Yuan Shikai

This is a Chinese name; the family name is Yuan.

of the peninsula. Under the unequal Treaty of Ganghwa,

which the Koreans signed with reluctance in 1876, Japan
was allowed to send diplomatic missions to Hanseong,
and opened trading posts in Incheon and Wonsan. Amidst
an internal power struggle which resulted in the queen's
exile, the Viceroy of Zhili, Li Hongzhang, sent the 3,000
strong Qing Brigade into Korea. The Korean king proposed training 500 troops in the art of modern warfare,
and Yuan Shikai was appointed to lead this task in Korea. Li Hongzhang also recommended Yuan's promotion,
with Yuan given the rank of sub-prefect.

Yuan Shikai (Chinese: ; pinyin: Yun Shki; 16

September 1859 6 June 1916) was a Chinese general,
politician and Emperor, famous for his inuence during
the late Qing Dynasty, his role in the events leading up
to the abdication of the last Qing Emperor, his autocratic
rule as the rst formal President of the Republic of China,
and his short-lived attempt to restore monarchy in China,
with himself as the Hongxian Emperor (Chinese:
).

1
1.1

In 1885, Yuan was appointed Imperial Resident of

Seoul.* [4] On the surface the position equalled that of
ambassador but in practice, as head ocial from the
suzerain, Yuan had become the supreme adviser on all
Korean government policies. Seeing China's increasing
control of the Korean government, Japan sought more
inuence through co-suzerainty with China. A series
of documents were released to Yuan Shikai, claiming
the Korean government had changed its stance towards
Chinese protection and was interested in Russian protection. Yuan was outraged yet skeptical, and asked Li
Hongzhang for advice.

Biography
Early life

Yuan Shikai was born in the village of Zhangying (

), Xiangcheng County, Chenzhou Prefecture, Henan,
though the clan later moved 16 kilometers southeast of
Xiangcheng to a hilly area that was easier to defend.
There the Yuans had built a fortied village, Yuanzhaicun (Chinese: ; literally: the fortied village of
In a treaty signed between Japan and Qing, the two parties
the Yuan family).
agreed only to send troops into Korea after notifying the
Yuan's family was auent enough to provide Yuan with a other. Although the Korean government was now stable,
traditional Confucian education.* [1] As a young man he it was still a protectorate of Qing. Koreans emerged advoenjoyed riding, boxing, and entertainment with friends. cating modernization. Another more radicalised group,
Though hoping to pursue a career in the civil service, he the Donghak Society, promoting an early nationalist docfailed the Imperial examinations twice, leading him to de- trine based partly upon Confucian principles, rose in recide on an entry into politics through the Huai Army, bellion against the government. Yuan and Li Hongzhang
where many of his relatives served. His career began sent troops into Korea to protect Seoul and Qing's interwith the purchase of a minor ocial title in 1880, which ests, and Japan did the same under the pretext of prowas a common method of ocial promotion in the late tecting Japanese trading posts. Tensions boiled over beQing.* [2] Using his father's connections, Yuan travelled tween Japan and China when Japan refused to withdraw
to Tengzhou, Shandong, and sought a post in the Qing its forces and placed a blockade at the 38th Parallel. Li
Brigade. Yuan's rst marriage was in 1876 to a woman of Hongzhang wanted at all costs to avoid a war with Japan,
the Yu family who bore him a rst son, Keding, in 1878. and attempted this by asking for international pressure for
Yuan Shikai married nine further concubines throughout a Japanese withdrawal. Japan refused, and war broke out.
the course of his life.* [3]
Yuan, having been put in an ineective position, was recalled to Tianjin in July 1894, before the ocial outbreak
of the First Sino-Japanese War ().

1.2

Years in Joseon Dynasty Korea

1.3 Late Qing Dynasty

Joseon Dynasty Korea in the early 1870s was in the midst

of a struggle between isolationists under King Gojong's
father (Heungseon Daewongun), and progressives, led by
the queen (Empress Myeongseong), who wanted to open
trade. After the Meiji Restoration, Japan had adopted an
aggressive foreign policy, contesting Chinese domination

Yuan's rise to fame began with his nominal participation

in the First Sino-Japanese War as commander of the Chinese garrison forces in Korea. Unlike other ocers, however, he avoided the humiliation of Chinese defeat by
1

