Yu Zhishan (;
Hepburn: ''U Shizan''; 1882 – May 1951), was a military officer under the
Beiyang Government
The Beiyang government (), officially the Republic of China (), sometimes Chinese postal romanization, spelled Peiyang Government, refers to the government of the Republic of China (1912–1949), Republic of China which sat in its capital Pek ...
and the
Fengtian clique
The Fengtian clique () was one of several opposing military factions that constituted the early Republic of China during its Warlord Era. It was named after Fengtian Province (now Liaoning), and operated from a territorial base comprising the t ...
, subsequently becoming a cabinet minister in the Empire of
Manchukuo
Manchukuo, officially the State of Manchuria prior to 1934 and the Empire of (Great) Manchuria after 1934, was a puppet state of the Empire of Japan in Manchuria from 1932 until 1945. It was founded as a republic in 1932 after the Japanese in ...
.
Biography
A native of
Liaoning Province, in 1923, Yu served as commander of the
Northwest Army’s 5th Combined Regiment stationed in
Shandong Province
Shandong ( , ; ; alternately romanized as Shantung) is a coastal province of the People's Republic of China and is part of the East China region.
Shandong has played a major role in Chinese history since the beginning of Chinese civilizati ...
. In 1924, he was reassigned to command the 8th Combined Regiment by order of the Manchurian
warlord
A warlord is a person who exercises military, economic, and political control over a region in a country without a strong national government; largely because of coercive control over the armed forces. Warlords have existed throughout much of h ...
Zhang Zuolin
Zhang Zuolin (; March 19, 1875 June 4, 1928), courtesy name Yuting (雨亭), nicknamed Zhang Laogang (張老疙瘩), was an influential Chinese bandit, soldier, and warlord during the Warlord Era in China. The warlord of Manchuria from 1916 to ...
. He was promoted to lieutenant general in June 1927. He returned to Shandong Province as commander of the 30th Army, assisting
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 defeating the forces of
Yan Xishan
Yan Xishan (; 8 October 1883 – 22 July 1960, ) was a Chinese warlord who served in the government of the Republic of China. He effectively controlled the province of Shanxi from the 1911 Xinhai Revolution to the 1949 Communist victory in ...
in the
Central Plains War
The Central Plains War () was a series of military campaigns in 1929 and 1930 that constituted a Chinese civil war between the Nationalist Kuomintang government in Nanjing led by Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek and several regional military commande ...
. However, his alliance with the
Kuomintang
The Kuomintang (KMT), also referred to as the Guomindang (GMD), the Nationalist Party of China (NPC) or the Chinese Nationalist Party (CNP), is a major political party in the Republic of China, initially on the Chinese mainland and in Tai ...
was short, as he was recalled to Manchuria to guard against the
Northern Expedition
The Northern Expedition was a military campaign launched by the National Revolutionary Army (NRA) of the Kuomintang (KMT), also known as the "Chinese Nationalist Party", against the Beiyang government and other regional warlords in 1926. Th ...
. Following the death of Zhang Zuolin in the
Huanggutun Incident in 1928, Manchuria fell back into chaos. Yu initially supported
Zhang Xueliang
Chang Hsüeh-liang (, June 3, 1901 – October 15, 2001), also romanized as Zhang Xueliang, nicknamed the "Young Marshal" (少帥), known in his later life as Peter H. L. Chang, was the effective ruler of Northeast China and much of norther ...
, who appointed him commander in chief of the military in the 20 prefectures immediately surrounding
Shenyang. Following the
Mukden Incident
The Mukden Incident, or Manchurian Incident, known in Chinese as the 9.18 Incident (九・一八), was a false flag event staged by Japanese military personnel as a pretext for the 1931 Japanese invasion of Manchuria.
On September 18, 1931, L ...
of September 1931, Yu worked with
Kan Chaoxi to declare Shenyang independent from the Republic of China, and subsequently cooperated with the
Imperial Japanese Army
The was the official ground-based armed force of the Empire of Japan from 1868 to 1945. It was controlled by the Imperial Japanese Army General Staff Office and the Ministry of the Army, both of which were nominally subordinate to the Emperor ...
on the
Self-Government Guiding Board in the establishment of the state of Manchukuo.
In March 1932, Yu was appointed chief of police for
Fentian Province in Manchukuo. From July, 1934, he was appointed commander-in-chief of the First Army of the
Manchukuo Imperial Army
The Manchukuo Imperial Army ( zh, s=滿洲國軍, p=Mǎnzhōuguó jūn) was the ground force of the military of the Manchukuo, Empire of Manchukuo, a puppet state established by Imperial Japan in Manchuria, a region of northeastern China. The forc ...
, and from May of the same year, was appointed Army Minister in the Manchukuo Cabinet. In July 1937, the Army Ministry was renamed the Ministry of Public Security, and took over control of all police activities. Yu remained a cabinet minister until April 1939, at which time he was made a member of the
Privy Council.
Following the collapse of Manchukuo, he fled to
Beijing
}
Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...
, where he lived under an assumed name until some point after the establishment of the
People’s Republic of China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
in October 1949. He died in prison at the
Fushun
Fushun (, formerly romanised as ''Fouchouen'', using French spelling, also as Fuxi ()) is a prefecture level city in Liaoning province, China, about east of Shenyang, with a total area of , of which is the city proper. Situated on the Hun Ri ...
War Criminals Management Centre in May 1951 at the age of 72.
References
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External links
Chinese site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Yu, Zhishan
Government ministers of Manchukuo
Republic of China warlords from Liaoning
Chinese collaborators with Imperial Japan
1879 births
1951 deaths
Politicians from Liaoyang