Zhang Zuoxiang

Zhang Zuoxiang,(张作相) (1881 – 7 May, 1949) was an important member of the Fengtien warlord clique.

Zhang Zuoxiang was born in 1881, in Jinzhou, western Fengtian (now Liaoning), China. A loyal follower of Zhang Zuolin he was the commander of the 27th Regiment, 27th Division, of the Fengtian Defence Force from 1911 to 1916 as Zhang Zuolin took control of Fengtian. He rose up through the ranks of the new Fengtian Army as commander of a brigades (1916–1919), acting command of 27th Division (1919,1920), Fengtian garrison commander (1919). From 1920 to 1922 he was staff officer Military Governor of Fengtian, Zhang Zuolin himself. He soon was given significant commands of the Eastern Route Army in 1922 and the 3rd Detachment, Zhenwei Army from 1922 to 1924.

In April 1924 he was rewarded with the military governorship of Jilin province which he retained until December 1928. He also held the civil governorship of the province in the same time, except for the time between December 1924 and June 1927.

Zhang rose higher in command as General of the 4th Army, Zhenwei Army from 1924 to 1925 and of the North-eastern Provinces Railway Route Army from 1925 to 1926. By 1928 he became Deputy General Commander of the North-eastern Border Defence Command and became the Chairman of the Jilin Provincial Government and oversaw the reorganization of the Jilin provincial Army.

In 1931, following the Japanese invasion of Manchuria he was forced to retreat to Jinzhou, where he became General Commanding the remnant Fengtian forces of the North-eastern Border Defence Command. After their defeat he became a Member of the Peking Branch, National Military Council in 1933. He was commander of the Chinese 6th Army Group (2nd Northern China Army Group) during the Battle of Rehe. Following that defeat he resigned. In 1936 he was again appointed a Member of the National Military Council and Member of the Political Board, North-eastern Field Headquarters but was soon removed due to his links to Zhang Xueliang following the Xi'an Incident.

During the Chinese Civil War in 1947 Zhang Zuoxiang was recalled and made a member of the Government Affairs Board, North-eastern Field Headquarters, later becoming its Deputy Head in 1948. That same year he became Deputy Comamnder in Chief of the North-eastern Bandit Suppression Headquarters and was then captured by the People's Liberation Army. He died the next year on May 7, 1949, in Tianjin.

Sources

• Rulers: Chinese Administrative divisions, Jilin
• The Generals of WWII; Generals from China; Zhang Zuoxiang
• Arthur Waldron, From War to Nationalism, Cambridge University Press, 1995.
• Rana Mitter, THE MANCHURIAN MYTH: NATIONALISM, RESISTANCE, AND COLLABORATION IN MODERN CHINA, University of California Press, Berkeley, 2000