Born in Jiujiang, Jiangxi, Cai studied economics and politics at Imperial University in Tokyo, Japan, earning a master's degree.

Upon his return to China, he joined Sun Yat-sen's Kuomintang (KMT), and later served in various roles in the Chinese nationalist government.

[1] In 1927, he was appointed Superintendent of Customs and Commissioner of Foreign Affairs in Nanjing.

According to Chinese sources, the Japanese soldiers broke his leg, smashed his teeth, cut out his tongue, and shot him.

In May 1928, 11[3] or 7 Japanese were shot to death by a Chinese man in Kobe, Japan, in revenge for the Jinan incident and then he committed suicide.