1 BIOGRAPHY

having been recalled to Beijing several days before the

outbreak of conict.
As an ally of Li Hongzhang, Yuan was appointed the
commander of the rst New army in 1895. As the ofcer most directly responsible for training China's rst
modernized army, Yuan gained signicant political inuence and the loyalty of a nucleus of young ocers: by
1901, ve of China's seven divisional commanders and
most other senior military ocers in China were his protgs.* [2] The Qing court relied heavily on his army due
to the proximity of its garrison to the capital and their
eectiveness. Of the new armies that formed part of
the Self-Strengthening Movement, Yuan's was the best
trained and most eective.
The Qing Court at the time was divided between progressives under the leadership of the Guangxu Emperor, and
conservatives under the Empress Dowager Cixi, who had
temporarily retreated to the Summer Palace as a place of
retirement. After the Guangxu Emperor's Hundred
Days' Reform in 1898, however, Cixi decided that the
reforms were too drastic, and plotted to restore her own
regency through a coup d'tat. Plans of the coup spread
early, and the Emperor was very aware of the plot. He
asked reform advocates Kang Youwei, Tan Sitong and
others to develop a plan to save him. Yuan's involvement in the coup remains a matter of debate among historians. Tan Sitong reportedly spoke with Yuan several
days before the coup, asking Yuan to assist the Emperor
against Cixi. Yuan refused a direct answer, but insisted he
was loyal to the Emperor. Meanwhile, Manchu General
Ronglu was planning manoeuvres for his army to stage
the coup.
According to sources, including the diary of Liang
Qichao and contemporary Chinese news sources, Yuan
Shikai arrived in Tianjin on 20 September 1898 by train.
It was certain that by the evening, Yuan had talked to
Ronglu, but what was revealed to him remains ambiguous. Most historians suggest that Yuan had told Ronglu
of all details of the Reformers' plans, and asked him to
take immediate action. The plot being exposed, Ronglu's
troops entered the Forbidden City at dawn on 21 September, forcing the Emperor into seclusion in a lake palace.

Yuan Shikai as Governor of Shandong

declaration of war against the foreign powers and continued to suppress the Boxers. This clique was known as
the The Mutual Protection of Southeast China.* [5] In addition to not ghting the Eight-Nation Alliance and suppressing the Boxers in Shandong, Yuan and his army (the
Right Division) also helped the Eight-Nation Alliance
suppress the Boxers after the Alliance captured Beijing
in August 1900. Yuan Shikai's forces massacred tens
of thousands of people in their anti-Boxer campaign in
Zhili.* [6] Yuan operated out of Baoding during the campaign, which ended in 1902.* [7]
He also founded a provincial junior college (Shandong
College, the forerunner of Shandong University) in Jinan,
which adopted western ideas of education.
In June 1902 he was promoted to Viceroy of Zhili, the
lucrative Commissioner for North China Trade, and Minister of Beiyang (), comprising the modern regions of Liaoning, Hebei, and Shandong.* [8] Having gained the regard of foreigners after helping crush
the Boxer Rebellion, he successfully obtained numerous
loans to expand his Beiyang Army into the most powerful army in China. He created a 2,000-strong police force
to keep order in Tianjin, the rst of its kind in Chinese
history, as a result of the Boxer Protocol having forbidden troops to be staged close to Tianjin. Yuan was also
involved in the transfer of railway control from Sheng Xuanhuai, leading railways and their construction to become
a large source of his revenue. Yuan played an active role
in late-Qing political reforms, including the creation of
the Ministry of Education () and Ministry of Police
(). He further advocated ethnic equality between
Manchus and Han Chinese.

Making a political alliance with the Empress Dowager,

and becoming a lasting enemy of the Guangxu Emperor,
Yuan left the capital in 1899 for his new appointment as
Governor of Shandong. During his three-year tenure the
Boxer Rebellion (18991901) erupted; Yuan ensured the
suppression of Boxers in the province, though his troops
took no active part outside Shandong itself. Yuan took
the side of the pro-foreign faction in the Imperial Court,
along with Prince Qing, Li Hongzhang, and Ronglu. He
refused to side with the Boxers and attack the EightNation Alliance forces, joining with other Chinese governors who commanded substantial modernized armies
like Zhang Zhidong not participating in the Boxer Re- In 1905, acting on Yuan's advice, Dowager-Empress
bellion. He and Zhang ignored Empress Dowager Cixi's Cixi issued a decree ending the traditional Confucian
examination system in 1906. She and ordered the Min-

