Chang Tso-lin (jäng tsō`-lĭn`), 1873–1928, Chinese general. Chang was of humble birth. As the leader of a unit of Manchurian militia he assisted (1904–5) the Japanese in the Russo-Japanese War. He held various military posts under the Chinese republic. From his appointment (1918) as inspector general of Manchuria until his death he controlled Manchuria, and from 1920 he constantly warred to extend his rule southward, joining in a three-way struggle with Wu P'ei-fu Wu P'ei-fu (w

pā`-f
..... Click the link for more information. and Feng Yü-hsiang Feng Yü-hsiang (fŭng yü-shyäng), 1882–1948, Chinese general.
..... Click the link for more information. for control of the Beijing government. His Fengtien army occupied the Beijing-Tianjin area (1926) until driven out by the Northern Expedition Northern Expedition, in modern Chinese history, the military campaign by which the Kuomintang party overthrew the warlord -backed Beijing government and established a new government at Nanjing.
..... Click the link for more information. (1926). Chang died when the train in which he was retreating to Shenyang before the Kuomintang army was bombed (for reasons still unclear) by officers of the Japanese army in Manchuria. His son, Chang Hsüeh-liang Chang Hsüeh-liang or Zhang Xueliang (jäng` shüĕ`-lyäng`)
..... Click the link for more information. , succeeded to control of Manchuria.

Zhang Zuolin

or Chang Tso-lin

(born March 19, 1875, Haicheng, Liaoning province, China—died June 4, 1928, Shengyang, Liaoning) Chinese warlord. After fighting in the Sino-Japanese War (1894–95), Zhang organized a self-defense militia in his native district. By 1912 he was in command of a division, and he set out to dominate Manchuria (northeastern China), relying on the tacit support of the Japanese, to whom he granted concessions in Manchuria. In 1918 he became inspector general of Manchuria's three provinces, which he ruled as a virtually autonomous state. In 1920 he pushed south into the Chinese heartland and in 1924 took Beijing, but his troops had to abandon their position in the face of the 1927 Northern Expedition. Zhang was killed by a bomb planted by Japanese extremists who hoped his death would provoke the Japanese into occupying Manchuria.