Sheng Shicai
Encyclopedia
Sheng Shicai (1897– July 13, 1970, Taiwan
) was a Chinese
warlord
who "ruled" Xinjiang
(Sinkiang) province from April 12, 1933 to August 29, 1944.
Born in Kaiyuan
, Liaoning Province
, he served under the Guominjun
. He was first sent to Xinjiang
to work for Governor Jin Shuren
in 1930. He repressed the Kumul Rebellion
(February 1931 - October 1931) with support from the Soviet Union, but in exchange made several agreements with the USSR that gave it virtual control over the Xinjiang
province.
The Urumqi
Soviet Consul General effectively was in control of governing, with Sheng required to consult them for any decision he made. The Consul was the de facto power in Xinjiang, being the greatest in significance. Xinjiang was considered a "Soviet Satellite", being under total Soviet control.
In 1936, after Sheng Shicai expelled 20,000 Kazakhs from Xinjiang to Qinghai, Chinese Muslims
led by General Ma Bufang
massacred their fellow Muslim Kazakhs, until there were 135 of them left.
Sheng launched his own purge in Xinjiang to coincide with Stalin's Great Purge
in 1937 during the Xinjiang War (1937)
. Sheng received assistance from the NKVD
, Sheng and the Soviets alleged a massive Trotskyist conspiracy and a "Fascist Trotskyite plot" to destroy the Soviet Union
. The Soviet Consul General Garegin Apresoff, General Ma Hushan
, Ma Shaowu
, Mahmud Sijan, the official leader of the Xinjiang province Huang Han-chang and Hoja-Niyaz
were among the 435 alleged conspirators in the plot. Xinjiang became under virtual Soviet control. Stalin opposed the Chinese Communist Party.
At Joseph Stalin
's request, Sheng joined the Communist Party of the Soviet Union
(CPSU) in August 1938 and received Party Card No.1859118 directly from Molotov
during his secret visit to Moscow. Sinkiang, under Sheng's rule, was thus a part of China in name only, with every major decision of Sheng's regime cleared through the Soviet Consulate in Tihwa (Chinese: 迪化, today known as Urumqi
). During his years as Governor he was anti-minority (anti-Uyghur
and anti-Kazakh
), and was known for his pervasive use of torture.
In 1942, sensing the Soviet Union's demise, he turned anti-Soviet, expelling Soviet advisors and executing many Han Communists, including Mao Zemin
, Mao Zedong
's brother, in hopes of securing the backing of the Kuomintang
(KMT, Chinese Nationalist Party) for his continued rule. However, when the war swung in favor of the Soviet Union after the Battle of Stalingrad
, Sheng attempted to expel the KMT, and requested Soviet aid in a letter to Stalin. Stalin refused to assist Sheng, and sent Sheng's letter to the KMT party leader Chiang Kai-shek
as Sheng miscalculated and underestimated the KMT's extent of power. The KMT removed Sheng in August 1944.
Chen Lifu of the CC Clique
recorded his personal encounters with Sheng in his memoir "The storm clouds clear over China: the memoir of Chʻen Li-fu, 1900-1993", according to him, Sheng was distrustful and suspicious of everyone else, he aligned "manchine guns in front of his...residence at night... had all his filing cabinets locked".
He left Xinjiang on September 11, 1944 to join the Kuomintang
's Republic of China
government as Minister of Agriculture and Forestry. Around 50 trucks accompanied him, loaded with his personal property, "earned" in Sinkiang for 15 years, including gold (est. 1,500 kg) and silver (est.15,000 kg). He fled to Taiwan
along with the KMT at the end of the Chinese Civil War
in 1949. In 1958, he co-authored Sinkiang: Pawn or Pivot with Allen S. Whiting.
Sheng had four children with his wife. Two of his daughters were born while he was in Xinjiang.
Taiwan
Taiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following...
) was a Chinese
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
warlord
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...
who "ruled" Xinjiang
Xinjiang
Xinjiang is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China. It is the largest Chinese administrative division and spans over 1.6 million km2...
(Sinkiang) province from April 12, 1933 to August 29, 1944.
Born in Kaiyuan
Kaiyuan, Liaoning
Kaiyuan is a county-level city in the northeast of Liaoning Province in Northeast China. It is under the administration of Tieling City, which lies to the southwest....
, Liaoning Province
Liaoning
' is a province of the People's Republic of China, located in the northeast of the country. Its one-character abbreviation is "辽" , a name taken from the Liao River that flows through the province. "Níng" means "peace"...
