View source for Zhao Erfeng

{{Short description|Chinese official and bannerman (1845–1911)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2020}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| honorific_prefix = [[Baturu|Wuyong baturu]]<ref name="sinica"/>
| honorific-suffix = 
| name = Zhao Erfeng<br>{{nobold|趙爾豐}}
| birth_date  = 1845
| death_date  = {{death date and age|1911|12|22|1845|||df=yes}} 
|death_cause= [[Decapitation]]
| birth_place = 
| death_place = [[Sichuan]]
| image       = P.16c Chao Erh-feng.jpg
| caption     = Zhao Erfeng

| office      = [[Viceroy of Sichuan]]
| monarch     = [[Xuantong Emperor]]
| term_start  = 21 April
| term_end    = 6 November 1911 (acting)
| predecessor = [[Zhao Erxun]]
| successor   = Position abolished

| office1      = [[Amban|Assistant Amban]] of [[Tibet under Qing rule|Tibet]] at [[Chamdo]]
| monarch1     = [[Xuantong Emperor]]
| term_start1  = 1908
| term_end1    = 1911
| lieutenant1  = 
| predecessor1 = [[Feng Quan]]
| successor1   = Position abolished

| relations   = [[Zhao Erxun]] (brother)
| education   = ''[[juren]]'' degree in the [[imperial examination]]<ref name="sinica">{{cite web | url = https://newarchive.ihp.sinica.edu.tw/sncaccgi/sncacFtp?ACTION=TQ,sncacFtpqf,SN=001540,2nd,search_simple | title = 趙爾豐}}</ref>
| nationality = Han chinese Bannerman
| nickname    = Butcher of Kham, Zhao the Butcher
| allegiance  = {{flag|Qing Dynasty}}
| serviceyears = 
| rank        = 
| commands    = 
| unit        = [[Eight Banners]]
| battles     = [[1905 Tibetan Rebellion]], [[Chinese expedition to Tibet (1910)]], 1911 Tibetan Rebellion, [[Xinhai Revolution]]
| awards      = 
| laterwork   = 
| portrayedby = 
}}
{{Infobox Chinese|s=赵尔丰|t=趙爾豊|p=Zhào Ěrfēng|w=Chao Erh-feng|altname=Jihe <br> (courtesy name)|c2=季和|p2=Jìhé|w2=Chi-ho}}
{{family name hatnote|[[Zhao (surname)|Zhao]]|lang=Chinese}}

'''Zhao Erfeng''' (1845–1911), [[courtesy name]] '''Jihe''', was a late [[Qing Dynasty]] official and Han Chinese [[Eight Banners|bannerman]] who belonged to the [[Plain Blue Banner]]. He was an [[amban|assistant amban]] in [[Tibet]] at [[Chamdo]] in [[Kham]] (eastern Tibet). He was appointed in March 1908 under Lien Yu, the main amban in [[Lhasa]].  Formerly Director-General of the Sichuan-Hubei Railway and acting [[zongdu|viceroy]] of [[Sichuan]] province, Zhao was a much-maligned Chinese general of the late imperial era who led military campaigns throughout [[Kham]], earning himself the nickname "'''the Butcher of Kham'''"<ref name= Shakya>Tsering Shakya, [http://treasuryoflives.org/biographies/view/Thirteenth-Dalai-Lama-Tubten-Gyatso/3307 "The Thirteenth Dalai Lama, Tubten Gyatso"] Treasury of Lives, accessed May 11, 2021</ref> and "Zhao the Butcher"<ref>{{cite book |first=Claude |last=Arpi |author-link=Claude Arpi |title=The Fate of Tibet |publisher=Har-Anand Publications}}</ref> ({{zh|s=赵屠户}}).<ref>[http://www.cnki.com.cn/Article/CJFDTotal-XZYJ198904015.htm 赵尔丰及其巴塘经营] (Zhao Erfeng and his Batang management), cnki.com.cn. (Author not specified): 'When Zhao Erfeng took office at the Yongning Daotai in the Xuyong Hall of Sichuan, he had murdered more than 3,000 innocent people in Gulin County, and from then on he became famous as "Zhao Tuhu".' (machine translation)</ref>

== Amban of Tibet ==
Zhao Erfeng crushed the Tibetan Lamas and their monasteries in the [[1905 Tibetan Rebellion]] in [[Yunnan]] and Sichuan, he then crushed the rebels at the siege of Chantreng (now [[Xiangcheng County, Sichuan]]) which lasted from 1905 to 1906. The Tibetan Lamas had revolted against Qing rule, killing Chinese government officials, western Catholic Christian missionaries and native Christian converts, since the Tibetan Buddhist [[Gelug]] Yellow Hat sect was suspicious of the Christian missionary success.

