New Guangxi clique
Encyclopedia
After the founding of the Republic of China
, Guangxi
served as the base for one of the most powerful warlord cliques
of China: the Old Guangxi clique
. Led by Lu Rongting
(陆荣廷) and others, the clique was able to take control of neighbouring Hunan
and Guangdong
provinces as well. The Old Guangxi clique crumbled in the early 1920s, and was replaced by the New Guangxi clique, led by Li Zongren
, Huang Shaohong, and Bai Chongxi
.
drove Lu Rongting and the Old Guangxi clique out of Guangdong, in the First Yue-Gui War. In 1921 Chen pushed into Guangxi, starting the Second Yue-Gui war, forcing Lu Rongting to step down in July 1921. By August, Chen had occupied Nanning
and the rest of Guangxi. Chen Jiongming and the Cantonese forces occupied Guangxi until April 1922. Their occupation was largely nominal because armed bands of Guangxi loyalists began to gather under local commanders, calling themselves the Self-government Army
. Sun Yat-sen
and Chen Jiongming soon split over the continuation of the Northern Expedition. Chen, however, aspired merely to be the warlord of Guangdong and after the Zhili clique in Beijing
recognized his power in the south, he abandoned Sun Yat-sen. By May 1922 the Cantonese forces had evacuated Guangxi leaving a power vacuum.
With the support of Wu Peifu
and the Zhili clique Lu Rongting slipped back into Guangxi in 1923 and began to try to rebuild his coalition. He soon had control over the south with its important pool of Zhuang manpower, but the situation had changed and his political organization could not be rebuilt. Among the younger men who had been trained in military schools after the 1911 revolution there was a new appreciation for modern tactics, weapons, and political means. In the confused power struggles following the Yue-Gui Wars
, these local military men began to carve out territory in Guangxi and dominate it.
In the southwest there were opium trails from Yunnan
and Guizhou
that ran through Baise and then down the river to Nanning
. From these opium usually went out through Wuzhou
, where the trade was financed. During the Yue-Gui wars, Huang Shaohong, then the commander of the Model Battalion of the 1st Guangxi Division, and Bai Chongxi his former deputy, attempted to stay neutral and relocated to Baise. Huang eventually got control of Baise, and the opium trade. Later he expanded his control to Wuzhou, thus controlling the routes through which opium both entered and left Guangxi. With his opium revenue Bai was able to build a well equipped and trained force.
During the Yue-Gui Wars, Li Zongren had accompanied Lin Hu and Lu Rongting into Guangdong
and led the rear guard when the Old Guangxi Clique
forces retreated before Chen Jiongming's attack. During the campaign Li Zongren's battalion, was reduced to about one thousand men and "sank into the grasses." But Li, intending to become more than a bandit, began building a personal military machine of professional units of soldiers. These were to be the equal of any force in China and more than a match for any number of bandits or Zhuang irregulars that Lu Rongting drew on in his war to re-establish his power in Guangxi. Li joined the Kuomintang
in 1923, when he already controlled a considerable numbers of troops in northern Guangxi and wiped out the local bandits, warlords, and remnant forces of the Old Guangxi clique in the north.
The coalition's efforts brought Guangxi Province under the jurisdiction of the Republic of China
. Li Zongren was military governor of Guangxi from 1924-25, Huang became the civil governor of Guangxi from 1924 to 1929, and Guangxi remained under Li Zongren's influence until 1949. The New Guangxi clique made attempts at modernising between 1926 and 1927, when the Guangxi clique controlled Guangxi and much of Guangdong, Hunan, and Hubei. The New Guangxi clique was much more active in modernizing than Lu Rongting had been. They founded the University of Guangxi
in Nanning, built over five thousand kilometers of roads and extended electrification of the area.
However, because the clique had to constantly be mobilized for war, first against the Cantonese warlords, then later against the Japanese, the tax burden which they levied was far heavier than that of Lu Rongting. The New Guangxi Clique also taxed the opium trade. As was later true for Chiang Kai-shek's government, the taxes were collected via opium suppression offices, ostensibly created to destroy the trade. In 1932 opium income amounted to fifty million dollars, the largest source of income in the provincial budget.
and led the Eastern Route Army which conquered Hangzhou
and Shanghai
in 1927. As garrison commander of Shanghai, Bai also took part in the purge of Communists in the National Revolutionary Army on April 4, 1927 and of the labour unions in Shanghai.
