Wang Shizhen

Beiyang government and warlords Monarchy and royalism 1861–1930 ○ Died in Beijing

One of the three heroes of the Beiyang Army, who joined Zhang Xun’s restoration and later served as premier to broker north–south peace

A native of Zhengding, Zhili, he graduated from the Tianjin Military Academy and lost a finger in the defence of Pyongyang in the First Sino-Japanese War. From 1895 he helped Yuan Shikai train troops at Xiaozhan and build the Beiyang standing army, and with Feng Guozhang and Duan Qirui he was called one of the three heroes of the Beiyang. He became the Qing minister of the army in the Xinhai Revolution and retired when the dynasty fell, but in 1914 joined the Beiyang government as army minister and chief of the General Staff. In July 1917 he was minister of the General Staff in Zhang Xun’s restoration. When Duan resigned that November, Feng Guozhang made him premier to advance peace talks with the south, but the effort failed and he resigned in March 1918. In later years he worked for order and charity in Beijing, mediating among the warlords, and died there in 1930.

Also known as: Wang Shih-chen