Beiyang general who fought the Wuchang Uprising, founded the Zhili clique and served as acting president
Born to a peasant family in Hejian, Zhili, he graduated from the Tianjin Military Academy, and his reports on Japanese army reform as military attaché in Japan after the First Sino-Japanese War led Yuan Shikai to put him in charge of training the Newly Created Army. A Beiyang division commander and superintendent of the General Staff Council in the last Qing years, in 1911 he led the First Army in retaking Hankou and Hanyang from the Wuchang rebels, the shelling setting much of Hankou ablaze. Under the Republic he was military governor of Zhili and Jiangsu, and he broke with Yuan over the monarchy and joined the National Protection War. Elected vice-president in 1916, he became acting president after Zhang Xun’s restoration in 1917. Outmanoeuvred by Duan Qirui’s Anhui clique in seeking peace with the south, he left office in October 1918 and died of illness in Beijing the next year.
Also known as: Feng Kuo-chang
Activities and affiliations
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1911
Qing dynasty state institutionsCommander of the Beiyang First Army
Military command -
1912–1919
Beiyang government and warlordsLeader of the Zhili clique
Military command -
1916–1917
Beiyang government and warlordsVice President
Government and administration -
1917–1918
Beiyang government and warlordsActing PresidentHeads of state, government and party of ChinaMain
Political and party leadership
Career Timeline
- 1890Graduated from the Tianjin Military Academy
- 1895Military attaché in Japan
- 1905Commander of the Beiyang 3rd Division
- 1907.07Superintendent of the General Staff Council
- 1911.10.27Commander of the Beiyang 1st Corps
- 1912–1913Military Governor of Zhili
- 1913–1917Military Governor of Jiangsu
- 1916.10.30–1917Vice President
- 1917.07.17–1918.10.10Acting President