Yan Xishan (1883-1960), courtesy name Baichuan, was born in Hebian Village, Wutai, Shanxi (now Dingxiang). In the 27th year of Guangxu's reign (1901), he entered the Shanxi Military Academy. In the 30th year, he went to Japan to study and joined the Tongmenghui the following year. In the first year of Xuantong (1909), he was promoted from Japan to Biaotong (equivalent to regimental leader). After the Revolution of 1911, he led an uprising, occupied the governor's office, served as the governor of Shanxi, and began to take control of Shanxi. From now on, he would depend on the situation and first seek refuge with Yuan Shikai, expressing his support for him to become emperor. After Yuan's death, he defected to the Beiyang warlord Duan Qirui. In July 1916, he was appointed governor and governor of Shanxi. In September 1917, the Dharma Protector War led by Sun Yat-sen broke out. Adhering to Duan Qirui's will, he sent troops to Hunan to fight with the French army, but suffered a disastrous defeat. In the era of war between the Beiyang warlords, he made political speculations against Qin, Mu and Chu, and took the opportunity to expand his troops to 12 brigades. In June 1927, with great victory in the Northern Expedition, he proclaimed himself the commander-in-chief of the Northern Revolutionary Army, hoisted the blue sky and white sun flag, and then expanded the army to eight corps. In July, a "party purge" was carried out in Shanxi to persecute communists. In February 1928, he served as commander-in-chief of the Third Group Army of the National Revolutionary Army and participated in the battle against the troops of Feng clique warlord Zhang Zuolin. In March, he served as chairman of the Taiyuan branch of the Central Political Conference of the Kuomintang, acting chairman of the Peking (now Beijing) branch, and commander-in-chief of the Pingjin garrison. His sphere of influence expanded to Hebei, Chahar, Suiyuan, Peiping, and Tianjin. In 1929, he concurrently served as deputy commander-in-chief of the Kuomintang's army, navy and air force. In 1930, Chiang Kai-shek took advantage of the "recruitment" to eliminate dissidents. Yan Xishan had a sharp conflict of interest with Chiang Kai-shek. In August, he joined forces with Feng Yuxiang to rebel against Chiang and formed a new National Government in Peking, serving as chairman. In September, Zhang Xueliang energized support for Chiang Kai-shek in Shenyang and sent troops to Shanhaiguan. In the battle between Jiang, Feng and Yan, Feng and Yan were defeated. Yan Xishan fled to Dalian, which was occupied by the Japanese army. Since Shanxi's military and political dignitaries are all his cronies, he can still control the situation in Shanxi and be ready to make a comeback at any time. In August 1931, he secretly returned to Shanxi by Japanese plane, lived in seclusion in a riverside village, and controlled Taiyuan remotely. After the September 18th Incident, in March 1932, he was appointed director of the Taiyuan Appeasement Office and re-ruled Shanxi and Suiyuan provinces. He adopted the strategy of protecting the territory and self-defense, focusing on the construction of the province and strengthening its strength. In 1935, when the Japanese army invaded Suidong, he put forward the slogan of "defending the homeland and resisting the war". In February 1936, the Red Army went on an eastward expedition and crossed the Yellow River from northern Shaanxi into Shanxi. Yan's army was defeated. Chiang Kai-shek took the opportunity to send five divisions into Shanxi. After the Red Army withdrew to northern Shaanxi, Chiang Kai-shek still refused to withdraw. Later, facing the situation where the Japanese army was advancing step by step and Chiang Kai-shek also wanted to annex him, he initially accepted the Communist Party's anti-Japanese national united front policy and adopted the line of "supporting Chiang Kai-shek and uniting with the Communist Party to resist Japan." After the outbreak of the Anti-Japanese War, Yan Xishan served as the commander-in-chief of the Second War Zone. In September 1937, after the Japanese army invaded Shanxi, the headquarters in Dai County actively fought against the Japanese army and cooperated with the Communist Party to resist Japan. But later he accepted Chiang Kai-shek's secret order and began to create anti-Japanese friction. After Chiang Kai-shek launched the anti-Japanese upsurge in 1939, he created the "Western Shanxi Incident" in December and attacked the Anti-Japanese Death Squadron and the Eighth Route Army. Later, he secretly contacted the Japanese invaders and speculated between resisting Japan and surrendering to Japan. After the victory of the Anti-Japanese War, he actively participated in the civil war launched by Chiang Kai-shek. In September 1945, Shi Zebo, commander of the 19th Army, led his troops to invade the Shangdang Liberated Area, and more than 30,000 people were wiped out. Subsequently, under the attack of the People's Liberation Army, his troops were continuously wiped out, and the area they occupied was shrinking day by day. By July 1948, only two isolated cities, Taiyuan and Datong, were left, but they continued to resist. In March 1949, he fled to Nanjing. In June, he served as the executive president and defense minister of the Kuomintang government in Guangzhou. Arrive in Taiwan in December.
Died of illness in May 1960