Liang Hongzhi
Encyclopedia
Liang Hongzhi; was a leading official in the Anhui clique
of the Beiyang Government
, later noted for his role as in the collaborationist Reformed Government of the Republic of China during World War II.
in Fujian
province. From 1888-1890, he lived in Japan, where his father had been dispatched to the government of Qing Dynasty
China. In 1903, he passed the Imperial examination
and in 1905 was accepted to the predecessor to Beijing University. In 1908, he was sent as an official to Shandong province. After the Xinhai Revolution
and the formantion of the Republic of China
, he was recruited to the nationalist government by Yuan Shikai
. After the death of Yuan, he gave his allegiance to Duan Qirui
, warlord
of the Anhui clique
, serving as secretary to Duan Zhigui
. After the defeat of the Anhui clique in the Zhili–Anhui War, he fled to the Japanese concession in Tianjin
.
He returned to Beijing in November 1924 after the Beijing coup
and put in charge of a provisional government after an agreement with Zhang Zuolin
and Feng Yuxiang
, but fled again in 1928 after the successes of Chiang Kai-Shek
's Northern Expedition. When a warrant for Liang's arrest was issued by the Kuomintang
, he fled to Dalian
in the Kwantung Leased Territory
under Japanese jurisdiction together with Duan Qirui.
After the Manchurian Incident of 1931, Liang returned with Duan to Tianjin, and then to Shanghai
and was with Duan when he died in 1937.
After the Second Sino-Japanese War
broke out in 1937, the Imperial Japanese Army
quickly overran northern and portions of eastern China, and the Japanese Imperial General Headquarters
authorized the creation of a collaborationist regimes as part of its overall strategy to establish an autonomous buffer zones between North China
and Japanese-controlled Manchukuo
. The Provisional Government of the Republic of China based in Beijing was formed on December 14, 1937 with Wang Kemin
as its president of the five provinces of northern China. The Reformed Government of the Republic of China based in Nanjing
was subsequently created on 28 March 1938 in eastern China and Liang was recruited to take the post of chairman.
The Reformed Government of the Republic of China was assigned nominal control of the provinces of Jiangsu
, Zhejiang
and Anhui
as well as the two municipalities of Nanjing
and Shanghai
. However, its activities were carefully prescribed and overseen by “advisors” provided by the Japanese China Expeditionary Army. The failure of the Japanese to give any real authority to the Reformed Government discredited it in the eyes of the local inhabitants, and made its existence of only limited propaganda utility to the Japanese authorities.
The Reformed Government was, along with the Provisional Government of the Republic of China, merged into Wang Jingwei
's Nanjing Nationalist Government
on March 30, 1940. In the new regime, Liang held only ceremonial posts, including the nominal governorship of Jangsu Province, retiring before the end of World War II
.
Liang was arrested by the government of the Republic of China
after the surrender of Japan
and tried for treason
in Suzhou
. He was sentenced to death
and executed by firing squad in Shanghai on November 9, 1946.
Anhui clique
The Anhui clique was one of several mutually hostile cliques or factions that split from the Beiyang Clique in the Republic of China's Warlord era. It was named after Anhui province because several of its generals including its founder, Duan Qirui, was born in Anhui...
of the Beiyang Government
Beiyang Government
The Beiyang government or warlord government collectively refers to a series of military regimes that ruled from Beijing from 1912 to 1928 at Zhongnanhai. It was internationally recognized as the legitimate Government of the Republic of China. The name comes from the Beiyang Army which dominated...
, later noted for his role as in the collaborationist Reformed Government of the Republic of China during World War II.
Biography
Liang was a native of ChangleChangle
ChangLe is a county-level city of suburban Fuzhou located in east Fujian province, People's Republic of China. Administered by Fuzhou city. Changle occupies a land area of 648 square kilometers and a sea area of 1327 square kilometers. Changle was established in the sixth year of Emperor Wu-De ...
in Fujian
Fujian
' , formerly romanised as Fukien or Huguing or Foukien, is a province on the southeast coast of mainland China. Fujian is bordered by Zhejiang to the north, Jiangxi to the west, and Guangdong to the south. Taiwan lies to the east, across the Taiwan Strait...
province. From 1888-1890, he lived in Japan, where his father had been dispatched to the government of Qing Dynasty
Qing Dynasty
The Qing Dynasty was the last dynasty of China, ruling from 1644 to 1912 with a brief, abortive restoration in 1917. It was preceded by the Ming Dynasty and followed by the Republic of China....
China. In 1903, he passed the Imperial examination
Imperial examination
The Imperial examination was an examination system in Imperial China designed to select the best administrative officials for the state's bureaucracy. This system had a huge influence on both society and culture in Imperial China and was directly responsible for the creation of a class of...
and in 1905 was accepted to the predecessor to Beijing University. In 1908, he was sent as an official to Shandong province. After the Xinhai Revolution
Xinhai Revolution
The Xinhai Revolution or Hsinhai Revolution, also known as Revolution of 1911 or the Chinese Revolution, was a revolution that overthrew China's last imperial dynasty, the Qing , and established the Republic of China...
and the formantion of the Republic of China
Republic of China
The Republic of China , commonly known as Taiwan , is a unitary sovereign state located in East Asia. Originally based in mainland China, the Republic of China currently governs the island of Taiwan , which forms over 99% of its current territory, as well as Penghu, Kinmen, Matsu and other minor...
