There has to be total belief in one man.
All members of the Chinese party must entrust everything about themselves to the Leader. On his part, the Leader must not only assume responsibility for the revolution and the entire collectivity. He must also assume responsibility for all matters concerning the individual members of the party.
The Leader bears not only the responsibility for the concerns of a party member personally but also for those that involve the member's family. This responsibility extends beyond the member's lifetime, encompassing full accountability even after their demise to provide for their dependents. In essence, complete faith in leadership, loyalty to the collective, and unwavering commitment to revolutionary duties ensure that all public and private matters are overseen by the Leader and the collective.
Understanding this principle alleviates concerns about gains or losses, detachment from family and spouse, and lamentations over poverty and hardship. There is no fear that one's sacrifice will leave their family and children uncared for, or that matters will be neglected after their death. In summary, both the personal affairs of a party member, whether in their lifetime or after their demise, are entrusted to the group and leadership. Individual planning gives way to wholehearted dedication to the collective, revolutionary principles, and the guidance of the leadership.
Dai Li's worldview pivoted significantly on the concept of the lingxiu (Leader), incorporating diverse traditions. It encompassed the profound reverence that Chiang Kai-shek's former pupils, the Whampoa cadets, were expected to hold for their chancellor. However, this devotion transcended traditional Confucian boundaries, demanding a selflessness beyond the norm for the followers of the Generalissimo.
It amalgamated with Confucian loyalty cults like Zeng Guofan's "muscular Confucianism" from the late nineteenth century, transforming into Chiang Kai-shek's version of disciplehood. This version aimed to instill the personal self-discipline associated with modern military order and revolutionary spirit.
Chiang positioned himself as the embodiment of this discipline, leaving his followers to strive for his elevated standards of unwavering self-control and perpetual dedication. Their individual significance was meant to be derived directly from the Leader's personal approval of their obedience to his cause and complete immersion in his identity.
In a speech delivered on September 20, 1933, in Xinzi county, Jiangxi, addressing cadres on "how to be a member of the revolutionary party," Chiang Kaishek linked this "leadership worship" (lingxiu de xinyang) with international fascism.
Some of the most notorious prisons during this period included Yiyang, under the administration of Warden He Jisheng, Xifeng, under Warden Zhou Yanghao, the Southeastern Lockup (Dongnan kanshousuo) at Jian'ou (Yandun) in Fujian, managed by Cao Feihong, and the Northwestern Youth Labor Camp at Xi'an, overseen by Jiang Jianren. The establishment of the Northwestern Youth Labor Camp, ordered by the Generalissimo on February 1, 1940 (see appendix A), stemmed from the transformation of the Special Training Unit (Texun zongdui) of the fourth tuan of the Wartime Cadre Training Corps of the Commission of Military Affairs.
The Texun zongdui's commander, Xiao Zuolin, was replaced by General Jiang Jianren, who assumed the role of "dean" (jiaoyu zhang) of the camp. More than three hundred high school and college students, arrested by district governments, the Thirty-fourth Military District, and the Shanxi Guomindang Office, were "enlisted" in three dadui.
Their biweekly indoctrination sessions aimed to counter the Communist viewpoints presented at the University of the War of Resistance (Kangzhan daxue) in Yan'an. Over the next three years, the labor camp expanded its operations and was reorganized in 1944 as the Northwestern Youth Training Center (Xibei qingxun zongdui), still under the overall leadership of Hu Zongnan.
In addition to the politically wayward youth labor camps, Dai Li established his internal penal system during the early years of the SSD's expansion of secret police operations in Shanghai. This system served to detain suspected dissidents and discipline unruly followers. A special prison was constructed in Nanjing, its location kept confidential even from Dai Li's top field agents.
Prisoners from Shanghai, often tortured and some partially maimed, were transported to Nanjing in a discreet manner. Typically, they wore a shoe studded with nails to induce a noticeable limp as they leaned on one of their two arresting officers. The captives were usually placed on the night express at the last minute, entering a sleeping car without toilet facilities.
The journey to Nanjing was unnerving for the Juntong captors, who remained uncertain until the last minute whether they might be subject to detention themselves. Upon arrival, the secret policemen handed over their prisoners outside the train station and, if fortunate, were dismissed. However, many SSD escorts were arrested on the spot, spending years in Dai Li's prison system, where they were expected to gather information from other political prisoners to secure their release.
High-ranking MSB backbone cadres, including individuals like Zhou Weilong, Yu Lexing, and Xie Ligong, experienced confinement on multiple occasions. Even some of Dai Li's most skilled agents, such as Xu Zhongwu and Lou Zhaoli, found themselves thrown into Juntong jails seven or eight times. The looming threat of Dai Li imposing the dreaded third sanction was ever-present, as the death sentence was entirely at his discretion.
In 1941, for instance, more than thirty out of several hundred deaths within the MSB resulted from executions for violating the bureau's discipline. It's crucial to note that Dai Li's punishments were not arbitrary; rather, they were disciplined responses within his organization, which consisted, in part, of ambitious and restless adventurers.
Officers who erred anticipated disciplinary measures and recognized the link between their mistakes or misconduct and Dai Li's sanctions. They understood these sanctions to be part of a broader system of internal discipline and punishment supervised by Chiang Kai-shek but executed by Dai Li personally.
Service in Dai Li's secret police was, in effect, a lifetime term. Once you became a member of the SSD, or what was eventually called the Military Statistics Bureau, you were never dismissed, nor could you resign from that position. If a person even asked for Dai Li's permission to retire, he or she risked being clapped into confinement indefinitely. Agents told each other, "The comrades [tongzhi] in our organization come in when they're alive and only leave when they're sleeping in their coffins."
An illustrative case involves Wang Tianmu, the chief of the Tianjin Station. Wang, hailing from Henan, was away on bureau business in Zhangjiakou in the spring of 1934 when a controversial homicide case in Beiping was linked to SSD field agents from the Tianjin Station. Dai Li, informed of the situation, secretly arrived in Beiping and, after an informal supper with Chen Gongshu, head of the local SSD station, extensively questioned him about Wang Tianmu.
Dai Li decided to wait for Tianmu's return from Zhangjiakou, eventually leaving Beiping with Tianmu in tow. Upon his return, Tianmu did not resume his post in Tianjin, and Wang Zixiang was appointed as his successor. Dai Li later directed the Beiping Station to escort Wang Tianmu's former assistant to Nanjing, leading to the disbandment of the Operations Group of Tianjin Station, with field agents reassigned or facing disciplinary action.
Dai Li crafted a specialized report for Chiang Kai-shek regarding this case. As recounted by Mao Wanli, Dai's personal secretary, the entire dispatch was concise, spanning only a few hundred words. However, Dai Li dedicated an entire night, from dusk until dawn, meticulously composing the report stroke by stroke.
In the report, Dai succinctly outlined the event, implicating the former Tianjin station chief. He then provided a comprehensive account of Wang Tianmu's past merits and accomplishments. Finally, Dai presented three proposals for Chiang's consideration: first, the death sentence; second, life imprisonment; or third, granting Wang another opportunity for redemption.
Chiang Kai-shek opted for the second proposal. Consequently, Wang Tianmu found himself incarcerated in "Location C" (Bing di), a section designated for SSD use in the Nanjing Military Prison at Tiger Bridge. This location was specifically reserved for long-term imprisonment, and there Wang Tianmu remained until Dai Li eventually released him for clandestine work in Shanghai during the Japanese occupation.
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