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Yang Sen
Yang Sen, c. 1920s
Native name	楊森
Born	(1884-02-20)20 February 1884 Guang'an, Sichuan, Qing dynasty
Died	15 May 1977(1977-05-15) (aged 93) Taipei, Taiwan
Allegiance	Qing Dynasty  Republic of China
Years of service	1904–1977
Rank	General
Unit	Beiyang Army National Revolutionary Army
Commands	Governor of Sichuan Province, Military-Governor of Sichuan Province, General Officer Commanding XX Corps, Commander in Chief 27th Army Grou, Deputy Commander in Chief 6th War Area, Deputy Commander in Chief 9th War Area, Chairman of the Government of Guizhou Province
Battles / wars	Xinhai Revolution North Expedition Central Plains War Second Sino-Japanese War Chinese Civil War
Awards	Order of Blue Sky and White Sun
Relations	Yang Hanxiu (楊漢秀, niece, 1913-1949) Yang Hanlie (楊漢烈, son, 1917-1987)
Other work	Politician

Yang Sen (Chinese: 楊森; pinyin: Yáng Sēn; 20 February 1884 – 15 May 1977) was a warlord and general of the Sichuan clique who had a long military career in China. Although he was a provincial warlord, he served Chiang Kai-shek and his Kuomintang (KMT) government, especially during the Second Sino-Japanese War. He also served as governor of Sichuan and Guizhou provinces. After the Communists defeated the KMT in the Chinese Civil War, he retreated with the KMT government to Taiwan.

He was also known as a Taoist master and had numerous wives, concubines and children. He published a book about the supercentenarian Li Ching-yuen, who supposedly lived 197 or 256 years.

Career

Yang was born into a scholarily landowner family. He graduated from the Sichuan Army Primary School in 1906 and the Sichuan Military Academy in 1910. He quickly rose through the military ranks, gaining control of Sichuan during the warlord era. Yang served as the governor of Sichuan from 1924 to 1925. During the 1926 Wanhsien Incident, his troops clashed with British patrol vessels on the Yangtze river. He joined the Kuomintang in 1926, choosing to side with Chiang Kai-shek's faction following the party split in 1927. He supressed the communists in Sichuan in 1935, and when the war with Japan began in 1937 he was the first Sichuan clique general to order his troops to the frontlines. From 1933 to 1938, he was general officer of the XX Corps, and from 1938 to 1944 Commander in Chief of the 27th Army Group. From 1939 to 1940 he was the Deputy Commander in Chief of the 6th War Area, and from 1940 to 1945 Deputy Commander in Chief 9th War Area. He served as he served as the chairman of the Guizhou government from 1945 to 1948, governor of Guizhou from 1945 to 1947, and as mayor of Chongqing from 1948 to 1949.

Following the Kuomintang evacuation to Taiwan, he served as an advisor in the Presidential office in Taipei. An avid sports person, he was the Republic of China's Olympic Committee Chairman and at the Olympic Games in Mexico carried the national flag of Taiwan, Republic of China in the opening ceremony. He was a well-known mountaineer and the chairman of the Taiwan Mountain Climbing Association and chairman of the Chinese National Athletic Foundation. Yang was known to have numerous wives and concubines. He claimed to have 43 children; 22 daughters and 21 sons, the first born in 1912 and the last in 1960, when he was 76. Yang Sen died in Taipei of lung cancer in 1977 at age 93.

Meeting Master Li Ching Yuen

General Yang knew the Taoist Master Li Ching-yuen personally and became his disciple, practicing his teaching until the end of his life.

In 1927 he invited him to his residence in Wanxian, Sichuan. After his master's death, General Yang wrote the report "A Factual Account of the 250 Year-Old Good-Luck Man.", where he described Li Ching Yuen's appearance: "He has good eyesight and a brisk stride; Li stands seven feet tall, has very long fingernails, and a ruddy complexion."

The Tai Chi Chuan Master T. T. Liang (Liang Tung Tsai) learned from General Yang the practice of the "Eight Brocade Qigong". His student Stuart Alve Olson wrote in 2002 the book "Qigong Teachings of a Taoist Immortal: The Eight Essential Exercises of Master Li Ching-Yun", taking General Yang's report as reference.

