Cai Rukai

Cai was born in Nanchang, Jiangxi in 1867. During the reign of Guangxu Emperor in the Qing dynasty, he successfully achieved the rank of Juren (traditional Chinese: 舉人; simplified Chinese: 举人) on the imperial examination.

In January 1906 he became supervisor of Imperial Peiyang University, and served until December 1911. In 1912, after the establishment of the Republic of China, he became director of Zhili Education Bureau, a position at provincial level. Under the Beiyang government, he served as President of National Peiyang University between February 1913 and March 1914, and then he rose to become Minister of Education. In December 1915, after Yuan Shikai's accession to the throne, Yuan conferred the title of "Barons of the First Rank" (一等男) to him.[1] In 1921 he was appointed general manager of Nanchang–Jiujiang railway, serving in the post until he died in 1923.

Cai has a daughter, Cai Baozhen (蔡葆真), who once served as president of Beijing Children's Library, she was married to Ying Qianli (1900–1969), a prominent Catholic layman and educator.[2]

• Lai Xinxia (2000). History of Peiyang Army. Tianjin: Nankai University Press. ISBN 7-310-01517-7.
• Xu Youchun (2007). Dictionary of Republican Period Figures. Shijiazhuang, Hebei: Hebei People's Publishing House. ISBN 978-7-202-03014-1.
• Liu Shoulin (1995). Official Chronology of the Republic of China (1912–1949). Beijing: Zhonghua Book Company. ISBN 7-101-01320-1.