Background
Han Fu-chu was born in Pai-hsien, Hebei, China, in 1890.
military politician Chairman of Shantung Provincial Government
Han Fu-chu was born in Pai-hsien, Hebei, China, in 1890.
Gen. Han started his career as a common soldier. Later he held the posts of a Commander of the National 1st Provisional Division, Commander of the National 6th Army, Commander-in-Chief of the 6th Route Army of the Kuominchun Allied Army, Field Commander-in-Chief of the 6th Route Army of the 2nd Group Army member of the Military Council of the National Government.
He was a member of Hebei (Hopei) Provincial Government. Mr. Han also took the positions of a Chairman of Henan (Honan) Provincial Government and concurrently member of the Committee for the Readjustment of Party Affairs in Henan (Honan), Field Commander-in-Chief of the 3rd Route Army and later Field Commander-in-Chief of the 1st Group Army of the Anti-Rebel Army, Chairman of the Shantung Provincial Government and concurrently member of the Committee for the Readjustment of Party Affairs in Shantung.
Han Fu-chu served as a State Councillor of the National Government Bandit Suppression Commander of Henan (Honan) and Shantung. He was a Commander-in-Chief of the General Reserve of the Communist Suppression Force, member of the Beijing (Peking) Political Readjustment Commission and member of the Beijing (Peking) Branch of the National Military Affairs Commission.
He took over Zhang Zongchang's role as the warlord in Shandong Province. In autumn 1932, unified the province after defeating the rival warlord Liu Zhennian, who controlled the eastern part of the province (in particular the sea port of Yantai) and was known as the "King of Eastern Shandong ". As governor, Han was a stern disciplinarian with civil servants and the military. He had virtually wiped out banditry and traffic in narcotics in campaigns of suppression. Through commercial operations, principally in cotton, tobacco, and real estate, he grew rich and gave generously to schools, hospitals, and civic improvements.
In the mid-1930s he was the target of Japanese attempts to get him to incorporate his province of Shandong into one of the North China puppet states they were attempting to construct. After the onset of the Second Sino-Japanese War, he commanded the 3rd Army Group and in 1937 was made Deputy Commander in Chief of the 5th War Area defending the lower Yellow River valley. Han was suspected of having conducted secret negotiations with the Japanese to spare his province and his position of power. When the Japanese crossed the Yellow River he abandoned his base in Jinan. Han abandoned his army on January 6 and fled to Kaifeng, where he was arrested on 11th and brought to Wuchang and was later executed by Chiang Kai-shek for disobeying orders from superior commanders and retreating on his own accord.
Chiang did this to set an example for those not following his orders. According to one account, Han Fuju was executed in the sanctuary of the Changchun Temple, a Taoist temple at the outskirts of Wuchang (now, almost in the center of modern Wuhan) by a single pistol bullet fired into the back of his head by Chiang Kai-Shek's chief of staff, General Hu Zongnan. There are only second-hand accounts of the execution.
Gen. Han had one wife, two concubines, and four sons.