Yan Xishan

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Yan Xishan
閻錫山 Yen Hsi-shan
Gen. Yan Xishan
President of the Republic of China
Detail Acting President in Taiwan In office 7 December 1949 – 1 March 1950[note 1] Premier Himself Preceded by Himself (as acting President of the Republic of China) Succeeded by Chiang Kai-shek Acting President in mainland China In office 20 November 1949 – 7 December 1949 Vice President None[a] Preceded by Li Zongren Succeeded by Mao Zedong (as Chairman of the People's Republic of China)
Premier of the Republic of China
Detail 1st Premier in Taiwan In office 7 December 1949 – 7 March 1950 President Himself (acting) Vice Premier Zhu Jiahua Preceded by Himself (as Premier of the Republic of China) Succeeded by Chen Cheng 4th Premier in mainland China In office 3 June 1949 – 7 December 1949 President Li Zongren (acting) Himself (acting) Vice Premier Chia Ching-teh Zhu Jiahua Preceded by He Yingqin Succeeded by Zhou Enlai (as Premier of the People's Republic of China)
Personal details
Born	(1883-10-08)8 October 1883 Wutai County, Xinzhou, Shanxi, Qing Empire
Died	22 July 1960(1960-07-22) (aged 76) Taipei, Taiwan, Republic of China
Political party	Kuomintang Progressive Party
Awards	Order of Blue Sky and White Sun Order of the Sacred Tripod Order of the Cloud and Banner Order of Rank and Merit Order of the Precious Brilliant Golden Grain Order of Wen-Hu
Nickname	"Model Governor"
Military service
Allegiance	Qing Empire  Republic of China
Branch/service	New Army National Revolutionary Army
Years of service	1909–1949
Rank	General
Commands	2nd Regiment, Shanxi Div. Beiyang Army Army of Shanxi 2nd Military Region, NRA
Battles/wars	Xinhai Revolution Northern Expedition Central Plains War Second Sino-Japanese War Chinese Civil War

Yan Xishan (IPA: [jɛ̌n ɕíʂán]; 8 October 1883 – 22 July 1960; also romanized as Yen Hsi-shan) was a Chinese warlord who served in the government of the Republic of China. He effectively controlled the province of Shanxi from the 1911 Xinhai Revolution to the 1949 Communist victory in the Chinese Civil War.

As the leader of a relatively small, poor, remote province, he survived Yuan Shikai, the Warlord Era, the Nationalist Era, the Japanese invasion of China and the subsequent civil war, being forced from office only when the Nationalist armies with which he was aligned had completely lost control of the Chinese mainland, isolating Shanxi from any source of economic or military supply. He has been viewed by Western biographers as a transitional figure who advocated using Western technology to protect Chinese traditions, while at the same time reforming older political, social and economic conditions in a way that paved the way for the radical changes that would occur after his rule.^[1]

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