On this day, 86 years ago, on June 5, 1939 (April 18, 1939, the former President of the Republic of China, Xu Shichang, died of illness. Xu Shichang On June 5, 1939, former President of the Republic of China Xu Shichang died of illness in Tianjin. Xu Shichang was born in 1855, originally in Tianjin. He was born in Ji County, Henan Province. He went to private school as a child. Later, he received financial support from Yuan Shikai and went north to take the Jinshi examination. In 1889, he was compiled by Hanlin and later served as an important adviser to Yuan Shikai. After the Revolution of 1911, he assisted Yuan in seeking military and political power of the Qing government. In October 1918, he was "elected" as president by the Anfu Parliament controlled by Anhui warlord Duan Qirui. In 1919, he presided over the North-South Peace Conference and advocated "abolishing martial arts and cultivating literature." During the May 4th Movement, China representatives were instructed to sign at the Paris Peace Conference. Later, under the pressure of the national mass movement, Cao Rulin, Zhang Zongxiang and others were dismissed. In June 1922, he was forced to step down by direct warlords and later took refuge in the British Concession in Tianjin. In his later years, he wrote "Qing Confucianism Case" and "Political Strategies of the Three Eastern Provinces".