Li Zongren was the general of the Seventh Army in the Northern Expedition. Li went on to be the commanding general of the Seventh Army in the Northern Expedition and captured Wuhan
in 1927. Li was then appointed commander of the Fourth Army Group, composed of the Guangxi Army and other provincial forces amounting to 16 corps and six independent divisions. In April 1928, Li Zongren, with Bai Chongxi, who was credited with many victories over the northern warlords, led the Fourth Army group to advance on Beijing, capturing Handan
, Baoding
, and Shijiazhuang
, by June 1. Zhang Zuolin
withdrew from Beijing
on June 3, and Li's army seized Beijing Bai commanded the forward units which first entered Beijing and Tianjin
.
. Chiang Kai-shek defeated the Clique in 1929. Following defeat in that civil war, Guangxi allied with Chen Jitang
after he became chairman of the government of Guangdong in 1931, and turned against Chiang Kai-shek. Another civil war would have broken out if there had been no September 18 Incident, which prompted all sides to unite against the Empire of Japan
. As a result from 1930 to 1936, the Clique organized the reconstruction of Guangxi, which became a "model" province with a progressive administration. As a result Guangxi was able to supply large numbers of troops in the war effort against Japan in the Second Sino-Japanese War
.
Republic of China (1912–1949)
In 1911, after over two thousand years of imperial rule, a republic was established in China and the monarchy overthrown by a group of revolutionaries. The Qing Dynasty, having just experienced a century of instability, suffered from both internal rebellion and foreign imperialism...
, Guangxi
Guangxi
Guangxi, formerly romanized Kwangsi, is a province of southern China along its border with Vietnam. In 1958, it became the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region of the People's Republic of China, a region with special privileges created specifically for the Zhuang people.Guangxi's location, in...
served as the base for one of the most powerful warlord cliques
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 China: the Old Guangxi clique
Old Guangxi clique
After the founding of the Republic of China, Guangxi served as the base for one of the most powerful warlord cliques of China: the Old Guangxi Clique. Led by Lu Rongting, the clique was able to take control of neighbouring Hunan and Guangdong provinces as well...
. Led by Lu Rongting
Lu Rongting
Lu Rongting was born in Wuming, Guangxi, China. Originating as a common bandit, Lu became a military commander in Guangxi in the Qing dynasty and suppressed the revolutionary uprising at Zhennan Pass on the Sino-Vietnam border in Pingxiang, Guangxi led by Sun Yat-sen and Huang Xing.However, when...
(陆荣廷) and others, the clique was able to take control of neighbouring Hunan
Hunan
' is a province of South-Central China, located to the south of the middle reaches of the Yangtze River and south of Lake Dongting...
and Guangdong
Guangdong
Guangdong is a province on the South China Sea coast of the People's Republic of China. The province was previously often written with the alternative English name Kwangtung Province...
provinces as well. The Old Guangxi clique crumbled in the early 1920s, and was replaced by the New Guangxi clique, led by Li Zongren
Li Zongren
Li Zongren or Li Tsung-jen , courtesy name Delin , was a prominent Guangxi warlord and Kuomintang military commander during the Northern Expedition, Second Sino-Japanese War and Chinese Civil War...
, Huang Shaohong, and Bai Chongxi
Bai Chongxi
Bai Chongxi , , also spelled Pai Chung-hsi, was a Chinese general in the National Revolutionary Army of the Republic of China and a prominent Chinese Nationalist Muslim leader. He was of Hui ethnicity and of the Muslim faith...
.
Lu Rongting and the Yue-Gui Wars
In 1920, Chen JiongmingChen Jiongming
Chen Jiongming was a revolutionary figure in the early periods of the Republic of China. Chen Jiongming was born in 1878 at Haifeng, Guangdong, China....
drove Lu Rongting and the Old Guangxi clique out of Guangdong, in the First Yue-Gui War. In 1921 Chen pushed into Guangxi, starting the Second Yue-Gui war, forcing Lu Rongting to step down in July 1921. By August, Chen had occupied Nanning
Nanning
Nanning is the capital of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region in southern China. It is known as the "Green City" because of its abundance of lush tropical foliage.-History:...
and the rest of Guangxi. Chen Jiongming and the Cantonese forces occupied Guangxi until April 1922. Their occupation was largely nominal because armed bands of Guangxi loyalists began to gather under local commanders, calling themselves the Self-government Army
Self-government Army
The Self-Government Army was a regional army in Guangxi during the Warlord era of the early 1920s. The soldiers were primarily from the southwest of Guangxi and were largely Zhuang. Their commanders were warlords like Lu Rongting of the Old Guangxi clique...
