Zhang Zuolin

A Chinese warlord. His courtesy name was Yuting. He was from Haicheng County, Fengtian Province (now Liaoning Province). He started out as a bandit and worked secretly as a separate force for the Japanese army during the Russo-Japanese War. He later surrendered to the Qing Dynasty. During the Xinhai Revolution, he entered Fengtian (now Shenyang) and served as a guard. In 1916, he followed Fengtian General Duan Zhigui to become a military commander. In 1918, he became an inspector for the three eastern provinces, and later took control of Heilongjiang and Jilin provinces, forming the Fengtian warlords that ruled over the entire three eastern provinces. In 1920, he intervened in the conflict between the Anhui and Zhili factions and entered the political world of Beijing. After his great victory in the Second Feng-Zhi War in 1924, his power expanded greatly, and his territory extended through North and East China, all the way to Jiangsu. Later, due to the rebellion of warlords Sun Chuanfang and Feng Yuxiang, and the rebellion of his subordinate Guo Songling, he temporarily returned to the Northeast. In 1926, he allied with Wu Peifu and pursued Feng Yuxiang, calling himself Commander-in-Chief of the National Army. In April 1927, he raided the Soviet Embassy in Beijing, killing Chinese Communist Party members there, including Li Dazhao. In June of the same year, he called himself Grand Marshal of the Army and Navy, and took control of the Beijing government. In 1928, as the Kuomintang's Northern Expeditionary Army advanced, he was forced to retreat to the northeast, and in June he died when the train he was riding in was blown up by the Japanese Kwantung Army near Huanggutun, on the outskirts of Fengtian.

Zhang Zuolin grew as a warlord with the backing of Japan, and Japan also tried to use him to advance into the Northeast. In that sense, the two parties were mutually beneficial. However, when Zhang grew beyond the borders of the Northeast to become a national warlord, he established ties with the United States and other countries, and no longer necessarily followed Japan's orders, which was probably the main reason he was killed.

[Kurahashi Masanao]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

中国の軍閥。字(あざな)は雨亭。奉天(ほうてん)省（現、遼寧(りょうねい)省）海城県の人。馬賊から身をおこし、日露戦争では日本軍の別働隊として暗躍。のち清(しん)朝に帰順。辛亥(しんがい)革命のとき、奉天（現瀋陽(しんよう)）市内に入り警備にあたる。1916年、奉天将軍の段芝貴(だんしき)を追って督軍になる。1918年、東三省巡閲使、その後、黒竜江、吉林(きつりん)両省を支配下に収めて、東三省全体に君臨する奉天軍閥を形成した。1920年安徽(あんき)派・直隷(ちょくれい)派の争いに介入し、北京(ペキン)政界に進出。1924年、第二次奉直戦争に大勝すると、彼の勢力は大幅に伸長し、その支配領域は華北、華東を経て遠く江蘇(こうそ)にまで及んだ。その後、軍閥孫伝芳(そんでんほう)、馮玉祥(ふうぎょくしょう)の反発、および部下の郭松齢(かくしょうれい)の反乱があり、一時、東北に戻った。1926年、呉佩孚(ごはいふ)と結んで馮玉祥を追い安国軍総司令と称した。1927年4月、北京のソビエト大使館を捜索、そこにいた李大釗(りたいしょう)らの中国共産党員を殺害した。同年6月、陸海軍大元帥を称し、北京政府を掌握した。1928年、国民党の北伐軍の進撃を受け、やむなく東北への撤退を決意し、6月、座乗列車が奉天郊外の皇姑屯(こうことん)付近で日本の関東軍により爆破され死んだ。

　張作霖は日本の後援を受けて軍閥として成長し、日本もまた彼を利用して東北に進出しようとした。その点で両者は互いに利用しあう関係にあった。しかし、彼が東北の枠を越えて全国的な規模の軍閥に成長すると、アメリカなどとのつながりが生まれ、かならずしも日本のいうことに従わなくなったのが、殺されたおもな理由であろう。

［倉橋正直］

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