Warrior Ruling the Nation (Complete Set of 5 Volumes)

Author: Tao Juyin
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-10-23
Features: This book was published by the Sanlian Bookstore in 1959 and 1983 under the title "The History of the Warlord Rule in the Beiyang Era," and it is extremely rare in the market. It is said that there were two opinions about the book at the time. One was from Mr. Cao Juren, who called the author a historian with sharp insight; the other was from the academic circle, which believed the review was biased. Now, it seems that the latter had no choice but to compromise due to the circumstances at the time, while the former is something I cannot agree with. In that era, it was impossible to produce a historian with sharp insight, and Mr. Tao was no exception. Liu Suli – Personal Experiences of Tao Yin, a Prominent Journalist in the Early Republic of China, China’s Unprecedented Great Transformation in Three Thousand Years. 17 years of rule, 13 presidents, 46 cabinets. Preserving the freshness and vividness of news while incorporating the rigor and grandeur of historical writing. Roving warlords, intricate political twists. Wars, coups, assassinations, political struggles, student uprisings, labor strikes—everything was tried under the names of republicanism, presidentialism, federalism, constitutional monarchy, and responsible cabinet system. The path of modernization in China was long and winding. Wang XueTai, Wu Si, Zhang Ming, Lei Yi, Li Yaping, Liu Suli. From the collapse of the late Qing Empire to the reunification of China by the Republic of China government, the transformation from empire to "republic" is a crucial link connecting ancient and modern Chinese history, a key to understanding modern and contemporary Chinese politics. For today, the history of the Republic of China may be one of the most noteworthy periods in Chinese history, and the period from 1912 to 1928 is particularly crucial. Even today, we have not fully understood or grasped it. Looking back, many phenomena remain difficult to comprehend: warlords were often rough individuals who believed "might makes right," yet they sometimes showed fear and submission in the face of legal procedures; perhaps only a hundred thousand or at most a few hundred thousand could be considered intellectuals at the time, yet their political influence and social were unprecedented. Wang XueTai, Researcher at the Institute of Literature, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences
Tao Juyin’s works led me into the study of warlord history. Mr. Tao was one of the few renowned journalists during the Republic of China era. The characters he wrote about, he had interviewed; the events he recorded, he had witnessed. His historical accounts carried a strong sense of immediacy. This immediacy, combined with his vivid writing style, had a profound impact on every reader. Zhang Ming, Doctoral Supervisor at Renmin University of China
Mr. Tao’s 1.3 million-word "History of the Warlord Rule in the Beiyang Era" clearly and comprehensively covers the complex and turbulent history from Yuan Shikai’s rise in Korea to Zhang Xueliang’s change of flag in Manchuria over a span of 33 years, without resorting to any fictional elements. It is neither "" nor overly dramatic, truly deserving of the title "a historian with sharp insight" (as described by Cao Juren). It can be said that Mr. Tao made his name reporting on the Beiyang warlords. He not only had an intimate knowledge of what happened "on stage" but also knew many little-known secrets and anecdotes in detail. Lei Yi, Researcher at the Institute of Modern History, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences
If you want to understand the tumultuous changes in the early 20th century, the achievements and failures of the early Republic of China, and the origins of the present day without being misled, you should read this book seriously. Li Yaping, Author of "Imperial Politics in the Past"
How did an autocratic empire collapse? How was constitutionalism established and then dismantled? How did the power struggles outlined in the constitution evolve into violent conflicts? This book provides vivid demonstrations. While it indeed describes history, its insights have not faded with time. Wu Si, Scholar
Those foreign invaders who wore the guise of religion protected their converts, committed crimes, oppressed the innocent, and the local government dared not intervene. As a result, farmers in large areas of Shandong organized the Boxers, a movement with a quasi-religious character, to oppose foreign churches and missionaries. They set up altars in villages and practiced martial arts, arming themselves with primitive weapons for self-defense. Due to the large number and strength of the Boxers, they caused panic and hatred among the imperialists. On December 5, 1899, the American ambassador, Cong Zhen, cabled the Imperial Household Department, openly demanding the replacement of the Shandong governor, Yu Xian, with someone who had the power to suppress the Boxers. The next day, the Qing government ordered Yu Xian to come to the capital and appointed Yuan Shikai as the acting governor of Shandong. Yuan then consulted his advisor, Yin Mingshou, on how to deal with the Boxers. Yin believed that the Empress Dowager was using the Boxers to resist foreign aggression,① and to please her, he suggested a policy of "leniency" toward the Boxers. Yuan outwardly seemed indecisive but inwardly disagreed. He believed that imperialism was more powerful than the Empress Dowager’s influence, and that pleasing imperialism was more beneficial to himself than pleasing the Empress Dowager. Therefore, he decided to adopt a suppression policy toward the Boxers. As soon as Yuan took office in Jinan, he declared that he would "completely eradicate the Boxer bandits" and issued a notice prohibiting the Boxers. He then sent troops to destroy the Boxer altars, arrest and kill Boxers, and even conducted brutal sweeps, allowing soldiers to kill the innocent. Yuan’s policy of slaughtering the people caused dissatisfaction even among the ruling class: Censors Huang Guizan, Luo Xilin, and others submitted memorials accusing him of "not defending against foreigners but harming the people." The Qing government had no choice but to issue an edict ordering him to "exercise caution in military matters and not to act hastily for quick success." On the other hand, Yuan did his utmost to curry favor with the imperialist invaders. He sent troops to protect churches and foreigners, favored foreigners and their converts in handling cases, and wronged the common people, fully exposing his traitorous nature. As a result, the people of Jinan drew a large turtle with a red hat and flower comb (representing Yuan) kneeling at the feet of foreigners on the screen wall of the governor’s office. This incident alone shows the great anger of the people. On March 14, 1900, Yuan Shikai was formally appointed as the governor of Shandong. Considering that the number of troops in the Right Guard of the Wuyi Army was too small to cover the entire province, Yuan merged and selected the existing 34 camps of Shandong’s old army to form 20 new camps, naming them the "Advance Guard of the Right Guard of the Wuyi Army," which he directly controlled. In this way, Yuan had a force of about 20,000 soldiers under his command. In 1900, the Boxers in Shandong were subjected to Yuan’s bloody suppression, but the Boxers in Zhili, who were rising in the region, formed two large armies and marched separately toward Beijing and Tianjin. The western route occupied Zhuozhou, while the eastern route advanced directly to Tianjin. The Empress Dowager was both afraid of the Boxers approaching the capital and threatening the Qing dynasty’s rule and wanted to use their momentum to deal with imperialism. Therefore, she also considered adopting a "recruitment" policy toward the Boxers, allowing them to operate openly but restricting their activities to maintaining the order of the empire. In late May, Beijing was rumored that foreign troops would advance from Tianjin to Beijing to help Emperor Guangxu restore the New Policy. Enraged, she issued an order on June 13 allowing the Boxers to enter Beijing and another on June 21 declaring war on the imperialist coalition. After the declaration of war, the Boxers in Beijing immediately joined the Gan Army’s Dongfuxiang division to attack Dongjiaomin Lane.