Zhao Hengti (; 12 January 1880 – 23 November 1971), was a general and

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 ...

Hunan Hunan (, ; ) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China, part of the South Central China region. Located in the middle reaches of the Yangtze watershed, it borders the province-level divisions of Hubei to the north, Jiangx ...

during the Warlord Era of early

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 northeas ...

Biography

Zhao was a native of

Hengyang Hengyang (; ) is the second largest city of Hunan Province, China. It straddles the Xiang River about south of the provincial capital of Changsha. As of the 2020 Chinese census, Its total population was 6,645,243 inhabitants, whom 1,290,715 l ...

in Hunan Province. He was sent to

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the n ...

in 1904 to study at the

Tokyo Shimbu Gakko The was a military preparatory school located in Tokyo, Japan. Established in 1896 by the Imperial Japanese Army for the purpose of providing basic military training to students from China, many of its students later played important roles in th ...

, a military preparatory school, by the

Qing government The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing,, was a Manchu-led imperial dynasty of China and the last orthodox dynasty in Chinese history. It emerged from the Later Jin dynasty founded by the Jianzhou Jurchens, a Tungusic-speaki ...

, and while in Tokyo became associated with the pro-revolutionary

Tongmenghui The Tongmenghui of China (or T'ung-meng Hui, variously translated as Chinese United League, United League, Chinese Revolutionary Alliance, Chinese Alliance, United Allegiance Society, ) was a secret society and underground resistance movement ...

. In 1908 he continued his training at the

Imperial Japanese Army Academy The was the principal officer's training school for the Imperial Japanese Army. The programme consisted of a junior course for graduates of local army cadet schools and for those who had completed four years of middle school, and a senior course f ...

, graduating from the sixth class with a specialty in artillery. His classmates included

Tang Jiyao Tang Jiyao () (August 14, 1883 – May 23, 1927) was a Chinese general and warlord of Yunnan during the Warlord Era of early Republican China. He was military governor of Yunnan from 1913-27. Life Tang was born in Huize county in 1883 in ...

Yan Xishan Yan Xishan (; 8 October 1883 – 22 July 1960, ) was a Chinese warlord who served in the government of the Republic of China. He effectively controlled the province of Shanxi from the 1911 Xinhai Revolution to the 1949 Communist victory in ...

Cheng Qian Cheng Qian (; 31 March 1882 – 5 April 1968) was a Chinese army officer and politician who held very important military and political positions in both the Republic of China and the People's Republic of China.Wolfgang Bartke, ''Who was Who in the ...

and

Li Liejun Li Liejun (; 23 February 1882 – 20 February 1946), was a Chinese revolutionary leader and general in the early Republic of China. Biography Li was born in Wuning, Jiangxi, Province. In 1904, he was sent on a government scholarship to Jap ...

. Zhao returned to China in 1909, subsequently serving under Gen.

Cai E Cai E (; 18 December 1882 – 8 November 1916) was a Chinese revolutionary leader and general. He was born Cai Genyin () in Shaoyang, Hunan, and his courtesy name was Songpo (). Cai eventually became an influential warlord in Yunnan ( Yu ...

and Gen. Li Quanhong in

Guangxi Guangxi (; ; alternately romanized as Kwanghsi; ; za, Gvangjsih, italics=yes), officially the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region (GZAR), is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China, located in South China and bordering Vietnam ...

Province during 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 ...

, which overthrew the imperial government. Made an army commander in Hunan Province, he supported

Sun Yat-sen Sun Yat-sen (; also known by several other names; 12 November 1866 – 12 March 1925)Singtao daily. Saturday edition. 23 October 2010. section A18. Sun Yat-sen Xinhai revolution 100th anniversary edition . was a Chinese politician who serve ...