1.4

Retreat and return

istry of Education to implement a system of primary and

secondary schools and universities with state-mandated
curriculum, modeled after the educational system of
Meiji-period Japan. On August 27, 1908, the Qing court
promulgatedPrinciples for a Constitution, which Yuan
helped to draft. This document called for a constitutional
government with a strong monarchy (modeled after Meiji
Japan and Bismarck's Germany), with a constitution to
be issued by 1916 and an elected parliament by 1917.* [9]

1.4 Retreat and return

The Empress Dowager and the Guangxu Emperor died

within a day of each other in November 1908.* [4]
Sources indicate that the will of the Emperor specically
ordered Yuan's execution. But nonetheless he avoided
death. In January 1909 Yuan Shikai was relieved of all
his posts by the regent, Prince Chun. The public reason for Yuan's resignation was that he was returning to
his home in the village of Huanshang (), now the
In the hunting-park, three miles to the south of Peking, is prefecture-level city of Anyang, due to a foot disease.
quartered the Sixth Division, which supplies the Guards
During his three years of eective exile, Yuan kept confor the Imperial Palace, consisting of a battalion of intact with his close allies, including Duan Qirui, who refantry and a squadron of cavalry. With this Division Yuan
ported to him regularly about army proceedings. The
Shi Kai retains twenty-six modied Krupp guns, which
loyalty of the Beiyang Army was still undoubtedly beare the best of his artillery arm, and excel any guns poshind him. Having this strategic military support, Yuan
sessed by the foreign legations in Peking.
held the balance of power between various revolutionarThe Manchu Division moves with the Court, and is the ies (like Sun Yat-sen) and the Qing court. Both wanted
pride of the modern army.
Yuan on their side.
By his strategic disposition Yuan Shi Kai completely controls all the approaches to the capital, and holds a force
which he may utilize either to protect the Court from
threatened attack or to crush the Emperor should he himself desire to assume Imperial power. Contrary to treaty
stipulations made at the settlement of the Boxer trouble,
the Chinese have been permitted to build a great tower
over the Chien Men, or central southern gate, which commands the foreign legations and governs the Forbidden
City. In the threatening condition of Chinese aairs it
might be assumed that this structure had been undermined by the foreign community, but this has not been
done, and if trouble again arise in Peking the fate of the
legations will depend upon the success of the rst assault
which will be necessary to take it. The foreign legations
are as much in the power of Yuan Shi Kai's troops in 1907
as they were at the mercy of the Chinese rabble in 1900.

1.5 Wuchang Uprising and the Republic

The Wuchang Uprising took place on 10 October 1911

in Hubei province. The southern provinces subsequently
declared their independence from the Qing court, but neither the northern provinces nor the Beiyang Army had a
clear stance for or against the rebellion. Both the Qing
court and Yuan were fully aware that the Beiyang Army
was the only Qing force powerful enough to quell the revolutionaries. The court requested Yuan's return on 27
October, but he repeatedly declined oers from the Qing
court for his return, rst as the Viceroy of Huguang, and
then as Prime Minister of the Imperial Cabinet. Time
The ultimate purpose of the equipped and disciplined
was on Yuan's side, and Yuan waited, using his foot
troops is locked in the breast of the Viceroy of Chihli.
ailmentas a pretext to his continual refusal.
Yuan Shi Kai's yamen in Tientsin is connected by telegraph and telephone with the Imperial palaces and with After further pleas by the Qing Court, Yuan agreed and
the various barracks of his troops. In a eld a couple of eventually left his village for Beijing on 30 October, behundred yards away is the long pole of a wireless tele- coming Prime Minister on 1 November 1911. Immedigraph station, from which he can send the message that ately after that he asked the Regent to withdraw from
politics, which forced Zaifeng to resign as regent. This
any day may set all China ablaze.
made way for Yuan to form a new, predominantly Han
To-morrow in the East, Douglas Story, pp. 224-226
Chinese, cabinet of condants, with only one Manchu as
*
[10]
Minister of Suzerainty. To further reward Yuan's loyYuan Shikai's Han-dominated New Army was primar- alty to the court, the Empress Dowager Longyu oered
ily responsible for the defense of Beijing, as most of the Yuan the noble title Marquis of the First Rank (),
modernized Eight Banner divisions were destroyed in the an honour only previously given to 19th century General
Boxer Rebellion and the new modernized Banner forces Zeng Guofan for his raising of the Xiang Army to suppress the Taiping Rebellion. Meanwhile, in the Battle of
were token in nature.
Yangxia, Yuan's forces recaptured Hankou and Hanyang
from the revolutionaries. Yuan knew that complete suppression of the revolution would end his usefulness to the
Qing regime. Instead of attacking Wuchang, he began to
negotiate with the revolutionaries.

