General who in 1915 led the 护国军 (National Protection Army) from Yunnan against 袁世凯's bid to become emperor, forcing Yuan to give up the throne. He died of illness in Japan months later.
Cai E raised troops in Yunnan to oppose Yuan Shikai's attempt to declare himself emperor.
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history
A pupil of 梁启超, he renamed himself 锷 'sword edge' in 1900. The tale that the courtesan 小凤仙 helped him escape Yuan's Beijing began in a 1916 novel: he did feign a passion for her to fool Yuan's watchers, but she had no part in the escape.
