Survival in the Voids: The Complete Chronicle of Hunan Warlord

Author: Liu Xinyu
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2002-02-01
Features: From the early 20th century to the 1930s, the southern and northern warlords regarded Hunan as a must-contest region. The Xiang faction warlords lacked sufficient power to resist, facing a painful state of squeezed survival. The Xiang faction warlords, with Tan Yanchen as their founding figure, governed Hunan three times between 1911 and 1920. He rose to power through murder, while pretending to support the revolution, secretly allying with old warlord forces—known as the "crystal ball" for his eight-sided cleverness. Zhao Hengtai was also a "crystal ball." In 1920, he governed Hunan, proposing "provincial autonomy" to the warlords of various provinces while desperately courting Wu Peifu. In the between northern and southern powers, he sought a survival niche. He Jian was another "crystal ball." In 1928, he first allied with the Guangxi faction to overthrow the Hunan governor Lu Deti, then repeatedly showed his loyalty to Chiang Kai-shek in Nanjing, ultimately controlling Hunan politics for nine years. However, the "crystal balls" forged in the of survival could only survive by relying on others. Dragged along by the muddy and turbid currents of history, they could never seize their own fate.