Early Life
Yuan Shikai was born in the village of Zhangying (張營村), Xiangcheng County, Chenzhou Prefecture, Henan, though the clan later moved 16 kilometers southeast of Xiangcheng to a hilly area that was easier to defend. There the Yuans had built a fortified village, Yuanzhaicun (Chinese: 袁寨村; literally "the fortified village of the Yuan family").
Yuan's family was affluent enough to provide Yuan with a traditional Confucian education. As a young man he enjoyed riding, boxing, and entertainment with friends. Though hoping to pursue a career in the civil service, he failed the Imperial examinations twice, leading him to decide an entry into politics through the Huai Army, where many of his relatives served. His career began by purchasing a minor official title in 1880, which was a common method of official promotion in the late Qing. Using his father's connections, Yuan travelled to Tengzhou, Shandong, and sought a post in the Qing Brigade. Yuan's first marriage was in 1876 to a woman of the Yu family who bore him a first son, Keding, in 1878. Yuan Shikai married nine further concubines throughout the course of his life.
Read more about this topic: Yuan Shikai
Famous quotes containing the words early and/or life:
“To be candid, in Middlemarch phraseology, meant, to use an early opportunity of letting your friends know that you did not take a cheerful view of their capacity, their conduct, or their position; and a robust candour never waited to be asked for its opinion.”
—George Eliot [Mary Ann (or Marian)
“Look, there’s nothing wrong with people being happy, but there’s more to life than turning on and screwing to Ravel’s Bolero.”
—Blake Edwards (b. 1922)