Xu Shuzheng
Encyclopedia
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...
in Republican China
History of the Republic of China
The 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...
. A subordinate and right-hand man of Duan Qirui
Duan Qirui
Duan Qirui was a Chinese warlord and politician, commander in the Beiyang Army, and the Provisional Chief Executive of Republic of China from November 24, 1924 to April 20, 1926. He was arguably the most powerful man in China from 1916 to 1920.- Early life :Born in Hefei as Duan Qirui , his...
, he was a prominent member of the Anhui Clique
Anhui clique
The Anhui clique was one of several mutually hostile cliques or factions that split from the Beiyang Clique in the Republic of China's Warlord era. It was named after Anhui province because several of its generals including its founder, Duan Qirui, was born in Anhui...
.
Xu was born in Jiangsu
Jiangsu
' is a province of the People's Republic of China, located along the east coast of the country. The name comes from jiang, short for the city of Jiangning , and su, for the city of Suzhou. The abbreviation for this province is "苏" , the second character of its name...
with a scholar family
Gentry (China)
As used for imperial China, landed gentry does not correspond to any term in Chinese. One standard work remarks that under the Ming dynasty, called shenshi or shenjin, meaning variously degree-holders, literati, scholar-bureaucrats or officials, they are loosely known in English as the Chinese...
background. He was one of the youngest persons ever to pass the Imperial examinations.
In 1905, he was accepted into the Japanese School of Land Army Officials, and returned to China in 1910.
From 1911 to 1917, he served in the First Army with various positions in the general staff, such as chief of Logistics Department, deputy chief of land forces, chief of land forces, etc.
In 1914 he founded a middle school called Cheng Da Middle School, which is the predecessor of today’s Affiliated High School of the Capital Normal College.
In 1918, Xu founded the Anfu Club, the political arm of the Anhui Clique
Anhui clique
The Anhui clique was one of several mutually hostile cliques or factions that split from the Beiyang Clique in the Republic of China's Warlord era. It was named after Anhui province because several of its generals including its founder, Duan Qirui, was born in Anhui...
, which then won three-fourths of the seats in the National Assembly
National Assembly of the Republic of China
The National Assembly of the Republic of China refers to several parliamentary bodies that existed in the Republic of China. The National Assembly was originally founded in 1913 as the first legislature in Chinese history, but was disbanded less than a year later as President Yuan Shikai assumed...
. Later that year, Xu executed Lu Jianzhang after discovering that Lu was trying to persuade Feng Yuxiang
Feng Yuxiang
Feng Yuxiang was a warlord and leader in Republican China. He was also known as the Christian General for his zeal to convert his troops and the Betrayal General for his penchant to break with the establishment. In 1911, he was an officer in the ranks of Yuan Shikai's Beiyang Army but joined...
, Lu's nephew, to fight against the Anhui Clique
Anhui clique
The Anhui clique was one of several mutually hostile cliques or factions that split from the Beiyang Clique in the Republic of China's Warlord era. It was named after Anhui province because several of its generals including its founder, Duan Qirui, was born in Anhui...
. This would lead to Xu's own assassination in 1925.
In 1919, Xu assumed command of the Northwest Frontier Defense Army, which invaded newly-independent Outer Mongolia
Outer Mongolia
Outer Mongolia was a territory of the Qing Dynasty = the Manchu Empire. Its area was roughly equivalent to that of the modern state of Mongolia, which is sometimes informally called "Outer Mongolia" today...
in October. On November 17, he forced Outer Mongolia to withdraw its declaration of autonomy, thus temporarily bringing Mongolia back under Chinese control.
In 1920, after Duan fell from power, Xu lost his position, and moved his forces back to confront his enemies. He was replaced in Mongolia by Chen Yi, and Mongolia became independent again in 1921.
Xu's forces were defeated in the subsequent Zhili–Anhui War, and he was forced to take shelter in the Japanese embassy.
In the early 1920s, Xu was sent to Italy as part of a Chinese diplomatic mission; a secondary purpose was to get him out of the country.
In 1924, he returned to China after Duan's return as chief executive.
In December 1925, while traveling from Beijing for Shanghai by train, Xu was hijacked by Zhang Zhijiang, a member of Feng Yuxiang
Feng Yuxiang
Feng Yuxiang was a warlord and leader in Republican China. He was also known as the Christian General for his zeal to convert his troops and the Betrayal General for his penchant to break with the establishment. In 1911, he was an officer in the ranks of Yuan Shikai's Beiyang Army but joined...
's forces. He was assassinated at dawn the next day by Feng as revenge for the killing of Lu Jianzhang. This also deprived Feng's rival Duan of a powerful supporter. Xu was 45 years old.
Xu had one wife and four concubines.
Xu's wife, Xia Hongjun (夏红筠, also named Xia Xuan (夏萱)), died in Suzhou, Jiangxu Province in 1955. They had 4 sons and 2 daughters. The first son, Hsu Shen-chiao (徐審交 Xu Shenjiao), and third son, Hsu Dau-lin
Hsu Dau-lin
Hsu Dau-lin was a distinguished legal scholar who made substantial contributions to the study of Tang and Song Law and, especially for new republican states, of Constitutional Law...
(徐道鄰, Xu Daolin), were active in 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...
politics. Hsu Dau-lin
Hsu Dau-lin
Hsu Dau-lin was a distinguished legal scholar who made substantial contributions to the study of Tang and Song Law and, especially for new republican states, of Constitutional Law...
, wrote a biography, published in Chinese in 1962, entitled The Life of General Hsu Shu-tseng. The older daughter, Hsu Ying Li (徐樱 Xu Ying, also named Xu Yinghuan (徐樱环)), wrote a biography of her mother and married the linguist Fang-Kuei Li. The other three died in childhood.
The four concubines were Shen Dinglan (沈定兰)，Shen Shupei(沈淑佩, younger sister of Shen Dinglan)，Wang Huicheng(王慧珵), and Ping Fangchun(平芳春)。 Xu had 2 daughters (Xu Pei (徐佩) and Xu Lan (徐兰)) with Shen Shupei, and 2 daughters (Xu Mei (徐美) and Xu Hui (徐慧)) with Wang Huicheng.
Sources
- 陈贤庆 (Chen Xianqing), 民国军阀派系谈 (The Republic of China Warlord Cliques Discussed), 2007 revised edition
- Edward A. McCord, The Power of the Gun: the Emergence of Modern Chinese Warlordism, Berkeley, University of California Press, 1993
- Arthur Waldron, From War to Nationalism, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1995
See also
- List of Warlords
- 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,...
- Anhui CliqueAnhui cliqueThe Anhui clique was one of several mutually hostile cliques or factions that split from the Beiyang Clique in the Republic of China's Warlord era. It was named after Anhui province because several of its generals including its founder, Duan Qirui, was born in Anhui...
- 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...