Zhao Erfeng extended Chinese rule into [[Kham]], and was appointed [[Amban]] in 1908. Zhao had successfully dismantled the powers of the tribal chieftains within the region of Kham.<ref>[https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/Making-the-State-on-the-Sino-Tibetan-Frontier%3A-and-Coleman/f77438012cce4e4288829f1908fcf441d91ec598 Coleman, William M. Iv. “Making the State on the Sino-Tibetan Frontier: Chinese Expansion and Local Power in Batang, 1842-1939.” (2014).] </ref> Initially he worked with the 13th [[Thubten Gyatso, 13th Dalai Lama|Dalai Lama]], who had returned after fleeing from the [[British expedition to Tibet]].<ref name=Thomson70>{{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_OPUTAAAAIAAJ|quote=chao ehr feng tibet drove dalai lama out india campaign.|title=China revolutionized |first=John Stuart |last=Thomson|author-link=John Stuart Thomson |year=1913 |publisher=Bobbs-Merrill |location=Indianapolis |page=[https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_OPUTAAAAIAAJ/page/n89 70] |oclc=411755 |access-date=2010-10-11 }}</ref> But in 1909, they disagreed with each other strongly and Zhao Erfeng drove the Dalai Lama into exile. The Dalai Lama was installed at the palace and monastery of [[Potala]] amid popular demonstrations.  The ruler, who was again given civil power at the head of their hierarchy, pardoned all the Tibetans who had given an oath of loyalty to [[Francis Younghusband|Colonel Francis Younghusband]], the leader of the British expedition. Things went well for a month until the lama protested to the Chinese in charge of military affairs because of the excesses of the Chinese troops on the [[Sichuan]] frontier, where they were sacking the monasteries and killing the monks.  This protest served to stir up the whole question of the status of Tibet.  The Amban declared that it was a Chinese province, and said he would deal with the rebels as it pleased him to do.

Other questions of authority arose, and finally the Amban sent orders to 500 Chinese troops who were encamped on the outskirts of the capital, [[Lhasa]]. 
{{blockquote|In 1910, China's 'foreign' Manchu Ch'ing dynasty, in a decaying spasm of aggression, had sent two thousand troops under General Chao Er-feng across the border into Tibet. When they arrived in Lhasa they fired on the crowds who had turned out to greet them. On 12 February the 13th Dalai Lama fled towards India pursued by two hundred Chinese cavalrymen, and rode to Phari and then Yatung in the Chumbi Valley, where he was given protection in the Trade Agency...<ref>{{Cite book |title=Himmler's Crusade : the True Story of the 1938 Nazi Expedition into Tibet |last=Hale |first=Christopher |date=2004 |publisher=Bantam |isbn=9780553814453 |location=London |pages=210 |oclc=56118412 |quote="In 1910, China's 'foreign' Manchu Ch'ing dynasty, in a decaying spasm of aggression, had sent two thousand troops under General Chao Er-feng across the border into Tibet. When they arrived in Lhasa they fired on the crowds who had turned out to greet them. On 12 February the 13th Dalai Lama fled towards India pursued by two hundred Chinese cavalrymen, and rode to Phari and then Yatung in the Chumbi Valley, where he was given protection in the Trade Agency..."}}</ref>}} A few companies composed of the Dalai Lama's followers were hastily enrolled under the name of 'golden soldiers'.  They tried to resist the Chinese soldiers, but, being poorly armed, were quickly overwhelmed.  Meanwhile, the Dalai Lama, with three of his ministers and sixty retainers, fled through a gate at the rear of the palace enclosure, and were fired upon as they escaped through the city.<ref>From ''The Galveston Daily News'', February 7th 1910, part of a newspaper archive.</ref>

