Merse (politician)
Encyclopedia
Merse was an Inner Mongolia
n politician, best known as a founder of the Inner Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party (IMPRP). He was a Daur from a noble family native to Hulunbuir
.
; to emphasise this, some sources write "Mersé". Others write Mersee, a transcription from the Mongolian Cyrillic alphabet
spelling Мэрсээ. It is an abbreviation of the Daur name Mersentei . He also used the Chinese name
Kuo Tao-fu , formed with his courtesy name (道甫) as a given name and the first character Guo
of his Daur clan name Gobulo as a Chinese-style surname. He also used the art-name
Chun Hwang .
in Beijing
. After completing his course there in 1917, he returned to his hometown Hailar, where in 1918 he established a private school. In 1920 the local government converted it into a banner-supported public school; he continued as principal.
and the Soviet Union. In 1922, he attended a pan-Mongol conference organised by Buryat
at Verkhneudinsk (today Ulan-Ude
, capital of the Republic of Buryatia). In October 1925, he became the secretary-general of the newly-founded Inner Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party at Kalgan (Zhangjiakou
. Even the name of the party itself represented Merse's careful balancing act between the Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party
in independent Mongolia
, and the various political parties in China, at a time of Kuomintang
-Communist Party of China
cooperation: the Mongolian name echoed the MPRP's Mongolian name, while the Chinese name echoed "Kuomintang
".
The KMT-CPC split of 1927 reflected itself into the IMPRP's own internal situation. The party split into two factions under the pro-China Serengdongrub and the pro-Ulaanbaatar/Moscow Merse (though Ulanhu
would later try to frame this purely as a split between KMT and CPC supporters). Merse and other left-wing elements within the party took steps towards more radical action: organising an armed uprising. Comintern
agent Ivan P. Stepanov promised them arms and funding.
Thus, in 1928, Merse and his Daur compatriot Fumintai (福明泰 or 敖民泰) led a group of Barga Mongols
in an uprising in his hometown Hailar, attempting to establish local autonomy. Sources refer to this by a variety of names, including the "Hulunbuir Uprising" and "Barga Rebellion". However, the Comintern repudiated Stepanov's statement, and the Mongolian and Soviet governments denied all association with the uprisings, and arrested Merse's associates who had gone to Ulaanbaatar during and after the uprising. No outside support would be forthcoming. The Chinese authorities arrested China Eastern Railway assistant director Mikhail Lashevich
in connection with the uprising in August 1928. Merse was thus forced to end his uprising and make peace with Zhang Xueliang
in September 1929. The Barga, for their part, fled to independent Mongolia, where they would become the target of political repressions in the next decade.
In the aftermath, Merse himself became a teacher at the Northeast Normal School for the Mongolian Banners at Mukden. He also worked as Zhang's personal secretary. He repudiated the Soviet Union in published articles. He also stepped back from his promotion of Inner Mongolian independence, instead seeking greater autonomy under the Republic of China
. His views on religion also seemed to have softened from his earlier communist-influenced hard line against feudalism and Buddhism; during the visit of Thubten Choekyi Nyima, 9th Panchen Lama
to Mukden, he began to realise the value of religious figures in drawing support for the nationalist movement. He would go on to accompany Demchugdongrub
in a visit to the Panchen Lama at Beijing, a meeting which resulted in their offer to build monasteries in Jerim League and Xilin Gol League
. Finally, during these years he also worked on a translation of the Secret History of the Mongols.
in 1931, Merse disappeared from public view. Owen Lattimore
claimed that Zhang Xueliang
, fearing that Merse would be used to convince other Mongols to support the Japanese, had him assassinated. Later authors, though agreeing with the possibility that Zhang held such views, dismiss the assassination claims; they instead state that Merse went to the Soviet consulate in Manzhouli
. Another source reports that he indeed instructed two associates, Khafengga and Buyanmandukhu, to try to obtain material support from the Japanese to organise a Mongolian autonomous army in eastern Inner Mongolia as a ruse, and once done head west to support the anti-Japanese movement. Another account states that he went to Ulaanbaatar in 1932 to try to obtain support for his plans.
There was no news of him after that for more than half a century. However, his name appeared in KGB
files released in May 1989 when he was rehabilitated
. According to those records, Merse was arrested due to his nationalistic tendencies, taken to the Soviet Union
, charged with spying for Inner Mongolia and attempting to escape imprisonment, and sentenced to death. His sentence was reduced to 10 years' imprisonment in October 1934, and he was sent to the gulag
, but the records do not record his eventual fate.
. His position on the question of the Daur's status as an ethnic group separate from the Mongols remained an open question, with some suggesting he indended for the Daurs to be completely "Mongolised".
