Who's Who in China (3rd edition)/Lu Jung-t'ing

General Lu Yung-ting

陸榮廷字幹卿

General Lu Yung-ting was born at Hu-ming Hsien, Kuangsi Province, in 1856. He was at one time a leader of outlaws but later reclaimed and took military service when Soo Yuan-chun was Commander-in-Chief of Kuangsi troops. In 1903 General Lu was commander of an expedition against the bandits in Kuangsi during which he distinguished himself as a good fighter. He was gradually promoted to Brigade General of Tso-chiang Chen; Commander of the Defence Forces and Patrols of Lungchow; and Provincial Commander of Kuangsi. In 1911 General Lu was appointed Governor of Kiangsi, but prior to his departure for that province the First Revolution broke out and he was elected Tutu of Kuangsi. In July 1912 General Lu was appointed Tutu of Kuangsi Province by the Central Government. In June 1914 he was made a Chiangchun with "Ning-Wu" as title, directing the Military Affairs of Kuangsi Province. General Lu Yung-ting was given the rank of full general, and was appointed to act concurrently as civil governor of Kuangsi. In December of the same year, General Lu was made a first class duke by the late President Yuan. But he joined hands with the Yunnan troops under the leadership of General Tsai Ao and assisted in defeating the imperial troops. In February, 1916, Kuangsi declared independence of the Central government, and the monarchists in Peking were greatly alarmed. In June 1916 the monarchical movement was abandoned with the death of its promoter and the Republic was restored. In July General Lu was transferred to Kuangtung as Tuchun and awarded by General Li Yuan-hung, who was then President of the Republic, the First order of Merit for the services he had rendered during the third revolution. In April, 1917, General Lu was appointed by the government Inspecting Commissioner of Kuangtung and Kuangsi, which appointment was considered a great honor. About the same time he took a trip to Peking to pay his respects to the president. During his visit to Peking he had an audience with his former master, ex-Emperor Hsunan Tung, to whom he was still loyal. Following the dissolution of the First Parliament which occurred in June 1917, the leaders of Kuangtung and Kuangsi declared self-government although General Lu, the Inspecting Commissioner of these provinces, did not approve of it. The following month saw the monarchical restoration by Chang Hsun. Being an old official of the Ching Dynasty, General Lu was appointed Viceroy of Kuangtung and Kuangsi. But owing to the short life of the restoration, he did not have time to make clear his attitude toward this app:ointment. Later, the southern provinces opposed to the dissolution of the Parliament refused to take instructions from Peking. General Lu joined the south in order to strengthen his position. In November 1917 the Peking government removed him from the post of Inspecting Commissioner of Kuangtang and Kuangsi, made him a Shan Chiang-chun (Marshal), and ordered him to proceed to Peking which he did not ovey. In May 1918 the Extraordinary Parliament at Canton elected Marshal Lu one of the seven Directors of the Military government, the other six being Tang Shao-i, Tang Chi-yao, Sun Yat-sen, Wu Ting-fang, Ling Pao-i and Tsen Chun-hsuan. At one time most of the Southern and the South-western provinces were in a revolt against Peking and in sympathy with Canton. In the summer of 1919 Sun Yat-sen and his associates were ousted from power by the Kuangsi faction under General Lu Yung-ting, and his nominee, Mo Jung-hsin, assumed control of Kuangtung. In the Autumn of 1920 Ch'en Chiung-ming, Sun Yat-sen's nominee, with the slogan 'Kuangtung for the Kuangtungese” attacked and after a brief struggle drove out the Kuangsi faction. Marshal Lu Jung-ting left Canton in November for Kuangsi. In December he declared allegiance of Kuangsi to Peking again. At once the northern government appointed him Director General of the Frontier Defence of Kuangtung. In January 1921 Marshal Lu was appointed Director-General of the Military Affairs on the Kuangsi Frontier. Since that time he carried on fighting against Kuangtung until he was driven out of Kuangsi by Ch'en Chiung-ming in July 1921 when he announced his resignation from the post of Director General by a circular telegram. In September 1922 Marshal Lu returned to Lung-chow, Kuangsi, where he again took up the post of Director-General of the Frontier Defence of Kuangsi. He was appointed High Defence Commissioner for Kuangsi Frontier in November 1922 which position he is still holding.