<blockquote>In January 1908 the final instalment of the Tibetan indemnity was paid to Great Britain, and the Chumbi valley was evacuated. The Dalai Lama was now summoned to Peking, where he obtained the imperial authority to resume his administration in place of the provisional governors appointed as a result of the British mission. He retained in office the high officials then appointed, and pardoned all Tibetans who had assisted the mission. But in 1909 Chinese troops were sent to operate on the Sichuan frontier against certain insurgent lamas, whom they handled severely. When the Dalai Lama attempted to give orders that they should cease, the Chinese amban in Lhasa disputed his authority, and [[Chinese expedition to Tibet (1910)|summoned the Chinese troops to enter the city]]. They did so, and the Dalai Lama fled to India in February 1910, staying at Darjeeling. Chinese troops followed him to the frontier, and he was deposed by imperial decree.<ref>{{EB1911 |wstitle=Tibet |volume=26 |page=928 |inline=1}}</ref></blockquote>

A former Tibetan [[Kham]]pa soldier named Aten recounted Tibetan memories of Zhao, calling him "Butcher Feng", claiming that he: razed Batang monastery, ordered holy texts to be used by troops as shoeliners, and mass murdered Tibetans.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/warriorsoftibets00jamy |url-access=registration |quote=chao er feng. |title=Warriors of Tibet: the story of Aten, and the Khampas' fight for the freedom of their country |author=Jamyang Norbu |year=1986 |publisher=Wisdom Publications |isbn=0-86171-050-9 |page=[https://archive.org/details/warriorsoftibets00jamy/page/28 28] |access-date=2011-06-01}}</ref>

== Capture and death ==
[[File:赵尔丰被处决.jpg|thumb|The execution of Zhao Erfeng]]
In 1911, Zhao Erfeng, then [[viceroy of Sichuan]], faced rebellion in [[Sichuan]]. In May 1911, Qing officials agreed to European demands to rescind Sichuan province's ownership of a railroad concession and sold it to a European consortium.<ref name=":6">{{Cite book |last=Driscoll |first=Mark W. |title=The Whites are Enemies of Heaven: Climate Caucasianism and Asian Ecological Protection |date=2020 |publisher=[[Duke University Press]] |isbn=978-1-4780-1121-7 |location=Durham}}</ref>{{Rp|page=286}} The sale infuriated gentry and merchants in Sichuan who lost considerable investments and resulted in the formation of a broad opposition movement, the Sichuan [[Railway Protection Movement|Railroad Recovery Movement]].<ref name=":6" />{{Rp|page=286}}

On 7 September 1911, Zhao ordered the arrest of the Pu Diajun (the movement's leader and president of Sichuan's constitutional assembly), Luo Lun (president of Sichuan's student assembly), and others.<ref name=":6" />{{Rp|page=286}} At a protest on 8 September 1911, Zhao ordered soldiers to fire on the protestors, which they did, killing 26 people during the [[Bloody Chengdu Incident]].<ref name=":6" />{{Rp|page=286}}

Authorities closed the Chengdu city gates and had them heavily guarded.<ref name=":6" />{{Rp|page=286}} Protestors created "water telegrams" by carving a message on to oiled boards, which were smuggled out and floated downriver:<ref name=":6" />{{Rp|page=286}}{{Blockquote|text=Butcher Zhao arrested Pu and Luo,
Then massacred the Sichuan people. 
In all places, friends, arise, save and protect your land!}}Opposition fighters, primarily composed of [[Gelaohui]] militants, besieged Chengdu.<ref name=":6" />{{Rp|pages=286–287}} On 18 and 19 September, Zhao's modernized [[New Army]] soldiers, armed with repeating weapons and artillery, pushed back the siege.<ref name=":6" />{{Rp|page=287}} Fighting continued in the area for two months.<ref name=":6" />{{Rp|page=287}}

Zhao summoned troops from [[Wuchang District|Wuchang]], leading rebels there to see it as an opportunity to rebel.<ref name="Thomson317">{{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_OPUTAAAAIAAJ|quote=chao ehr feng tibet 1910 cooped.|title=China revolutionized |author-link=John Stuart Thomson |first=John Stuart |last=Thomson |year=1913 |publisher=Bobbs-Merrill |location=Indianapolis |page=[https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_OPUTAAAAIAAJ/page/n349 317] |oclc=411755 |access-date=2010-10-11 }}</ref> This was the background to the [[Wuchang Uprising]], the official start of the [[Xinhai Revolution|Chinese Revolution of 1911]], and the diversion of troops to Sichuan was  major factor in its success.<ref name=":6" />{{Rp|page=287}}

