Han Fuju or Han Fu-chü (; 1890 – 24 January 1938) was a

Kuomintang The Kuomintang (KMT) is a major political party in the Republic of China (Taiwan). It was the one party state, sole ruling party of the country Republic of China (1912-1949), during its rule from 1927 to 1949 in Mainland China until Retreat ...

general in the early 20th century. He rose up the ranks of the

Guominjun The Guominjun (), also known as the Kuominchun, abbreviated as GMJ and KMC, was a military faction founded by Feng Yuxiang, Hu Jingyi and Sun Yue during China's Warlord Era. The KMC had control of much of Northwest China, including Shaanxi ...

clique in the Warlord era but then went over to the

, and held the position of military governor of

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 ...

from 1930 to 1938. Han had one wife, two concubines, and four sons.

Biography

Early life

Han Fuju was born in Dongshantai Village (), Ba County, Hebei Province. He had had little aptitude for schooling. Nonetheless, while quite young, he had worked as a clerk in his hsien ("county") until his gambling debts forced him to run away and enlist in the army of General

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 ...

. Han rose quickly, from clerk to chief clerk, to

lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a Junior officer, junior commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations, as well as fire services, emergency medical services, Security agency, security services ...

, to

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

, and after an uprising, to

major Major most commonly refers to: * Major (rank), a military rank * Academic major, an academic discipline to which an undergraduate student formally commits * People named Major, including given names, surnames, nicknames * Major and minor in musi ...

. During the warlord upheavals in the 1920s, he emerged as commander of General Feng's 1st Army Group.

Governor and warlord

In 1928, he was appointed chairman (governor) of

Henan Henan; alternatively Honan is a province in Central China. Henan is home to many heritage sites, including Yinxu, the ruins of the final capital of the Shang dynasty () and the Shaolin Temple. Four of the historical capitals of China, Lu ...

province by Feng, and in 1929, he was confirmed in office and concurrently named commanding

general A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air force, air and space forces, marines or naval infantry. In some usages, the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colone ...

of the 11th Division. When Feng revolted later in the year, Han declared his allegiance to the central government of Chiang Kai-shek. In the Central Plains War in 1930, Han fought against the rebel troops of Yan Xishan and his former commander Feng Yuxiang in Shandong and was rewarded with appointment as governor of the province. Han Fuju 1930

He took over Zhang Zongchang's role as the

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 ...

in Shandong Province. In autumn 1932, he unified the province after defeating the rival warlord

Liu Zhennian Liu Zhennian (; 1898 in Nangong, Hebei, China – 13 May 1935) was a Chinese military commander during the Warlord Era and Nanjing decade in the history of the Republic of China. Liu graduated from the Baoding Military Academy and served as a r ...

, who controlled the eastern part of the province (in particular the sea port of Yantai) and was known as the "King of Eastern Shandong ". As governor, Han was a stern disciplinarian with the civil servants and the military. He had virtually wiped out banditry and traffic in narcotics in campaigns of suppression. By commercial operations, principally in cotton, tobacco, and real estate, he grew rich and gave generously to schools, hospitals, and civic improvements. In the mid-1930s, he was the target of Japanese attempts to get him to incorporate his province of Shandong into one of the North China puppet states that they were attempting to construct. After the onset of the

Second Sino-Japanese War The Second Sino-Japanese War was fought between the Republic of China (1912–1949), Republic of China and the Empire of Japan between 1937 and 1945, following a period of war localized to Manchuria that started in 1931. It is considered part ...

, he commanded the 3rd Army Group and in 1937 was made Deputy Commander in Chief of the 5th War Area defending the lower Yellow River valley. During the

Xi'an Incident The Xi'an Incident was a Chinese political crisis that lasted from 12 to 26 December 1936. Chiang Kai-shek, the leader of the Nationalist government of China, was arrested in Xi'an by soldiers of the Northeastern Army under the command of Ge ...

in December 1936, he openly praised the actions of

Zhang Xueliang Zhang Xueliang ( zh, t=張學良; June 3, 1901 – October 15, 2001), also commonly known by his nickname "the Young Marshal", was a Chinese general who in 1928 succeeded his father Zhang Zuolin as the commander of the Northeastern Army. He is bes ...

in kidnapping Chiang Kai-shek and forcing him into forming the

Second United Front The Second United Front ( zh, t=第二次國共合作 , s=第二次国共合作 , first=t , l=Second Nationalist-Communist Cooperation, p=dì èr cì guógòng hézuò ) was the alliance between the ruling Kuomintang (KMT) and the Chinese Co ...

