Lu Ronghuan (; Hepburn: ''Ryo Eikan''; 1890–1946), was a politician in the early

Republic of China Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...

who subsequently served in a number of Cabinet posts of the Empire of

Manchukuo Manchukuo, officially known as the State of Manchuria prior to 1934 and the Empire of Great Manchuria thereafter, was a puppet state of the Empire of Japan in Northeast China that existed from 1932 until its dissolution in 1945. It was ostens ...

Biography

A native of

Fushun Fushun ( zh, s=, t=, p=Fǔshùn, historically Fuxi ()) is a prefecture level city in Liaoning province, China, about east of Shenyang, with a total area of , of which is the city proper. Situated on the Hun River ("muddy river"), it is one o ...

Liaoning Province ) , image_skyline = , image_alt = , image_caption = Clockwise: Mukden Palace in Shenyang, Xinghai Square in Dalian, Dalian coast, Yalu River at Dandong , image_map = Liaoning in China (+all claims hatched).svg , ...

, Lü studied law at the Jiangsu Provincial University, returning to

Shenyang Shenyang,; ; Mandarin pronunciation: ; formerly known as Fengtian formerly known by its Manchu language, Manchu name Mukden, is a sub-provincial city in China and the list of capitals in China#Province capitals, provincial capital of Liaonin ...

Manchuria Manchuria is a historical region in northeast Asia encompassing the entirety of present-day northeast China and parts of the modern-day Russian Far East south of the Uda (Khabarovsk Krai), Uda River and the Tukuringra-Dzhagdy Ranges. The exact ...

to establish a legal office. In subsequently served in local government, becoming vice-chairman of the Fengtian Provincial Assembly and serving as a director on the

Chinese Eastern Railway The Chinese Eastern Railway or CER (, , or , ''Kitaysko-Vostochnaya Zheleznaya Doroga'' or ''KVZhD''), is the historical name for a railway system in Northeast China (also known as Manchuria). The Russian Empire constructed the line from 1897 ...

. In 1923, Lü was commissioned by the

Fengtian clique The Fengtian clique () was the faction that supported warlord Zhang Zuolin during Republic of China (1912–1949), China's Warlord Era. It took its name from Fengtian Province, which served as its original base of support. However, the clique quic ...

warlord Warlords are individuals who exercise military, Economy, economic, and Politics, political control over a region, often one State collapse, without a strong central or national government, typically through informal control over Militia, local ...

Zhang Zuolin Zhang Zuolin; courtesy name Yuting ( zh, c=雨亭, p=Yǔtíng, labels=no) and nicknamed Zhang Laogang ( zh, c=張老疙瘩, p=Zhāng Lǎo Gēda, labels=no) (March 19, 1875June 4, 1928) was a Chinese warlord who ruled Manchuria from 1916 to 1928 ...

as a special envoy to

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

, where he negotiated a treaty between Manchuria and the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

. He was appointed governor of the

in 1928, but lost his position after the death of Zhang Zuolin and the military defeat of his son

Zhang Xueliang Zhang Xueliang ( zh, t=張學良; June 3, 1901 – October 15, 2001), also commonly known by his nickname "the Young Marshal", was a Chinese general who in 1928 succeeded his father Zhang Zuolin as the commander of the Northeastern Army. He is bes ...

. After the Mukden Incident of 1931, Lü was recruited by Japanese spymaster Colonel

Kenji Doihara was a Japanese general and intelligence officer. He was instrumental in the Japanese invasion of Manchuria and the establishment of Manchukuo. Born in Okayama Prefecture, Doihara became an officer in the Imperial Japanese Army and was involved ...

to serve on the Self-Government Guiding Board, to determine the future structure of the new State of Manchukuo. In August 1932, he served as chairman of the

Harbin Harbin, ; zh, , s=哈尔滨, t=哈爾濱, p=Hā'ěrbīn; IPA: . is the capital of Heilongjiang, China. It is the largest city of Heilongjiang, as well as being the city with the second-largest urban area, urban population (after Shenyang, Lia ...

city assembly, succeeding Bao Guancheng. From July 1933 to May 1935, Lü was asked to serve as Governor of Harbin Special Municipality. Also from November 1934 to May 1935, he was concurrently Governor of Binjiang Province. In March 1935, Lü accepted the cabinet-level post of Minister of Civil Affairs of the Empire of Manchukuo, which he held to May 1937. From May–July 1937, he served as Minister of Enterprises, until that post was merged into the Ministry of Industries. He continued as Minister of Industries from July 1937 to May 1940. He then returned to his former post as Minister of Civil Affairs from May 1940 to January 1941. In January 1941, he was sent as a special envoy to the

Reorganized National Government of China The Reorganized National Government of the Republic of China, commonly described as the Wang Jingwei regime, was a puppet state of the Empire of Japan in eastern China. It existed coterminous with the Nationalist government of the Republic of ...

, remaining in

Nanjing Nanjing or Nanking is the capital of Jiangsu, a province in East China. The city, which is located in the southwestern corner of the province, has 11 districts, an administrative area of , and a population of 9,423,400. Situated in the Yang ...

until 1944. After his return to Xinjing, he served with the Foreign Ministry as a special envoy, and retired from public life in 1945. Following the

Soviet invasion of Manchuria The Soviet invasion of Manchuria, formally known as the Manchurian Strategic Offensive Operation or simply the Manchurian Operation () and sometimes Operation August Storm, began on 9 August 1945 with the Soviet Union, Soviet invasion of the Emp ...

, Lü attempted to organize a

civil defense Civil defense or civil protection is an effort to protect the citizens of a state (generally non-combatants) from human-made and natural disasters. It uses the principles of emergency management: Risk management, prevention, mitigation, prepara ...

committee to maintain public order, but was captured by Soviet

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Republic and, from 1922, the Soviet Union. The army was established in January 1918 by a decree of the Council of People ...

and held in custody in

Siberia Siberia ( ; , ) is an extensive geographical region comprising all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has formed a part of the sovereign territory of Russia and its predecessor states ...

. He died while incarcerated in Siberia of illness at the age of 57.

References

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External links

Officials of Manchukuo (Japanese)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lu, Ronghuan Government ministers of Manchukuo Republic of China politicians from Liaoning Chinese collaborators with Imperial Japan 1890 births 1946 deaths Diplomats of the Republic of China Politicians from Fushun Chinese people imprisoned abroad Prisoners who died in Soviet detention Chinese people who died in prison custody Chinese Eastern Railway people