Cai E (18 December 1882-8 November 1916) was the Governor of Yunnan from 1911 to 1913 and in 1916, preceding Tang Jiyao. Cai E was a leader of the Yunnan Clique, which opposed Yuan Shikai's usurpation of power, and he led a successful uprising that overthrew Yuan.
Biography[]
Cai E was born in Shaoyang, Hunan, China in 1882, and he studied abroad in Japan. In 1900, he was forced to flee to Japan after taking part in a failed uprising against the Qing dynasty, and he would return to China to teach at a military academy from 1904 to 1910 while secretly becoming a member of the Tongmenghui. In 1911, his 37th Brigade occupied Yunnan during the Xinhai Revolution, and he became its military governor. Yuan Shikai had Cai E arrested and removed from office in 1913 due to Cai E's support for Song Jiaoren and the Kuomintang, and Cai escaped detention in 1915 to lead an uprising against Yuan when he announced his plans to become emperor. In January 1916, his faction occupied Sichuan after Yuan became emperor, and he forced Yuan to abandon monarchism in March 1916. After Yuan's death in June, Cai became Governor of Sichuan, and he died in Fukuoka, Japan in November 1916 while seeking treatment for his tuberculosis.