1 BIOGRAPHY
had openly and vehemently expressed the desire to limit
the powers of the President in terms that often appeared
openly critical of Yuan's ambitions. When the results of
the 1913 elections indicated a clear victory for the KMT,
it appeared that Song would be in a position to exercise
a dominant role in selecting the premier and cabinet, and
the party could have proceeded to push for the election
of a future president in a parliamentary setting.* [13]

On 20 March 1913, while traveling to Beijing, Song

Jiaoren was shot by a lone gunman in Shanghai, and died
two days later. The trail of evidence led to the secreYuan Shikai sworn in as Provisional President of the Republic of
tary of the cabinet and the provisional premier of Yuan's
China, in Beijing, 10 March 1912.
government. Although Yuan was considered by contemporary Chinese media sources as the man most likely behind the assassination, the main conspirators investigated
1.5.1 Abdication of the child emperor
by authorities were either themselves assassinated or disThe revolutionaries had elected Sun Yat-Sen as the rst appeared mysteriously. For lack of evidence, Yuan was
*
Provisional President of the Republic of China, but they never ocially implicated. [13]
were in a weak position militarily, so they negotiated with
the Qing, using Yuan as an intermediary. Yuan arranged
for the abdication of the child emperor Pu Yi in return 1.6 Becoming Emperor
for being granted the position of President of the Republic of China.* [4] Yuan was not present when the Abdication edict was issued by Empress Dowager Longyu on 12
February 1912.
Sun agreed to Yuan's presidency after some internal bickering, but asked that the capital be situated in Nanjing.
Yuan, however, wanted the geographic advantage of having the nation's capital close to his base of military power.
Cao Kun, one of his trusted subordinate Beiyang military commanders, fabricated a coup d'tat in Beijing and
Tianjin, apparently under Yuan's orders, to provide an excuse for Yuan not to leave his sphere of inuence in Zhili
(present-day Hebei province). The revolutionaries compromised again, and the capital of the new republic was
established in Beijing. Yuan Shikai was elected Provisional President of the Republic of China by the Nanjing
Provisional Senate on 14 February 1912, and sworn in on
10 March of that year.* [11]* [12]

1.5.2

Democratic elections

In February 1913, democratic elections were held for the

National Assembly in which the Kuomintang (KMT
Chinese Nationalist Party) scored a signicant victory.
Song Jiaoren of the KMT zealously supported a cabinet
system and was widely regarded as a candidate for Prime Yuan Shikai as the Hongxian Emperor.
Minister.
One of Song's main political goals was to ensure that the See also: Empire of China (191516)
powers and independence of China's Parliament be properly protected from the inuence of the oce of the President. Song's goals in curtailing the oce of the President conicted with the interests of Yuan, who, by mid1912, clearly dominated the provisional cabinet and was
showing signs of a desire to hold overwhelming executive
power. During Song's travels through China in 1912, he

Tensions between the KMT and Yuan continued to intensify. After arriving in Peking, the elected Parliament
attempted to gain control over Yuan, to develop a permanent constitution, and to hold a legitimate, open presidential election. Because he had authorized $100 million of
reorganization loansfrom a variety of foreign banks,

1.6

Becoming Emperor

5
who remained willingly submitted to Yuan. Because
those commanders not loyal to Yuan were eectively
removed from power, the Second Revolution cemented
Yuan's power.* [15]

In January 1914, China's Parliament was formally dissolved. To give his government a semblance of legitimacy, Yuan convened a body of 66 men from his cabinet
who, on 1 May 1914, produced a constitutional compactthat eectively replaced China's provisional conThe Yuan Shikaidollar(yuan in Chinese), issued for the rst stitution. The new legal status quo gave Yuan, as presitime in 1914, became a dominant coin type of the Republic of dent, practically unlimited powers over China's military,
China.
nances, foreign policy, and the rights of China's citizens.
Yuan justied these reforms by stating that representative democracy had been proven inecient by political
inghting.* [16]
After his victory, Yuan reorganized the provincial governments. Each province was now supported by a Military Governor () as well as a civil authority, giving
each governor control of their own army. This helped lay
the foundations for the warlordism that crippled China
over the next two decades.
During Yuan's presidency, a silverdollar(yuan in Chinese) carrying his portrait was introduced. This coin type
was the rst dollarcoin of the central authorities of
the Republic of China to be minted in signicant quanThe Flag of Yuan Shikai's "Great Chinese Empire"
tities. It became a staple silver coin type during the rst
half of the 20th century and was struck for the last time as
late as the 1950s. These dollarswere also extensively
the KMT in particular were highly critical of Yuan's han*
forged.
[17]
dling of the national budget.* [14]
Yuan's crackdown on the KMT began in 1913, with
the suppression and bribery of KMT members in the
two legislative chambers. Anti-Yuan revolutionaries also
claimed Yuan orchestrated the collapse of the KMT internally and dismissed governors interpreted as being proKMT.* [14]

