Liu Xiang (warlord)
Encyclopedia
Liu Xiang or Liu Hsiang, 劉湘 (1888–1938) was one of the warlord
s controlling Sichuan
province during the Warlord era
of 20th century China.
Liu Xiang was born 1 July 1888, in Dayi
, Sichuan
, 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
in 1926.
During the period from 1927–1938, Sichuan was in the hands of five warlords: Liu Xiang, Yang Sen, Liu Wenhui
, Deng Xihou
, and Tian Songyao
. 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 Kaishek he became General Commanding 21st Army from 1926 to 1935. He controlled Chongqing
and its surrounding areas. This region, sitting on the banks of the Yangtze 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 Liu and General Liu Wenhui improved their forces, organizing a small airforce at Chengdu
, 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 Liu Wenhui
. 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
province, a sparsely populated but opium-rich territory on the periphery of Han China and Tibet
.
At the beginning of the Second Sino-Japanese War
Liu Xiang lead the Sichuan 15th Army at the Battle of Shanghai
and 23rd Army Group in the Battle of Nanking, 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 in 20 January 1938, in Hankou
, Hubei
; some suspected he was poisoned by Chiang Kai-shek
for conspiring with Shandong
chairman Han Fuju
to turn against Chiang.
Liu's death and the arrival of the central government in Chongqing
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 recruitng ground for the hard pressed Nationalist armies.
Warlord
A warlord is a person with power who has both military and civil control over a subnational area due to armed forces loyal to the warlord and not to a central authority. The term can also mean one who espouses the ideal that war is necessary, and has the means and authority to engage in war...
s controlling Sichuan
Sichuan
' , known formerly in the West by its postal map spellings of Szechwan or Szechuan is a province in Southwest China with its capital in Chengdu...
province during the Warlord era
Warlord era
The Chinese Warlord Era was the period in the history of the Republic of China, from 1916 to 1928, when the country was divided among military cliques, a division that continued until the fall of the Nationalist government in the mainland China regions of Sichuan, Shanxi, Qinghai, Ningxia,...
of 20th century China.
Liu Xiang was born 1 July 1888, in Dayi
Dayi County
Dayi County is a county of Sichuan Province, China. It is under the administration of Chengdu city....
, Sichuan
Sichuan
' , known formerly in the West by its postal map spellings of Szechwan or Szechuan is a province in Southwest China with its capital in Chengdu...
, 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
Deng Xihou was a Chinese general and politician.-Biography:Deng was born 1889, Yingshan, Sichuan, China. In 1906 he was admitted to the Sichuan Military School, and in 1909 graduated, and entered the Nanjing Army School. After the Xinhai Revolution, he discontinued his studies and returned to...
in 1926.
During the period from 1927–1938, Sichuan was in the hands of five warlords: Liu Xiang, Yang Sen, Liu Wenhui
Liu Wenhui
Liu Wenhui was one of the warlords of Sichuan province during China's Warlord era. Liu who rose to prominence in Sichuan in the 1920s and 1930s, came from a peasant family. At the beginning of his career, he was aligned with the Kuomintang , commanding the Sichuan-Xikang Defence Force from 1927 to...
, Deng Xihou
Deng Xihou
Deng Xihou was a Chinese general and politician.-Biography:Deng was born 1889, Yingshan, Sichuan, China. In 1906 he was admitted to the Sichuan Military School, and in 1909 graduated, and entered the Nanjing Army School. After the Xinhai Revolution, he discontinued his studies and returned to...
, and Tian Songyao
Tian Songyao
Tian Songyao, Tin Chung-yao, 田颂尧 （1888 - 1975）warlord of the Sichuan clique and later Kuomintang general.Tian Songyao was born on 1888 in Jianyang, Sichuan. Tian joined the Sichuan Army and rose to command a Cavalry Regiment, of the 2nd Division, of its 1st Army. He also was the garrison...
. 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 Kaishek he became General Commanding 21st Army from 1926 to 1935. He controlled Chongqing
Chongqing
Chongqing is a major city in Southwest China and one of the five national central cities of China. Administratively, it is one of the PRC's four direct-controlled municipalities , and the only such municipality in inland China.The municipality was created on 14 March 1997, succeeding the...
and its surrounding areas. This region, sitting on the banks of the Yangtze River
Yangtze River
The Yangtze, Yangzi or Cháng Jiāng is the longest river in Asia, and the third-longest in the world. It flows for from the glaciers on the Tibetan Plateau in Qinghai eastward across southwest, central and eastern China before emptying into the East China Sea at Shanghai. It is also one of the...
, 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 Liu and General Liu Wenhui improved their forces, organizing a small airforce at Chengdu
Chengdu
Chengdu , formerly transliterated Chengtu, is the capital of Sichuan province in Southwest China. It holds sub-provincial administrative status...