. Sun Yat-sen
Sun Yat-sen
Sun Yat-sen was a Chinese doctor, revolutionary and political leader. As the foremost pioneer of Nationalist China, Sun is frequently referred to as the "Father of the Nation" , a view agreed upon by both the People's Republic of China and the Republic of China...
and Chen Jiongming soon split over the continuation of the Northern Expedition. Chen, however, aspired merely to be the warlord of Guangdong and after the Zhili clique in Beijing
Beijing
Beijing , also known as Peking , is the capital of the People's Republic of China and one of the most populous cities in the world, with a population of 19,612,368 as of 2010. The city is the country's political, cultural, and educational center, and home to the headquarters for most of China's...
recognized his power in the south, he abandoned Sun Yat-sen. By May 1922 the Cantonese forces had evacuated Guangxi leaving a power vacuum.
Aftermath of the Yue-Gui Wars
Lu Rongting could construct a political and military machine from the forces that composed the Self-government Armies, by calling on friendship, family, and Zhuang ethnicity, but the lack of such a leader led to a rapid collapse into localism, which occurred as the Guangdong forces withdrew. There was intense fighting to re-occupy territory or to attempt to strip the retreating forces of their supplies and munitions.With the support of Wu Peifu
Wu Peifu
Wu Peifu or Wu P'ei-fu , was a major figure in the struggles between the warlords who dominated Republican China from 1916 to 1927.- Early career :...
and the Zhili clique Lu Rongting slipped back into Guangxi in 1923 and began to try to rebuild his coalition. He soon had control over the south with its important pool of Zhuang manpower, but the situation had changed and his political organization could not be rebuilt. Among the younger men who had been trained in military schools after the 1911 revolution there was a new appreciation for modern tactics, weapons, and political means. In the confused power struggles following the Yue-Gui Wars
Guangdong-Guangxi War
The Guangdong–Guangxi War or the First and Second Yue-Gui Wars , occurred between the Chinese Revolutionary Party and the Old Guangxi Clique.-First Yue-Gui War:When Sun Yat-sen, leader of the Chinese Revolutionary Party, attempted to reestablish himself in...
, these local military men began to carve out territory in Guangxi and dominate it.
In the southwest there were opium trails from Yunnan
Yunnan
Yunnan is a province of the People's Republic of China, located in the far southwest of the country spanning approximately and with a population of 45.7 million . The capital of the province is Kunming. The province borders Burma, Laos, and Vietnam.Yunnan is situated in a mountainous area, with...
and Guizhou
Guizhou
' is a province of the People's Republic of China located in the southwestern part of the country. Its provincial capital city is Guiyang.- History :...
that ran through Baise and then down the river to Nanning
Nanning
Nanning is the capital of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region in southern China. It is known as the "Green City" because of its abundance of lush tropical foliage.-History:...
. From these opium usually went out through Wuzhou
Wuzhou
Wuzhou , historically known as Wuchow, is a prefecture-level city in China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.-Geography and climate:Wuzhou is located in eastern Guangxi bordering Guangdong province. It is at the confluence of the Gui River and the Xun River where they form the Xi River; 85% of all...
, where the trade was financed. During the Yue-Gui wars, Huang Shaohong, then the commander of the Model Battalion of the 1st Guangxi Division, and Bai Chongxi his former deputy, attempted to stay neutral and relocated to Baise. Huang eventually got control of Baise, and the opium trade. Later he expanded his control to Wuzhou, thus controlling the routes through which opium both entered and left Guangxi. With his opium revenue Bai was able to build a well equipped and trained force.
