Historical Studies (Chinese Edition)

No.3, 2014

 

The Political Survival of Local Power in the Early Nanking Government—Centering on He Jian

(Abstract)

                                                                                                 

Xiao Zili

 

From 1929-36, He Jian, Hunan's strong man, was placed in a delicate geo-political situation. As the historical situation evolved, his estrangement from and clashes with Chiang Kai-shek and the central government grew and deepened. He grew closer to the anti-Chiang camp in the southwest, with whom he shared regional interests. In the beginning, he "relied on the southwest to strengthen his position." Subsequently, he brought Hunan into a three-province anti-Chiang alliance with Guangdong and Guangxi. In the Guangdong-Guangxi Incident of 1936, coordinating his actions with the dispatch of troops from Guangdong and Guangxi, he actively prevented the central army from entering Hengyang. He’s political attitude and survival strategy were opportunistic, fluctuating and hard to pin down. It is hard to define him as either pro- or anti-Chiang, a fact that was determined mainly by the special geo-political situation of Hunan.