The China Project

296 chronology 1912 The Republic of China is established, replacing the last imperial dynasty, the Qing. The Kuomintang (KMT) — also known as the Nationalist Party — is founded, led by Sun Yat-sen (b.1866). 1918 The National Beijing Art College is founded. In 1950, it is incorporated into the newly formed Central Academy of Fine Arts [CAFA], Beijing. 1919 The Treaty of Versailles cedes German-occupied territories in Shandong Province to Japan rather than back to China. Student demonstrations take place in Beijing on 4 May amid intense nationalist debate around Chinese tradition and Western influence. This ferment becomes known as the May Fourth movement and becomes a base for the founding of the Communist Party of China (CCP) in 1921. 1925 Sun Yat-sen dies. 1927 Chiang Kai-shek (1887–1975) is appointed head of the KMT government based in Nanjing. He becomes President of the Republic of China in 1948. 1928 The National Academy of Art (later Hangzhou or Zhejiang Academy of Fine Arts and now the China Academy of Art) is founded in Hangzhou. 1931 Japan annexes Manchuria, renaming it Manchukuo, a Japanese puppet state with the last Qing Emperor Pu Yi (1906–67) as nominal emperor. 1934 The CCP Red Army, pursued by KMT forces, begins a series of retreats over the next two years in what becomes known as the Long March. The First Front Army, led by Mao Zedong (b.1893) and Zhou Enlai (b.1898), treks a reported 12 500 kilometres from Jiangxi Province to Shaanxi Province. 1935 Mao Zedong is made leader of the CCP, with its headquarters established near Yan’an, Shaanxi Province.