, he served under the Guominjun
Guominjun
The Guominjun , a.k.a Nationalist Army, KMC, or Northwest Army , refers to the military faction founded by Feng Yuxiang, Hu Jingyi and Sun Yue during China's Warlord Era. It was formed when Feng betrayed the Zhili clique during the Second Zhili-Fengtian War with the Fengtian clique in 1924...
. He was first sent to Xinjiang
Xinjiang
Xinjiang is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China. It is the largest Chinese administrative division and spans over 1.6 million km2...
to work for Governor Jin Shuren
Jin Shuren
Jin Shuren , governor of Xinjiang, succeeded Yang Zengxin after Yang was assassinated in 1928. Jin ruled Xinjiang for about half a decade, and his reign was characterized by corruption and suppression. Under his rule, both ethnic and religion conflicts were greatly deepened, resulting in numerous...
in 1930. He repressed the Kumul Rebellion
Kumul Rebellion
The Kumul Rebellion was a rebellion of Kumulik Uyghurs who conspired with the Chinese Muslim General Ma Zhongying to overthrow Jin Shuren, governor of Xinjiang. The Kuomintang wanted Jin removed because of his ties to the Soviet Union, so it approved of the operation while pretending to acknowledge...
(February 1931 - October 1931) with support from the Soviet Union, but in exchange made several agreements with the USSR that gave it virtual control over the Xinjiang
Xinjiang
Xinjiang is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China. It is the largest Chinese administrative division and spans over 1.6 million km2...
province.
The Urumqi
Ürümqi
Ürümqi , formerly Tihwa , is the capital of Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of the People's Republic of China, in the northwest of the country....
Soviet Consul General effectively was in control of governing, with Sheng required to consult them for any decision he made. The Consul was the de facto power in Xinjiang, being the greatest in significance. Xinjiang was considered a "Soviet Satellite", being under total Soviet control.
In 1936, after Sheng Shicai expelled 20,000 Kazakhs from Xinjiang to Qinghai, Chinese Muslims
Hui people
The Hui people are an ethnic group in China, defined as Chinese speaking people descended from foreign Muslims. They are typically distinguished by their practice of Islam, however some also practice other religions, and many are direct descendants of Silk Road travelers.In modern People's...
led by General Ma Bufang
Ma Bufang
Ma Bufang was a prominent Muslim Ma clique warlord in China during the Republic of China era, ruling the northwestern province of Qinghai. His rank was Lieutenant-general...
massacred their fellow Muslim Kazakhs, until there were 135 of them left.
Sheng launched his own purge in Xinjiang to coincide with Stalin's Great Purge
Great Purge
The Great Purge was a series of campaigns of political repression and persecution in the Soviet Union orchestrated by Joseph Stalin from 1936 to 1938...
in 1937 during the Xinjiang War (1937)
Xinjiang War (1937)
In 1937, an Islamic rebellion broke out in southern Xinjiang. The rebels were 1,500 Uighurs and Tungans led by Kichik Akhund, against the pro-Soviet provincial forces of Sheng Shicai.- Start of rebellion :...
. Sheng received assistance from the NKVD
NKVD
The People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs was the public and secret police organization of the Soviet Union that directly executed the rule of power of the Soviets, including political repression, during the era of Joseph Stalin....
, Sheng and the Soviets alleged a massive Trotskyist conspiracy and a "Fascist Trotskyite plot" to destroy the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
. The Soviet Consul General Garegin Apresoff, General Ma Hushan
Ma Hushan
Ma Hu-shan was the half-brother and follower of Ma Chung-ying, a Ma Clique warlord. He ruled over an area of southern Xinjiang, nicknamed Tunganistan by westerners from 1934 to 1937.-Tunganistan:...
, Ma Shaowu
Ma Shaowu
Ma Shaowu was a Hui born in Yunnan, in Qing dynasty China. He was a member of the Xinjiang clique during the Republic of China.- Family history :...
, Mahmud Sijan, the official leader of the Xinjiang province Huang Han-chang and Hoja-Niyaz
Hoja-Niyaz
Hoja Niyaz Haji also Khoja or Xoja Niyaz Haji was a Uyghur independence movement leader who led several rebellions in Xinjiang against the Kumul Khanate, the Chinese governor Jin Shuren, and later the Hui warlord Ma Chung-ying...
were among the 435 alleged conspirators in the plot. Xinjiang became under virtual Soviet control. Stalin opposed the Chinese Communist Party.
