Research On The Changing Of Banners By Yen Hsi-shan During The Northern Expedition In 1927

The changing of banners in the Northern Expedition is a very interesting phenomenon.Many warlords surrendered to Nanking Government by changing Five-colored banner into 'sun in blue sky' flag.This indicated their support for Sun Yat-sen's the Three Principles of People and the will to join the Kuomintang-led National revolution.Through this way Kuomintang could unify the country in a short time.The changing banners by Yen Hsi-shan was one of the most typical cases.My thesis is based on the telegraphs from the Yen Hsi-shan Archives of Academia Historica.In history,Yen once had a good relationship both with Kuomintang and the Peiyang clique.After the death of Yuan Shin-Kai,China had been stuck in the war between warlords.Yen adopted the so-called 'defend the soil and settle down the people' policy.Yen implemented the policy of none intervention and refused to be interfered at the same time.As the development of policy and military,the north and south of China had become significantly incompatible.Kuomintang in the south called for overthrowing the warlords while the warlords called for the extermination of the communists.When the National Revolutionary Army swept up the Yangtze river vally,Chiang Kai-shek began to purge the Kuomintang and establish the Nanking Government.As so far,there were three governments in China,such as Wuhan,Nanking and Peiyang.The three forces strove for Yen's help,looking for the cooperation with Yen.Under pressure from all sides,Yen couldn't maintain Monroe Doctrine.Yen started the negotiation with Kuomintang and made some compromises on the issue of changing banners and sending troops.In Apirl,1927,Yen publicly declared that he and all the others in his troop agreed with the Three Principles of People.Yen continued the progress of changing banners,and replaced the banner of Peiyang Government with the banner of Kuomintang.Yen took the initiative attacks on the Fengtien Clique in September,and the relationship between Yen Hsi-shan and Chang Tso-lin broke up.Yen had to make a choice among the invitations from Nanking,Wuhan and Fengtien.He chose to cooperate with Chiang,however,it didn't mean Yen totally agreed with the Kuomintang's political philosophy.Now that Yen and conservative Kuomintang elements both resolutely opposed the Communist Party,it is very probably that Yen refused to accept Wuhan's offers.Yen thought the national revolution was the trend of the times,and in order to rebuild the local ruling legitimacy,he had to fight against the warlord's plaque.Thus,his break with Peiyang Government was also inevitable.Another important issue is that,Yen Hsi-shan presided over the mediation in Fengtien-Ning-Jin triangle alliance.He urged Chang Tso-lin to abolish the Ankuo-Army Government,accept the Three Principles of the People and rename his army the "National Revolutionary Army",and further,to change the banner for Sun Yat-sen's flag.Chang Tso-lin declared that he agreed with the Three Principles of the People,but the other condition was not acceptable.With the support from Japan,Yen began to cooperate with the so-called 'new faction' of the Fengtien clique,such as Peter H.L Chang and Yang Yu-ting.But the peace talks finally failed.There are three reasons for this failure,firstly,the Fengtien clique insisted an equal negotiation and could not accept the party-state system of Kuomintang,secondly Chiang Kai-shek regarded the peace talks as a delaying tactic,and thirdly,the attitude of Yen Hsi-shan was too flexible.But from the debate on 'sun in blue sky flag is communist or not',we can have a glimpse of the different view about the Kuomintang and the Chinese Communist Party between Chang Tso-lin and Yen Hsi-shan which revealed that the confusion about the "doctrine" was not only real,but also had crucially influence on the Northern Expedition.After changing the banners,Shanxi became a base for the revolution.On the one hand,Yen Hsi-shan had taken many reform measures,such as making a wide range of revolutionary propaganda,implementing the worship of Sun Yat-sen,reshuffling the government of Shanxi Province and carrying out a full-scale purge of Communists,and propelling the KMT's party education.On the other hand,Yen had consciously taken some measures to resist the penetration of central power.So in the propaganda of Sun Yat-sen,he publicized himself as ' Yen commander in chief' of the National Revolutionary Army in north.He led the purge of Communists in all area.Furthermore,he appointed his trusted followers as important leaders in new-established government's agency.In the field of ideology,Yen modified the Three Principles of the People by almost omitting nationalism,civil rights,and adding morality.The most important was that Yen equated the Doctrine of People's Livelihood to 'the village autonomy of Shanxi' and claimed that village autonomy was the only way to realize the doctrine of the Three Principles of the People.Therefore,Yen's reconstruction of Shanxi province corresponds with the contemporary trends on some extent.In essence,in order to continue controlling Shanxi both in theory and practice,Yen was putting his personal political ideal under the legitimate and the revolutionary banner of the Three Principles of the People.As a result,the party's influence on Shanxi was weakened and the penetration of the Three Principles of the People on the society of Shanxi was hindered.Hence,Yan resisted the penetration of Kuomintang.Yen's banner changing directly affected the political power and military power at that time.While Nanjing prevailed,the Wuhan Government and the Fengtien clique were weakened.Its indirect influence was the promotion of the settlement of Nanjing and Wuhan,the strengthening of the second stage of the Northern Expedition.To sum up,Yen made a contribution to national unity,at least formally.In addition,it was an important turning point for Yen Hsi-shan himself,because since then he begun to act on a national political stage.The type of Yen's banner changing could be regarded as a typical example of unification.For the Kuomintang and the Nanjing national government,this unified approach,possessed in a long-term perspective some negative influences,and caused deeper problems,such as the expansion of military power beyond its control and the ignoring of the lower classes,which directly challenged the Kuomintang's ability as a 'dictatorship' party.It also weakened the control of the Nanjing Government on the local governments,and exerted a profound impact on the further development of the national political situation.