Zhang Xun

He was born on September 16, 1854.[3]

Zhang served as a military escort for Empress Dowager Cixi during the Boxer Uprising. He later served as a subordinate of General Yuan Shikai in the Beiyang Army. He fought for the Qing at Nanjing in 1911, and then after the fall of the Qing, he remained loyal to Yuan Shikai. Despite serving as a general in the new Republic, he refused to cut his queue, as a symbol of his loyalty to the Qing. He was called the "Queue General". He seized Nanjing from the KMT in 1913, defeating the Second Revolution. Despite allowing his troops to savagely loot the city, Zhang was named a field marshal by Yuan.[3]

Zhang Xun as seen after his failed restoration

Between 1 July 1917 and 12 July 1917, Zhang Xun proclaimed himself Prime Minister of the Imperial Cabinet by entering Beijing to reinstate the deposed Puyi as Emperor of the Qing dynasty. However, Zhang Xun's proclamation in July 1917 was never recognized by the Government of the Chinese Republic, most of the Chinese people, or any foreign countries. Other generals loyal to the Republic subsequently thwarted Zhang and forced Puyi to abdicate again. Zhang then took refuge in the Dutch legation and never participated in politics again.[3]

He died on September 11, 1923.[3]

• Billingsley, Phil (1988). Bandits in Republican China. Stanford, California: Stanford University Press. ISBN 9780804714068.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
• Chi, Madeleine (1970). China Diplomacy, 1914-1918. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press. ISBN 9780674118256.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)