At Joseph Stalin
Joseph Stalin
Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin was the Premier of the Soviet Union from 6 May 1941 to 5 March 1953. He was among the Bolshevik revolutionaries who brought about the October Revolution and had held the position of first General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union's Central Committee...
's request, Sheng joined the Communist Party of the Soviet Union
Communist Party of the Soviet Union
The Communist Party of the Soviet Union was the only legal, ruling political party in the Soviet Union and one of the largest communist organizations in the world...
(CPSU) in August 1938 and received Party Card No.1859118 directly from Molotov
Vyacheslav Molotov
Vyacheslav Mikhailovich Molotov was a Soviet politician and diplomat, an Old Bolshevik and a leading figure in the Soviet government from the 1920s, when he rose to power as a protégé of Joseph Stalin, to 1957, when he was dismissed from the Presidium of the Central Committee by Nikita Khrushchev...
during his secret visit to Moscow. Sinkiang, under Sheng's rule, was thus a part of China in name only, with every major decision of Sheng's regime cleared through the Soviet Consulate in Tihwa (Chinese: 迪化, today known as Urumqi
Ürümqi
Ürümqi , formerly Tihwa , is the capital of Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of the People's Republic of China, in the northwest of the country....
). During his years as Governor he was anti-minority (anti-Uyghur
Uyghur people
The Uyghur are a Turkic ethnic group living in Eastern and Central Asia. Today, Uyghurs live primarily in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region in the People's Republic of China...
and anti-Kazakh
Kazakhs
The Kazakhs are a Turkic people of the northern parts of Central Asia ....
), and was known for his pervasive use of torture.
In 1942, sensing the Soviet Union's demise, he turned anti-Soviet, expelling Soviet advisors and executing many Han Communists, including Mao Zemin
Mao Zemin
Mao Zemin , also using Zhoubin as his alias, was born in Xiangtan, Hunan province. He was the head of the state bank of the Red State in Ruijin and also the Minister of National Economic Department. He was a younger brother of Mao Zedong , and joined the Communist Party of China early on...
, Mao Zedong
Mao Zedong
Mao Zedong, also transliterated as Mao Tse-tung , and commonly referred to as Chairman Mao , was a Chinese Communist revolutionary, guerrilla warfare strategist, Marxist political philosopher, and leader of the Chinese Revolution...
's brother, in hopes of securing the backing of 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...
(KMT, Chinese Nationalist Party) for his continued rule. However, when the war swung in favor of the Soviet Union after the Battle of Stalingrad
Battle of Stalingrad
The Battle of Stalingrad was a major battle of World War II in which Nazi Germany and its allies fought the Soviet Union for control of the city of Stalingrad in southwestern Russia. The battle took place between 23 August 1942 and 2 February 1943...
, Sheng attempted to expel the KMT, and requested Soviet aid in a letter to Stalin. Stalin refused to assist Sheng, and sent Sheng's letter to the KMT party leader 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....
as Sheng miscalculated and underestimated the KMT's extent of power. The KMT removed Sheng in August 1944.
Chen Lifu of the CC Clique
CC Clique
The CC Clique, or Central Club Clique was one of the political factions within the Kuomintang , in the Republic of China...
recorded his personal encounters with Sheng in his memoir "The storm clouds clear over China: the memoir of Chʻen Li-fu, 1900-1993", according to him, Sheng was distrustful and suspicious of everyone else, he aligned "manchine guns in front of his...residence at night... had all his filing cabinets locked".
He left Xinjiang on September 11, 1944 to join 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...
's 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...
government as Minister of Agriculture and Forestry. Around 50 trucks accompanied him, loaded with his personal property, "earned" in Sinkiang for 15 years, including gold (est. 1,500 kg) and silver (est.15,000 kg). He fled to Taiwan
Taiwan
Taiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following...
along with the KMT at the end of the Chinese Civil War
Chinese Civil War
The Chinese Civil War was a civil war fought between the Kuomintang , the governing party of the Republic of China, and the Communist Party of China , for the control of China which eventually led to China's division into two Chinas, Republic of China and People's Republic of...
in 1949. In 1958, he co-authored Sinkiang: Pawn or Pivot with Allen S. Whiting.
Sheng had four children with his wife. Two of his daughters were born while he was in Xinjiang.