Editing Song Zheyuan

{{Short description|20th-century Chinese army officer}}
{{Infobox military person
| name          = Song Zheyuan <br> {{nobold|宋哲元}}
| birth_date    = October 30, 1885
| death_date    = {{Death date and age|1940|4|5|1885|10|30}}
| birth_place   = [[Leling]], [[Shandong]], [[Qing dynasty]]
| death_place   = [[Mianyang]], [[Sichuan]], [[Republic of China (1912–1949)|Republic of China]]
| image         = Song Zheyuan.jpg
| caption       = General Song Zheyuan
| nickname      = 
| allegiance    = {{flag|Qing Dynasty}} <br> {{CHN-ROC}}
| serviceyears  = 1907–1940
| rank          = General
| commands      = 29th Route Army
| unit          = [[Guominjun]]
| battles       = {{tree list}}
* [[Xinhai Revolution]]
* [[Northern Expedition]]
* [[Central Plains War]]
* [[Chinese Civil War]]
* [[Defense of the Great Wall]]
* [[Second Sino-Japanese War]]
** [[Marco Polo Bridge Incident]]
** [[Battle of Beiping–Tianjin]]
{{tree list/end}}
| awards        = [[Order of Blue Sky and White Sun]]
| laterwork     = military advisor
}}
{{family name hatnote|[[Song (Chinese name)|Song]]|lang=Chinese}}
'''Song Zheyuan''' ({{zh|c=宋哲元|p=Sòng Zhéyuán}}; October 30, 1885 – April 5, 1940) was a Chinese general during the [[Chinese Civil War]] and [[Second Sino-Japanese War]] (1937–1945).

==Biography==
===Early life and education===
Born in the village of Zhaohong, northwest of the seat of [[Laoling County]], [[Shandong]], he was educated under his uncle from his mother's side, a teacher of a traditional [[Confucian]] private school in Yanshan County. At the age of 20 (1904) he began studying in the military institute founded by [[Lu Jianzhang]] at Beijing and had since become Lu's favorite. In 1912 the troops of Lu and [[Feng Yuxiang]], now subordinates of [[Yuan Shikai]], were regrouped and Feng had then been Song's superior.

===Military career===
In 1917, a year after being appointed the head of 1st [[battalion]] of Feng's 2nd [[regiment]], his battalion spearheaded the removal of [[Zhang Xun (Qing loyalist)|Zhang Xun]] from his [[Manchu Restoration|imperial restoration]] in 1917. As part of the [[Guominjun]] he became Governor of [[Jehol Province]] in 1926. Following the defeat of the Guominjun in the [[Anti–Fengtian War]] Feng Yuxiang participated in the [[Northern Expedition (1926–1927)|Northern Expedition]], Sòng assumed the Chairmanship of [[Shaanxi]] province in November 1927 and in April of the same year the head of 4th division under the II [[Corps]] of the [[National Revolutionary Army]].

Switching sides to the [[Kuomintang]] after the abortive coup d'état in 1930 of Feng against [[Chiang Kai-shek]], his troops were designated as the 29th Army and garrisoned in southern [[Shanxi]] province where he was responsible for the frontiers of the [[Rehe (province)|Rehe]] and [[Chahar (province)|Chahar]] provinces against the Japanese in [[Manchukuo]].

==Chair of Chahar province==
Song was the chairman of Chahar province when Japan invaded the provinces in the end of year 1932. Though poorly equipped compared to the better armed Japanese, Song led the 29th army to resist the aggression in a war known as the [[Defense of the Great Wall]] (熱河長城之戰). Japanese troops then entered the suburbs of Beijing and [[Tianjin]] after the predictable victory. Song was relieved from his post but reinstalled as commander after the [[He–Umezu Agreement]].

==Later years==
In the [[Battle of Lugou Bridge]], his 29th Army bore the brunt of the Japanese [[Kwantung Army]]. His troops were halved after the defeat and chased by the Japanese along the [[Jinpu Railway]] into [[Shandong]] Province during the [[Beiping–Hankou Railway Operation]]. However [[Han Fuqu]], chairman of the province and suspected for his clandestine Japanese liaison, forbade Song to retreat across the [[Yellow River]], resulting in the 29th Army being shattered at [[Shijiazhuang]] in December 1937 and January 1938. Remaining forces suffered various losses against the [[Imperial Japanese Army]] and were delegated to guerrilla combat after retreating into the mountainous regions at the borders of [[Henan]] and [[Shanxi]] province in February 1938.

He soon suffered various illnesses and died at the age of 54 in [[Mianyang]] County, [[Sichuan]] province after several unsuccessful medical treatments in [[Guilin]], [[Chongqing]], and [[Chengdu]].

==See also==
*[[History of the Republic of China]]

==References==
{{no footnotes|date=May 2016}}
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20040901115103/http://www.pladaily.com.cn/item/jb/krzz/3.htm 张学良将军赠给宋哲元的抗日指挥刀]
*[http://military.china.com/zh_cn/history2/06/11027560/20050620/12415104.html 宋哲元与抗日雄狮二十九军]

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Song, Zheyuan}}
[[Category:1885 births]]
[[Category:1940 deaths]]
[[Category:National Revolutionary Army generals from Shandong]]
[[Category:People from Laoling]]
[[Category:Republic of China warlords from Shandong]]
[[Category:People of the Northern Expedition]]
[[Category:Chinese military personnel of World War II]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Order of Blue Sky and White Sun]]
[[Category:Politicians from Dezhou]]
[[Category:Guominjun generals]]
[[Category:Republic of China mayors of Beiping]]
[[Category:Republic of China chairmen of Shaanxi]]
[[Category:Republic of China chairmen of Hebei]]
[[Category:Republic of China chairmen of Chahar Province]]
[[Category:Military governors of Rehe Province]]
[[Category:Military governors of Suiyuan]]
[[Category:People of the Central Plains War]]