Qian Nengxun (, 1869 – June 5, 1924), courtesy name Ganchen () or Gancheng () was a Chinese politician from 1918 until his death in 1924. He served as the

Premier of the Republic of China The premier of the Republic of China, officially the premier of the Executive Yuan ( zh, 行政院院長), is the head of government of Taiwan and leader of the Executive Yuan. The premier is nominally the principal advisor to the President ...

twice 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 ...

, in 1918 and 1919 and was the protegee of former president

Xu Shichang Xu Shichang (Hsu Shih-chang; ; courtesy name: Juren (Chu-jen; 菊人); October 20, 1855 – June 5, 1939) was a Chinese politician who served as the President of the Republic of China, in Beijing, from 10 October 1918 to 2 June 1922. The only p ...

. In 1922, Qian co-founded the charitable Red Swastika Society.

Biography

Qian Nengxun was born in 1869 in

Qing China The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing, was a Manchu-led 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 Ming dynasty ...

. In 1898 he passed 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 ...

s as the 18th

Jinshi ''Jinshi'' () was the highest and final degree in the imperial examination in Imperial China. The examination was usually taken in the imperial capital in the palace, and was also called the Metropolitan Exam. Recipients are sometimes referre ...

in the second class of the Reform Movement Division, gaining the rank of

Shujishi Shujishi (; Manchu: ''geren giltusi'') which means "All good men of virtue" is a scholastic title during the Ming and Qing dynasty of China. It can be used to denote a group of people who hold this title as well as individuals who possess the ti ...

. In 1903, he was changed to a supervisory censor, and successively served as a supervisory censor in

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 ...

and

Jiangxi ; Gan: ) , translit_lang1_type2 = , translit_lang1_info2 = , translit_lang1_type3 = , translit_lang1_info3 = , image_map = Jiangxi in China (+all claims hatched).svg , mapsize = 275px , map_caption = Location ...

provinces. In the following year, he became Minister of the Patrol Department (later changed to the Ministry of Civil Affairs) under

. In 1907, Xu Shichang became the Governor-General of the Viceroy of the Three Northeast Provinces, Qian followed him to Fengtian to serve as the right counselor of Fengtian Province. In 1909, Xu left the Northeast, and Qian was dismissed from his post. In 1910, on the recommendation of Xu Shichang, Qian was appointed as the chief envoy and later governor of

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 ...

. During his tenure, Qian hunted down the

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 ...

revolutionary organisation. During the

1911 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 ...

, seeing revolutionary victory inevitable, he attempted suicide and was sent out of the

Tong Pass Tongguan or Tong Pass, was a former mountain pass and fortress located south of the confluence of the Wei and Yellow Rivers, in today's Tongguan County, Weinan, Shaanxi, China. It was an important chokepoint, protecting Xi'an and the surroundi ...

after being treated by the revolutionary army. After the founding 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 ...

, Qian was approached by

president President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

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 ...

because of his relationship with Xu Shichang. In October 1913 he served as the Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs of

Xiong Xiling Xiong Xiling, or Hsiung Hsi-ling (); 23 July 1870 – 25 December 1937) was a Chinese philanthropist and politician, who served as premier of the Republic of China (1912–1949), Republic of China from July 1913 to February 1914. Biography

Bo ...

's cabinet. In 1917, during the

Manchu Restoration The Manchu Restoration or Dingsi Restoration (), also known as Zhang Xun Restoration (), or Xuantong Restoration (), was an attempt to restore the Chinese monarchy by General Zhang Xun, whose army seized Beijing and briefly reinstalled the las ...

, he was appointed as the Vice Minister of Agriculture and Industry. In December 1917 Qian became the Minister of Internal Affairs of Wang Shizhen's cabinet. Resigning in February 1918, he instead acted as the premier. In March 1918

Duan Qirui Duan Qirui (, pronounced ) (March 6, 1865 – November 2, 1936) was a Chinese warlord, politician and commander of the Beiyang Army who ruled as the effective dictator of northern China in the late 1910s. He was the Premier of the Republic of C ...

's cabinet was established for the third time, and Qian was once again appointed as the Minister of internal affairs. In October, during Xu Shichang's tenure as president, he once again acted as the ''de facto'' premier. On December 14, the Premiership became official, he organized the cabinet, and concurrently served as the Minister of Internal Affairs in January 1919. During the tenure of Qian, antagonism between the

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

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 ...

cliques intensified, making Qian's tenure difficult. In 1919, the

May Fourth Movement The May Fourth Movement was a Chinese cultural and anti-imperialist political movement which grew out of student protests in Beijing on May 4, 1919. Students gathered in front of Tiananmen to protest the Chinese government's weak response ...

broke out, further weakening Qian's government, leading to his resignation of premiership in June the same year. On June 5, 1924, Qian died of illness in his residence in

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 ...

References

{{authority control 1869 births 1924 deaths Qing dynasty government officials Chinese police officers Republic of China politicians from Zhejiang Politicians from Jiaxing Premiers of the Republic of China Political office-holders in Shaanxi