Zhang Zuolin

Zhang Zuolin (March 19, 1875June 4, 1928) was a Chinese warlord who ruled Manchuria from 1916 until his assassination in 1928. He led the Fengtian clique, one of the most powerful factions during the Warlord Era. In 1927, he became the leader of the Beiyang government and was declared Generalissimo of the Republic of China.

Born to a poor peasant's family in Manchuria, Zhang became a prominent mounted bandit in the region in the 1890s. After the Boxer Rebellion, his troops became a regiment of the Qing dynasty's army, and during the Russo-Japanese War, they were hired by the Japanese Army as mercenaries. During the 1911 Revolution, Zhang initially fought against the revolutionaries, and after the foundation of the Republic of China supported the Beiyang government. Zhang founded the Fengtian clique and gradually expanded his Northeastern Army, which established his supremacy over the three northeastern provinces (Fengtian, Jilin and Heilongjiang).

Zhang's government in Manchuria initiated important reforms and investments in agriculture and industry, resulting in good development. He was supported by the Japanese, who viewed him as best representing their economic interests. Seeking to extend his power to northern China, Zhang fought wars against the Anhui and Zhili cliques, after which he became the most powerful figure in the Beiyang government and proclaimed himself Generalissimo in 1927. Zhang's troops were defeated by the Kuomintang's Northern Expedition in 1928. During his retreat, he was assassinated by officers of the Japanese Kwantung Army. He was succeeded in Manchuria by his son, Zhang Xueliang, who recognized the Nationalist government.

Origins

Early life

Zhang was born in 1875 in Haicheng, a county in southern Fengtian province (modern Liaoning) in northeastern China, to poor parents. He received little formal education, and the only non-military trade that he learned in his lifetime was a small amount of veterinary science. He hunted hares in the Manchurian countryside to help feed his family. In appearance he was thin and short.

Zhang asserted that he was a Han Chinese Bannerman.

When he became old enough to work, he got a job at a stable in an inn, where he became familiar with many bandit gangs operating in Manchuria at the time. At the age of twenty, he enlisted as a cavalry soldier to fight in the First Sino–Japanese War (1894–1895). After the end of the war, he returned to his hometown and became a mounted bandit. His bandit career was euphemistically referred to as his experience in the "University of the Green Forest", as he was illiterate. During his time of banditry, he became close with some figures who later occupied important positions in his military clique.

In 1900 the Boxer Rebellion broke out, and Zhang's gang joined the imperial army. In peacetime he hired his men out as security escorts for traveling merchants. In the Russo-Japanese War of 1904–05 the Japanese Army employed Zhang and his men as mercenaries. At the end of the Qing dynasty Zhang managed to have his men recognised as a regiment of the regular Chinese army, patrolling the borders of Manchuria and suppressing other bandit gangs.

Growth of power in Manchuria

thumb|Zhang in [[Beiyang Army regalia]]During the 1911 Xinhai Revolution some military commanders wanted to declare independence for Manchuria; but the pro-Manchu governor used Zhang's regiment to set up a "Manchurian People's Peacekeeping Council", intimidating would-be rebels and revolutionaries. For his efforts in preventing civil disturbance and revolution, Zhang was named the Vice Minister of Military Affairs.

On January 1, 1912 Sun Yat-sen became the first President of the Republic of China in Nanjing. Yuan Shikai, operating out of Beijing, sent other northern military commanders a series of telegrams, advising them to oppose Sun's administration. To gain Zhang's loyalty, Yuan sent him a large shipment of military provisions; Zhang sent Yuan an enormous (and costly) ginseng root in return to symbolize their friendship. Zhang then murdered a number of leading figures in his base city of Shenyang (then known as "Mukden"), and was rewarded with a series of impressive-sounding titles by the nearly defunct Qing court. When it became obvious to Zhang that Yuan would usurp control of the central government, he endorsed Yuan's rule over that of either Sun or the Manchus. After Zhang put down a rebellion in June 1912, Yuan raised him to the rank of Lieutenant-General. In 1913 Yuan attempted to move Zhang away from Manchuria by having him transferred to Mongolia, but Zhang reminded Yuan of his successful efforts to keep local order, and refused.

