Jiang Dengxuan (; 188025 November 1925),

courtesy name A courtesy name ( zh, s=字, p=zì, l=character), also known as a style name, is an additional name bestowed upon individuals at adulthood, complementing their given name. This tradition is prevalent in the East Asian cultural sphere, particula ...

Chao Liu () was a Chinese general and politician during 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 ...

, most famous for his service in

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 ...

Fengtian Army The Northeastern Army, also known as the Fengtian Army (see terminology), was a Chinese army that existed from 1911 to 1937. General Zhang Zuolin developed it as an independent fighting force during the Warlord Era. He used the army to control ...

Early life and education

Jiang was born into a wealthy family of landlords and businessmen. He did well in the early stages of the

imperial examination The imperial examination was a civil service examination system in History of China#Imperial China, Imperial China administered for the purpose of selecting candidates for the Civil service#China, state bureaucracy. The concept of choosing bureau ...

system, but China's defeat in the

Boxer Rebellion The Boxer Rebellion, also known as the Boxer Uprising, was an anti-foreign, anti-imperialist, and anti-Christian uprising in North China between 1899 and 1901, towards the end of the Qing dynasty, by the Society of Righteous and Harmonious F ...

motivated him to become a soldier. In 1903, he went to Japan to study

military science Military science is the study of military processes, institutions, and behavior, along with the study of warfare, and the theory and application of organized coercive force. It is mainly focused on theory, method, and practice of producing mi ...

. During this period, he was influenced by early

Chinese nationalists The Kuomintang (KMT) is a major political party in the Republic of China (Taiwan). It was the sole ruling party of the country during its rule from 1927 to 1949 in Mainland China until its relocation to Taiwan, and in Taiwan ruled under ...

Huang Xing Huang Xing or Huang Hsing (; 25 October 1874 – 31 October 1916) was a Chinese revolutionary leader and politician, and the first commander-in-chief of the Republic of China. As one of the founders of the Kuomintang (KMT) and the Republic of ...

and

Song Jiaoren Song Jiaoren (, ; Chinese name, Given name at birth: Liàn 鍊; Courtesy name: Dùnchū 鈍初; 5 April 1882 – 22 March 1913) was a Republic of China (1912–1949), Chinese republican revolutionary, political leader and a founder of the Kuom ...

, and joined

Sun Yat-sen Sun Yat-senUsually known as Sun Zhongshan () in Chinese; also known by Names of Sun Yat-sen, several other names. (; 12 November 186612 March 1925) was a Chinese physician, revolutionary, statesman, and political philosopher who founded the Republ ...

's ''

Tongmenghui The Tongmenghui of China was a secret society and underground resistance movement founded by Sun Yat-sen, Song Jiaoren, and others in Tokyo, Empire of Japan, on 20 August 1905, with the goal of overthrowing China's Qing dynasty. It was formed ...

'' the year it was founded. In 1908, he graduated from the Artillery Department of the

Imperial Japanese Army Academy The was the principal officer's training school for the Imperial Japanese Army. The programme consisted of a junior course for graduates of local army cadet schools and for those who had completed four years of middle school, and a senior course f ...

Career

Zhu Qinglan's right-hand man

Upon returning to China, he served in a military patrol under Zhu Qinglan in Fengtian province. Zhu appreciated his talent, and took him with him when he was transferred to

Sichuan Sichuan is a province in Southwestern China, occupying the Sichuan Basin and Tibetan Plateau—between the Jinsha River to the west, the Daba Mountains to the north, and the Yunnan–Guizhou Plateau to the south. Its capital city is Cheng ...

. There, Jiang served as a second-class staff officer in the 33rd Mixed Combination Association of the Army and in the general office of the Sichuan Army Preparatory School. In 1911, the Sichuan

Railway Protection Movement The Railway Protection Movement (), also known as the "Railway Rights Protection Movement", was a political protest movement that erupted in 1911 in late Qing China against the Qing government's plan to nationalize local railway development proje ...

broke out on the eve of 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 ...

