China's Warlords Trivia Quiz

Answer: He tried to make himself emperor of a new dynasty

Yuan was born in 1859 and had risen to the top of the Qing military by the early years of the 20th century as commander of the Beiyang Army. His American advisor was Frank Goodnow, first president of APSA (1903) and later president of Johns Hopkins University (1914-1929). Both Yuan and Goodnow reasoned that the Chinese people weren't ready for democracy and needed a strong figure at the helm, clothed in traditional garb. Unfortunately for Yuan, the Chinese people thought otherwise. The most articulate sectors of public opinion reacted very negatively, and even some of Yuan's closest associates were alienated by his move. He died in June 1916, a few months after backing down from his imperial venture.

Further reading: Ernest P. Young, "The Presidency of Yuan Shih-k'ai" (University of Michigan Press, 1977).

Answer: Wu Peifu

Wu Peifu (1874-1939) was an officer in Yuan Shikai's Beiyang Army who emerged as a key figure in the Zhili Clique, one of the main factions that emerged from the breakup of Yuan's political-military machine.

Further reading: Odoric Wou, "Militarism in Modern China: The Career of Wu P'ei-fu, 1916-39" (Dawson, 1978).

Answer: The Christian General

Feng Yuxiang (1882-1948) was baptized by Methodists in 1914. Rumor had it that he in turn baptized his troops with fire hoses, but hard evidence for this chestnut is lacking. Feng also had a reputation as a turncoat; it was his defection that led to Wu Peifu's defeat in the Second Zhili-Fengtian War. Feng had rather better connections with the Chinese Communists and the USSR than most warlords did. He died under still not fully explained circumstances, in a fire that broke out aboard the ship on which he was traveling to the Soviet Union.

Further reading: James E. Sheridan, "Chinese Warlord: The Career of Feng Yü-hsiang" (Stanford University Press, 1966).

Answer: His train was blown up by rogue Japanese officers

Zhang Zuolin (1875-1928) was the leader of the Fengtian Clique and dominated China's national government in Beijing for several years after he defeated Wu Peifu in 1924. Evicted from Beijing by the Nationalist (KMT) Northern Expedition in 1928, Zhang was assassinated by Japanese officers who hoped his death would provide a pretext for Japan to seize all of Manchuria.

Further reading: Gavan McCormack, "Chang Tso-lin in Northeast China, 1911-1928" (Stanford University Press, 1977).

Answer: Zhang Zongchang

Zhang Zongchang (1881-1932) was the poster-boy "bad warlord". A protégé of Zhang Zuolin, he was characterized by Cai Yuanpei (the president of Peking University) as having "the physique of an elephant, the brain of a pig, and the temperament of a tiger". He was eventually assassinated by the nephew of a man he had killed years before.

He was also known as "Old 63". That would be a stack of 63 Yuan Shikai silver dollars. Any additional explanation would not be appropriate for a family site such as this, but the curious cannot be prevented from consulting John King Fairbank, "The Great Chinese Revolution, 1800-1985", page 175.

Answer: Shanxi

Shanxi is a mountainous, coal-rich province located roughly southwest of Beijing.

Yan Xishan (1883-1960) was quite eclectic, reflecting both Confucian and Marxist influences. He had a difficult relationship with Chiang Kai-shek, and his position was greatly weakened during the Sino-Japanese War when much of his province was occupied by either the Japanese or the Chinese Communists.

Further reading: Donald G. Gillin, "Warlord: Yen Hsi-shan in Shansi Province, 1911-1949" (Princeton University Press, 1967).

Answer: Taipei People

Kenneth Hsien-yung Pai (or Bai Xianyong), born in 1937, is a prominent writer associated with Taiwan (although he has spent much of his life in the United States). His influential short story collection "Taipei People" (Taibei ren) was published in 1971.

Bai's father was the Muslim general Bai Chongxi (1893-1966), a member of the military triumvirate that ruled Guangxi province from the late 1920s through the 1940s.

Further reading: Diana Lary, "Region and Nation: The Kwangsi Clique in Chinese Politics, 1925-1937" (Cambridge University Press, 1974).

Answer: He kidnapped Chiang Kai-shek in 1936

Zhang Xueliang (1901-2001) was the son of Zhang Zuolin. Ejected from the Northeastern provinces by Japanese invasion in 1931, he was eager to fight the Japanese instead of the Chinese Communists. His detention of Chiang Kai-shek at Xi'an in December 1936 precipitated the formation of a new United Front with Communists and Nationalists joining forces to resist the Japanese.

But Zhang's success came at a price. He spent four decades under house arrest in Taiwan, though was eventually released, emigrated to the United States, and died in Honolulu.

Answer: 19th Route Army

Cai Tingkai (1892-1968) and his men were later moved south into Fujian province, where they launched an unsuccessful revolt against Chiang Kai-shek in November 1933. Cai ended up supporting the Communists in 1949.

Answer: Zhu De

Zhu De (1886-1976) was closely associated with Mao Zedong during the revolutionary wars from 1928 on, and was first in precedence among the ten Communist military leaders who were made marshals of the PLA in 1955.