In 1915, when it became clear that Yuan intended to declare himself emperor, Zhang was one of the few officials who supported him. Besides political opportunism, Zhang saw Yuan as a central, unifying, and legitimate figure. Furthermore, Yuan had promoted him to military governor of Fengtian to gain his support. Zhang's main rival for power in Manchuria, Zhang Xiluan, had been asked about Yuan's ambitions, and suggested to Yuan that he "think about it a bit more", for which Zhang Xiluan was recalled to Beijing while Zhang Zuolin was promoted.

In March 1916, after many southern provinces revolted against Yuan Shikai's government, Zhang supported him but expelled a local military governor sent by Duan Qirui to replace him, with some support from local Japanese officers in the Kwantung Army. Beijing accepted Zhang's authority and Yuan appointed Zhang superintendent of military affairs in Liaoning (known as "Fengtian" until 1929). After Yuan died in June 1916, the new central government named Zhang both military and civil governor of Liaoning, the essential components of a successful warlord.

Zhang, a pragmatist, had always remained cordial with Puyi, the last Emperor of China, and had sent him a gift of £1,600 for his wedding as a token of loyalty. Zhang sought good relations with Puyi in order to increase his power and cement his legitimacy if a restoration was ever attempted. In 1917 he plotted with Zhang Xun, a Qing-loyalist general, to restore the abdicated Puyi to the throne. Zhang Zuolin proposed talking to the National Assembly about a possible restoration.

A Tianjin-based honghuzi leader negotiated with Zhang Zuolin.

Fortress Manchuria

thumb|left|Zhang in the 1920s

In 1920 Zhang was the supreme ruler of Manchuria. The central government acknowledged this by appointing him Governor-General of the Three Eastern Provinces. He began to surround himself in luxury, building a chateau-style home near Shenyang, and had at least five wives (an accepted practice of any powerful or wealthy Chinese at the time). In 1925 his personal fortune was estimated at over 18 million yuan (roughly $2.6 million).

His power rested on the Fengtian Army, which was composed of about 100,000 men in 1922 and almost triple that number by the end of the decade. It had obtained large stocks of weapons left over from World War I and included naval units, an air force and an armaments industry. Zhang integrated a large number of local militias into his army, and thus prevented Manchuria from falling into the chaos which reigned in China proper at the time. Jilin province was ruled by a military governor, who was said to be a cousin of Zhang; Heilongjiang had its own regional warlord, who never displayed any ambitions outside the province.

Although Manchuria officially remained a part of the Republic of China, it became more or less an independent state isolated from China by its geography and protected by the Fengtian Army. The only pass at Shanhaiguan, where the Great Wall meets the sea, could easily be closed. In a time when the central government was barely able to pay the salaries of its civil servants, no more revenues were forwarded to Beijing. In 1922 Zhang took control of the only rail link, the Beijing–Shenyang Railway, north of the Great Wall and also kept tax revenues from this railroad. Only postal and customs revenues continued to be sent to Beijing, because they had been pledged to the victorious foreign powers after the failed Boxer Rebellion of 1900, and Zhang feared their intervention.

It was proposed that Zhang Zuolin's domain (the "Three Eastern Provinces") take Outer Mongolia under its administration by the Bogda Khan and Bodo in 1922 after pro-Soviet Mongolian Communists seized control of Outer Mongolia.

Japanese and Russian influences

Manchuria shared a long border with Russia, which had been weakened militarily after the October Revolution. The line of the Chinese Eastern Railway, which was under Russian control, ran through northern Manchuria and the land immediately on either side of the tracks was considered to be Russian territory. From 1917 to about 1924 the new Communist government in Moscow was having such difficulties establishing itself in Siberia that often it was not clear who was in charge of operating the railway on the Russian side. Still, Zhang avoided a showdown and after 1924 the Soviets re-established their dominance over the railroad.

The situation's precariousness was demonstrated by an outbreak of pneumonic plague in Hailar, a town at the western end of the Chinese Eastern Railway, in October 1920. Chinese troops were present in great number and turned railway quarantine into a farce. The soldiers freed some of their comrades who had been imprisoned as contacts, and they escaped to the mining town of Dalainor on the Amur River, where a quarter of the population died. In the other direction, all of the towns along the Chinese Eastern Railway as far as Vladivostok were infected. Around 9,000 died, while only a few contacts were able to reach south Manchuria.