, of two Fairchild KR-34CA
Fairchild KR-34CA
The Fairchild KR-34CA was first the Kreider-Reisner C-4C Challenger. Amron Kreider and Lewis Reisner of Hagerstown, Maryland, built the Kreider-Reisner C-4C Challenger, as a light, efficient biplane, and as a replacement for the aging Curtiss Jenny...
aeroplanes and a Junkers K53
Junkers A 35
-See also:*...
. In 1932 Liu began putting together the "Armored Car and Tank Corps of Chungking". Armored cars were built in Shanghai based on the GMC
GMC (General Motors division)
GMC is a manufacturer of trucks, vans, military vehicles, and SUVs marketed in North America and the Middle East by General Motors Company. In January 2007, GMC was GM's second-largest-selling North American vehicle division after Chevrolet, ahead of Pontiac....
1931 truck with a 37 mm gun and 2 MGs in a crude turret.
Liu had a rivalry against his uncle, General Liu Wenhui
Liu Wenhui
Liu Wenhui was one of the warlords of Sichuan province during China's Warlord era. Liu who rose to prominence in Sichuan in the 1920s and 1930s, came from a peasant family. At the beginning of his career, he was aligned with the Kuomintang , commanding the Sichuan-Xikang Defence Force from 1927 to...
. 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
Xikang or Sikang , is a defunct province of the Republic of China , comprising most of the Kham region of traditional Tibet, where Khampas, a subgroup of the Tibetan ethnicity, live. The area is also home to a small minority of Mongol ethnicity...
province, a sparsely populated but opium-rich territory on the periphery of Han China and Tibet
Tibet
Tibet is a plateau region in Asia, north-east of the Himalayas. It is the traditional homeland of the Tibetan people as well as some other ethnic groups such as Monpas, Qiang, and Lhobas, and is now also inhabited by considerable numbers of Han and Hui people...
.
At the beginning of the Second Sino-Japanese War
Second Sino-Japanese War
The Second Sino-Japanese War was a military conflict fought primarily between the Republic of China and the Empire of Japan. From 1937 to 1941, China fought Japan with some economic help from Germany , the Soviet Union and the United States...
Liu Xiang lead the Sichuan 15th Army at the Battle of Shanghai
Battle of Shanghai
The Battle of Shanghai, known in Chinese as Battle of Songhu, was the first of the twenty-two major engagements fought between the National Revolutionary Army of the Republic of China and the Imperial Japanese Army of the Empire of Japan during the Second Sino-Japanese War...
and 23rd Army Group in the Battle of Nanking, 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 in 20 January 1938, in Hankou
Hankou
Hankou was one of the three cities whose merging formed modern-day Wuhan, the capital of the Hubei province, China. It stands north of the Han and Yangtze Rivers where the Han falls into the Yangtze...
, Hubei
Hubei
' Hupeh) is a province in Central China. The name of the province means "north of the lake", referring to its position north of Lake Dongting...
; some suspected he was poisoned by Chiang Kai-shek
Chiang Kai-shek
Chiang Kai-shek was a political and military leader of 20th century China. He is known as Jiǎng Jièshí or Jiǎng Zhōngzhèng in Mandarin....
for conspiring with Shandong
Shandong
' is a Province located on the eastern coast of the People's Republic of China. Shandong has played a major role in Chinese history from the beginning of Chinese civilization along the lower reaches of the Yellow River and served as a pivotal cultural and religious site for Taoism, Chinese...
chairman Han Fuju
Han Fuju
Han Fuju or Han Fu-chü 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 governor of Shandong from 1930 to 1938...
to turn against Chiang.
Liu's death and the arrival of the central government in Chongqing
Chongqing
Chongqing is a major city in Southwest China and one of the five national central cities of China. Administratively, it is one of the PRC's four direct-controlled municipalities , and the only such municipality in inland China.The municipality was created on 14 March 1997, succeeding the...
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 recruitng 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
- Rulers; Index Li-Ll, Liu Xiang
- Steen Ammentorp, The Generals of WWII; Generals from China; Liu Xiang with photo
See also
- History of the Republic of ChinaHistory of the Republic of ChinaThe History of the Republic of China begins after the Qing Dynasty in 1912, when the formation of the Republic of China put an end to over two thousand years of Imperial rule. The Qing Dynasty, also known as the Manchu Dynasty, ruled from 1644 to 1912...
- Warlord EraWarlord eraThe Chinese Warlord Era was the period in the history of the Republic of China, from 1916 to 1928, when the country was divided among military cliques, a division that continued until the fall of the Nationalist government in the mainland China regions of Sichuan, Shanxi, Qinghai, Ningxia,...
- Second Sino-Japanese WarSecond Sino-Japanese WarThe Second Sino-Japanese War was a military conflict fought primarily between the Republic of China and the Empire of Japan. From 1937 to 1941, China fought Japan with some economic help from Germany , the Soviet Union and the United States...