Zhang Xun (16 September 1854-11 September 1923), also known as Chang Hsun in Wade-Giles, was the Premier of the Qing Dynasty from 1 to 12 July 1917 after restoring Emperor Puyi to his throne in a short-lived Manchu restoration.
Biography[]
Official portrait of Chang Hsun
Chang Hsun was born on 16 September 1854, and served as a military escort for Empress Dowager Cixi during the Boxer Rebellion in the 1890s, and he resisted the Xinhai Revolution of 1911-1913. At 1911, he fought at Nanjing for the Qing, but the nationalist rebels under Yuan Shikai overthrew the government in 1912. He refused to cut his queue, which was mandatory to wear under Manchu rule but was banned under the Republic of China. In 1913 he seized Nanjing from the Kuomintang, defeating the second revolution. Despite allowing his troops to sack the city, he was made a Marshal by Yuan Shikai.
In 1917 Chang Hsun's army entered Peking and restored the deposed Emperor Puyi to the throne of the Qing Dynasty, and was made Premier of the Qing Dynasty from 1 to 12 July. Unfortunately for him, he was later overthrown by other generals, and he took refuge in Dutch legation. He did not participate in politics again, and died in 1923.