The Japanese posed more of a problem. After the Russo-Japanese war of 1904-05 they had gained two important outposts in south Manchuria: The Kwantung Leased Territory consisted of a peninsula in the southernmost part of Manchuria. It included the ice-free port of Dairen (Chinese: Dalian), which became the main link to Japan. Reaching northward from the colony, the South Manchurian Railway passed through Shenyang (referred to as Mukden by the Japanese), linking up with the Chinese Eastern Railway in Changchun. The land on either side of the railway tracks remained extraterritorial, now being controlled by the Japanese Kwantung Army. This army maintained 7,000-14,000 men in Manchuria, tolerating and being tolerated by the Fengtian Army, although Zhang kept up a war of words, playing on anti-Japanese sentiments in the Chinese public.

Lu Zhankui, a Mongol officer under Zhang, was instrumental in bringing Oomoto leader Onisaburo Deguchi, and Aikido founder Morihei Ueshiba, to Mongolia in 1924.

Civil reform

At the beginning of the 1920s, Zhang transformed Manchuria from an unimportant frontier region to one of the most prosperous parts of China. He had inherited a financially weak provincial governmentin 1917 Fengtian faced ten outstanding loans from foreign-controlled consortia and banks totaling over 12 million yuan. Zhang chose Wang Yongjiang, who had served as head of a regional tax office, for the task of solving Fengtian's financial problems. He was appointed director of the bureau of finance.

A number of currencies were circulating in the province, as was the custom in China, and the paper notes issued by the provincial government had experienced a steady depreciation in value. Wang decided to switch to a silver standard and set the initial value of the new silver yuan equal to the Japanese gold yen, which was accepted throughout Korea and Manchuria. Much to the surprise of the Chinese, the new currency even gained in value against the gold yen, although Japanese businessmen claimed that it was not backed up by sufficient silver reserves. Wang then used the newly gained credibility to introduce another note, the Fengtian dollar, which was not convertible into silver anymore. However, it was accepted by the government for the payment of taxes, a sign of faith in its own currency.

Next, Wang turned to the chaotic tax collecting system. Because of his former job, he was well acquainted with the abuses of the system and introduced a number of controls. The provincial government had also invested government funds in various enterprises, many of which were poorly managed. Wang ordered a review of government-sponsored firms. From 1918, revenues rose steadily, and by 1921 all outstanding loans had been repaid and there was even a budget surplus. Wang was rewarded by being appointed Civil Governor of Fengtian province while remaining director of the bureau of finance. He retained the title of Military Governor of Fengtian. Still, more than two-thirds of the budget was allocated to the military.

Internal strife

thumb|320px|Map showing the territory controlled by Zhang Zuolin (in green) during the Northern Expedition period

thumb|Chinese FT

In 1919 France had left Renault FT tanks in Vladivostok after the joint Allied intervention, and Zhang Zuolin soon incorporated them into the Manchurian Army.

In the summer of 1920, Zhang made a foray into North China on the other side of the Great Wall, trying to topple Duan Qirui, the leading warlord of Beijing. He did this by supporting another warlord, Cao Kun, with troops and they successfully ousted Duan. As a reward, Zhang was granted control over most of Inner Mongolia to the west of Manchuria.

In December 1921, Zhang visited Beijing; at his request, the entire cabinet, led by Jin Yunpeng, resigned, leaving him free to appoint a new government. Installing Liang Shiyi as premier, he proposed a new constitution and the resolution of the republic's financial difficulties. Now a figure of national prominence, he quickly came into conflict with Wu Peifu, a divisional commander of the North China Zhili clique, which was based in the province of Zhili that surrounded Beijing.

In the spring of 1922, Zhang personally took the position of Commander-in-Chief of the Fengtian Army, and on April 19 his forces entered China proper. As his men took Beijing three days later, fighting soon broke out. On May 4, the Fengtian Army was seriously defeated by the Zhili Army in what came to be known as the First Zhili–Fengtian War. Three-thousand troops had been killed and 7,000 wounded, and Zhang's units retreated to Shanhai Pass. Zhili forces were in control of Beijing and Zhang's image as a national leader had been destroyed and he reacted by declaring Manchuria independent from Beijing in May 1922.

