Spymaster - Dai Li and the Chinese Secret Service

Aug 6, 2026

Uploaded by Aurelia

Spymaster focuses on Dai Li and the development of China’s secret service, tracing how intelligence institutions, training structures, and covert networks operated across key periods of modern Chinese history. Through chapter-based examination of internal organizations, ideological rivalries, and wartime operations, the book details methods, personnel, and mechanisms that shaped espionage and security work. It also links Dai Li’s activities to broader institutional and international cooperation efforts, supported by notes, bibliography, and indexed references.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages602

Reading Time25 h 17 min

AccessFree to download

Acknowledgments

Preface

Abbreviations

Maps

Images of Dai Li

Living off the Land

Touben

The League of Ten

“Vigorous Practice”: The Chiang Freemasonry

The Founding of the Lixingshe

The Lixingshe and the Blue Shirts

The Blue Shirts’ “Fascism”

Ideological Rivalries: The Blue Shirts and the “CC” Clique

The Blue Shirts in the Provinces

The Shanghai Station, 1932–35

Death Squads

Assassinations

Police Academies

Sleeping in Their Coffins

Skirts and Sashes

War and the Special Movement Corps

The Training Camps

Codes 000

Dai Li, Milton Miles, and the Foundation of SACO

SACO Training Camps

Spying

Dai Li’s Wartime Smuggling Networks

Juntong in Wartime Chongqing

Falling Star

Afterword: Daemons

Spymaster A B O O K The Philip E. Lilienthal imprint honors special books in commemoration of a man whose work at the University of California Press from 1954 to 1979 was marked by dedication to young authors and to high standards in the ﬁeld of Asian Studies. Friends, family, authors, and foundations have together endowed the Lilienthal Fund, which enables the Press to publish under this imprint selected books in a way that reﬂects the taste and judgment of a great and beloved editor. Spymaster Dai Li and the Chinese Secret Service Frederic Wakeman Jr. UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA PRESS Berkeley Los Angeles London The publisher gratefully acknowledges the generous contribution to this book provided by the Philip E. Lilienthal Asian Studies Endowment Fund of the University of California Press Associates, which is supported by a major gift from Sally Lilienthal. University of California Press Berkeley and Los Angeles, California University of California Press, Ltd. London, England © 2003 by The Regents of the University of California Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Wakeman, Frederic E. Spymaster: Dai Li and the Chinese secret service / Frederic Wakeman, Jr. [p. cm](p. cm). Includes bibliographical references and index. isbn 0–520–23407–3 (Cloth : alk. paper) 1. 880–06 Dai, Li, 1896–1946. 2. Secret service—China—History—20th century. 3. Generals—China—Biography. I. Title: Dai li and the Chinese secret service. II. Title. ds777.488.d35 w353 2003 327.1251 􀀂 0092—dc21 2002013903 Manufactured in the United States of America 10 09 08 07 06 05 04 03 02 01 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 The paper used in this publication is both acid-free and totally chlorine-free (TCF) . It meets the minimum requirements of ANSI/NISO Z39.48–1992 (R 1997) He was a white-faced man, rather ﬂat nose, lots of gold teeth in the front of his mouth. I found out later he had his teeth knocked down his throat by the Communists in South China and he had them put back in, in gold. He had dark black hair and wide-set eyes, and when I used a pair of binoculars, I’d have to open them up to give them to him so he could use them. He was about ﬁve feet eight and a very pleasant man generally, but with delicate hands and I thought he was—well, a pansy, the way I ﬁrst sized him up there, but I found out that he was a ruthless man, but personally, with him and me living in the same room much of the time with an interpreter, because he didn’t understand—orI didn’t understand his brand of Chinese, I found out that he was a very kind person and I liked him. He might have been a skunk and all those things—he might have been a witch or all of the things that they accused him of being, and an assassin, a poisoner, a saboteur of the ﬁrst water, but I found out he was a great man in the Generalissimo’s ﬁeld of vision and he liked him. He was the only man that was allowed in the Generalissimo’s bedroom armed at any time of day or night, and that showed a great deal of trust in China, if you know what that means. Anyone else that came even in Generalissimo’s Headquarters parked his gun at the entrance when he went in, but not Dai Li. admiral milton miles, Talk Before the Conference of the New York State Association of Police Chiefs, Schenectady, New York, July 24, 1957 contents acknowledgments / xi preface / xiii abbreviations / xvii maps / xix 1. Images of Dai Li / 1 2. Living off the Land / 12 3. Touben / 24 4. The League ofTen / 36 5. “Vigorous Practice”: The Chiang Freemasonry / 46 6. The Founding of the Lixingshe / 55 7. The Lixingshe and the Blue Shirts / 66 8. The Blue Shirts’“Fascism” / 85 9. Ideological Rivalries: The Blue Shirts and the “CC” Clique / 98 10. The Blue Shirts in the Provinces / 110 11. The Shanghai Station, 1932–35 / 132 12. Death Squads / 157 13. Assassinations / 168 14. Police Academies / 187 15. Sleeping in Their Cofﬁns / 206 16. Skirts and Sashes / 221

FAQs

What is the main subject of Spymaster?

Spymaster centers on Dai Li and the Chinese secret service, examining how intelligence and policing structures functioned over time.

How is the book organized?

The book uses a chapter sequence that moves through key themes such as Dai Li’s image, organizational developments, rivalries, wartime operations, and major training and espionage activities.

Does the book include reference materials for further study?

Yes. It includes notes, bibliography, and a glossary-index, along with appendices detailing organization structures and agreements related to special training.

Aug 6, 2026

Uploaded by Aurelia