Lu Jianzhang (; 1862 – June 14, 1918) was a Chinese

military officer An officer is a person who holds a position of authority as a member of an armed force or uniformed service. Broadly speaking, "officer" means a commissioned officer, a non-commissioned officer (NCO), or a warrant officer. However, absent c ...

and

warlord Warlords are individuals who exercise military, Economy, economic, and Politics, political control over a region, often one State collapse, without a strong central or national government, typically through informal control over Militia, local ...

active during the late

Qing dynasty The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing, was a Manchu-led Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China and an early modern empire in East Asia. The last imperial dynasty in Chinese history, the Qing dynasty was preceded by the ...

period and the early phases of the

Warlord Era The Warlord Era was the period in the history of the Republic of China between 1916 and 1928, when control of the country was divided between rival Warlord, military cliques of the Beiyang Army and other regional factions. It began after the de ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

Biography

He enlisted in the

Huai Army The Huai Army (), named for the Huai River, was a military force allied with the Qing dynasty raised to contain the Taiping Rebellion in 1862. It was also called the Anhui Army because it was based in Anhui province. It helped to restore the stabil ...

in 1881, before joining the New Army in 1895. He entered the military academy at

Tianjin Tianjin is a direct-administered municipality in North China, northern China on the shore of the Bohai Sea. It is one of the National Central City, nine national central cities, with a total population of 13,866,009 inhabitants at the time of the ...

in 1885, becoming an instructor in 1887. In 1905, he was put in charge of New Army units from

Shandong Shandong is a coastal Provinces of China, province in East China. Shandong has played a major role in Chinese history since the beginning of Chinese civilization along the lower reaches of the Yellow River. It has served as a pivotal cultural ...

and

Guangdong ) means "wide" or "vast", and has been associated with the region since the creation of Guang Prefecture in AD 226. The name "''Guang''" ultimately came from Guangxin ( zh, labels=no, first=t, t= , s=广信), an outpost established in Han dynasty ...

provinces. In 1911, he was sent to suppress the

Wuchang Uprising The Wuchang Uprising was an armed rebellion against the ruling Qing dynasty that took place in Wuchang (now Wuchang District of Wuhan) in the Chinese province of Hubei on 10 October 1911, beginning the Xinhai Revolution that successfully overthr ...

, but later went supported the revolutionaries through the influence of relative

Feng Yuxiang Feng Yuxiang (; ; 6 November 1882 – 1 September 1948), courtesy name Huanzhang (焕章), was a Chinese warlord and later general in the National Revolutionary Army. He served as Vice Premier of the Republic of China from 1928 to 1930. A ...

. In 1912, he participated in the formation of the

Beiyang government The Beiyang government was the internationally recognized government of the Republic of China (1912–1949), Republic of China between 1912 and 1928, based in Beijing. It was dominated by the generals of the Beiyang Army, giving it its name. B ...

of the

Republic of China Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...

. In June 1914, he was sent to

Shaanxi Shaanxi is a Provinces of China, province in north Northwestern China. It borders the province-level divisions of Inner Mongolia to the north; Shanxi and Henan to the east; Hubei, Chongqing, and Sichuan to the south; and Gansu and Ningxia to t ...

Province to suppress the

Bai Lang Rebellion The Bai Lang Rebellion was a Chinese "bandit" rebellion lasting from mid 1913 to late 1914. Launched against the Beiyang government of Yuan Shikai, the rebellion was led by Bai Lang. His rebel army was an eclectic mix of anti-Yuan Shikai troops an ...

. From December 1915 to 1916, he fought in the

National Protection War The National Protection War ( zh, t=護國戰爭, s=护国战争, p=Hù guó zhànzhēng), also known as the Anti-Monarchy War, was a civil war that took place in China between 1915 and 1916. Following the overthrow of the Qing dynasty three yea ...

in defense of the Empire of China, but refused to support

Zhang Xun Zhang Xun (; September 16, 1854 – September 11, 1923), courtesy name Shaoxuan (), art name Songshou Laoren (), nickname Bianshuai (, ), was a Chinese general and Qing loyalist who attempted to restore the abdicated emperor Puyi in the Manch ...

's restoration of the Qing dynasty in July 1917.

Death

Lu was murdered in Tianjin by

Fengtian clique The Fengtian clique () was the faction that supported warlord Zhang Zuolin during Republic of China (1912–1949), China's Warlord Era. It took its name from Fengtian Province, which served as its original base of support. However, the clique quic ...

member Yang Yuting and

Anhui Clique The Anhui clique () was a military and political organization, one of several mutually hostile cliques or factions that split from the Beiyang clique in the Republic of China's Warlord Era. It was named after Anhui province because several of it ...

member Xu Shuzheng. An opponent of Duan Qirui and the policies of the

Anhui clique The Anhui clique () was a military and political organization, one of several mutually hostile cliques or factions that split from the Beiyang clique in the Republic of China's Warlord Era. It was named after Anhui province because several of it ...

, Lu was shot in an ambush a day after arriving in Tianjin from Shanghai. His death further strained relations between the Zhili and Anhui cliques, eventually leading to the Zhili–Anhui War of 1920. In 1925, Feng Yuxiang, his relative, killed Xu in revenge for Lu's murder.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lu, Jianzhang 1862 births 1918 deaths Politicians from Bozhou Qing dynasty generals Assassinated Chinese people Republic of China warlords from Anhui Empire of China (1915–1916)