fengtian and Jiangsu as the grand coordinator. In1911ChengDequan upheld the revolution and declared Jiangsu independence. In1913when thesecond revolution broke out, he against the violence and expected to bring peace out by alegal way. After the failure of revolution he bowed out of politics and converted toBuddhism in old age. Cheng Dequan lived a life with plenty of experiences, and hissuccess not only relied on his own efforts, but also the mentorship and friendship strikedup by him made a contribution.Cheng Dequan’s sense of worth in his early years was deeply influenced by scholarYe Erkai, general YiKeTangA and general Shou Shan. Both generals had experienced warsand formed the courage to defend the motherland and resist aggression with their lives,which inspired Cheng Dequan a lot. After Boxer Russian chaos, Cheng Dequan governedHeilongjiang province, at where he met and recruited a group of talents such as SongXiaolian, Xu Nailin and Cheng Duolu. With their assistance, he gradually implementednew policies in Heilongjiang. During the period in Jiangsu, Cheng Dequan kept closerelationships with constitutionalists leading by Zhang Jian and contracted a lot with HuangYanpei who had the revolutionaries background. Besides, he gave Ying Dehong, one of hisstaffs, a significant promotion. All those urged Cheng Dequan to support the Revolution of1911and achieved the recovery of Suzhou in a peaceful way. Throughout his life, his relationships with people were built on the thought of sacrifice for the nation and people.The communications between them not only promoted Cheng Dequan’s ideologicalprogress, but also urged him to follow the tide and keep up with the times during thehistorical transformation.