On June 22, Wang left Shenyang for Japanese-controlled Dalian, allegedly for treatment of an eye infection. From there he challenged Zhang by demanding restrictions to military spending and complete control over civil affairs. Zhang gave in, lifted martial law and agreed to a separation of civil and military administration in all of the three provinces. Wang returned on August 6, thereby ensuring Manchuria's continued stability.

Regional development

After Zhang's forces were defeated in the First Zhili-Fengtian War, they brought captured radio equipment and expertise back to the northeast. This became the basis for the radio industry in Manchuria and Zhang's administration built two of the most powerful and largest radio transmitters in Asia. Zhang viewed this attack as a threat to his position and began preparing his forces for war. Instead, a year later, with Kuomintang forces rapidly closing in, he combined his military forces with those of the other warlords, including Zhang Zongchang and Sun Chuanfang, into the National Pacification Army and fought against the Northern Expedition. At the same time, he proclaimed himself Generalissimo of the Republic of China, and thus led China's internationally recognized government as a dictator. However, the Nationalists led by Chiang Kai-shek attacked his forces, and in May 1928, the Fengtian Army had to retreat towards Beijing. In addition, Japan applied pressure on Zhang to leave Beijing and to return to Manchuria and underscored that by bringing reinforcements to Tianjin. Zhang left Beijing on June 3, 1928.

The next morning, his train reached the outskirts of Shenyang. Here the line passed through the Japanese-operated South Manchuria Railroad.

Assassination

In what came to be known as the Huanggutun incident, Colonel Kōmoto Daisaku, an officer of the Japanese Kwantung Army, planted a bomb along a railroad bridge, which exploded in the early morning of June 4, 1928, when Zhang's train passed it. Mortally wounded, Zhang died a few hours later. At the Tokyo War Crimes Tribunal in 1946, Okada Keisuke testified that Zhang was murdered because the Kwantung Army was infuriated by his failure to stop Chiang's army, which was backed by Moscow, Tokyo's strategic rival. For two weeks, Zhang's death was kept secret while the scramble for power was decided. That is why according to an announcement issued by the Fengtian Army, he officially died on June 21, 1928.

Zhang was succeeded, both as warlord of Manchuria and head of the now-exiled Beiyang Government, by his eldest son, Zhang Xueliang, the so-called "Young Marshal." The government-in-exile would not last very long since by July, Beiyang had reached an armistice with the Kuomintang; and by the end of the year, the Northeast Flag Replacement occurred, nominally reunifying China under the Kuomintang banner.

Personal life

Zhang had six wives and 14 children (eight sons and six daughters), among which include his son and successor, Zhang Xueliang, as well as Zhang Xueming. He was a Buddhist.

A pragmatist, Zhang supported different movements depending on what would gain him the most power and legitimacy, and even supported the restoration of the Qing dynasty in 1917. His nicknames include the "Old Marshal" (大帥, P: Dàshuài, W: Ta-shuai), "Rain Marshal" (雨帥, P: Yǔshuài, W: Yü-shuai) and "Mukden Tiger". The American press referred to him as "Marshal Chang Tso-lin, Tuchun of Manchuria".

In the media

There are numerous movies, TV shows and radio shows depicting the life of Zhang Zuolin, including:

"The Heroes of Troubled Times (乱世枭雄)", is a 485 episode radio show read by the famous story teller/actor Shan Tianfang 单田芳, about Zhang Zuolin.
"Young Marshal (少帅)", is a 48 episode TV show about both Zhang Zuolin and his son Zhang Xueliang, originally aired in 2015.
"Legend of the Old Marshal (大帅传奇)", is a 20 episode TV show about Zhang Zuolin, originally aired in 1994.

Notes

Footnotes

References

Behr, Edward. The Last Emperor. Bantam. 1987. .
Bonavia, David. China's Warlords. New York: Oxford University Press. 1995.
* Hata, Ikuhiro. "Continental Expansion: 1905-1941". In The Cambridge History of Japan. Vol. 6. Cambridge University Press. 1988
Suleski, Ronald. (2002). Civil Government in Warlord China: Tradition, Modernization and Manchuria New York: Peter Lang.
"War?" TIME Magazine September 8, 1924. Retrieved August 24 2011.