Lung Chi-kuang (1860-1921), a Yunnanese military man who became military commander o Kwangsi in 1 908 and of Kwangtung in 1911. A supporter of Yuan Shih-k'ai, he held control of Kwangtung from mid-1914 until mid- 191 6, when he was transferred to Hainan Island as commissioner of mining development. In December 1917, on orders from the Peking government, he attacked the forces of Sun Yat-sen, but his army was routed early in 1918. A native of Mengtzu, Yunnan, Lung Chikuang was the second son to be born into a family of tu-shih [hereditary native chieftains]. When still a small child. Lung decided to pursue a military career, and he and his elder brother. Lung Chin-kuang, eventually joined the forces of Ts'en Yü-ying (^ECCP, II, 742-46) in Yunnan. In 1905 the brothers went to Kwangsi to serve under their former commander's son, Ts'en Ch'un-hsuan (q.v.). Lung Chi-kuang soon became commandant for border defense on the Kwangsi-Indo-China border. One of his fellow officers was the former bandit Lu Jung-t'ing (q.v.). In the autumn of 1907 Lung and Lu suppressed an uprising by republican revolutionaries at Chennan-kuan despite the efforts of Huang Hsing, Hu Han-min (qq.v.), and Sun Yat-sen to assist the guerrillas by advancing into Kwangsi. For their services, Lung was promoted to acting ti-tu [army commander] of Kwangsi, and Lu was made tsung-ping [brigadier]. After the two men quelled an uprising at Hokow in 1908, Lung's appointment was confirmed.

In 1911 Chung Ming-ch'i, the acting governor-general of Kw-angtung, arranged for Lung Chikuang to take his men to Canton and appointed him ti-tu of Kwangtung. Before Lung could establish himself in Canton, however, the republican revolution broke out, and the revolutionaries took control of Kwangtung. Lung therefore stationed his men at Waichow (Huichou).

In the winter of 1912 Yuan Shih-k'ai appointed Ch'en Chiung-ming hu-chün-shih [military commissioner] of Kwangtung, with Lung Chi-kuang as his deputy. Lung and his army soon ran into financial difficulties, and Lung obtained the permission of Hu Hanmin, then the tutuh [military governor] of Kwangtung, to move his men back to Kw-angsi. When he arrived at Wuchow, Lung received a letter and a large sum of money from Yuan Shih-k'ai. He remained at Wuchow, awaiting further instructions. After the so-called second revolution began in the summer of 1914, Ch'en Chiung-ming, who replaced Hu Han-min as tutuh on 14 June, declared Kwangtung's independence on 18 July. Yuan immediately appointed Lung Chi-kuang hu-chün-shih of Kwangtung and ordered him to march on Canton. Lung „easily ousted Ch'en, replaced him as tutuh of Kwangtung, and occupied Canton on 13 August. At this point, Ts'en Ch'un-hsuan visited Canton in an attempt to persuade Lung to join the anti-Yuan movement, but had no success; in fact, he barely escaped arrest. The revolutionaries of the Canton area were driven underground, and they resorted to the tactics of terrorism. Trade union members, under the leadership of Ma Ch'ao-chün (q.v.), organized an assassination team and waited for opportunities to harass Lung. They had no success until June 1914, when they attacked and killed Lung's deputy Ma Tsun-fa. Lung's spies traced the origin of the plot, and Ma Ch'ao-chün was forced to flee to Hong Kong. A few more bombings were staged by the revolutionaries in Canton, but none of them endangered Lung.

The acceptance by Yuan Shih-k'ai in May 1915 of the Twenty-one Demands and his plot to become monarch rallied republican forces throughout China and caused a new burst of anti-Yuan activity. Lung Chi-kuang, who had become one of Yuan's most trusted henchmen, further enraged the Kwangtung populace when he ordered a lantern procession in Canton to celebrate Yuan's diplomatic "success." When Lung went to visit his brother on 1 7 July, during a flood in Canton, Chung Mingkuang, a member of the workers' assassination group, seized the opportunity to throw a bomb at him. It killed 17 members of Lung Chikuang's bodyguard and the assassin, but Lung received only a foot wound. This incident led Lung to take greater precautions and intensify his search for the revolutionaries, but it did not weaken his support of Yuan Shih-k'ai. On 21 December 1915, when Yuan Shih-k'ai issued an elaborate honors list in preparation for the establishment of the new monarchy, Lung Chikuang was one of the few men to be created duke. He later was elevated to chun wang [prince of the second order].

By this time, the Yunnan uprising of December 1915, led by Ts'ai O and T'ang Chi-yao (qq.v.) had begun, and Yunnan had been declared independent. This declaration was the signal to revolutionaries all over the country to rise in defense of the republic. The ensuing anti-Yuan campaign was facilitated greatly when Lu Jung-t'ing joined the revolutionaries, declaring Kwangsi independent on 15 March 1916. Earlier that year, Yuan Shih-k'ai had ordered Lung Chi-kuang to send an army to Yunnan by way of Kwangsi. When Lung's forces, commanded by his brother, reached Paishih, Lu Jung-t'ing's men disarmed them. This action took Yuan by surprise; he had expected Lung and Lu to cooperate because Lung's son had married Lu's daughter. Although Yuan scotched his monarchical plans in March, the southwestern leaders continued to oppose him. They made overtures to Lung Chi-kuang, for Kwangtung was an area of strategic importance, but he resisted them. Revolutionary groups in Kwangtung assumed control of many important regions, the naval forces in Canton defected, and the clamor for independence increased.

By early April 1916 Lung Chi-kuang had decided that further open resistance to the revolutionaries would be useless. After receiving instructions from Yuan Shih-k'ai, he declared Kwangtung independent and invited the revolutionary leaders to a conference near Canton on 12 April—intending to arrest them during the meeting. Few of them accepted the invitation, but those who did attend were killed. This incident aroused the ire of the Kwangtung population and enraged Lu Jungt'ing and Liang Ch'i-ch'ao (q.v.j, whose representatives had been murdered. Lu Jungt'ing decided to move some of his troops to Kwangtung. To avoid disaster. Lung made a scapegoat of Ts'ai Nai-huang, the official sent by Yuan Shih-k'ai to Canton to help Lung. Ts'ai was executed as the organizer of the assassination. Lung preserved his position in Canton, and he and the revolutionaries formed an alliance, for neither of them could maintain order in Kwangtung alone.

After Yuan Shih-k'ai died in June 1916 and Li Yuan-hung assumed the presidency at Peking, the southwestern military alliance was dissolved. Tuan Ch'i-jui (q.v.j, the premier, who wanted to use Lung Chi-kuang to check the power of the revolutionaries, appointed Lung civil governor as well as tutuh of Kwangtung. Protests from southern leaders caused Li Yuan-hung to transfer Lung to Hainan Island as commissioner of mining development and to appoint Lu Jung-t'ing tutuh of Kwangtung. Lung moved to Hainan with his army and took control of the island.

In December 1917, after Sun Yat-sen had initiated the so-called constitution protection movement and had established a military government at Canton, the Peking government appointed Lung Chi-kuang inspector general for Kwangtung and Kwangsi. He immediately moved his army across the Liuchow Strait to the mainland, but the campaigns against Sun's forces ended with the total route of his army. Lung took refuge in the French-leased territory of Kwangchowwan. He later went north to Peking, where, in July 1918, he attended a conference of provincial governors and other military leaders of the Peiyang clique. Having been deprived of his army and therefore having no further role to play in political or military affairs, he retired from public life and established a residence in Shanghai. Shortly before his death in 1921, the Peking government conferred on him the rank of chiang-chün [general].