1.6.1

Second Revolution

Seeing the situation for his party worsen, Sun Yat-sen

ed to Japan in November 1913, and called for a Second Revolution, this time against Yuan Shikai. Subsequently, Yuan gradually took over the government, using
the military as the base of his power. He dissolved the national and provincial assemblies, and the House of Representatives and Senate were replaced by the newly formed
Council of State, with Duan Qirui, his trusted Beiyang
lieutenant, as Prime Minister. He relied on the American
educated Tsai Ting Kan for English translation and connections with western powers. Finally, Yuan had himself
elected president to a ve-year term, publicly labelled the
KMT a seditious organization, ordered the KMT's dissolution, and evicted all its members from Parliament.

1.6.2 Japan's Twenty-one Demands

In 1914, Japan captured the German colony at Qingdao.
Then in January 1915, Japan sent a secret ultimatum,
known as the Twenty-one Demands, to Beijing. Japan
demanded an extension of extraterritoriality, the sale of
businesses in debt to Japan, and cession of Qingdao to
Japan. When these demands were made public, hostility within China was expressed in nationwide antiJapanese demonstrations and an eective national boycott of Japanese goods. Yuan's eventual decision to agree
to nearly all of the demands led to a decline in the popularity of Yuan's government among contemporary Chinese, although many of the requests were mere extensions
of Qing treaties.* [18] Western pressure later forced Japan
to water down some of its demands.
1.6.3 Revival of the monarchy

To build up his own authority, Yuan began to re-institute

elements of state Confucianism. As the main proponent
of reviving Qing state religious observances, Yuan eectively participated as emperor in rituals held at the Qing
The KMT's Second Revolutionended in failure as Temple of Heaven. In late 1915, rumors were oated
Yuan's troops achieved complete victory over revolution- of a popular consensus that the monarchy should be reary uprisings. Provincial governors with KMT loyalties vived. With his power secure, many of Yuan's supporters,

2 EVALUATION AND LEGACY

notably monarchist Yang Du, advocated for a revival of 1.6.5 Abandonment of the monarchy and death
the monarchy, asking Yuan to take on the title of Emperor. Yang reasoned that the Chinese masses had long Funeral procession of Yuan Shikai in Beijing
been used to autocratic rule, the Republic had only been
eective as a transitional phase to end Manchu rule, and
China's political situation demanded the stability that only
a monarchy could ensure. The American political scientist Frank Johnson Goodnow suggested a similar idea.
Negotiators representing Japan had also oered to support Yuan's ambitions as one of the rewards for Yuan's
support of the Twenty-One Demands.* [19]
Faced with widespread opposition, the Hongxian EmOn 20 November 1915, Yuan held a specially convened peror repeatedly delayed the accession rites in order to
Representative Assemblywhich voted unanimously to appease his foes, but his prestige was irreparably damoer Yuan the throne. On 12 December 1915, Yuanac- aged and province after province continued to voice disceptedthe invitation and proclaimed himself Emperor approval. On 25 December 1915, Yunnan's military govof the Chinese Empire (simplied Chinese: ernor, Cai E, rebelled, launching the National Protection
; traditional Chinese: ; pinyin: War. The governor of Guizhou followed in January 1916,
Zhnghu Dgu D Hungd) under the era name of and Guangxi declared independence in March. Funding
Hongxian (simplied Chinese: ; traditional Chinese: for the Hongxian Emperor's accession ceremony was cut
; pinyin: Hngxin; i.e. Constitutional Abundance). on 1 March, and Yuan formally abandoned the empire on
The new Empire of China was to formally begin on 1 Jan- 22 March after 83 days. This was not enough for his enuary 1916, when Yuan, now the Hongxian Emperor, in- emies, who called for his resignation as president. More
tended to conduct the accession rites. Soon after becom- provinces rebelled until Yuan died from uremia at 10 a.m.
ing emperor, the Hongxian Emperor placed an order with on 6 June 1916, at the age of fty-six.* [11]* [20]
the former imperial potters for a 40,000-piece porcelain
set costing 1.4 million yuan, a large jade seal, and two Yuan's remains were moved to his home province and
placed in a large mausoleum. In 1928, the tomb was
imperial robes costing 400,000 yuan each.* [2]* [11]
looted by Feng Yuxiang's Guominjun soldiers during the
Northern Expedition.
Yuan had a wife and nine concubines, who bore him 17
sons, but only three were of any importance. These were:
Prince Yuan Keding, Prince Yuan Kewen, and Prince
Yuan Keliang.

