Hu Yukun (; 1885 – May 24, 1946) was a military leader in 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 ...

. He belonged to the

Fengtian clique The Fengtian clique () was one of several opposing military factions that constituted the early Republic of China during its Warlord Era. It was named after Fengtian Province (now Liaoning), and operated from a territorial base comprising the thr ...

, and was

Zhang Xueliang Chang Hsüeh-liang (, June 3, 1901 – October 15, 2001), also romanized as Zhang Xueliang, nicknamed the "Young Marshal" (少帥), known in his later life as Peter H. L. Chang, was the effective ruler of Northeast China and much of northern ...

's confidant. Eventually he became an important commander during the

Wang Jingwei regime The Wang Jingwei regime or the Wang Ching-wei regime is the common name of the Reorganized National Government of the Republic of China ( zh , t = 中華民國國民政府 , p = Zhōnghuá Mínguó Guómín Zhèngfǔ ), the government of the pup ...

(Republic of China-Nanjing, known also as Reorganised National Government of China). His

courtesy name A courtesy name (), also known as a style name, is a name bestowed upon one at adulthood in addition to one's given name. This practice is a tradition in the East Asian cultural sphere, including China, Japan, Korea, and Vietnam.Ulrich Theobald ...

was Lingchen (). He was born in Haicheng, area of control of the General of Shengjing (now

Liaoning Liaoning () is a coastal province in Northeast China that is the smallest, southernmost, and most populous province in the region. With its capital at Shenyang, it is located on the northern shore of the Yellow Sea, and is the northernmost ...

Biography

Hu Yukun won promotion in the Fengtian clique, later he was appointed Commander to the 4th Mixed Brigade of the 1st Division which

Li Jinglin Li Jing-lin, also known as Li Fangchen (1885–1931) was a deputy inspector-general and later army general for the Fengtian clique during the Chinese warlord era. He hailed from Zaoqiang County, Hebei province, China. After his military career w ...

commanded in 1925. The next year, Li was ruined because of attempting anti-

Zhang Zuolin Zhang Zuolin (; March 19, 1875 June 4, 1928), courtesy name Yuting (雨亭), nicknamed Zhang Laogang (張老疙瘩), was an influential Chinese bandit, soldier, and warlord during the Warlord Era in China. The warlord of Manchuria from 1916 to ...

's action. Li's Army was reorganized to the 16th Army and the 17th Army of

Anguojun The National Pacification Army (NPA), also known as the Anguojun or Ankuochun (), was a warlord coalition led by Fengtian clique General Zhang Zuolin, and was the military arm of the Beiyang government of the Republic of China. The army was ...

(), Hu Yukun was catapulted to be Commander of the 17th Army. On June 4, 1928, Zhang Zuolin was assassinated by the

Kwantung Army ''Kantō-gun'' , image = Kwantung Army Headquarters.JPG , image_size = 300px , caption = Kwantung Army headquarters in Hsinking, Manchukuo , dates = April ...

, and his son

succeeded him. Hu Yukun was transferred to the post of Councilor of the Headquarters, Northeast Border Defence Army (). The next year, requisition of the

Chinese Eastern Railway The Chinese Eastern Railway or CER (, russian: Китайско-Восточная железная дорога, or , ''Kitaysko-Vostochnaya Zheleznaya Doroga'' or ''KVZhD''), is the historical name for a railway system in Northeast China (als ...

by Zhang Xueliang led to an armed conflict between Zhang and the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

. Hu was appointed Commander of the 2nd Army of the Defense Forces against Russia (). In 1930

Central Plains War The Central Plains War () was a series of military campaigns in 1929 and 1930 that constituted a Chinese civil war between the Nationalist Kuomintang government in Nanjing led by Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek and several regional military commande ...

broke out, Hu was appointed Commander of the 3rd Army of the Subjugation Forces (), and attacked the Anti-

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 ...

's Army. In May 1933 Hu Yukun was appointed a member to the Beiping Branch of the Nationalist Government's Military Commission (). In April 1935 he became corresponding lieutenant general (). In December he was appointed a member of the

Hebei–Chahar Political Council The Hebei–Chahar Political Council, or Hebei-Chahar Political Commission (), was established at Beijing under Gen. Song Zheyuan, on 18th December 1935. In 1935, under Japanese pressure, China signed the He-Umezu Agreement, which forbade the Kuo ...

. In December 1936, shortly after Zhang Xueliang triggered off the

Xi'an Incident The Xi'an Incident, previously romanized as the Sian Incident, was a political crisis that took place in Xi'an, Shaanxi in 1936. Chiang Kai-shek, leader of the Nationalist government of China, was detained by his subordinate generals Chang Hs ...

, Hu also supported Chiang's capture by Zhang. But after this incident, Zhang in turn was arrested by Chiang, so Hu fell from Chiang's favour. In 1938, Hu Yukun was invited to participate in the

Wang Jingwei Wang Jingwei (4 May 1883 – 10 November 1944), born as Wang Zhaoming and widely known by his pen name Jingwei, was a Chinese politician. He was initially a member of the left wing of the Kuomintang, leading a government in Wuhan in oppositi ...

's group by Bao Wenyue () who was Hu's colleague. Hu also participated to this group. In March 1940 the

was established, Hu was appointed a member of the Military Committee. The next month, he became Security Commander of the Border Area between

Jiangsu Jiangsu (; ; pinyin: Jiāngsū, Postal romanization, alternatively romanized as Kiangsu or Chiangsu) is an Eastern China, eastern coastal Provinces of the People's Republic of China, province of the China, People's Republic of China. It is o ...

and

Henan Henan (; or ; ; alternatively Honan) is a landlocked province of China, in the central part of the country. Henan is often referred to as Zhongyuan or Zhongzhou (), which literally means "central plain" or "midland", although the name is al ...

(). In 1943 he was appointed a member of the Military Commission to Northern China, and bestowed the rank of General. In next March he was appointed Director General for Northern China (). In April 1945 he was appointed Chief of the General Staff of the Military Committee. After the Wang Jingwei regime had collapsed, Hu Yukun was arrested by Chiang Kai-shek's National Government. He was convicted of treason and surrender to the enemy (namely

Hanjian In Chinese culture, the word ''hanjian'' () is a pejorative term for a traitor to the Han Chinese state and, to a lesser extent, Han ethnicity. The word ''hanjian'' is distinct from the general word for traitor, which could be used for any cou ...

) and sentenced to death by a military tribunal He was executed by firing squad at Nanjing on May 24, 1946.Xu Youchun (main ed.), p.1000.

References

Footnotes

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hu, Yukun 1885 births 1946 deaths Republic of China warlords from Liaoning National Revolutionary Army generals from Liaoning Military personnel of the Republic of China in the Second Sino-Japanese War Chinese people executed for collaboration with Japan Kuomintang collaborators with Imperial Japan People from Haicheng, Liaoning Politicians from Anshan