He Jian (; 10 April 1887 – 25 April 1956) was a Chinese Nationalist (KMT) general and politician in 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 ...

. He was

governor of Hunan The governor of Hunan, officially the Governor of the Hunan Provincial People's Government, is the head Hunan Province and leader of the Hunan Provincial People's Government. The governor is elected by the Hunan Provincial People's Congress, and ...

province between 1929 and 1937, and

Interior Minister An interior minister (sometimes called a minister of internal affairs or minister of home affairs) is a Cabinet (government), cabinet official position that is responsible for internal affairs, such as public security, civil registration and iden ...

from 1937 to 1939. He was best known for fighting the Communists, and he once ordered his subordinates to execute

Yang Kaihui Yang Kaihui (; courtesy name: Yunjin ; 6 November 1901 – 14 November 1930) was the second wife of Mao Zedong, whom he married in 1920. She had three children with Mao Zedong: Mao Anying, Mao Anqing and Mao Anlong. Her father was Yan ...

(

Mao Zedong Mao Zedong pronounced ; traditionally Romanization of Chinese, romanised as Mao Tse-tung. (26December 18939September 1976) was a Chinese politician, revolutionary, and political theorist who founded the People's Republic of China (PRC) in ...

's wife) and Wu Ruolan (

Zhu De Zhu De; (1 December 1886 – 6 July 1976) was a Chinese general, military strategist, politician and revolutionary in the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Zhu was born into poverty in 1886 in Sichuan. He was adopted by a wealthy uncle at ...

's wife).

Names

His courtesy name was Yunqiao () and his

art name An art name (pseudonym or pen name), also known by its native names ''hào'' (in Mandarin Chinese), ''gō'' (in Japanese), ' (in Korean), and ''tên hiệu'' (in Vietnamese), is a professional name used by artists, poets and writers in the Sinosp ...

was Rongyuan ().

Biography

Education

He Jian was born into a family of farming background in

Liling County Liling () is a county-level city and the 12th most populous county-level division in Hunan Province, China; it is under the administration of the prefecture-level city of Zhuzhou. Located on the middle eastern margin of the province, the city is ...

Hunan Hunan is an inland Provinces of China, province in Central China. Located in the middle reaches of the Yangtze watershed, it borders the Administrative divisions of China, province-level divisions of Hubei to the north, Jiangxi to the east, Gu ...

, on April 10, 1887. In 1903 he attended Zhuzici School () and then transferred to Liling County Lujiang Middle School (). In 1906 he enrolled at Chonggu School () and three years later he studied at Hunan Public Law School (). After the outbreak of the

Xinhai Revolution The 1911 Revolution, also known as the Xinhai Revolution or Hsinhai Revolution, ended China's last imperial dynasty, the Qing dynasty, and led to the establishment of the Republic of China (ROC). The revolution was the culmination of a decade ...

, he was educated in Wuchang Army High School. After graduating from

Baoding Military Academy Baoding Military Academy or Paoting Military Academy () was a military academy based in Baoding, during the late Qing dynasty and early Republic of China, in the first two decades of the 20th century. For a time, it was the most important military ...

in 1916 he was assigned to the 1st Brigade of 1st Division of Hunan Ground Force.

Northern Expedition

In March 1918, Zhang Jingyao attacked

, He Jian threw down his arms and fled the field. He returned to his hometown and rebuilt an guerrilla forces. In May,

Cheng Qian Cheng Qian (; 31 March 1882 – 5 April 1968) was a Chinese army officer and politician who held important military and political positions in both the Republic of China and the People's Republic of China.Wolfgang Bartke, ''Who was Who in the Peop ...

, the commander-in-chief of

Xiang Army file:Zeng Guofan.png, 150px, Zeng Guofan, the leader of the Xiang Army The Xiang Army or Hunan Army () was a standing army organized by Zeng Guofan from existing regional and village militia forces called ''tuanlian'' to contain the Taiping Rebel ...

, commissioned him as commander of Liuyang-Liling guerrilla forces. In 1919, Tang Shengzhi incorporated his army and he became a brigade commander. He joined the

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 ...

and took part in the

Northern Expedition The Northern Expedition was a military campaign launched by the National Revolutionary Army (NRA) of the Kuomintang (KMT) against the Beiyang government and other regional warlords in 1926. The purpose of the campaign was to reunify China prop ...