During the Yue-Gui Wars, Li Zongren had accompanied Lin Hu and Lu Rongting into Guangdong
Guangdong
Guangdong is a province on the South China Sea coast of the People's Republic of China. The province was previously often written with the alternative English name Kwangtung Province...
and led the rear guard when the Old Guangxi Clique
Old Guangxi clique
After the founding of the Republic of China, Guangxi served as the base for one of the most powerful warlord cliques of China: the Old Guangxi Clique. Led by Lu Rongting, the clique was able to take control of neighbouring Hunan and Guangdong provinces as well...
forces retreated before Chen Jiongming's attack. During the campaign Li Zongren's battalion, was reduced to about one thousand men and "sank into the grasses." But Li, intending to become more than a bandit, began building a personal military machine of professional units of soldiers. These were to be the equal of any force in China and more than a match for any number of bandits or Zhuang irregulars that Lu Rongting drew on in his war to re-establish his power in Guangxi. Li joined the Kuomintang
Kuomintang
The Kuomintang of China , sometimes romanized as Guomindang via the Pinyin transcription system or GMD for short, and translated as the Chinese Nationalist Party is a founding and ruling political party of the Republic of China . Its guiding ideology is the Three Principles of the People, espoused...
in 1923, when he already controlled a considerable numbers of troops in northern Guangxi and wiped out the local bandits, warlords, and remnant forces of the Old Guangxi clique in the north.
New Guangxi clique takes power
By the spring of 1924, Huang Shaohong, Bai Chongxi, and Li Zongren, formed the New Guangxi clique and had created the well equipped Guangxi Pacification Army. Li Zongren was the Commander in Chief, Huang Shaohong the deputy Commander, and Bai Chongxi the Chief-of-Staff. By August they had defeated and driven the former ruler Lu Rongting and other contenders out of the province. Li Zongren was military governor of Guangxi from 1924-25, and from 1925 to 1949.The coalition's efforts brought Guangxi Province under the jurisdiction of the Republic of China
Republic of China
The Republic of China , commonly known as Taiwan , is a unitary sovereign state located in East Asia. Originally based in mainland China, the Republic of China currently governs the island of Taiwan , which forms over 99% of its current territory, as well as Penghu, Kinmen, Matsu and other minor...
. Li Zongren was military governor of Guangxi from 1924-25, Huang became the civil governor of Guangxi from 1924 to 1929, and Guangxi remained under Li Zongren's influence until 1949. The New Guangxi clique made attempts at modernising between 1926 and 1927, when the Guangxi clique controlled Guangxi and much of Guangdong, Hunan, and Hubei. The New Guangxi clique was much more active in modernizing than Lu Rongting had been. They founded the University of Guangxi
Guangxi University
Guangxi University is a provincial university, located in Nanning, capital of Guangxi, China. It is also commonly abbreviated as .-History:Guangxi University was established in October 1928...
in Nanning, built over five thousand kilometers of roads and extended electrification of the area.
However, because the clique had to constantly be mobilized for war, first against the Cantonese warlords, then later against the Japanese, the tax burden which they levied was far heavier than that of Lu Rongting. The New Guangxi Clique also taxed the opium trade. As was later true for Chiang Kai-shek's government, the taxes were collected via opium suppression offices, ostensibly created to destroy the trade. In 1932 opium income amounted to fifty million dollars, the largest source of income in the provincial budget.
New Guangxi Clique and the Northern Expedition
During the Northern Expedition, Bai Chongxi was the Chief of Staff of the National Revolutionary ArmyNational Revolutionary Army
The National Revolutionary Army , pre-1928 sometimes shortened to 革命軍 or Revolutionary Army and between 1928-1947 as 國軍 or National Army was the Military Arm of the Kuomintang from 1925 until 1947, as well as the national army of the Republic of China during the KMT's period of party rule...
and led the Eastern Route Army which conquered Hangzhou
Hangzhou
Hangzhou , formerly transliterated as Hangchow, is the capital and largest city of Zhejiang Province in Eastern China. Governed as a sub-provincial city, and as of 2010, its entire administrative division or prefecture had a registered population of 8.7 million people...
and Shanghai
Shanghai
Shanghai is the largest city by population in China and the largest city proper in the world. It is one of the four province-level municipalities in the People's Republic of China, with a total population of over 23 million as of 2010...
in 1927. As garrison commander of Shanghai, Bai also took part in the purge of Communists in the National Revolutionary Army on April 4, 1927 and of the labour unions in Shanghai.