Inner Mongolia
Inner Mongolia is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China, located in the northern region of the country. Inner Mongolia shares an international border with the countries of Mongolia and the Russian Federation...
n politician, best known as a founder of the Inner Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party (IMPRP). He was a Daur from a noble family native to Hulunbuir
Hulunbuir
Hulunbuir is a region that is governed as a prefecture-level city in northeastern Inner Mongolia, in the People's Republic of China. Its administrative center is located at Hailar District, its largest urban area. Major scenic features are the high steppes of the Hulun Buir grasslands, the Hulun...
.
Names
"Merse" is transcribed into Chinese as . The final "e" is pronounced, not silent as in EnglishSilent E
Silent e is a writing convention in English spelling. A silent letter e at the end of a word often signals a specific pronunciation of the preceding vowel letter, as in the difference between "rid" and "ride" . This orthographic pattern followed the phonological changes of the Great Vowel Shift...
; to emphasise this, some sources write "Mersé". Others write Mersee, a transcription from the Mongolian Cyrillic alphabet
Mongolian Cyrillic alphabet
The Mongolian Cyrillic script is the writing system used for the Khalkha dialect of the Mongolian language as the standard dialect of the modern state of Mongolia. Cyrillic has not been adopted by the Khalkha in the Inner Mongolia region of China, who still use the Mongolian script.Mongolian...
spelling Мэрсээ. It is an abbreviation of the Daur name Mersentei . He also used the Chinese name
Chinese name
Personal names in Chinese culture follow a number of conventions different from those of personal names in Western cultures. Most noticeably, a Chinese name is written with the family name first and the given name next, therefore "John-Paul Smith" as a Chinese name would be "Smith John-Paul"...
Kuo Tao-fu , formed with his courtesy name (道甫) as a given name and the first character Guo
Guo
"Guo", written in Chinese: 郭, is one of the most common Chinese surnames and means "the wall that surrounds outside a city" in Chinese; it can also be spelled Cok, Guo, Quo, Quoc, Quach, Quock, Que, Quek, Kuo, Kok, Koc, Kwok, Kuok, Gock or Koay....
of his Daur clan name Gobulo as a Chinese-style surname. He also used the art-name
Art-name
An art-name is a pseudonym, or penname, used by an East Asian artist, which they sometimes change. The word and the idea to use a pseudonym originated from China, then became popular in other East Asian countries ....
Chun Hwang .
Education and early career
Merse studied at the Mongol-Manchu School (滿蒙學校) in Hailar. In 1910 he entered the Heilongjiang First Provincial Middle School (黑龍江省立第一中學), graduating four years later. In 1915, he enrolled in the Russian Language Institute (俄文專修館) of the Ministry of Foreign AffairsMinistry of Foreign Affairs (Republic of China)
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of China is a cabinet level policy-making body, governed under the Executive Yuan of the Republic of China. The fundamental purpose of the ministry is to promote, expand, and conduct bilateral foreign affairs with other nations. It is in charge of...
in Beijing
Beijing
Beijing , also known as Peking , is the capital of the People's Republic of China and one of the most populous cities in the world, with a population of 19,612,368 as of 2010. The city is the country's political, cultural, and educational center, and home to the headquarters for most of China's...
. After completing his course there in 1917, he returned to his hometown Hailar, where in 1918 he established a private school. In 1920 the local government converted it into a banner-supported public school; he continued as principal.
In politics
Early in his political life, Merse established close ties with the independent state of MongoliaMongolia
Mongolia is a landlocked country in East and Central Asia. It is bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south, east and west. Although Mongolia does not share a border with Kazakhstan, its western-most point is only from Kazakhstan's eastern tip. Ulan Bator, the capital and largest...
and the Soviet Union. In 1922, he attended a pan-Mongol conference organised by Buryat
Buryats
The Buryats or Buriyads , numbering approximately 436,000, are the largest ethnic minority group in Siberia and are mainly concentrated in their homeland, the Buryat Republic, a federal subject of Russia...
at Verkhneudinsk (today Ulan-Ude
Ulan-Ude
Ulan-Ude is the capital city of the Republic of Buryatia, Russia, located about southeast of Lake Baikal on the Uda River at its confluence with the Selenga...
, capital of the Republic of Buryatia). In October 1925, he became the secretary-general of the newly-founded Inner Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party at Kalgan (Zhangjiakou
Zhangjiakou
Zhangjiakou, also known also by several other names, is a prefecture-level city in northwestern Hebei province of North China, adjacent to Beijing to the southeast. Its administrative area has a population of 4.35 million, and covers...
