Yen Hsi-shan, The Chinese warlord Yen Hsi-shan ruled Shansi Province in northwest China from 1911 to 1949. Because of his program of reforms, Shansi was dubbed the "model province. "
Background
Yen Hsi-shan was born in the village of Ho-pien not far from the provincial capital of Taiyüan.
His father was a small banker, an occupation in which Shansiers had traditionally been famous, and Yen served as apprentice while studying the classics.
Education
In 1901 the bank's failure forced Yen to leave home and enroll in the government-supported military college in Taiyüan.
He continued his military education in Japan under a government scholarship; there he joined the revolutionary T'ung-meng hui, of which Sun Yat-sen was a prominent leader.
Career
Following his return home, Yen rose to the rank of colonel in the New Shansi Army. Hearing of the Wuchang revolt in October 1911, Yen declared Shansi independent of the Manchu government, but only the abdication of the Manchu emperor saved Yen's outnumbered troops from a crushing defeat. President Yüan Shih-k'ai appointed Yen military governor of the province.
In July 1917 Yen seized full powers and became Shansi's one-man ruler.
Dealing from a position of weakness, he maximized his leverage to determine the balance of power.
On June 8, 1928, he occupied Peking.
Estranged from Chiang Kai-shek over the issue of troop disbandment, Yen refused to help Chiang put down a rebellion by Feng Yü-hsiang in 1929.
In February 1930 he joined Fang in the "northern coalition" against Chiang, a movement that received military support from the Kwangsi clique and political encouragement from Wang Ching-wei's Reorganizationist faction.
However, Chiang's offensive of August 1930, followed by the intervention on Chiang's side by Manchurian warlord Chang Hsüeh-liang, forced Yen to send his army back to Shansi and retire to Dairen.
Japan's attack on Manchuria on Sept. 18, 1931, led to Yen's return to Shansi.
However, at the beginning of the Second Sino-Japanese War, most of Shansi was occupied either by Japanese or by Communists.
Yen finally cooperated with the foreign invader against his domestic foes and, after the Japanese surrender of August 1945, used Japanese troops against the Communists.
Yen could not prevail against the Communist tide.
In March 1949 he fled to Nanking, and on April 24 his army surrendered.
Politics
In 1934 he initiated a 10-year development plan to fortify the province against Japanese and Communist threats.