, and Governor

Zhao Erfeng Zhao Erfeng (1845–1911), courtesy name Jihe, was a late Qing Dynasty official and Han Chinese bannerman who belonged to the Plain Blue Banner. He was an assistant amban in Tibet at Chamdo in Kham (eastern Tibet). He was appointed in Marc ...

was forced to step down. Zhu was appointed deputy governor in a military government with Jiang as his chief of staff. Zhu's troops mutinied and both men left the province. In 1912 Jiang served as an instructor at the

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 ...

, and the next year was made chief of staff for the 1st Division of the

Guizhou ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = , image_map = Guizhou in China (+all claims hatched).svg , mapsize = 275px , map_alt = Map showing the location of Guizhou Province , map_caption = Map s ...

Army. In November 1913, Zhu Qinglan became Governor of

Heilongjiang Heilongjiang is a province in northeast China. It is the northernmost and easternmost province of the country and contains China's northernmost point (in Mohe City along the Amur) and easternmost point (at the confluence of the Amur and Us ...

and once again made Jiang his chief of staff. In December, Jiang was awarded the rank of Major General. In May 1914,

Yuan Shikai Yuan Shikai (; 16 September 18596 June 1916) was a Chinese general and statesman who served as the second provisional president and the first official president of the Republic of China, head of the Beiyang government from 1912 to 1916 and ...

loyalist Xu Lanzhou used his superior military force to make Zhu resign, and Jiang followed suit. In 1916, Zhu served as the governor of

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 ...

, and Jiang served as his assistant. There, Jiang helped settle the fighting between local warlords

Long Jiguang Long Jiguang (龍濟光) (1867–1925) was an ethnic Hani Chinese general of the late Qing and early Republican period of China. Biography Long's older brother Jinguang (龍覲光) was also a general. Long began his military career suppressin ...

and

Lu Rongting Lu Rongting ( zh, t=陸榮廷, s=陆荣廷, p=Lù Róngtíng; September 9, 1859 – November 6, 1928), also spelled as Lu Yung-ting and Lu Jung-t'ing, was a late Qing/early Republican military and political leader from Wuming, Guangxi. Lu bel ...

. In 1917, Zhu Qinglan resigned as governor of Guangdong. Jiang Dengxuan was recalled by 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 ...

and served as a military advisor to the presidential palace.

Fengtian general

In 1922, Jiang Dengxuan became a commander in the

. During the army's retreat from its defeat in the

First Zhili-Fengtian War First most commonly refers to: * First, the ordinal form of the number 1 First or 1st may also refer to: Acronyms * Faint Images of the Radio Sky at Twenty-Centimeters, an astronomical survey carried out by the Very Large Array * Far Infrared a ...

, Jiang personally went into battle and oversaw the construction of a defensive line that saved the army from further destruction. This won him praise from

and Jiang was placed in charge of reorganizing and re-equipping the army. Jiang played a major role in the rebuilding of the Fengtian Army that took place between the First and Second Zhili-Fengtian Wars. During the

Second Zhili-Fengtian War The second (symbol: s) is a unit of time derived from the division of the day first into 24 hours, then to 60 minutes, and finally to 60 seconds each (24 × 60 × 60 = 86400). The current and formal definition in the International System of Un ...

in 1924, Jiang served as the commander of the 1st Fengtian Army. Along with the Third Army under

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 ...

, Jiang was tasked with taking the

Shanhai Pass The Shanhai Pass () is a major fortified gateway at the eastern end of the Great Wall of China and one of its most crucial fortifications, as the pass commands the narrowest choke point in the strategic Liaoxi Corridor, an elongated coasta ...

on the road to

Beijing Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...

. Here the Fengtian forces faced

Zhili Zhili, alternately romanized as Chihli, was a northern administrative region of China since the 14th century that lasted through the Ming dynasty and Qing dynasty until 1911, when the region was dissolved, converted to a province, and renamed ...

