From 1898, when the first batch of cadets who stayed in Japan went to Japan until 1937, there were 22 batches of More than 1,600 Chinese students in japanese military schools. The influence of non-commissioned officers and cadets in Japan on modern Chinese history is as the famous scholar Fei Zhengqing said in the Cambridge History of The Late Qing Dynasty of China: "In the first decade of the twentieth century, the activities of Chinese students studying in Japan were probably the world's largest student emigration movement so far, which produced the first generation of Chinese leaders during the Republic of China period." In terms of scale, depth and impact, Chinese students studying in Japan far exceed Chinese students studying in other countries.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="4" >01 The rise of studying in Japan</h1>
The Sino-Japanese War was a turning point in China's military education; not only was the Beiyang Marine Division completely destroyed, but even the overwhelmingly superior army suffered heavy losses, causing shock to the government and the opposition, the whole country to be in an uproar, the arrogant Chinese to think that it was a shame to be defeated by the Western powers, and now it is even more humiliating to be defeated by a small country with an eastern neighbor and a cultural vassal. The Qing government also realized that Japan was "dedicated to Western law to win", and the Guangxu Emperor sighed: "There is a generation of military systems, and there is a military system of a time, and there is no mud ancient medicine to cure new diseases. From then on, the Qing government began to focus on military reform and began to train the new army.
The basis of military modernization is the modernization of military technology, and a large number of military personnel are needed to realize modernization. After noon, on the one hand, the Qing government set up various types of military schools in China to cultivate talents; on the other hand, it sent a large number of overseas students abroad to study advanced military science and technology abroad.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="43" >02 Invitation from the Japanese government</h1>
In the face of the complicated international situation in East Asia after the Sino-Japanese War, the Japanese Government and the Ministry of War also hope to enhance mutual trust and ease the hostile relations since the Sino-Japanese War by cultivating army students selected by the Qing government, and seek to consolidate and expand their rights and interests in China. Therefore, in May 1898, the Japanese government proposed to the Qing government that it was willing to accept Chinese military students studying in Japan and provide relevant educational expenses.
The earliest Chinese dispatch of non-commissioned officers to Japan was in 1898 when Zhejiang sent Wu Xiyong, Chen Qicai, Shu Houde, and Xu Baoying to Japan to study military affairs. Later, Huguang successively dispatched 24 people, including Duan Lanfang, Xu Fangqian, and Xiao Xingyuan. Subsequently, other provinces followed suit and sent students to Japan to study military affairs. By 1907, there were 143 Chinese students studying in the sixth phase of the Japanese Army Non-Commissioned Officer School, and no less than 1,000 Chinese students went to Japan to study the Army the following year. Most of the Chinese students studying abroad return to China after graduating from the non-commissioned officer school, the highest level is the Japanese Army University, the Japanese government is afraid of Chinese master advanced military knowledge, so the Army University is extremely restrictive to Chinese students studying abroad, Very few Chinese students studying in Japan are admitted to the Japanese Army University, and Yang Yixu, who responded to the Wuchang Uprising in Xinjiang during the Xinhai Revolution, was fortunate enough to be admitted to the Army University, and after returning to China, he was even more highly valued.
The Japanese Admiralty was wary and reluctant to accept Chinese students, and it was not until 1905 that it reluctantly agreed to accept a small number of Chinese students. In the same year, the Qing government sent five graduates, including Feng Xiechen, Wang Xiaomu, Li Chengzeng, Hu Sihao, and Xue Junqian, to Japan to learn the new furnace manufacturing technology, which became the beginning of modern Chinese naval students staying in Japan. Because the Japanese Navy often discriminates against Chinese students on training issues, making it impossible to learn practical knowledge and technology, many naval students are reluctant to study in Japan, or automatically withdraw from school after entering the school. Therefore, in the summer of 1909, the Qing government took the initiative to suspend the dispatch of naval students to Japan. From 1906 to the summer of 1909, the Qing government successively selected and dispatched more than 100 naval students to Japan.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="44" >03 The Qing government was not allowed to study the military at its own expense</h1>
At that time, there was a wave of study in Japan, and by the beginning of the 20th century, in addition to official derivatives, there were many self-funded students who went to Japan to study military affairs.
