Deng Xihou (; 24 May 1889 – 30 March 1964) was a Chinese general and prominent

warlord A warlord is a person who exercises military, economic, and political control over a region in a country without a strong national government; largely because of coercive control over the armed forces. Warlords have existed throughout much of h ...

Sichuan Sichuan (; zh, c=, labels=no, ; zh, p=Sìchuān; alternatively romanized as Szechuan or Szechwan; formerly also referred to as "West China" or "Western China" by Protestant missions) is a province in Southwest China occupying most of the ...

. He joined the

Qing Imperial Army The Qing dynasty (1636–1912) was established by conquest and maintained by armed force. The founding emperors personally organized and led the armies, and the continued cultural and political legitimacy of the dynasty depended on the ability to ...

, and then went on to serve under the

Beiyang Government The Beiyang government (), officially the Republic of China (), sometimes spelled Peiyang Government, refers to the government of the Republic of China which sat in its capital Peking (Beijing) between 1912 and 1928. It was internationally r ...

and the Nationalist Government before finally defecting to the

Communists Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a so ...

Mao Zedong Mao Zedong pronounced ; also romanised traditionally as Mao Tse-tung. (26 December 1893 – 9 September 1976), also known as Chairman Mao, was a Chinese communist revolutionary who was the founder of the People's Republic of China (PRC) ...

and holding political office in the

People's Republic of China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

Biography

Deng was born in 1889 in Yingshan,

. In 1906 he was admitted to the Sichuan Military School of the

, graduating in 1909. He then entered the Nanjing Army School for advanced study, but after the

Xinhai Revolution The 1911 Revolution, also known as the Xinhai Revolution or Hsinhai Revolution, ended China's last imperial dynasty, the Manchu-led Qing dynasty, and led to the establishment of the Republic of China. The revolution was the culmination of a d ...

, he discontinued his studies and returned to Sichuan. After the

of the

Republic of China Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the northeast ...

was established, Deng joined the Sichuan 4th Division of warlord Liu Cunhou. He successively held the posts of adjutant, company commander, and battalion commander. In 1917 he became commander of the 5th Brigade and in February 1918 commander of the Sichuan Independent Brigade. From 1920 to 1923, Deng participated in battles in

Yunnan Yunnan , () is a landlocked Provinces of China, province in Southwest China, the southwest of the People's Republic of China. The province spans approximately and has a population of 48.3 million (as of 2018). The capital of the province is ...

Guizhou Guizhou (; formerly Kweichow) is a landlocked province in the southwest region of the People's Republic of China. Its capital and largest city is Guiyang, in the center of the province. Guizhou borders the autonomous region of Guangxi to t ...

and Sichuan and was appointed commander of the 3rd Division. On December 10, 1923 the

Beiyang government The Beiyang government (), officially the Republic of China (), sometimes spelled Peiyang Government, refers to the government of the Republic of China which sat in its capital Peking (Beijing) between 1912 and 1928. It was internationally r ...

established by the

Zhili clique The Zhili clique () was one of several mutually hostile cliques or factions that split from the Beiyang clique during the Republic of China's Warlord Era. This fragmentation followed the death of Yuan Shikai, who was the only person capable of k ...

promoted Deng to the rank of general. In May 1924 he was appointed Governor of Sichuan. In 1926, Deng joined his forces to the

National Revolutionary Army The National Revolutionary Army (NRA; ), sometimes shortened to Revolutionary Army () before 1928, and as National Army () after 1928, was the military arm of the Kuomintang (KMT, or the Chinese Nationalist Party) from 1925 until 1947 in China ...

under

Chiang Kai-shek Chiang Kai-shek (31 October 1887 – 5 April 1975), also known as Chiang Chung-cheng and Jiang Jieshi, was a Chinese Nationalist politician, revolutionary, and military leader who served as the leader of the Republic of China (ROC) from 1928 ...