. Even the name of the party itself represented Merse's careful balancing act between the Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party
Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party
The Mongolian People's Party formerly the Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party is an ex-communist political party in Mongolia. The party is abbreviated MPP in English and ' in Mongolian...
in independent Mongolia
Mongolia
Mongolia is a landlocked country in East and Central Asia. It is bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south, east and west. Although Mongolia does not share a border with Kazakhstan, its western-most point is only from Kazakhstan's eastern tip. Ulan Bator, the capital and largest...
, and the various political parties in China, at a time of Kuomintang
Kuomintang
The Kuomintang of China , sometimes romanized as Guomindang via the Pinyin transcription system or GMD for short, and translated as the Chinese Nationalist Party is a founding and ruling political party of the Republic of China . Its guiding ideology is the Three Principles of the People, espoused...
-Communist Party of China
Communist Party of China
The Communist Party of China , also known as the Chinese Communist Party , is the founding and ruling political party of the People's Republic of China...
cooperation: the Mongolian name echoed the MPRP's Mongolian name, while the Chinese name echoed "Kuomintang
Kuomintang
The Kuomintang of China , sometimes romanized as Guomindang via the Pinyin transcription system or GMD for short, and translated as the Chinese Nationalist Party is a founding and ruling political party of the Republic of China . Its guiding ideology is the Three Principles of the People, espoused...
".
The KMT-CPC split of 1927 reflected itself into the IMPRP's own internal situation. The party split into two factions under the pro-China Serengdongrub and the pro-Ulaanbaatar/Moscow Merse (though Ulanhu
Ulanhu
Ulanhu was the founder of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region in China, Ulanhu had the nickname of "Mongolian Khan" during his political career.-Career:...
would later try to frame this purely as a split between KMT and CPC supporters). Merse and other left-wing elements within the party took steps towards more radical action: organising an armed uprising. Comintern
Comintern
The Communist International, abbreviated as Comintern, also known as the Third International, was an international communist organization initiated in Moscow during March 1919...
agent Ivan P. Stepanov promised them arms and funding.
Thus, in 1928, Merse and his Daur compatriot Fumintai (福明泰 or 敖民泰) led a group of Barga Mongols
Barga Mongols
The Barga are a subgroup of the Mongol people who speak a Barga dialect of Buryat language and predominantly live Hulunbuir since 17th century under the Qing Dynasty....
in an uprising in his hometown Hailar, attempting to establish local autonomy. Sources refer to this by a variety of names, including the "Hulunbuir Uprising" and "Barga Rebellion". However, the Comintern repudiated Stepanov's statement, and the Mongolian and Soviet governments denied all association with the uprisings, and arrested Merse's associates who had gone to Ulaanbaatar during and after the uprising. No outside support would be forthcoming. The Chinese authorities arrested China Eastern Railway assistant director Mikhail Lashevich
Mikhail Lashevich
Mikhail Mikhailovich Lashevich , also known under the name Gaskovich, was a Soviet military and party leader, and member of Bolshevik RSDLP since 1901.After the October Revolution he held various higher military, party and governmental posts....
in connection with the uprising in August 1928. Merse was thus forced to end his uprising and make peace with Zhang Xueliang
Zhang Xueliang
Zhang Xueliang or Chang Hsüeh-liang , occasionally called Peter Hsueh Liang Chang in English, nicknamed the Young Marshal , was the effective ruler of Manchuria and much of North China after the assassination of his father, Zhang Zuolin, by the Japanese on 4 June 1928...
in September 1929. The Barga, for their part, fled to independent Mongolia, where they would become the target of political repressions in the next decade.
In the aftermath, Merse himself became a teacher at the Northeast Normal School for the Mongolian Banners at Mukden. He also worked as Zhang's personal secretary. He repudiated the Soviet Union in published articles. He also stepped back from his promotion of Inner Mongolian independence, instead seeking greater autonomy under the Republic of China
Republic of China
The Republic of China , commonly known as Taiwan , is a unitary sovereign state located in East Asia. Originally based in mainland China, the Republic of China currently governs the island of Taiwan , which forms over 99% of its current territory, as well as Penghu, Kinmen, Matsu and other minor...