The Qing government was worried that studying military affairs at its own expense would endanger its rule, so it stipulated that "non-official students are not allowed to escort them", but the "military fever" of students studying in Japan soon hit this restriction. In July 1902, because Cai Jun, the minister in Japan, refused to escort 9 self-funded international students to the Chengcheng School, which led to the siege of the legation in Japan by Chinese students studying in Japan.
After the Chengcheng School Incident, the Japanese Military Department did not want to offend the Qing government before the Russo-Japanese war, but reached an agreement with the Qing government to establish a special preparatory educational institution for Qing military students, the Zhenwu School.
In July 1903, the Japanese Military Department opened the Zhenwu School in The town of Niudahexi in Tokyo, transferring all the students of the Chengcheng School to the school, stipulating that all applicants who applied for the Zhenwu School must be over the age of 16, have the appropriate academic qualifications, pass the Qing government's assignment, and after passing the examination, they can only be allowed to study. Accordingly, in May 1904, the Qing government formulated the "Regulations for Selecting and Dispatching Army Students to Study in Separate Classes", which stipulates that students studying military must first be sent to the military training office by the governors of each province, and after passing the examination of the training office, they can only be dispatched, cutting off the way for self-funded students to study military from the country.
However, there were policies at the top and countermeasures at the bottom, and Dr. Masayoshi Terauchi, the Minister of War, and Dr. Terao Heng, who was secretly encouraged and supported by some officers, founded the Dongbin Academy, which specially accommodated chinese young people who had been rejected by the Zhenwu School and had revolutionary ideas to study the military, from which they cultivated anti-Qing revolutionary volunteers and pro-Japanese military talents, and also solved the problem of self-funded students attending military academies. (Xia Shi, commander-in-chief of the Northern Expeditionary Army in Sichuan, xiong Kewu, vice chairman of the Kuomintang Revolutionary Committee, graduated from this school)
Most of the Chinese military students who studied in Japan in the early days entered the Army Non-Commissioned Officer School, and then entered the specialized military school for further study after graduation. Later, with the development of military technology, in addition to entering the Army Non-Commissioned Officer School, Chinese students could also choose professional military schools such as the Army Military Police School, the Manager School, and the Surveying School to receive special military technology education. There were 1,78 Chinese students studying in the above-mentioned schools, most of whom dropped out of school due to the outbreak of the Xinhai Revolution.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="45" >04 The mainstay of the Xinhai Revolution</h1>
Within 2 or 3 years of the establishment of the League, about one-third of the more than 300 people studying at the Japanese Army Non-Commissioned Officer School joined the League and became the core force of the Xinhai Revolution led by Sun Yat-sen.
After returning to China, these non-commissioned officers who joined the revolutionary party actively spread revolutionary democratic ideas, causing a large number of students and soldiers to throw themselves into the revolutionary camp, and turning the military schools and the new army of the Qing Dynasty into revolutionary bastions.
The Xinhai Revolution was a revolution of armed struggle, and the military knowledge in the minds of non-commissioned officers and the armed forces in their hands were of the utmost importance; some of them strategized and planned uprisings, such as Li Gengen and Xu Chongzhi; some of them charged into battle and participated in the uprising, such as Cai Yi and Zhang Fengyi; and some of them were promoted as leaders because of their prestige, such as Yan Xishan and Li Liejun; the unveiling of non-commissioned officers and students made the revolutionary tide even more turbulent, even in the "directly subordinate areas" of the Qing court, and Zhang Shao had prepared for the uprising in Luanzhou. Wu Luzhen intercepted the arms in Shijiazhuang and prepared to "advise the soldiers" and directly attacked the Yellow Dragon. Among the 14 provinces that were first independent in the Xinhai Revolution, 7 provinces were served by non-commissioned officers, namely Zhang Fengxiang, the governor of Shaanxi, Yan Xishan, the governor of Shanxi, Cai Yi, the governor of Yunnan, Li Liejun, the governor of Jiangxi, Tang Jiyao, the governor of Guizhou, and Yin Changheng, the governor of Sichuan.