, and he was designated commander of the 28th Army and Military Governor of Sichuan from 1926 to 1927. He was sent to command the 45th Army in 1927, while acting as director of the Sichuan Provincial Financial Bureau. In 1928 he became the commanding general of the 14th Route Army. When the

Second Sino-Japanese War The Second Sino-Japanese War (1937–1945) or War of Resistance (Chinese term) was a military conflict that was primarily waged between the Republic of China and the Empire of Japan. The war made up the Chinese theater of the wider Pacific Th ...

began in 1937, Deng became the general commanding the 4th Corps and then the 45th Corps, seeing action at the

Battle of Xuzhou The Battle of Xuzhou was a military conflict between the Empire of Japan and the Republic of China (1912–49), Republic of China forces in May 1938 during the Second Sino-Japanese War. History In 1937 the North China Area Army had chased Song ...

in 1938. Then he was made Commander in Chief of the 22nd Army Group, composed of Sichuan divisions that fought the Japanese in the Battle of Taierzhuang. His force defended Lincheng, and

Dengxian Dengzhou (), formerly Deng County (), is a city in Nanyang, Henan, China. It has an area of and a population of 1,500,000. The urban area is 35 km², and the urban population is 300,000. The city is located in the southwest of Henan provi ...

, north of

Taierzhuang Tai'erzhuang District () is the southernmost of five districts under the administration of the prefecture-level city of Zaozhuang. The district is located in the south of Shandong Province, China, bordering Jiangsu province to the south. It cover ...

From 1939 to 1945 he was the Military Affairs Commissioner for the

Southwest The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each sepa ...

. During the

Chinese Civil War The Chinese Civil War was fought between the Kuomintang-led government of the Republic of China and forces of the Chinese Communist Party, continuing intermittently since 1 August 1927 until 7 December 1949 with a Communist victory on m ...

, Deng Xihou was once again given the governorship of Sichuan, from 1947 to 1948. However, Deng, together with fellow Sichuan generals and warlords

Liu Wenhui Liu Wenhui (; 1895 – 24 June 1976) was a Chinese general and warlord of Sichuan province (Sichuan clique). At the beginning of his career, he was aligned with the Kuomintang (KMT), commanding the Sichuan-Xikang Defence Force from 1927 to 1929. ...

and Pan Wenhua, crossed over to the Communists in the Chengdu Uprising of December 1949 (they were in secret negotiations with

since the early summer of 1949). Chengdu was the last important city on the Chinese mainland to be captured by the Communists. In the new

, Deng went on to serve as Vice Governor of Sichuan, member of the National Committee of the

Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference The Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC, zh, 中国人民政治协商会议), also known as the People's PCC (, ) or simply the PCC (), is a political advisory body in the People's Republic of China and a central part of ...

, member of the Central Military Commission, member of the

National People's Congress The National People's Congress of the People's Republic of China (NPC; ), or simply the National People's Congress, is constitutionally the supreme state authority and the national legislature of the People's Republic of China. With 2, ...

, and he was also elected to the Central Committee of the

Revolutionary Committee of the Chinese Kuomintang The Revolutionary Committee of the Chinese Kuomintang (RCCK), also commonly known, especially when referenced historically, as the Left Kuomintang or Left Guomindang, is one of the eight legally recognised minor political parties in the Peo ...

(RCCK). Deng Xihou died on March 30, 1964, in

Chengdu Chengdu (, ; Simplified Chinese characters, simplified Chinese: 成都; pinyin: ''Chéngdū''; Sichuanese dialects, Sichuanese pronunciation: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: ), Chinese postal romanization, alternatively Romanization of Chi ...

, aged 74. One of his sons, Deng Yumin (born 1940) is a politician, having served as Vice Chairman of

Municipal People's Congress, and member of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference.

References

External links

Deng Xihou
in Chinese

with photo

{{DEFAULTSORT:Deng, Xihou 1889 births 1964 deaths Politicians from Nanchong Republic of China politicians from Sichuan People's Republic of China politicians from Sichuan National Revolutionary Army generals from Sichuan Political office-holders in Sichuan

Biography

See also

References

External links