Feng Guozhang

In this Chinese name, the family name is Feng.

Feng Guozhang
President of the Republic of China Acting
In office 6 August 1917 – 10 October 1918
Preceded by	Li Yuanhong
Succeeded by	Xu Shichang
Vice President of the Republic of China
In office 7 June 1916 – 1 July 1917
President	Li Yuanhong
Preceded by	Li Yuanhong
Succeeded by	Post abolished
Governor of Jiangsu
In office 16 December 1913 – 1 August 1917
Preceded by	Zhang Xun
Succeeded by	Li Chun
Governor of Zhili
In office 8 September 1912 – 16 December 1913
Preceded by	Zhang Xiluan
Succeeded by	Zhao Bingjun
Personal details
Born	(1859-01-07)7 January 1859 Hejian, Zhili, Qing dynasty
Died	12 December 1919(1919-12-12) (aged 60) Beijing, Republic of China
Nationality	Chinese
Political party	Zhili clique
Other political affiliations	Progressive Party
Alma mater	Baoding Military Academy
Awards	Order of Rank and Merit Order of the Precious Brilliant Golden Grain Order of Wen-Hu
Military service
Allegiance	Qing dynasty Republic of China
Years of service	1886–1919
Rank	General
Unit	Huai Army Beiyang Army
Battles/wars	First Sino-Japanese War 1911 Revolution Second Revolution National Protection War

Feng Guozhang (simplified Chinese: 冯国璋; traditional Chinese: 馮國璋; pinyin: Féng Guózhāng; Wade–Giles: Feng Kuo-chang; 7 January 1859 – 12 December 1919) was a Chinese general and politician in the late Qing dynasty and early republican China who was Vice President from 1916 to 1917 and then acting President of the Republic of China from 1917 to 1918. He emerged as one of the senior commanders of the Beiyang Army and is considered the founder of one of the main warlord factions, the Zhili clique, that vied for control of the internationally recognized government in China during the Warlord Era.

Early life and education

Feng Guozhang was born to a peasant family in Hejian, Zhili on 7 January 1859. His family had fallen on hard times and was forced to sell its properties to educate its sons; however being the fourth son, Feng was unable to complete his education due to costs. Despite this, he had been able to some education in the Confucian Chinese classics in preparation for the imperial examination. He reportedly had to survive part of his early life by playing the violin in theatres, before in 1886 becoming an orderly to one of his great-uncles, a battalion commander of Li Hongzhang's Huai Army. His relative recommended him to Li's Tianjin Military Academy, and he did well there during his first year. The academy was part of Li Hongzhang's effort to create a modernized army in China, teaching subjects such as military drill, engineering, surveying, and mathematics, as opposed to traditional Chinese literary examinations or physical tests.

In 1888 Feng took a break from his studies there to take and pass the shengyuan or basic degree exam, but he failed the juren or provincial exam, at which point he decided to return to the military academy. He graduated in 1890.

Early career

Feng Guozhang in the Qing dynasty general uniform, 1911

Feng Guozhang briefly was an instructor at the military academy in Tianjin until 1891, when he was assigned to Nie Shicheng's unit in Port Arthur, northeast China. During that time he traveled extensively across Manchuria and became familiar with the region's geography, which became useful when he was serving under the command of Nie Shicheng in the First Sino-Japanese War of 1894–95. After the war, Feng was recommended to serve as military attaché to Japan when Yukeng was sent by the Qing dynasty as the Chinese minister in Tokyo.

In October 1911, after the outbreak of the Wuchang Uprising, he was ordered by the Qing Court to suppress the revolution in Wuhan. He held back the Beiyang Army until Yuan Shikai was restored to power and then proceeded to capture Hankou and Hanyang from the revolutionaries in the Battle of Yangxia. On October 14 he was appointed to command the Second Army (consisting of two divisions) by the imperial court. In the battle he ordered the razing of Hankou. Then, following orders from Yuan Shikai, he halted the Qing military's advance on Wuchang. Yuan then negotiated the abdication of the Last Emperor and became the provisional president of the newly founded Republic of China in 1912. Feng followed Yuan into the new government and was honored for his contribution to the Xinhai Revolution, even though he actually took an active part in suppressing it.

Politics

Feng broke with Yuan Shikai when he later attempted to make himself emperor. Yuan Shikai made Feng a duke, but Feng declined. Yuan then sent an admiral to assassinate Feng but the admiral was himself murdered. Feng then moved to Nanjing, where he joined the National Protection War. His name was prominently missing from the list of proposed successors in Yuan's will.

Feng then served as vice president under Li Yuanhong. During the occupation of Beijing by Zhang Xun, Feng served as acting president, a position he kept when Li formally resigned.

He was sworn in as president of the Republic of China on August 1, 1917, but his constitutionality was challenged as the National Assembly was not reconvened to recognize it.

On August 14 China entered World War I on the side of the Allies after growing evidence of the German Empire's support for Zhang's coup was uncovered, as well as intense lobbying by Premier Duan Qirui. He sent about 135,000 men in labor battalions to the Western Front, Mesopotamia and German East Africa. Troops were sent into Russia to assist the Allied intervention in Russia's civil war. Sun Yat-sen set up a rival government in Guangzhou during September 1917 and also declared war later that month in a failed attempt to get international recognition. Feng wanted to peacefully resolve the north-south conflict, which led to Duan resigning in protest. Due to pressure from the Anhui clique, he brought Duan back into the premiership. Feng finished the five-year term started by Yuan in 1913 on October 10, 1918, and died in Beijing of illness.

He was given a state funeral and buried in his native Hejian county of Cangzhou, Hebei. Half a century later his tomb was desecrated during the Cultural Revolution.

See also

• List of warlords
• Warlord Era
• Zhili clique
• History of the Republic of China

Citations

Sources

• Boorman, Howard L.; Howard, Richard C., eds. (1968). Biographical Dictionary of Republican China. Vol. II. New York: Columbia University Press. ISBN 0-231-08957-0.
• Gray, Jack (2002). Rebellions and Revolutions: China from the 1800s to 2000. New York: Oxford University Press. pp. 168–169. ISBN 978-0-19-870069-2.
• Setzekorn, Eric (2018). The Rise and Fall of an Officer Corps: The Republic of China Military, 1942–1955. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press. ISBN 978-0-8061-6296-6.