Xu Chongzhi
Lee Roots
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="46" >05 Vanguard of republicanism and opposition to imperialism</h1>
In 1913, Sun Yat-sen confronted Yuan and launched the "Second Revolution". Li Liejun, commander-in-chief of the Yuan Army in Jiangxi, led Ouyang Wu, commander of the Alumnus Division, and Fang Shengtao, commander of the Mixed Brigade, to raise troops first; then, He Chengrui, chief of staff of the Jiangsu Yuan Army, led the alumni, Chen Zhiji, commander of the Eighth Division, and Wang Xiaojian, commander of the Brigade, were moved by the wind; at the same time, Niu Yongjian, commander of the Song (Shanghai) Army, Xu Chongzhi, commander of the Min Army, and Zhao Hengti, brigade commander of the Xiang Army, responded with troops.
Li Liejun
In 1915, when the "Hongxian Imperial System" was in full swing and the Republic of China was in danger, a group of generals, mainly non-commissioned officers and students, rose up to establish a national army. Cai Yi, commander of the First Army, Luo Peijin, chief of staff of alumnus under his command, Zhao Youxin, commander of the Second Echelon Regiment, and Gu Pinzhen, commander of the Third Echelon Regiment, marched to Sichuan. Li Liejun, commander of the Second Army, Zhang Kairu, commander of the First Echelon Regiment, and Fang Shengtao, commander of the Second Echelon Regiment, advanced to Liangguang. Tang Jiyao, commander of the Third Echelon, and his alumni, Han Fenglou, commander of the Second Echelon Regiment, Liu Shengwu, commander of the Third Echelon, Yu Enzhong, commander of the Fourth Echelon, and Ye Quan, commander of the Fifth Echelon, and other townsmen guarded Yungui. Non-commissioned officers raised flags in response, Li Gen plotted a rebellion in Guangxi, Niu Yongjian raised troops in Shanghai, Liu Cunhou raised banners in Sichuan, and finally, Yuan Shikai's dream of being emperor was finally shattered.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="47" >06 Explorer of social progress</h1>
In 1920, Zhao Hengti supported Hunan in starting the country's earliest "provincial-level constitution-making"; in October of the same year, Liu Cunhou and others issued a joint telegram of "Sichuan people governing Sichuan"; almost at the same time, Jiang Zuobin, Kong Geng, and He Chengrong respectively served as the temporary director, chief of government affairs, and commander-in-chief of the autonomous army in Hubei Autonomous Government; in 1924, Jiang Zungui organized the "Zhejiang Autonomous Committee"; in between, Tang Jiyao of Yunnan, Gu Pinzhen also expressed sympathy for the autonomy of the united provinces. Although the motivations of non-commissioned officers are complex and changeable, their actions have contributed to the "autonomy of the provinces", making them once "the voice of the wind, the whole country follows it", attracting more people to care about democracy and explore the truth.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="48" >07 Students studying in Japan became the main military force of the Republic of China</h1>
In the sequence of the National Revolutionary Army, the figure of non-commissioned officers can also be seen. For example, He Yingqin and Xu Chongzhi, commanders of the First Army, Wang Bailing, commander of the First Division, and Qian Dajun, commander of the Twentieth Division; Zhang Huizhan, commander of the Fourth Division of the Second Army; Cheng Qian, commander of the Sixth Army, and Tang Mang, chief of staff; Chen Yi, commander of the Nineteenth Army; He Yaozu and Gu Zhenglun, commanders of the Fortieth Army; Yan Xishan, commander of the Third Army; Guo Zongfen, zhu Guangshou, chief of staff, and so on
Among the outstanding students who studied in Japan, who later became military educators and military theorists in modern China, were Wu Luzhen, Lan Tianwei, Cai Handcuff, Jiang Fangzhen, Jiang Zuobin, Fang Shengtao, Li Gengen, Cheng Qian, and Li Liejun.