After battling the rebels on 22 December 1911 Zhao was captured and beheaded by Chinese Republican Revolutionary forces who were intent on overthrowing the Qing dynasty.<ref>In ''[[The Crippled Tree]]'' by Han Suyin, the Wade-Giles spelling of his name, Chao Erfeng, was used.</ref><ref>{{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_OPUTAAAAIAAJ|quote=chao decapitated.|title=China Revolutionized |author-link=John Stuart Thomson |first=John Stuart |last=Thomson |year=1913 |publisher=Bobbs-Merrill |location=Indianapolis |page=[https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_OPUTAAAAIAAJ/page/n52 35] |oclc=411755 |access-date=2010-10-11 }}</ref>

Before his death, Zhao attempted to convene frontier Qing troops on the Sichuan-Tibetan border to [[Chengdu]]. He himself, on the other hand, made compromises to the republican forces as if he would concede his power without violence. When the Qing reinforcement from [[Ya'an]] approached Chengdu, the head of the republican forces [[Yin Changheng]] ordered Zhao's execution.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tbO-CQAAQBAJ&q=%E8%B5%B5%E5%B0%94%E4%B8%B0&pg=PA232|title=辛亥波涛：纪念辛亥革命暨四川保路运动一百周年文集|publisher=Esphere Media|year=2015|isbn=9787545505191|location=Chengdu|pages=232, 233}}</ref>

Zhao Erfeng was the younger brother of [[Zhao Erxun]], who was also an important figure in the final years of the Qing Empire.

== Controversies ==
[[File:Zhao Er feng.jpg|thumb|200px|Zhao Erfeng]]
Zhao's ruthless rule was criticized by later generations. He played an antagonistic role during the [[Railway Protection Movement]] and the [[Miao people|Miao]] rebellion in Yongning. Like in Tibet, he massacred unarmed civilians. Both [[Taiwan|Republic of China]] and [[China|People's Republic of China]] had fairly negative official comments about Zhao Erfeng, naming him a butcher and homicidal maniac.<ref name="四川省政协文史资料和学习委员会2015">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tbO-CQAAQBAJ&pg=PA341|title=辛亥波涛：纪念辛亥革命暨四川保路运动一百周年文集|author=四川省政协文史资料和学习委员会|date=2015-05-10|publisher=天地出版社|isbn=978-7-5455-0519-1|page=341}}</ref><ref name="張永久2014">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ll85AwAAQBAJ&pg=PA295|title=消失的西康|author=張永久|date=2014-04-30|publisher=獨立作家－新銳文創|isbn=978-986-5716-08-0|page=295}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.thestandnews.com/politics/%E5%BC%B5%E8%94%AD%E6%A3%A0%E8%88%87%E8%B6%99%E7%88%BE%E8%B1%90/|title=張蔭棠與趙爾豐|author=唯色|author-link=唯色|date=2015-06-26|newspaper=立場新聞}}</ref><ref>《奴才小史》：爾豐怒曰：「我不是趙爾豐，卻是張獻忠，若不開市，與我剿兩條街，則自然皆開市。」此趙屠之諡所由來也。</ref>