. After

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 ...

was captured he was promoted to army commander of the 35th Army.

Encirclement and suppression

In April 1927 he fought against

Zhang Zuolin Zhang Zuolin; courtesy name Yuting ( zh, c=雨亭, p=Yǔtíng, labels=no) and nicknamed Zhang Laogang ( zh, c=張老疙瘩, p=Zhāng Lǎo Gēda, labels=no) (March 19, 1875June 4, 1928) was a Chinese warlord who ruled Manchuria from 1916 to 1928 ...

's army in

Hebei Hebei is a Provinces of China, province in North China. It is China's List of Chinese administrative divisions by population, sixth-most populous province, with a population of over 75 million people. Shijiazhuang is the capital city. It bor ...

. At the same time, Communist revolutionaries Guo Liang, Liu Zhixun (purged by Xia Xi and executed), and Xia Xi in alliance with Kuomintang leftist pressed ahead with rural land reform in Hunan, this incident lead to intensification of the contradictions between Communist Party and Kuomintang. On May 21, 1927, the Mari Incident broke out, He Jian began to crack down the Communists. In November 1928, the

Nationalist government The Nationalist government, officially the National Government of the Republic of China, refers to the government of the Republic of China (1912–1949), Republic of China from 1 July 1925 to 20 May 1948, led by the nationalist Kuomintang (KMT ...

commissioned him as commander-in-chief of Hunan-Jiangxi Jiaofei Headquarters. His army marched towards the Jinggangshan Revolutionary Base. The

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Republic and, from 1922, the Soviet Union. The army was established in January 1918 by a decree of the Council of People ...

were defeated and fled to the Central Soviet Base Area. In 1929, he was appointed governor of Hunan province. That same year, his subordinates arrested and then executed Wu Ruolan, wife of Communist military leader

. In 1930, the Communist Party sent troops to attack

Changsha Changsha is the capital of Hunan, China. It is the 15th most populous city in China with a population of 10,513,100, the Central China#Cities with urban area over one million in population, third-most populous city in Central China, and the ...

, He Jian's car was destroyed in the war, in reprisal, he participated in the "encirclement and suppression" led by Chiang Kai-shek and He Yingqia in Jiangxi. On November 14, his subordinates executed

(

's wife) in

. In 1933, the Nationalist government commissioned him as commander-in-chief of West Route Army.

Second Sino-Japanese War

He was

in 1937 and chairman of Military Committee in 1939.

Chinese Civil War

After 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 resigned from his post because of illness. He recuperated at Heng Mountain, in

Hengyang Hengyang (; ) is the second largest city of Hunan Province, China. It straddles the Xiang River about south of the provincial capital of Changsha. As of the 2020 Chinese census, Its total population was 6,645,243 inhabitants, of whom 1,290,71 ...

. He Jian relocated to

British Hong Kong Hong Kong was under British Empire, British rule from 1841 to 1997, except for a Japanese occupation of Hong Kong, brief period of Japanese occupation during World War II from 1941 to 1945. It was a crown colony of the United Kingdom from 1841 ...

in the Spring of 1949 and one year later he settled down in

Taipei , nickname = The City of Azaleas , image_map = , map_caption = , pushpin_map = Taiwan#Asia#Pacific Ocean#Earth , coordinates = , subdivision_type = Country ...

Taiwan 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 ...

. He served as national policy advisor to the President Chiang Kai-shek until his death. On April 25, 1956, He Jian died of

cerebral hemorrhage Intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH), also known as hemorrhagic stroke, is a sudden bleeding into the tissues of the brain (i.e. the parenchyma), into its ventricles, or into both. An ICH is a type of bleeding within the skull and one kind of stro ...

in Taipei.

Personal life

He had a daughter, He Lian, who was married to Tang Fei-fan, a virologist best known for culturing the Chlamydia trachomatis agent in the yolk sacs of eggs.

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:He, Jian 1887 births 1956 deaths Politicians from Zhuzhou Baoding Military Academy cadets National Revolutionary Army generals from Hunan Republic of China warlords from Hunan Chinese Civil War refugees Taiwanese people from Hunan Governors of Hunan Republic of China politicians from Hunan