Liu Xiang or Liu Hsiang (; 1 July 1890 – 20 January 1938) was one of 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 ...

s who controlled

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 ...

province 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 ...

of 20th-century China.

Life

Liu Xiang was born on 1 July 1890, in Dayi,

, China. He graduated from Sichuan Military College and eventually was promoted to army commander in Sichuan. From 6 June 1921 to 24 May 1922 Liu was both Civil Governor and Military Governor of Sichuan Province, and remained civil governor until December 1922. He again became both civil and military Governor of Sichuan Province from July 1923 until 19 February 1924 and remained military governor until 27 May 1924. He was again military governor between 16 May 1925 until he was replaced by

Deng Xihou Deng Xihou (; 24 May 1889 – 30 March 1964) was a Chinese general and prominent warlord of Sichuan. He joined the Qing Imperial Army, and then went on to serve under the Beiyang Government and the Nationalist Government before finally defecting ...

in 1926. During the period from 1927 to 1938, Sichuan was in the hands of five warlords: Liu Xiang,

Yang Sen Yang Sen ( zh, t=楊森, p=Yáng Sēn; 20 February 1884 – 15 May 1977) was a warlord and general of the Sichuan clique who had a long military career in China. Although he was a provincial warlord, he served Chiang Kai-shek and his Kuominta ...

Liu Wenhui Liu Wenhui (; 10 January 1895 – 24 June 1976) was a Chinese general and warlord of Sichuan province ( Sichuan clique). At the beginning of his career, he was aligned with the Kuomintang (KMT), commanding the Sichuan-Xikang Defence Force from 1 ...

, and

Tian Songyao Tian Songyao (; also Romanized as Tin Chung-yao; 1888 – 1975) was a warlord of the Sichuan clique, Kuomintang general, later official of People's Republic of China. Tian Songyao was born on 1888 in Jianyang, Sichuan. Tian joined the Sichuan Ar ...

. No one warlord had enough power to take on all the others at once, so many small battles occurred, pitting one warlord against another. Large conflicts seldom developed, plotting and skirmishing characterized the Sichuanese political scene, and ephemeral coalitions and counter-coalitions emerged and vanished with equal rapidity. However, Liu Xiang was the most influential of the Sichuan warlords. Aligning himself with Chiang Kai-Shek he became General Commanding 21st Army from 1926 to 1935. He controlled

Chongqing ChongqingPostal Romanization, Previously romanized as Chungking ();. is a direct-administered municipality in Southwestern China. Chongqing is one of the four direct-administered municipalities under the State Council of the People's Republi ...

and its surrounding areas. This region, sitting on the banks of the

Yangtze River The Yangtze or Yangzi ( or ) is the longest river in Eurasia and the third-longest in the world. It rises at Jari Hill in the Tanggula Mountains of the Tibetan Plateau and flows including Dam Qu River the longest source of the Yangtze, i ...

, was rich because of trade with provinces downriver and therefore controlled much of the economic activity in Sichuan. From this position of strength, between 1930 and 1932 Liu and General Liu Wenhui improved their forces, organizing a small airforce at

Chengdu Chengdu; Sichuanese dialects, Sichuanese pronunciation: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: ; Chinese postal romanization, previously Romanization of Chinese, romanized as Chengtu. is the capital city of the Chinese province of Sichuan. With a ...

, of two Fairchild KR-34CA aeroplanes and a Junkers K53. In 1932 Liu began putting together the " Armored Car and Tank Corps of Chungking". Armored cars were built in Shanghai based on the GMC 1931 truck with a 37 mm gun and 2 MGs in a crude turret. Liu had a rivalry against his uncle, General

. In 1935, Liu Xiang ousted Liu Wenhui, becoming Chairman of the Government of Sichuan Province. A family-brokered peace was arranged which mollified Liu Wenhui with control of the neighbouring

Xikang Xikang (formerly romanized as Sikang or Hsikang, or 'Kham to the west f Sichuan) was a nominal province formed by the Republic of China (1912–1949)">Republic of China in 1939 on the initiative of prominent Sichuan warlord Liu Wenhui and re ...

province, a sparsely populated but opium-rich territory on the periphery of Han China and

Tibet Tibet (; ''Böd''; ), or Greater Tibet, is a region in the western part of East Asia, covering much of the Tibetan Plateau and spanning about . It is the homeland of the Tibetan people. Also resident on the plateau are other ethnic groups s ...

. At the beginning 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 ...

Liu Xiang led the Sichuan 15th Army at the

Battle of Shanghai The Battle of Shanghai ( zh, t=淞滬會戰, s=淞沪会战, first=t, p=Sōng hù huìzhàn) was a major battle fought between the Empire of Japan and the Republic of China (1912–1949), Republic of China in the Chinese city of Shanghai during ...

and 23rd Army Group in the

Battle of Nanking The Battle of Nanking (or Nanjing) was fought in early December 1937 during the Second Sino-Japanese War between the Chinese National Revolutionary Army and the Imperial Japanese Army for control of Nanjing ( zh, c=南京, p=Nánjīng), the ca ...

, and was made Commander in Chief of the River Defence Forces for the Yangtze River. In January 1938, he ordered his armies of more than 100,000 soldiers out of Sichuan to fight against the Japanese. However Liu Xiang soon died of stomach cancer on 20 January 1938, in

Hankou Hankou, alternately romanized as Hankow (), was one of the three towns (the other two were Wuchang and Hanyang) merged to become modern-day Wuhan city, the capital of the Hubei province, China. It stands north of the Han and Yangtze Rivers w ...

Hubei Hubei is a province of China, province in Central China. It has the List of Chinese provincial-level divisions by GDP, seventh-largest economy among Chinese provinces, the second-largest within Central China, and the third-largest among inland ...

; some suspected he was poisoned by Chiang Kai-shek for conspiring with

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 ...

chairman

Han Fuju Han Fuju or Han Fu-chü (; 1890 – 24 January 1938) was a Kuomintang general in the early 20th century. He rose up the ranks of the Guominjun clique in the Warlord era but then went over to the Kuomintang, and held the position of military go ...

to turn against Chiang. Liu's death and the arrival of the central government in

in 1938 brought reforms that eventually put an end to the major warlord garrisons. The Sichuan faction broke up and a lot of Sichuan units turned their loyalties over to Chiang Kai-shek and became essentially Central army units and the province a major recruiting ground for the hard pressed Nationalist armies.

Career

*1921–1922 Governor of Sichuan Province *1921–1922 Military-Governor of Sichuan Province *1923–1924 Military-Governor of Sichuan Province *1923–1924 Governor of Sichuan Province *1924 Governor of Sichuan Province *1925–1926 Military-Governor of Sichuan Province *1926–1935 General Commanding 21st Army *1928–1930 General Commanding 3rd Division, 21st Army *1930–1932 General Commanding Model Division, 21st Army *1933 Commander in Chief Sichuan Province Bandit Suppression Headquarters *1935–1938 Chairman of the Government of Sichuan Province *1937 General Commanding 15th Army *1937 Commander in Chief 23rd Army Group *1937–1938 Commander in Chief River Defence Forces

Sources

* 陈贤庆(Chen Xianqing)
民国军阀派系谈 (The Republic of China warlord cliques discussed), 2007 revised edition

* Steen Ammentorp

with photo

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Liu, Xiang 1890s births 1938 deaths Republic of China warlords from Sichuan Military history of Sichuan Politicians from Chengdu Burials in Chengdu

Life

Career

See also

Sources

References