's unsuccessful attempt to overthrow President

Yuan Shikai Yuan Shikai (; 16 September 1859 – 6 June 1916) was a Chinese military and government official who rose to power during the late Qing dynasty and eventually ended the Qing dynasty rule of China in 1912, later becoming the Emperor of China. H ...

in the 1913 Second Revolution. Afterwards he was sentenced to ten years in prison, but was freed by Yuan in 1915 and restored to his position as commander of the 1st Division of the Hunan Army in 1916. In 1922 Zhao was made commander of the New Xiang Army of 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 ...

. He also implemented the Constitution of Hunan Province as a provincial constitution of Hunan. Although a trusted subordinate of

Tan Yankai Tan Yankai (; ; January 25, 1880 – September 22, 1930) was a Chinese politician. Biography Tan Yankai was born on 25 January 1880 in Hangzhou during the waning decades of the Qing dynasty. He was the son of the Qing minister Tan Zhonglin ...

, he went to war with Tan with the support of

Wu Peifu Wu Peifu or Wu P'ei-fu (; April 22, 1874 – December 4, 1939) was a major figure in the struggles between the warlords who dominated Republican China from 1916 to 1927. Early career Born in Shandong Province in eastern China, Wu initi ...

and forced Tan's resignation from the governorship of Hunan on 25 November 1920. Zhao then became the military governor of Hunan from 26 November 1920 to 11 March 1926. He was also the civil governor at the same time, except between November 1920 and 6 April 1921. As with

Chen Jiongming Chen Jiongming, (; 18 January 187822 September 1933), courtesy name Jingcun (竞存/競存), nickname Ayan (阿烟/阿煙), was a Hailufeng Hokkien revolutionary figure in the early period of the Republic of China. Early life Chen Jiongming wa ...

, Zhao was an advocate of a federalist constitution, but

Mao Zedong Mao Zedong pronounced ; also Romanization of Chinese, 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 List of national founde ...

thought his motive was to retain his own power rather than improve the governance of his country.

, Editors: Stuart R. Schram, Nancy Jane Hodes
Mao's Road to Power: The pre-Marxist period, 1912-1920, M.E. Sharpe, (October 1992)
/ref> After a conflict with Zhao,

Tang Shengzhi Tang Shengzhi (; Wade-Giles: Tang Sheng-chih; 12 October 1889 – 6 April 1970) was a Chinese warlord during the Warlord Era, a military commander during the Second Sino-Japanese War and a politician after World War II. After participating ...

was driven south into the arms of

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 ...

, who gave him command of the

Eighth Route Army The Eighth Route Army (), officially known as the 18th Group Army of the National Revolutionary Army of the Republic of China, was a group army under the command of the Chinese Communist Party, nominally within the structure of the Chines ...

of 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 ...

. On 11 March Tang's troops deposed Zhao and replaced him as the military and civil governor of Hunan as part of the opening campaign of the

Northern Expedition The Northern Expedition was a military campaign launched by the National Revolutionary Army (NRA) of the Kuomintang (KMT), also known as the "Chinese Nationalist Party", against the Beiyang government and other regional warlords in 1926. The ...

. Zhao withdrew from politics and the military soon afterwards, but came out of retirement to head the Provisional Hunan Assembly during 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 T ...

in 1939. He joined other Kuomintang leaders in exile in

Taiwan 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 no ...

in 1949, and was appointed a senior adviser to President Chiang Kai-shek. He died in

Taipei Taipei (), officially Taipei City, is the capital and a special municipality of the Republic of China (Taiwan). Located in Northern Taiwan, Taipei City is an enclave of the municipality of New Taipei City that sits about southwest of the ...

in 1972 at the age of 91.

References

Sources

Rulers: Chinese Administrative divisions, Hunan
{{DEFAULTSORT:Zhao Hengti 1880 births 1971 deaths Politicians from Hengyang Tongmenghui members People of the 1911 Revolution Republic of China warlords from Hunan Senior Advisors to President Chiang Kai-shek Kuomintang politicians in Taiwan Chinese Civil War refugees Taiwanese people from Hunan National Wuhan University alumni