2 Evaluation and legacy

1.6.4

Public and international reactions to the

monarchy's revival

The Hongxian Emperor expected widespread domestic

and international support for his reign. However, he and
his supporters had badly miscalculated. Many of the emperor's closest supporters abandoned him, and the solidarity of the emperor's Beiyang clique of military protgs dissolved. There were open protests throughout
China denouncing the Hongxian Emperor. International
governments, including Japan, proved suddenly indierent or openly hostile to him, not giving him the recognition anticipated.* [20] Sun Yat-sen, who had ed to Tokyo
and set up a base there, actively organized eorts to overthrow the Hongxian Emperor. The emperor's sons publicly fought over the title ofCrown Prince, and his former loyal subordinates like Duan Qirui and Xu Shichang
left him to create their own factions.

The villa of Yuan in Tianjin

Historians in China have considered Yuan's rule mostly

negatively. He introduced far-ranging modernizations in
law and social areas, and trained and organized one of
China's rst modern armies. But the loyalty Yuan had

7
fostered in the armed forces dissolved after his death,
undermining the authority of the central government.
Yuan nanced his regime through large foreign loans,
and is criticized for weakening Chinese morale and international prestige, and for allowing the Japanese to gain
broad concessions over China.* [21]
Jonathan Spence, however, notes in his inuential survey
that Yuan was ambitious, both for his country and for
himself,and thateven as he subverted the constitution,
paradoxically he sought to build on late-Qing attempts
at reforms and to develop institutions that would bring
strong and stable government to China.To gain foreign
condence and end the hated system of extraterritoriality,
Yuan strengthened the court system and invited foreign
advisers to reform the penal system.* [22]

3 Pseudonyms
Like many Chinese men before 1949, Yuan used and was
referred to by many dierent names. His courtesy name
wasWeiting(Wade-Giles spelling: Wei-ting; Chinese:
; pinyin: Witng; WadeGiles: Wei4 -t'ing2 ), and he
used the pseudonym Rong'an(Wade-Giles spelling:
Jung-an; Chinese: ; pinyin: Rng'n; WadeGiles:
Jung2 -an1 ). He was sometimes referred to by the name
of his birthplace, Xiangcheng(simplied Chinese:
; traditional Chinese: ; pinyin: Xingchng;
WadeGiles: Hsiang4 -ch'eng2 ), or by a title for tutors of
the crown prince, Kung-pao(simplied Chinese:
; traditional Chinese: ; pinyin: Gngbo; Wade
Giles: Kung1 -pao3 ).

After Yuan's death, there was an eort by Li Yuanhong

to revive the Republic by recalling the legislators who
had been ejected in 1913, but this eort was confused 4 Family
and ineective in asserting central control. Li lacked any
support from the military. There was a short-lived ef- Paternal grandfather
fort in 1917 to revive the Qing dynasty led by the loyalist
general Zhang Xun, but his forces were defeated by ri Yuan Shusan ()
val warlords later that year. After the collapse of Zhang's
movement, all pretense of strength from the central govFather
ernment collapsed, and China descended into a period of
warlordism. Over the next several decades, the oces
Yuan Baozhong ( ) (18231874), courtesy
of both the president and Parliament became the tools of
name Shouchen ()
militarists, and the politicians in Peking became dependent on regional governors for their support and political
survival.* [23]
Uncle
After Yuan's death, China was left without any gener Yuan Baoqing ( ) (18251873), courtesy
ally recognized central authority, and the nation's army
name Duchen (), pseudonym Yanzhi (),
quickly fragmented into forces of competing warlords.
Yuan Baozhong's younger brother
For this reason he is sometimes called the Father of
the Warlords. However, it is not accurate to attribute
China's subsequent age of warlordism as a personal pref- Wife
erence, since in his career as a military reformer he had
attempted to forge a modern army based on the Japanese
Yu Yishang (), daughter of Yu Ao (), a
model. Throughout his lifetime, he demonstrated an unwealthy man from Shenqiu County, Henan; married
derstanding of stang, military education, and regular
Yuan Shikai in 1876; mother of Yuan Keding
transfers of ocer personnel, combining these skills to
create China's rst modern military organisation. After
his return to power in 1911, however, he seemed willing Concubines
to sacrice his legacy of military reform for imperial ambitions, and instead ruled by a combination of violence
Lady Shen ( ), previously a courtesan from
and bribery that destroyed the idealism of the early ReSuzhou
publican movement.
Lady Lee (), of Korean origin; mother of Yuan
In the CCTV Production Towards the Republic, Yuan is
Bozhen, Yuan Kequan, Yuan Keqi, Yuan Kejian,
portrayed through most of his early years as an able adand Yuan Kedu
ministrator, although a very skilled manipulator of political situations. His self-proclamation as Emperor is largely
Lady Kim ( ), of Korean origin; mother of
depicted as being inuenced by external forces, especially
Yuan Kewen, Yuan Keliang, Yuan Shuzhen, Yuan
that of his son, prince Yuan Keding.
Huanzhen, and Yuan Sizhen
A bixi (stone tortoise) with a stele in honor of Yuan
Shikai, which was installed in Anyang's Huanyuan Park
soon after his death, was (partly) restored in 1993.* [24]