See also

• Order of battle of Battle of Wuhan
• Warlord Era

References

1. "Yang Sen. Chinese Nationalist Aide". The New York Times. 17 May 1977. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 23 January 2025.
2. "404-页面不存在". {{cite web}}: Cite uses generic title (help)

This article includes a list of general references, but it lacks sufficient corresponding inline citations. Please help to improve this article by introducing more precise citations. (May 2016) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

• Daniel Reid, "Tao of Health, Sex, and Longevity.", Fireside, New York, 1989, pp. 345–349. ISBN 0-671-64811-X
• Hsu Long-hsuen and Chang Ming-kai, "History of The Sino-Japanese War (1937–1945)." 2nd Ed., 1971. Translated by Wen Ha-hsiung, Chung Wu Publishing; 33, 140th Lane, Tung-hwa Street, Taipei, Taiwan Republic of China.
• OLSON, Stuart Alve. "Qigong Teachings of a Taoist Immortal: The Eight Essential Exercises of Master Li Ching-yun." Healing Arts Press, 2002. ISBN 0-89281-945-6
• Yang Sen. "A Factual Account of the 250 Year-Old Good-Luck Man." (一个250岁长寿老人的真实记载). Published by the Chinese and Foreign Literature Storehouse, Taipei, Taiwan.

v t e Warlord Era and warlordism during the Nanjing decade
1915–1924 1925–1934 Factions 1911–1914 Bai Lang Rebellion 1913 Second Revolution 1915 Twenty-One Demands 1915–1916 Empire of China (Yuan Shikai) National Protection War 1916 Death of Yuan Shikai 1917 Manchu Restoration 1917–1922 Constitutional Protection Movement 1917–1929 Golok rebellions 1918–1920 Siberian intervention 1919 Paris Peace Conference Shandong Problem May Fourth Movement 1919–1921 Occupation of Outer Mongolia 1920 Zhili–Anhui War 1920–1921 Guangdong–Guangxi War 1920–1926 Spirit Soldier rebellions 1921 1st National CPC Congress 1921–1922 Washington Naval Conference 1922 First Zhili–Fengtian War 1923–1927 First United Front 1923 Lincheng Outrage 1924 Second Zhili–Fengtian War Canton Merchants' Corps Uprising Beijing Coup 1925 Yunnan–Guangxi War May Thirtieth Movement 1925–1926 Anti-Fengtian War Canton–Hong Kong strike 1926 Zhongshan Warship Incident 1926–1928 Northern Expedition Nanjing–Wuhan Split Nationalist-Communist Civil War 1927 Nanking incident of 1927 1927 Shanghai Commune of 1927 1927 Shanghai massacre 1927 July 15 Incident 1927–1930 Muslim conflict in Gansu 1928 Jinan incident Huanggutun incident Looting of the Eastern Mausoleum Northeast Flag Replacement 1928–1929 Third Red Spears' uprising in Shandong 1929 Chiang-Gui War Warlord Rebellion in northeastern Shandong (incl. Beijing Revolt) Sino-Soviet conflict 1930 Central Plains War 1930–1932 Sino-Tibetan War / Qinghai–Tibet War 1931–1935 Kumul Rebellion / Soviet invasion of Xinjiang 1932 Han–Liu War 1932 Two-Liu war 1934 War in Ningxia Beiyang Anhui Zhili Fengtian (National Pacification Army) Zhili Army Shanxi Guominjun Ma Xinjiang Yunnan Sichuan Old Guangxi New Guangxi Guangdong Guizhou Kuomintang (KMT) Communist Party (CCP)
Republic of China (1912–1949)

• 1884 births
• 1977 deaths
• Deaths from lung cancer
• Deaths from lung cancer in Taiwan
• Republic of China warlords from Sichuan
• Governors of Sichuan
• Politicians from Guang'an
• Politicians of Taiwan
• Chinese Taoists
• 20th-century Chinese people
• 20th-century Taoists
• Chinese Civil War refugees
• Taiwanese people from Sichuan