Li Zongren was the general of the Seventh Army in the Northern Expedition. Li went on to be the commanding general of the Seventh Army in the Northern Expedition and captured Wuhan
Wuhan
Wuhan is the capital of Hubei province, People's Republic of China, and is the most populous city in Central China. It lies at the east of the Jianghan Plain, and the intersection of the middle reaches of the Yangtze and Han rivers...
in 1927. Li was then appointed commander of the Fourth Army Group, composed of the Guangxi Army and other provincial forces amounting to 16 corps and six independent divisions. In April 1928, Li Zongren, with Bai Chongxi, who was credited with many victories over the northern warlords, led the Fourth Army group to advance on Beijing, capturing Handan
Handan
Handan is a prefecture-level city located in the southwestern part of Hebei Province of China.- History :Handan was the capital of the State of Zhao during the Warring States period , after the capital moved from Zhongmu. The city was conquered by the State of Qin after the virtual annexation of...
, Baoding
Baoding
-Administrative divisions:Baoding prefecture-level city consists of 3 municipal districts, 4 county-level cities, 18 counties:-Demographics:The Baoding urban area has a population of around 1,006,000 . The population of the Baoding administrative area is 10,890,000. The considerable majority are...
, and Shijiazhuang
Shijiazhuang
Shijiazhuang is the capital and largest city of North China's Hebei province. Administratively a prefecture-level city, it is about south of Beijing...
, by June 1. Zhang Zuolin
Zhang Zuolin
Zhang Zuolin was the warlord of Manchuria from 1916 to 1928 . He successfully invaded China proper in October 1924 in the Second Zhili-Fengtian War. He gained control of Peking, including China's internationally recognized government, in April 1926...
withdrew from Beijing
Beijing
Beijing , also known as Peking , is the capital of the People's Republic of China and one of the most populous cities in the world, with a population of 19,612,368 as of 2010. The city is the country's political, cultural, and educational center, and home to the headquarters for most of China's...
on June 3, and Li's army seized Beijing Bai commanded the forward units which first entered Beijing and Tianjin
Tianjin
' is a metropolis in northern China and one of the five national central cities of the People's Republic of China. It is governed as a direct-controlled municipality, one of four such designations, and is, thus, under direct administration of the central government...
.
New Guangxi clique and Chiang Kai-shek
At the end of the Northern Expedition, Chiang Kai-shek began to agitate to reorganize the army, the fact that it would alter the existing territorial influences among the Cliques in the party quickly aggravated the relationships between the central government and the regional powers. Li Zongren, Bai Chongxi and Huang Shaohong of the Guangxi Clique were the first to break off relations with Chiang in March 1929, which started the confrontation that lead to the Central Plains WarCentral Plains War
Central Plains War was a civil war within the factionalised Kuomintang that broke out in 1930. It was fought between the forces of Chiang Kai-shek and the coalition of three military commanders who had previously allied with Chiang: Yan Xishan, Feng Yuxiang, and Li Zongren...
. Chiang Kai-shek defeated the Clique in 1929. Following defeat in that civil war, Guangxi allied with Chen Jitang
Chen Jitang
Chen Jitang , also spelled Chen Chi-tang, was born into a Hakka family in Fangcheng, Guangxi, China. He joined the Chinese Revolutionary Alliance in 1908 and began serving in the Guangdong Army in 1920, rising from battalion to brigade commander...
after he became chairman of the government of Guangdong in 1931, and turned against Chiang Kai-shek. Another civil war would have broken out if there had been no September 18 Incident, which prompted all sides to unite against the Empire of Japan
Empire of Japan
The Empire of Japan is the name of the state of Japan that existed from the Meiji Restoration on 3 January 1868 to the enactment of the post-World War II Constitution of...
. As a result from 1930 to 1936, the Clique organized the reconstruction of Guangxi, which became a "model" province with a progressive administration. As a result Guangxi was able to supply large numbers of troops in the war effort against Japan in 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...
.
See also
- 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,...
- List of Warlords
Sources
- 陈贤庆(Chen Xianqing), 民国军阀派系谈 (The Republic of China warlord cliques discussed), 2007 revised edition
- Jeffrey G. Barlow, THE ZHUANG: ETHNOGENESIS, December 12, 2005 COPYRIGHT, JEFFREY G. BARLOW, Department of History, Pacific University, 2043 College Way, Forest Grove, Oregon, 97116, EMAIL barlowj@pacificu.edu