He Ke: A Biography

Author: Yang Xuedong
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-10-01
Features: This book narrates He Jian's life from abandoning politics for military service in 1911 to his death in Taiwan in 1956. Against the backdrop of the War for the Restoration of the Republic, the Northern Expedition, the Kuomintang-Communist conflict, and the second Sino-Japanese cooperation, it depicts through the historical struggles—such as the war between Tan Yankai and Zhao Hengtiek, the war between Zhao Hengtiek and Tang Shengchi, the "Eastern Expedition to Subdue Jiang" war, the Jiang-Tang war, and the Jiang-Gui war—how He Jian oscillated between his former superiors, played power games with the "three giants" of the Gui clique, maintained a cautious and distant relationship with Jiang Jieshi, feuded with Chen Guofu and Chen Lifu for power, and sought to strip the authority of the "local warlord" Chen Qizhen. The book chronicles He Jian's life from 1911 to 1956, when he was born into a humble farming family in Hunan, studied diligently, abandoned politics for military service, joined the War for the Restoration of the Republic, and later organized guerrilla forces in his hometown under the command of Cheng Qian. When Cheng Qian fell from power, he came under the command of Tan Yankai and Zhao Hengtiek, serving as a company commander under Tang Shengchi. During the Northern Expedition, He Jian led his troops to victory in Yueyang, Hanyang, and the brilliant capture of Wuchang, earning numerous accolades and promotions until he became a military commander. In the warlord conflicts, He Jian played both sides, maneuvered skillfully, betrayed his former master Tang Shengchi during the "Eastern Expedition to Subdue Jiang," secretly allied with Nanjing, and threw in with Cheng Qian. When Cheng Qian was detained in Wuhan, He Jian shifted his allegiance to the Gui clique. In the Jiang-Gui war, he defected from the Gui clique to join Jiang Jieshi, rising to prominence and eventually becoming the commander of the Hunan-Jiangxi joint anti-communist force, the governor of Hunan Province, and the commander of the Fourth Route Army.
Allying himself with Jiang Jieshi, He Jian fiercely opposed the Communists but was ultimately stripped of real power by Jiang Jieshi. He then began to "unite with the Communists to contain Jiang" and later "unite with the Communists to resist Japan," watching the civil war unfold from the sidelines. When the Kuomintang's prospects dimmed, he fled to Hong Kong and later moved to Taiwan, where he soon fell into poverty and died in isolation.
Against the backdrop of the War for the Restoration of the Republic, the Northern Expedition, the Kuomintang-Communist conflict, and the second Sino-Japanese cooperation, the book chronicles the wars between Tan Yankai and Zhao Hengtiek, Zhao Hengtiek and Tang Shengchi, the "Eastern Expedition to Subdue Jiang," and the Jiang-Gui war, supplemented by detailed accounts of the five major warlords and Chen Jitang, the military leader of Guangdong. The book also interweaves the story of how Jiang Jieshi and He Jian jointly seized the opium tax revenue and the intrigue and battles between He Jian, the "King of Hunan," and Chen Qizhen, the "local warlord" of Western Hunan. The situation was fraught with uncertainty, and the scenes were thrilling.
The book meticulously unravels He Jian's complex relationships—with other warlords, with Jiang Jieshi, with Chen Guofu and Chen Lifu, and with his subordinates—layer by layer, vividly recreating the historical scenes of that era.