Chiang Kai-shek (ch?ng? k??sh?k?, jyäng?) 1887-1975. Chinese military and political figure who led the Nationalists against the rising Communist forces and was driven from the mainland to Taiwan (1949), where he served as president of Nationalist China until his death.American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.Chiang Kai-shek (?t?æ? ka????k) or Jiang Jie Shin (Biography) original name Chiang Chung-cheng, 1887?1975, Chinese general: president of China (1928?31; 1943?49) and of the Republic of China (Taiwan) (1950?75). As chairman of the Kuomintang, he allied with the Communists against the Japanese (1937?45), but in the Civil War that followed was forced to withdraw to Taiwan after his defeat by the Communists (1949)Collins English Dictionary ? Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014Chiang Kai-shek (?t?æ? ka????k, ?d?y??) n. (Chiang Chung-cheng) 1886??1975, president of the Republic of China 1950?75. Random House Kernerman Webster’s College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.