Noncommissioned officers who stayed in Japan also translated and wrote a large number of military theory books, which enriched China's modern military thinking. In terms of micro-practice, he translated "Key Points of Infantry Training", "Ordnance Science", "Army Rules and Regulations", etc., and wrote works such as "The Evolution of the Formation and Training of the New Army in the Late Qing Dynasty". His works on macro-military strategy include Jiang Baili's "Theory of War," Cai Yi's "Theory of Zeng Hu Zhibing," Yang Jie's "Sun Tzu's Shallow Theory," "A New Theory of National Defense," and "National Defense and Military Affairs." Therefore, it is said that "before and after the Republic of China, most of the military figures in our country graduated from the Japanese Army Non-Commissioned Officer School."
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="49" >08 Qing Dynasty royalist officials and traitors among students studying in Japan</h1>
Due to different personal experiences, students studying in Japan take different paths. For example, among the non-commissioned officer graduates, Tie Liang (Phase I), Liang Bi (Phase II), and Lu Guangxi (Phase VII) all stubbornly defended the existence of the Qing Dynasty; military education in Japan also cultivated a number of pro-Japanese elements who did not lend out the interests of the state and the nation, and even became traitors and became national scum. Among them, such as Yang Yuting, chief of staff of the Fengjun Army, who colluded with Japan in 1929 to obstruct the northeast Yizhi; Wang Yitang, chairman of the advisory meeting of the puppet North China Political Affairs Committee, who formed or participated in the puppet regime during the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression; Xi Qia, minister of finance of puppet Manchuria; Xing Shilian, minister of the puppet Manchu Military and Political Department; and Zang Shiyi, governor of the puppet Manchu Fengtian Province; Zhang Lanfeng, He Peilu, Wang Yongquan, Yang Zhuyi, Xiao Shuxuan, Huang Ziqiang, Yang Zhonghua (all of whom were cadets of army non-commissioned officers), Ling Xiao, and Li Huiji (all naval students) who became military generals of the Wang puppet regime.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="50" >09 Military education in Japan promoted the breeding of warlords in modern China</h1>
In modern China, warlords have sprung up and wars have raged. Some of the graduates of the non-commissioned officer school had inflated their selfish desires, shouted for warlords and domestic melee, and fought with alumni in the same room, and they participated in almost all the melee between 1916 and 1927. Educator Shu Xincheng commented in the "History of Studying Abroad in Modern China": "Warlords are so rampant, and army students staying in Japan should bear great responsibility."
In the north, Yan Xishan, who was scheming and calculating, took Shanxi as his forbidden seat and became the "King of Shanxi" for nearly half a century; Xu Shuzheng, who was ambitious, took advantage of the opportunity of the First World War to train and participate in the war army, served as a "border envoy," and once became a well-known "King of the Northwest." In the southeast, Qi Xieyuan controlled southern Jiangsu in an attempt to dominate Jiangsu; Zhao Hengti called bing sanxiang in a vain attempt to become the "king of Hunan"; Sun Chuanfang, a "rising star" among the warlords, successively occupied Fujian, Zhejiang, and other places, posing as the "king of Fujian" and "king of Zhejiang", and later in the name of the commander of the five provinces of Zhejiang, Fujian, Suzhou, Anhui, and Gansu, he began to dream of being the "king of southeast". In the southwest, Liu Cunhou, Luo Peijin, and others, who had been members of the League, fought fiercely in the kingdom of Tianfu and successively divided Sichuan; Tang Jiyao, who was once known as the "hero of defending the country", even occupied Yunnan, controlled Guizhou, and entered Sichuan, fantasizing about becoming the "king of the southwest".
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="51" > conclusion</h1>
The experience of graduates of Japanese non-commissioned officer schools shows that in the early 20th century, Chinese students have gradually shaken off the early marginalization, begun to hold heavy power, and entered the mainstream society "in the storm". Their behavior proves that the "social role" of international students is more complex, not only can they charge forward and contribute to social progress, but they may also become tools of the old forces and hinder the pace of historical progress. By reproducing history, it also leaves a thought-provoking historical enlightenment for the contemporary wave of studying abroad.
Resources
1. "Modern Chinese Historical Materials Series",
2. Huang Fuqing, "Students Studying in Japan at the End of the Qing Dynasty", Institute of Modern History, Academia Sinica.
3. Jiang Xin, "A Brief Discussion on the Graduates of Japanese Non-Commissioned Officer Schools in the Early Years of the Republic of China", Archives of the Republic of China, 2007.3