. His views on religion also seemed to have softened from his earlier communist-influenced hard line against feudalism and Buddhism; during the visit of Thubten Choekyi Nyima, 9th Panchen Lama
Thubten Choekyi Nyima, 9th Panchen Lama
Thubten Choekyi Nyima , often referred to as Choekyi Nyima, was the 9th Panchen Lama of Tibet.In 1901, Choekyi Nyima was visited by the Mongolian Lama, Agvan Dorzhiev...
to Mukden, he began to realise the value of religious figures in drawing support for the nationalist movement. He would go on to accompany Demchugdongrub
Demchugdongrub
Prince Demchugdongrub was the leader of a Mongol independence movement in Inner Mongolia. He was the chairman of Mengjiang, a Japanese puppet state in World War II....
in a visit to the Panchen Lama at Beijing, a meeting which resulted in their offer to build monasteries in Jerim League and Xilin Gol League
Xilin Gol League
Xilin Gol is one of 12 prefecture level divisions of Inner Mongolia. The capital is Xilinhot, the area is 202,580 km². The league's economy is based on mining and agriculture....
. Finally, during these years he also worked on a translation of the Secret History of the Mongols.
Disappearance
After the Mukden IncidentMukden Incident
The Mukden Incident, also known as the Manchurian Incident, was a staged event that was engineered by Japanese military personnel as a pretext for invading the northern part of China known as Manchuria in 1931....
in 1931, Merse disappeared from public view. Owen Lattimore
Owen Lattimore
Owen Lattimore was an American author, educator, and influential scholar of Central Asia, especially Mongolia. In the 1930s he was editor of Pacific Affairs, a journal published by the Institute of Pacific Relations, and then taught at Johns Hopkins University from 1938 to 1963...
claimed that Zhang Xueliang
Zhang Xueliang
Zhang Xueliang or Chang Hsüeh-liang , occasionally called Peter Hsueh Liang Chang in English, nicknamed the Young Marshal , was the effective ruler of Manchuria and much of North China after the assassination of his father, Zhang Zuolin, by the Japanese on 4 June 1928...
, fearing that Merse would be used to convince other Mongols to support the Japanese, had him assassinated. Later authors, though agreeing with the possibility that Zhang held such views, dismiss the assassination claims; they instead state that Merse went to the Soviet consulate in Manzhouli
Manzhouli
- Administration :Manzhouli is divided into ten subdistricts and one town. Six of the subdistricts of Manzhouli are grouped into a district. Technically however, only a prefecture-level city can have districts, so Manzhouli's lone district is not officially listed.- History :In ancient times the...
. Another source reports that he indeed instructed two associates, Khafengga and Buyanmandukhu, to try to obtain material support from the Japanese to organise a Mongolian autonomous army in eastern Inner Mongolia as a ruse, and once done head west to support the anti-Japanese movement. Another account states that he went to Ulaanbaatar in 1932 to try to obtain support for his plans.
There was no news of him after that for more than half a century. However, his name appeared in KGB
KGB
The KGB was the commonly used acronym for the . It was the national security agency of the Soviet Union from 1954 until 1991, and was the premier internal security, intelligence, and secret police organization during that time.The State Security Agency of the Republic of Belarus currently uses the...
files released in May 1989 when he was rehabilitated
Rehabilitation (Soviet)
Rehabilitation in the context of the former Soviet Union, and the Post-Soviet states, was the restoration of a person who was criminally prosecuted without due basis, to the state of acquittal...
. According to those records, Merse was arrested due to his nationalistic tendencies, taken to the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
, charged with spying for Inner Mongolia and attempting to escape imprisonment, and sentenced to death. His sentence was reduced to 10 years' imprisonment in October 1934, and he was sent to the gulag
Gulag
The Gulag was the government agency that administered the main Soviet forced labor camp systems. While the camps housed a wide range of convicts, from petty criminals to political prisoners, large numbers were convicted by simplified procedures, such as NKVD troikas and other instruments of...
, but the records do not record his eventual fate.
Legacy
In the immediate aftermath of the Hulunbuir Uprising, internal CPC documents gave a rather positive evaluation of Merse, describing him and the other members of the IMPRP's left-wing faction as having gained widespread popular support through their mass work. However, later PRC historiography of Inner Mongolia up to the late 1990s portrayed Merse as a villain, a "splittist", and even a rightist like Serengdongrub. However, Daur in the PRC increasingly viewed him as a hero beginning in the 1980s. The 1986 Brief Daur History described him positively. The following year, the Daur History and Language Working Group issued a reprint of his 1929 lectures on "the Mongolian problem". A bust of him stands in a public square in the Morin Dawa Daur Autonomous BannerMorin Dawa Daur Autonomous Banner
Morin Dawa Daur Autonomous Banner is one of three autonomous banners in Inner Mongolia, People's Republic of China, created for the Daur people. It lies on the Nen River, borders Heilongjiang province to the east, south, and southwest, and is under the administration of Hulunbuir City.-References:*...
. His position on the question of the Daur's status as an ethnic group separate from the Mongols remained an open question, with some suggesting he indended for the Daurs to be completely "Mongolised".