Dai Li

Director of the Bureau of Investigation and StatisticsIn office
1928 – 17 March 1946PresidentChiang Kai-shekPreceded byPosition establishedSucceeded byMao Renfeng Personal detailsBorn(1897-05-28)28 May 1897
Jiangshan, Zhejiang, Qing dynasty ChinaDied17 March 1946(1946-03-17) (aged 48)
Nanjing, Republic of ChinaPolitical partyKuomintangOther political
affiliationsBlue Shirts SocietySpouseMao Xiucong (1915–1939)EducationWhampoa Military AcademyOccupationIntelligence Chief, SpymasterAwardsOrder of Blue Sky and White SunNickname(s)China's Himmler
Chinese Gestapo
King of Spies
Chiang Kai-shek's SabreMilitary serviceAllegiance Republic of ChinaYears of service1927–1946RankLieutenant GeneralBattles/warsSecond Sino-Japanese War
World War II
Chinese Civil War

Lieutenant General Dai Li (Tai Li; Chinese: 戴笠; pinyin: Dài Lì; Wade–Giles: Tai⁴ Li⁴; May 28, 1897 – March 17, 1946) was a Chinese spymaster. His courtesy name was Yunong (雨農). Born Dai Chunfeng (Tai Chun-feng; 戴春風) in Bao'an, Jiangshan, Zhejiang province, he studied at the Whampoa Military Academy, where Chiang Kai-shek served as Chief Commandant, and later became head of Chiang's military intelligence agency: the Bureau of Investigation and Statistics (Chinese: 國民政府軍事委員會調查統計局; pinyin: guómín zhèngfǔ jūnshì wěiyuánhuì diàochá tǒngjìjú, or "jūntǒng" (軍统) in short) of Republican China (1912-1949).

Born Dai Chunfeng, he was just four years old when his father died, leaving his mother to raise him. At the age of six, Dai was enrolled in a private academy the Linsen elementary school, to study Chinese classics; he later graduated as valedictorian from Wenxi County Elementary School. His mother could not afford to send him to university, so at the age of 16 he had to leave home and make his own way in the world. With no steady income or guidance, he began living on the streets of Shanghai. Until 1923, he was mentored by labor organizer and hitman Wang Yaqiao. Dai Chunfeng soon became a skilled gambler who could often be found in one of Shanghai's many casinos, trying to win enough money to make ends meet. It was in a Shanghai casino that he met Du Yuesheng, head of the criminal organization known as the "Green Gang".^{[citation needed]}

Through Du Yuesheng, he later met Chiang Kai-shek. It is unclear when Chiang and Dai first met, but it was probably around 1921. Dai later lost all his money and was forced to return to Bao'an. In 1927,^{[citation needed]} Dai met his elementary school friend Mao Renfeng, who suggested that Dai enroll in the Whampoa Military Academy in Guangzhou, where Chiang served as Superintendent-Commandant (1924-1947). Dai followed the suggestion, obtained a letter of recommendation from Du Yuesheng, and made his way to Guangzhou. In 1925, Dai enrolled in the 1st Student Regiment of the Sixth Class of the KMT Officer Training Academy.^[1] At this time, he changed his name to "Dai Li," which in Chinese refers to an assassin's hooded veil, reflecting the clandestine nature of his planned future career.^[2] Chiang soon made him a student informant to spy on Communist activities within the academy, where he played an instrumental role in the Zhongshan Warship Incident of March 1926.^{[citation needed]}

To suppress Communist activities, Dai employed extra-judicial means including assassination, arbitrary arrests, and torture, with Chiang's explicit or tacit approval.^[3]

Dai died in a plane crash on March 17, 1946. It was speculated that this may have been arranged by the Chinese Communist Party's intelligence and security chief, Kang Sheng, of the Central Social Affairs Department (SAD). Rumors circulated that the crash had been arranged by the American Office of Strategic Services (OSS) because of Dai's anti-Americanism,^[4] since it occurred on an American plane.^[5]