Lady O (), of Korean origin; mother of Yuan

Keduan, Yuan Zhongzhen, Yuan Cizhen, and Yuan
Fuzhen

6
Lady Yang (), mother of Yuan Kehuan, Yuan
Kezhen, Yuan Kejiu, Yuan Ke'an, Yuan Jizhen, and
Yuan Lingzhen
Lady Ye (), previously a prostitute in Nanjing;
mother of Yuan Kejie, Yuan Keyou, Yuan Fuzhen,
Yuan Qizhen, and Yuan Ruizhen
Lady Zhang (), originally from Henan

REFERENCES

14. Yuan Kejie (), married Lady Wang ()

15. Yuan Kehe (), married a daughter of Zhang
Diaochen ()
16. Yuan Kefan (), died young
17. Yuan Keyou (), married a daughter of Yu
Yunpeng ()

Lady Guo ( ), originally a prostitute from 15 daughters

Suzhou; mother of Yuan Kexiang, Yuan Kehe, and
Yuan Huzhen
See also: List of people with the most children
Lady Liu (), originally a maid to Yuan Shikai's
fth concubine Lady Yang; mother of Yuan Kefan
Famous grandsons and great-grandsons
and Yuan Yizhen
17 sons
1. Yuan Keding ( ) (18781958), courtesy
name Yuntai ()
2. Yuan Kewen () (18891931), courtesy name
Baocen ()
3. Yuan Keliang ( ), married a daughter of
Zhang Baixi

Yuan's grandson, Luke Chia-Liu Yuan (19122003)

was a Chinese-American physicist.
Yuan's great-grandson, Li-Young Lee (1957), is an
Indonesian-born Chinese-American writer and poet.

5 See also
Beiyang Army

4. Yuan Keduan (), married He Shenji (

, daughter of He Zhongjing ())

History of the Republic of China

5. Yuan Kequan ( ) (18981941), courtesy

name Gui'an ( ), pseudonym Baina ( ),
married a daughter of Toteke Duanfang (
)

Sino-German cooperation until 1941

6. Yuan Kehuan (), married Chen Zheng (

, daughter of Chen Qitai ())

Military of the Republic of China

6 References
6.1 Citations

7. Yuan Keqi ( ), married a daughter of Sun

Baoqi

[1] Bonavia 34

8. Yuan Kezhen (), married Zhou Ruizhu (

, daughter of Zhou Fu ())

[2] Spence, Jonathan D. (1999) The Search for Modern

China, W.W. Norton and Company. p. 274. ISBN 0393-97351-4.

9. Yuan Kejiu (), married Li Shaofang (

, 29 December 1906 15 April 1945, second
daughter of Li Yuanhong) in 1934
10. Yuan Kejian (), married a daughter of Lu
Jianzhang ()
11. Yuan Ke'an (), married Li Baohui ()
(daughter of Li Shiming ())
12. Yuan Kedu ( ), married a daughter of the
wealthy Luo Yunzhang ()
13. Yuan Kexiang ( ), married rstly Zhang
Shoufang ( , granddaughter of Na Tong
()), married secondly Chen Sixing (,
daughter of Chen Bingkun)

[3] . (in Chinese). (163.com).