, he was recruited to the nationalist government by Yuan Shikai
Yuan Shikai
Yuan Shikai was an important Chinese general and politician famous for his influence during the late Qing Dynasty, his role in the events leading up to the abdication of the last Qing Emperor of China, his autocratic rule as the second President of the Republic of China , and his short-lived...
. After the death of Yuan, he gave his allegiance to Duan Qirui
Duan Qirui
Duan Qirui was a Chinese warlord and politician, commander in the Beiyang Army, and the Provisional Chief Executive of Republic of China from November 24, 1924 to April 20, 1926. He was arguably the most powerful man in China from 1916 to 1920.- Early life :Born in Hefei as Duan Qirui , his...
, warlord
Warlord
A warlord is a person with power who has both military and civil control over a subnational area due to armed forces loyal to the warlord and not to a central authority. The term can also mean one who espouses the ideal that war is necessary, and has the means and authority to engage in war...
of the Anhui clique
Anhui clique
The Anhui clique was one of several mutually hostile cliques or factions that split from the Beiyang Clique in the Republic of China's Warlord era. It was named after Anhui province because several of its generals including its founder, Duan Qirui, was born in Anhui...
, serving as secretary to Duan Zhigui
Duan Zhigui
Duan Zhigui was a Chinese general. Born in Hefei, Anhui, Duan gained the post of Heilongjiang governor in the late Qing dynasty and between 1912-13 he was governor of Chahar, and the military governor of Hubei between 1914–15, as well as Military and Civil governor of Fengtian in 1915-16.A...
. After the defeat of the Anhui clique in the Zhili–Anhui War, he fled to the Japanese concession in Tianjin
Tianjin
' is a metropolis in northern China and one of the five national central cities of the People's Republic of China. It is governed as a direct-controlled municipality, one of four such designations, and is, thus, under direct administration of the central government...
.
He returned to Beijing in November 1924 after the Beijing coup
Beijing coup
The Beijing coup refers to the October 1924 coup d'etat by Feng Yuxiang against Chinese President Cao Kun, leader of the Zhili warlord faction. Feng called it the Capital Revolution . The coup occurred at a crucial moment in the Second Zhili–Fengtian War and allowed the pro-Japanese Fengtian...
and put in charge of a provisional government after an agreement with Zhang Zuolin
Zhang Zuolin
Zhang Zuolin was the warlord of Manchuria from 1916 to 1928 . He successfully invaded China proper in October 1924 in the Second Zhili-Fengtian War. He gained control of Peking, including China's internationally recognized government, in April 1926...
and Feng Yuxiang
Feng Yuxiang
Feng Yuxiang was a warlord and leader in Republican China. He was also known as the Christian General for his zeal to convert his troops and the Betrayal General for his penchant to break with the establishment. In 1911, he was an officer in the ranks of Yuan Shikai's Beiyang Army but joined...
, but fled again in 1928 after the successes of Chiang Kai-Shek
Chiang Kai-shek
Chiang Kai-shek was a political and military leader of 20th century China. He is known as Jiǎng Jièshí or Jiǎng Zhōngzhèng in Mandarin....
's Northern Expedition. When a warrant for Liang's arrest was issued by the Kuomintang
Kuomintang
The Kuomintang of China , sometimes romanized as Guomindang via the Pinyin transcription system or GMD for short, and translated as the Chinese Nationalist Party is a founding and ruling political party of the Republic of China . Its guiding ideology is the Three Principles of the People, espoused...
, he fled to Dalian
Dalian
Dalian is a major city and seaport in the south of Liaoning province, Northeast China. It faces Shandong to the south, the Yellow Sea to the east and the Bohai Sea to the west and south. Holding sub-provincial administrative status, Dalian is the southernmost city of Northeast China and China's...
in the Kwantung Leased Territory
Kwantung Leased Territory
The Kwantung Leased Territory was a territory in the southern part of the Liaodong Peninsula in Inner Manchuria that existed from 1898 to 1945. It was one of the numerous territorial concessions that the Empire of China was compelled to award to foreign countries at the end of the 19th century...
under Japanese jurisdiction together with Duan Qirui.
After the Manchurian Incident of 1931, Liang returned with Duan to Tianjin, and then to Shanghai
Shanghai
Shanghai is the largest city by population in China and the largest city proper in the world. It is one of the four province-level municipalities in the People's Republic of China, with a total population of over 23 million as of 2010...
and was with Duan when he died in 1937.
