Tao Chengzhang (1878-1912) was from Shangtang, Taoyanxi, Kuaiji, Shaoxing. He was born into a poverty-stricken family. A genius, he as a kid could recite things he had read only once. After the outbreak of the Sino-Japanese War, Tao was greatly worried about China’s future. He was determined to devote to a military career. Tao, together with Cai Yuanpei and Gong Baoquan and others, set up the China Recovery League. Tao was in charge of contacting members in Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Fujian, Anhui, and Jiangxi provinces.  In August, 1905, Tao and Xu Xilin founded the Datong School in Shaoxing, a place to train revolutionary cadres for Zhejiang province. In 1906 Tao joined the China Revolutionary League in Tokyo and served as director of Zhejiang Branch of the League members in Japan. He also worked as editor for the People Newspaper. He later returned to China and set up the Recovery Army and was elected Governor for the five provinces. He was busy preparing for an armed revolt in collaboration with Xu Xilin and Qiu Jin. In July 1908 the revolt in Anqing failed, and Xu Xilin and Qiu Jin were executed. Wanted by the Qing government, Tao Chengzhang fled to Japan. In 1910, the headquarters of the China Recovery League came into being in Tokyo, Japan. Zhang Taiyan was elected president and Tao vice president and the executive headquarters was established in the southeastern Asia. In 1911 Tao came back to Shanghai from the southeastern Asia. After the Huanghuagang Uprising in Guangzhou failed, Tao established Ruijun Academy, a secret arm of the China Recovery League. He then returned to the southeastern Asia to raise money for the organization. He came back to China after the Wuchang Uprising, the successful event that started the 1911 Revolution and brought down the Qing Dynasty. He shuttled within the Yangtze River delta and organized the league members to act together. He took active part in organizing the China Recovery League members to recover Hangzhou and Nanjing. After Zhejiang was seized from the Qing Dynasty, Tao was elected the chairman of Zhejiang Provisional Legislature.  He wrote Records of Zhejiang Cases and History of Chinese Nation’s Ups and Downs.  

Sun Yat-sen came all the way to the Donghu Lake, Shaoxing to hold a memorial ceremony for Tao Chengzhang in August 1916. Sun wrote an inscription for Tao’s lifetime devotion to the revolution. Lu Xun said Tao was a real entrepreneur of the revolution. Tao’s former residence is not his memorial hall in honor of his revolutionary deeds.