6 June 2008. Retrieved 2 May 2011.
[4] Busky, Donald F. (2002) Communism in History and Theory, Praeger/Greenwood. ISBN 0-275-97733-1.
[5] Zhitian Luo (30 January 2015). Inheritance within Rupture: Culture and Scholarship in Early Twentieth Century
China. BRILL. pp. 19. ISBN 978-90-04-28766-2.
[6] Edgerton, Warriors of the Rising Sun: A History of the
Japanese Military, page 94
[7] Chn, Jerome Yuan Shih-kai, page 76-77
[8] Bonavia 35
[9] Tanner, Harold Miles. China: A History. Hackett Publishing (2009) ISBN 0872209156 Pages 408410.

[10] Story, Douglas (1907). To-morrow in the East. G. Bell &

Sons. pp. 224226. Retrieved 1 April 2013.
[11] Zhengyuan Fu. (1994) Autocratic Tradition and Chinese
Politics, Cambridge University Press. pp. 153154. ISBN
0-521-44228-1.
[12] Spence, Jonathan D. (2001) The Search for Modern
China, W. W. Norton & Company. pp. 277278. ISBN
0-393-30780-8.
[13] Spence, Jonathan D. (1999) The Search for Modern
China, W.W. Norton and Company. pp. 275277. ISBN
0-393-97351-4.
[14] Spence, Jonathan D. (1999) The Search for Modern
China, W.W. Norton and Company. p. 277. ISBN 0393-97351-4.

Spence, Jonathan D. (1999). The New Republic

. The Search for Modern China. New York: W.W.
Norton & Company. p. 282.

7 Further reading
Young, Ernest P. (1977). The Presidency of Yuan
Shih-K'ai: Liberalism and Dictatorship in Early Republican China. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan
Press. ISBN 0472089951.
MacKinnon, Stephen R. (1992). Power and Politics
in Late Imperial China: Yuan Shikai in Beijing and
Tianjin, 1901-08. University of California Press.
ISBN 0520040252.

[15] Bonavia 36
[16] Spence, Jonathan D. (1999) The Search for Modern
China, W.W. Norton and Company. p. 279. ISBN 0393-97351-4.
[17]

Meyerhofer, Adi (2013). . Yuan Shi-kai

Dollar: 'Fat Man Dollar' Forgeries and Remints
(PDF). Munich.

8 External links
Early support for Yuan among overseas Chinese

[18] Spence, Jonathan D. (1999) The Search for Modern

China, W.W. Norton and Company. p. 281. ISBN 0393-97351-4.

The Fight for the Republic in China by Bertram

Lenox Simpson at Project Gutenberg This etext rst
published in 1917 contains a detailed account of
Yuan Shikai, his rise and fall.

[19] Barnouin, Barbara and Yu Changgen. Zhou Enlai: A

Political Life. Hong Kong: Chinese University of Hong
Kong, 2006. p. 14 retrieved 12 March 2011.

Map of Yuan's mausoleum.

[20] Spence, Jonathan D. (1999) The Search for Modern

China, W.W. Norton and Company. p. 282. ISBN 0393-97351-4.
[21] Bonavia 40
[22] Spence, Jonathan D. (1999) The Search for Modern
China, W.W. Norton and Company. pp. 269-270. ISBN
0-393-97351-4.
[23] Spence, Jonathan D. (1999) The Search for Modern
China, W.W. Norton and Company. pp. 282283. ISBN
0-393-97351-4.
[24] (The tortoise with a broken mouth in
Huanyuan Park) (Chinese)

6.2

Sources

Barnouin, Barbara and Yu Changgen. Zhou Enlai:

A Political Life. Hong Kong: Chinese University of
Hong Kong, 2006. p. 14 retrieved 12 March 2011.
Bonavia, David. China's Warlords. New York: Oxford University Press. 1995. ISBN 0-19-586179-5
Ch'en, Jerome (1961). Yuan Shih-K'ai, 1859-1916:
Brutus Assumes the Purple. London: George Allen
& Unwin; Reprinted: Stanford University Press,
1971.

10

9 TEXT AND IMAGE SOURCES, CONTRIBUTORS, AND LICENSES

Text and image sources, contributors, and licenses

9.1

Text

Yuan Shikai Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yuan_Shikai?oldid=735179916 Contributors: Paul Drye, Eclecticology, Christian

List, Roadrunner, Ktsquare, Olivier, Leandrod, Hfastedge, Michael Hardy, Voidvector, Menchi, Stevenj, Vzbs34, Jiang, Kaihsu, Johan
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9.2

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