Zhao's personal conviction was to transform the region of Kham into a province directly administrated by central government. He planned to unify Sichuan, Kham and [[Ü-Tsang]] into a single administrative district in order to counter British influence in the region as well as on the Dalai Lama.<ref>{{Cite news |url=http://politics.people.com.cn/GB/14562/11843783.html |script-title=zh:驻藏大臣赵尔丰与西藏 |trans-title=Minister in Tibet Zhao Erfeng and Tibet
|date=10 June 2010 |work=People's Daily}}</ref> In Kham, Zhao employed the bureaucratization of native officers, more commonly known by its Chinese name of ''[[Tusi#Gaitu Guiliu|kai-t'u kuei-liu]]'', which was a policy carried out by Later Ming dynasty and Qing dynasty depriving local native chieftains, or ''[[Tusi|t'u-ssŭ]]'' of their political power. Consequently, an elimination of Tibetan native rulers in [[Batang County|Batang]] and [[Litang County|Litang]] was implemented.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.zgdazxw.com.cn/culture/2016-05/30/content_142743.htm|title=见证清政府对川边藏区的改土归流|last=Wang|first=Xiaochun|date=30 May 2016|work=中国档案报|access-date=7 December 2017}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zLNtAAAAIAAJ&q=%E4%BC%9A%E7%AD%B9%E8%BE%B9%E5%8A%A1%E5%BC%80%E5%8A%9E%E7%AB%A0%E7%A8%8B%E6%8A%98|title=清朝治藏典章硏究, Volume 3|last=Zhang|first=Yuxin|publisher=中国藏学出版社|year=2002|isbn=9787800575853|pages=1465}}</ref> By the end of his Tibetan campaign, China was able to seize the region of Kham. However, the control established by Zhao was only temporary. After the fall of Qing dynasty, Tibetans regained the control of most of the lands conquered by Zhao Erfeng.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uTdFCHMEc4EC&q=Zhao+Erfeng&pg=PA33|title=On the Margins of Tibet: Cultural Survival on the Sino-Tibetan Frontier|last1=Kolas|first1=Ashild|last2=Thowsen|first2=Monika|publisher=University of Washington Press|year=2011|isbn=9780295804101|location=Washington|pages=33}}</ref> In 1912, after Zhao's death, Chinese troops were removed from Tibet in the face of a Tibetan rebellion.<ref name="Lin">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=osn1WrRCelcC&q=Zhao+Erfeng&pg=PA9|title=Tibet and Nationalist China's Frontier: Intrigues and Ethnopolitics, 1928-49|last=Lin|first=Hsaio-ting|publisher=UBC Press|year=2011|isbn=9780774859882|location=Vancouver|pages=9}}</ref>

Some historians consider Zhao's Tibetan years as the first Chinese attempt to assimilate Tibet into a regular Chinese province.<ref name="Lin" /><ref name="Barnett">{{Cite book |title=Resistance and Reform in Tibet |editor-last=Barnett |editor-first=Robert  |publisher=Motilal Banarsidass  |year=1996 |isbn=9788120813717 |location=Delhi |pages=124 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Wk7R3FxC74cC&q=Zhao+Erfeng+People%27s+republic&pg=PA124}}</ref> This means a removal of the Tibetan clergy class from their powerful status and a Han Chinese colonization of Tibet.<ref name="Barnett" />

The aftermath of Zhao's Tibetan expedition caused the region of Kham to become a centre of Tibetan nationalism. In the following years, Lhasa's attempt of unifying [[Amdo]], Kham and Ü-Tsang into a greater Tibet stagnated due to Kham's demand for more power in the Tibetan regime.<ref name="Barnett" />

==See also==
* [[Chinese expedition to Tibet (1910)]]

== References ==
=== Citations ===
{{Reflist}}

=== Sources ===
{{refbegin}}
* Adshead, Samuel Adrian M. ''Province and politics in late imperial China : viceregal government in Szechwan, 1898-1911.'' Scandinavian Institute of Asian Studies monograph series. no. 50. London: Curzon Press, 1984.
* {{cite journal |last1=Ho |first1=Dahpon David |title=The Men Who Would Not Be Amban and the One Who Would |journal=Modern China |volume=34 |issue=2 |year=2008 |pages=210–246 |issn=0097-7004 |doi=10.1177/0097700407312856}}}
* {{citation |last=Mehra |first=Parshotam |title=The McMahon Line and After: A Study of the Triangular Contest on India's North-eastern Frontier Between Britain, China and Tibet, 1904-47 |year=1974 |publisher=Macmillan |isbn=9780333157374 |url=https://archive.org/details/dli.pahar.3459 |via=archive.org}}
* {{PD-old-text|title=China revolutionized|year=1913|author=John Stuart Thomson}}
{{refend}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Zhao, Erfeng}}
[[Category:Tibet under Qing rule]]
[[Category:Qing dynasty government officials]]
[[Category:1845 births]]
[[Category:1911 deaths]]
[[Category:Assassinated Chinese people]]
[[Category:Political office-holders in Tibet]]
[[Category:Political office-holders in Sichuan]]
[[Category:Politicians from Tieling]]
[[Category:People executed by the Qing dynasty]]
[[Category:Executed people from Liaoning]]
[[Category:People executed by China by decapitation]]
[[Category:Viceroys of Sichuan]]
[[Category:Han Chinese Plain Blue Bannermen]]