The Sichuan clique was a group of warlords in the warlord era in China. During the period from 1927 to 1938,

Sichuan Sichuan (; zh, c=, labels=no, ; zh, p=Sìchuān; alternatively romanized as Szechuan or Szechwan; formerly also referred to as "West China" or "Western China" by Protestant missions) is a province in Southwest China occupying most of th ...

was in the hands of five warlords:

Liu Xiang Liu Xiang or Liuxiang may refer to: People *Liu Xiang, Prince of Qi (died 179 BC), prince during the Han dynasty *Liu Xiang, Prince of Liang (died 97 BC), prince during the Han dynasty *Liu Xiang (scholar) (77 BC – 6 BC), Han dynasty scholar-off ...

Yang Sen Yang Sen (; 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 loyally served Chiang Kai-shek and his Kuomintang (KMT) government, ...

, Liu Wenhui,

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 ...

He Zhaode He or HE may refer to: Language * He (pronoun), an English pronoun * He (kana), the romanization of the Japanese kana へ * He (letter), the fifth letter of many Semitic alphabets * He (Cyrillic), a letter of the Cyrillic script called ''He'' ...

, and Tian Songyao, with minor forces being

Xiong Kewu Xiong may refer to: Name * Xiong (surname) (熊), a Chinese surname Location * Xiong County, in Hebei, China Language * The pinyin romanization of several Chinese characters, including 兄 (elder brother), 胸 (chest), 雄 (heroic) and 熊 (b ...

and Lü Chao.

Introduction

After Qing dynasty's collapse, not one warlord had enough power to take on all the others at once, so many small battles occurred, pitting one warlord against another. The Sichuan Clique was divided into smaller warlord groups, or Defense Zones, separated from each other with distinct military, political, and economic boundaries. 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. He controlled

Chongqing Chongqing ( or ; ; Sichuanese pronunciation: , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ), alternately romanized as Chungking (), is a municipality in Southwest China. The official abbreviation of the city, "" (), was approved by the State Cou ...

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

Yangtze The Yangtze or Yangzi ( or ; ) is the longest river in Asia, the third-longest in the world, and the longest in the world to flow entirely within one country. It rises at Jari Hill in the Tanggula Mountains (Tibetan Plateau) and flow ...

river, was rich because of trade with provinces down river and therefore controlled much of the economic activity in Sichuan. From this position of strength, between 1930 and 1932 General Liu Wenhui and Liu Xiang improved their forces, organizing a small airforce and an armored car force. In 1935 Liu Xiang ousted his uncle and rival warlord, Liu Wenhui, becoming Chairman of the Government of Sichuan Province with the support of

Chiang Kai-shek Chiang Kai-shek (31 October 1887 – 5 April 1975), also known as Chiang Chung-cheng and Jiang Jieshi, was a Chinese Nationalist politician, revolutionary, and military leader who served as the leader of the Republic of China (ROC) from 1928 ...

. In economic affairs, there was abusive minting and issuance of currency.Zheng, Qidong, et al. Brief History of Inflation in China. Paths International Ltd., 2013. p. 45

World War II

In the

Second Sino-Japanese War The Second Sino-Japanese War (1937–1945) or War of Resistance (Chinese term) was a military conflict that was primarily waged between the Republic of China and the Empire of Japan. The war made up the Chinese theater of the wider Pacific Thea ...

, the Sichuan clique made a huge contribution to oppose the Japanese army. Data shows all numbers of dead or injured soldiers (3.26 million in total), including 2.24 million from Sichuan clique. Especially, from 1939 to 1945, the death numbers of soldiers has 646,000 from Sichuan within a total 850,000. In the

Battle of Shanghai The Battle of Shanghai () was the first of the twenty-two major engagements fought between the National Revolutionary Army (NRA) of the Republic of China (ROC) and the Imperial Japanese Army (IJA) of the Empire of Japan at the beginning of the ...

, almost all 170,000 soldiers from Sichuan clique fell in battle, with only 2,000 managing to retreat to

Hubei Province Hubei (; ; alternately Hupeh) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China, and is part of the Central China region. The name of the province means "north of the lake", referring to its position north of Dongting Lake. The ...

. Nine generals of the

National Revolutionary Army The National Revolutionary Army (NRA; ), sometimes shortened to Revolutionary Army () before 1928, and as National Army () after 1928, was the military arm of the Kuomintang (KMT, or the Chinese Nationalist Party) from 1925 until 1947 in Chin ...

died in

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, of whom generals Li Jiayu, Wang Mingzhang and Rao Guohua were commanders from the Sichuan clique.

Memento

On August 15, 1989,

Chengdu Chengdu (, ; simplified Chinese: 成都; pinyin: ''Chéngdū''; Sichuanese pronunciation: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: ), alternatively romanized as Chengtu, is a sub-provincial city which serves as the capital of the Chinese provin ...

City Government constructed new sculpture for memento at Wannian, Chengdu.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sichuan Clique Warlord cliques in Republican China History of Sichuan

Introduction

World War II

Memento

See also

References