Wu Jinmo
Wú Jīnmò | |
|---|---|
| 吴今墨 | |
 Wu Jinmo in 1940 | |
| 2nd State Chairman of Shangea | |
| In office 7th May 1942 – 24th August 1947 | |
| Premier | Zhou Hongkui Luo Huizhong Chen Xuechang |
| Preceded by | Lu Keqian |
| Succeeded by | Ma Renzhong |
| President of the Examination Council | |
| In office 24th August 1947 – 17th May 1954 | |
| Preceded by | Kang Boqin |
| Succeeded by | Zhang Zhiqiang |
| Member of the State Presidium of Xiaodong | |
| In office 24th April 1937 – 17th May 1954 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | October 22, 1897 Duanjin, Zhijian Province, Shangea |
| Died | May 15, 1984 (aged 86) Kangji, Zhijian Province, Shangea |
| Political party | Xiaodong Regeneration Society |
| Spouse | Liao Jiayi (1913-1984) |
| Children | 7 |
| Alma mater | University of Verlois University of Baiqiao |
| Occupation | Politician, intellectual |
Other offices held
| |
- This is a Shangean name; the family name is Wu (吴).
Wu Jinmo (Shangean: 吴今墨, Wú Jīnmò; October 22nd 1897 - May 15th 1984 aged 86) was a Shangean statesman and academic who served as State Chairman of Shangea from 1942 to 1947. Wu was the President of the Constitutional Council from 1940 to 1942 and in that capacity was the primary drafter of the 1942 Shangean constitution. More an analyst than a political leader Wu is also credited as the primary theoretician behind National Principlism and served as the unofficial chief ideologue of the Auspicious Republic from 1940 to his loss of influence in mid-1950's.
Wu was born in southern Shangea to a bureaucratic family in 1892. Studying at the University of Baiqiao and in the Gaullican University of Verlois Wu would work as an academic in Baiqiao during the 1920's. Emerging as a public intellectual supporting a mixture of pan-Coianism, republicanism and socialism Wu was opposed to the Shangean war effort against Senria due to his opposition to Shangea's alliance with Gaullica on anti-Euclean grounds leading to him being detained throughout the Great War. Following the surrender of Shangea in 1935 Wu wrote Reflections on the Senrian-Shangean War where he attempted to combine legalism, neosocialism and republicanism into a single ideology to strengthen the Shangean state, a thought soon known as National Principlism. Wu's writings caught the attention of Lu Keqian who extrapolated from them a desire to create a totalitarian, ultra-nationalist state with a socialist economy.
Wu would become close to Lu serving as a founding member of the Xiaodong Regeneration Society and emerging as a key figure in the Shangean Civil War supporting the Army of National Salvation. Following the war Wu was appointed as the President of the Constitutional Council drafting the Shangean constitution; the document that was produced was based on National Principlism incorporating a political system based on "disciplined democracy". Emerging as one of Lu's closest confidents Wu became Chairman of the State Presidium in 1942 where he confirmed the body as the most powerful in Shangea although deferred to Lu who was the de facto leader of the country.
Following Lu's death in 1947 Wu became the unofficial leader of the "ideologue clique" with the regime. Wu passed on power to Ma Renzhong, the head of the bureaucratic "Munitions Clique", to become the President of the Examination Council. Allied with Ma and premier Chen Xuechang, head of the socialist clique, the three men ruled as a triumvirate curtailing the power of the military-based Ukyou clique and building a de facto one-party state. However Wu fell out with Ma and CHen and after unsuccessfully attempting to purge the bureaucracy he was ousted from his positions and forced to retire.
Wu would become a critic of Ma, Chen and Li Zhaozheng for betraying the principles of the Corrective Revolution. Following the 1970 coup that ousted Li Wu supported the new military regime which rehabilitated a more doctrinal form of National Principlism. Wu became the Chairman of the Cultural Revolutionary Committee which oversaw a purge of Euclean influence in Shangea and in 1974 became Minister of Culture. After the Coastal Crisis however Wu was removed again from power and spent the rest of his life under virtual house arrest.