After the Second Sino-Japanese War
Second Sino-Japanese War
The Second Sino-Japanese War was a military conflict fought primarily between the Republic of China and the Empire of Japan. From 1937 to 1941, China fought Japan with some economic help from Germany , the Soviet Union and the United States...
broke out in 1937, the Imperial Japanese Army
Imperial Japanese Army
-Foundation:During the Meiji Restoration, the military forces loyal to the Emperor were samurai drawn primarily from the loyalist feudal domains of Satsuma and Chōshū...
quickly overran northern and portions of eastern China, and the Japanese Imperial General Headquarters
Imperial General Headquarters
The as part of the Supreme War Council was established in 1893 to coordinate efforts between the Imperial Japanese Army and Imperial Japanese Navy during wartime...
authorized the creation of a collaborationist regimes as part of its overall strategy to establish an autonomous buffer zones between North China
North China
thumb|250px|Northern [[People's Republic of China]] region.Northern China or North China is a geographical region of China. The heartland of North China is the North China Plain....
and Japanese-controlled Manchukuo
Manchukuo
Manchukuo or Manshū-koku was a puppet state in Manchuria and eastern Inner Mongolia, governed under a form of constitutional monarchy. The region was the historical homeland of the Manchus, who founded the Qing Empire in China...
. The Provisional Government of the Republic of China based in Beijing was formed on December 14, 1937 with Wang Kemin
Wang Kemin
Wang Kemin was a leading official in the Chinese republican movement and early Beiyang government, later noted for his role as in the collaborationist Provisional Government of the Republic of China and Nanjing Nationalist Government during World War II....
as its president of the five provinces of northern China. The Reformed Government of the Republic of China based in Nanjing
Nanjing
' is the capital of Jiangsu province in China and has a prominent place in Chinese history and culture, having been the capital of China on several occasions...
was subsequently created on 28 March 1938 in eastern China and Liang was recruited to take the post of chairman.
The Reformed Government of the Republic of China was assigned nominal control of the provinces of Jiangsu
Jiangsu
' is a province of the People's Republic of China, located along the east coast of the country. The name comes from jiang, short for the city of Jiangning , and su, for the city of Suzhou. The abbreviation for this province is "苏" , the second character of its name...
, Zhejiang
Zhejiang
Zhejiang is an eastern coastal province of the People's Republic of China. The word Zhejiang was the old name of the Qiantang River, which passes through Hangzhou, the provincial capital...
and Anhui
Anhui
Anhui is a province in the People's Republic of China. Located in eastern China across the basins of the Yangtze River and the Huai River, it borders Jiangsu to the east, Zhejiang to the southeast, Jiangxi to the south, Hubei to the southwest, Henan to the northwest, and Shandong for a tiny...
as well as the two municipalities of Nanjing
Nanjing
' is the capital of Jiangsu province in China and has a prominent place in Chinese history and culture, having been the capital of China on several occasions...
and Shanghai
Shanghai
Shanghai is the largest city by population in China and the largest city proper in the world. It is one of the four province-level municipalities in the People's Republic of China, with a total population of over 23 million as of 2010...
. However, its activities were carefully prescribed and overseen by “advisors” provided by the Japanese China Expeditionary Army. The failure of the Japanese to give any real authority to the Reformed Government discredited it in the eyes of the local inhabitants, and made its existence of only limited propaganda utility to the Japanese authorities.
The Reformed Government was, along with the Provisional Government of the Republic of China, merged into Wang Jingwei
Wang Jingwei
Wang Jingwei , alternate name Wang Zhaoming, was a Chinese politician. He was initially known as a member of the left wing of the Kuomintang , but later became increasingly anti-Communist after his efforts to collaborate with the CCP ended in political failure...
's Nanjing Nationalist Government
Wang Jingwei Government
In March 1940 a puppet government led by Wang Jingwei was established in the Republic of China under the protection of the Empire of Japan. The regime officially called itself the Republic of China and its government the Reorganized National Government of China...
on March 30, 1940. In the new regime, Liang held only ceremonial posts, including the nominal governorship of Jangsu Province, retiring before the end of World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
.
Liang was arrested by the government of the Republic of China
Republic of China
The Republic of China , commonly known as Taiwan , is a unitary sovereign state located in East Asia. Originally based in mainland China, the Republic of China currently governs the island of Taiwan , which forms over 99% of its current territory, as well as Penghu, Kinmen, Matsu and other minor...
after the surrender of Japan
Surrender of Japan
The surrender of Japan in 1945 brought hostilities of World War II to a close. By the end of July 1945, the Imperial Japanese Navy was incapable of conducting operations and an Allied invasion of Japan was imminent...
and tried for treason
Hanjian
In Chinese culture, a Hanjian is a derogatory and pejorative term for a race traitor to the Han Chinese nation or state, and to a lesser extent, Han ethnicity. The word Hanjian is distinct from the general word for traitor, which could be used for any race or country...
in Suzhou
Suzhou
Suzhou , previously transliterated as Su-chou, Suchow, and Soochow, is a major city located in the southeast of Jiangsu Province in Eastern China, located adjacent to Shanghai Municipality. The city is situated on the lower reaches of the Yangtze River and on the shores of Taihu Lake and is a part...
. He was sentenced to death
Death Sentence
Death Sentence is a short story by the American science-fiction writer Isaac Asimov. It was first published in the November 1943 issue of Astounding Science Fiction and reprinted in the 1972 collection The Early Asimov.-Plot summary:...
and executed by firing squad in Shanghai on November 9, 1946.