, but was successfully urged by

Song Zheyuan Song Zheyuan (; October 30, 1885 – April 5, 1940) was a Chinese general during the Chinese Civil War and Second Sino-Japanese War (1937–1945). Biography Early life and education Born in the village of Zhaohong, northwest of the seat of Lao ...

, Chairman of the Hebei-Chahar Political Council, to retract his statements and support a political solution to the crisis.

Downfall

Han was suspected of having conducted secret negotiations with the Japanese to spare his province and his position of power. When the Japanese crossed the Yellow River, he abandoned his base in

Jinan Jinan is the capital of the province of Shandong in East China. With a population of 9.2 million, it is one of the largest cities in Shandong in terms of population. The area of present-day Jinan has played an important role in the history of ...

, which endangered the fifth warzone located between north china and the Yangzi River. Han abandoned his army on January 6 and fled to

Kaifeng Kaifeng ( zh, s=开封, p=Kāifēng) is a prefecture-level city in east-Zhongyuan, central Henan province, China. It is one of the Historical capitals of China, Eight Ancient Capitals of China, having been the capital eight times in history, and ...

, where he was arrested on 11th and brought to Wuchang and was later executed by Chiang Kai-shek for disobeying orders from superior commanders and for retreating on his own accord. Chiang did so to set an example for those not following his orders. According to one account, Han was executed in the sanctuary of the Changchun Temple (), a

Taoist Taoism or Daoism (, ) is a diverse philosophical and religious tradition indigenous to China, emphasizing harmony with the Tao ( zh, p=dào, w=tao4). With a range of meaning in Chinese philosophy, translations of Tao include 'way', 'road', ...

temple at the outskirts of

Wuchang Wuchang is one of 13 urban District (China), districts of the prefecture-level city of Wuhan, the capital of Hubei, Hubei Province, China. It is the oldest of the three cities that merged into modern-day Wuhan, and stood on the right (southea ...

(now, almost in the center of modern

Wuhan Wuhan; is the capital of Hubei, China. With a population of over eleven million, it is the most populous city in Hubei and the List of cities in China by population, eighth-most-populous city in China. It is also one of the nine National cent ...

) by a single pistol bullet that was fired into the back of his head by Chiang's chief of staff, General Hu Zongnan.Stephen MacKinnon, "The Tragedy of Wuhan, 1938", Modern Asian Studies, Vol. 30, No. 4, Special Issue: War in Modern China (October 1996), pp. 931-943 There are only second-hand accounts of the execution.Diana Lary
"Treachery, Disgrace and Death: Han Fuju and China's Resistance to Japan", War in History, 2006
/ref>

Career

*1928-1930: Chairman of the Government of Henan Province *1930-1938: Governor of Shandong *1937: General Officer Commanding 3rd Route Army *1937-1938: Commander-in-Chief 3rd Army Group *1938: Deputy Commander-in-Chief 5th War Area *1938 Arrested and executed at a military conference in Hankou for failing to defend Shandong

Personal life

Besides for his execution as a traitor, Han Fuju is remembered for his bad jokes and poetry.Diana Lary
"China's Republic", Cambridge University Press, 2007
/ref> According to historian Diana Lary, one of his best known poems was about the Daming Lake in Jinan, though the same poem has also been attributed to Zhang Zongchang by newspapers such as the Beijing Evening News and

People's Daily The ''People's Daily'' ( zh, s=人民日报, p=Rénmín Rìbào) is the official newspaper of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). It provides direct information on the policies and viewpoints of the CCP in multiple lan ...

Sources

{{DEFAULTSORT:Han Fuju Republic of China warlords from Hebei Executed military personnel People executed by the Republic of China by firearm Executed Republic of China people 1890 births 1938 deaths Politicians from Langfang Governors of Shandong 20th-century executions by China Executed Chinese people Executed people from Hebei People from Bazhou, Hebei