's First, Second, and Third Route Armies encamped behind strong defensive lines. From when fighting began on September 29 until the end of the first week of October, Jiang and Zhang's attacks were repulsed. However, Jiang's second-in-command Han Lichun was able to break through the Jiumenkou passes to the north and the Zhili flank was turned. In the subsequent fighting for the railway near Shimenzhai, Jiang and Han led from the front. The close-quarters combat was brutal and the Zhili forces slowly began to push the Fengtian Army back on the 18th and 19 October. During the battle, Han attempted to dismiss an artillery officer serving under

Guo Songling Guo Songling () (1883 – 25 December 1925) was a Chinese general who served in the Fengtian Army under Zhang Zuolin during the Chinese Warlord Era. A republican sympathiser who briefly served under Sun Yat-Sen, he was a teacher of and an ...

. Incensed, Guo withdrew his eight regiments from the battle lines at Jiumenkou, threatening the entire Fengtian position. It was only Zhang Xueliang's speedy intervention which soothed Guo and convinced him to return to the front before the Zhili forces could discover the opening. After the end of the war, Jiang and Guo both agreed that the warlord armies should be disarmed in order to bring peace to China. They suggested this to the parties negotiating at the Tianjin Conference, but their proposals were not adopted. In August 1925, Jiang was appointed as the commander of the suppression of bandits in

Jiangsu Jiangsu is a coastal Provinces of the People's Republic of China, province in East China. It is one of the leading provinces in finance, education, technology, and tourism, with its capital in Nanjing. Jiangsu is the List of Chinese administra ...

and

Anhui Anhui is an inland Provinces of China, province located in East China. Its provincial capital and largest city is Hefei. The province is located across the basins of the Yangtze and Huai rivers, bordering Jiangsu and Zhejiang to the east, Jiang ...

, and the supervisor of military affairs in Anhui. He was attacked by the

-aligned warlord

Sun Chuanfang Sun Chuanfang () (April 17, 1885 – November 13, 1935) was a Chinese warlord in the Zhili clique and protégé of the "Jade Marshal" Wu Peifu. Early life and education Sun Chuanfang was born in Licheng District, Jinan, Licheng, Shandong ...

and retreated to Shandong, where he joined forces with

Zhang Zongchang Zhang Zongchang (; also romanized as Chang Tsung-chang; 1881 – 3 September 1932), courtesy name Xiaokun, was a Chinese warlord who ruled Shandong from 1925 to 1928. A member of the Fengtian clique, Zhang was notorious for his brutal and ruthl ...

. However, Sun Chuanfang defeated both of them solidly. Jiang subsequently returned to Manchuria to serve as the commander of the Fengtian 4th Front Army.

Death and legacy

On 22 November 1925, Jiang's fellow officer

launched an anti-Zhang Zuolin mutiny. Jiang Dengxuan drove through Luanzhou Station, intending to negotiate with Guo, but was detained after entering the city. Guo Li tried to persuade Jiang to join him and oppose Zhang, but Jiang instead scolded him for insubordination. Guo ordered him executed, and he was shot on November 26 at the age of 46. Today, the Jiang Dengxuan

stele A stele ( ) or stela ( )The plural in English is sometimes stelai ( ) based on direct transliteration of the Greek, sometimes stelae or stelæ ( ) based on the inflection of Greek nouns in Latin, and sometimes anglicized to steles ( ) or stela ...

is a city-level protected cultural site in

Xingtai Xingtai ( zh, s= , t=邢臺, p=Xíngtái , w=Hsing2-tʻai2), formerly known as Xingzhou and Shunde, is a prefecture-level city in southern Hebei province, People's Republic of China. It has a total area of and administers 4 districts, 2 coun ...

Notes

References

Bibliography

* * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Jiang, Dengxuan 1880 births 1925 deaths Executed Republic of China people Tongmenghui members Chinese nationalists 19th-century Chinese military personnel 20th-century Chinese generals Members of the Fengtian clique Republic of China warlords from Hubei