Cai Yuanpei (or Ts'ai Yüan-p'ei) (1863-1940)

Chinese educator, scholar, and politician. In 1911 he became the first minister of education of the new Chinese Republic, presiding over the creation of a new school system. He resigned in 1912 but continued to be active in educational affairs, helping to promote a work-study programme for Chinese students in France. Appointed chancellor of Beijing (Peking) University in 1916, he encouraged free debate and scholarship at the university, transforming it into one of the country's foremost intellectual centres.

One of the youngest candidates ever to obtain the highest degree in the classical Civil Service examination system, he taught in various schools and colleges in his home province of Zhejiang (Chekiang) and in Shanghai, before joining Sun Yat-sen's anti-Manchu republican movement.

In his later years he became a member of the Guomindang (nationalist party), but became increasingly critical of the party's suppression of free speech. He died in Hong Kong.