Lu Jung-t'ing (1856-1927), Kwangsi warlord. He began his career as a bandit and later became army commander and deputy military governor of Kwangsi, a supporter and then an opponent of Yuan Shih-k'ai, inspector general of Kwangtung and Kwangsi, and a high official of the republican government at Canton. His public career ended in the early 1920's when his army was destroyed by the Kwangtung forces of Ch'en Chiung-ming.

Wuming hsien, Kwangsi, was the birthplace of Lu Jung-t'ing. He was orphaned at an early age and was left to fend for himself. After making his way to Langchow, the strategic city on the Kwangsi-Tonkin border, he was taken in by a salt smuggler named T'an. Lu took an active part in the family business and married T'an's daughter. He and the T'an family were forced to flee the area after Lu accidentally killed a Frenchman with whom he had been arguing by throwing him into the river. They escaped into the mountains, where they lived for a time as woodcutters. After the Sino- French war of 1 884, sentries were posted on both sides of the border. One day, Lu and his companions ambushed three French sentries and seized their rifles. Thus armed, they became brigands operating on the French side of the border.

Lu Jung-t'ing gradually built up an outlaw band of several hundred men which roamed the rural areas of French Indo-China. Whenever the French authorities pursued Lu and his men, they would escape to the Kwangsi side of the border. Because they never committed crimes in China, the Kwangsi authorities ignored their occasional presence. About 1904 Lu's band became such a menace that the French authorities complained to the Chinese imperial government at Peking. Soon afterwards, the Kwangsi authorities were ordered to bring Lu under control. Lu's friend Ch'en Ping-k'un, who served under Su Tzu-hsi, the commander in charge of the Kwangsi border area, suggested to Su that he pacify Lu by making him an officer in the Kwangsi forces. Su adopted the proposal, Lu accepted it, and the brigand band became a battalion under Lu's command. At this time, Lu also came to know Ts'en Ch'unhsuan (q.v.), the governor general of Kwangtung-Kwangsi. By 1907 Lu Jung-t'ing had achieved the rank of tsan-chang [lieutenant colonel] and had received command of 12 more battalions of the border defense corps. In the autumn of 1907 a group of local revolutionaries led by Huang Ming-t'an captured the mountain fort at Chennan-kuan. Although Huang Hsing, Hu Hanmin (qq.v.), and Sun Yat-sen advanced into Kwangsi in an effort to assist the guerrillas, Lung Chi-kuang (q.v.), then the commandant for border defense, and Lu Jung-t'ing soon suppressed the uprising. Lung later was made ti-tu [army commander] of Kwangsi, with Lu Jung-t'ing as tsung-ping [brigadier]. When Lung was transferred to Kwangtung in 1911 as ti-tu, Lu became acting ti-tu of Kwangsi. After the republican revolution began with the Wuchang revolt of 10 October 1911, Lu Jung-t'ing joined with Shen Ping-k'un and Wang Chih-hsiang, the governor and the treasurer of Kwangsi, in declaring the province independent. Shen Ping-k'un was elected tutuh [military governor] of Kwangsi, with Lu as deputy tutuh. In 1913, when the revolutionaries launched the so-called second revolution {see Li Lieh-chün) against Yuan Shih-k'ai, Lu supported Yuan and suppressed a large uprising at Liuchow. Lu also gave military aid to Lung Chi-kuang. Although Lu was considered one of Yuan Shih-k'ai's most loyal supporters, he broke with Yuan in 1916. The arrogance of the Peiyang clique and the granting of higher honors to such other commanders as Lung Chi-kuang had irritated Lu for more than a year. He had been mollified somewhat when Yuan had made his son a cadet in the Model Corps, a hand-picked unit commanded by Yuan himself A few months later, however, the young Lu died from a sudden illness in Wuhan on his way from Peking to Kwangsi. Some of Lu's advisers suggested that the boy had been poisoned by Yuan—a far-fetched story—and Lu apparently believed them. By that time, the Yunnan uprising of December 1915, led by Ts'ai O and T'ang Chi-yao (qq.v.), had begun. The revolutionaries called on all Chinese to rise against Yuan, saying that he had betrayed the republic. Lu's friend and aide Ch'en Ping-k'un urged him to support the Yunnan leaders, as did Liang Ch'i-ch'ao (q.v.) and Ts'en Ch'un-hsuan. Early in 1916, at a meeting in Nanning, Lu informed his close associates of his decision to join the southwestern coalition against Yuan, telling them to keep his decision secret. He then sent Yuan Shih-k'ai a message requesting that Ch'en Ping-k'un replace him as tutuh so that he could lead an expedition against Kweichow, the destination of some revolutionary troops. Yuan appointed Lu pacification commissioner for Kweichow and sent him a large sum of money to finance the expedition. Yuan also ordered Lung Chi-kuang to lead an army to Yunnan by way of Kwangsi. Because Lung's son had married Lu's daughter, Yuan expected the two men to cooperate, but when Lung's forces reached Paishih, Lu's men disarmed them. On 15 March 1916 Lu declared Kwangsi independent. In April, he brought some of his men to Kwangtung, where an uneasy alliance had been formed between the revolutionaries and Lung Chi-kuang because neither of them could maintain order in the province alone. On 1 May 1916 Lu Jung-t'ing established the headquarters of the National Protection Army of Kwangtung and Kwangsi at Chaoching, a river port between Canton and Wuchow. He asked Ts'en Ch'un-hsuan to become its commander. Soon afterwards, Liang Ch'i-ch'ao, who had played an important role in the Yunnan uprising, went to Kwangsi for discussions with Lu about organizing a military government. On 7 May 1916 a military council was established at Chaoching, with T'ang Chi-yao (q.v.), the governor of Yunnan, as its chairman, and Ts'en Ch'unhsuan as vice chairman. It repudiated the authority of Yuan Shih-k'ai on the grounds that he had betrayed the republic and announced that, according to the provisional constitution of 1912, Li Yuan-hung (q.v.) was the legal chief of state. The council then stated that because Li was not yet in a position to exercise his legal authority, it was assuming the powers of the cabinet and the responsibility for directing operations against Yuan Shih-k'ai. After Yuan Shih-k'ai died in June 1916, Li Yuan-hung became president at Peking, with Tuan Ch'ijui (q.v.) as premier. Ts'en Ch'un-hsuan and Lu Jung-t'ing then announced the dissolution of the southern military government. Because of growing agitation in Kwangtung for the removal of Lung Chi-kuang, Li Yuan-hung transferred Lung to Hainan Island as commissioner of mining development and appointed Lu Jung-t'ing tutuh of Kwangtung.

In March 1917 Lu Jung-t'ing went to Peking, where he was received and entertained by Li Yuan-hung, Tuan Ch'i-jui, and other officials. During Lu's absence from Canton his brother-in-law T'an Hao-ming served as acting tutuh of Kwangtung. Lu soon made arrangements with Tuan Ch'i-jui to have T'an appointed tutuh of Kwangsi and to have Ch'en Ping-k'un made tutuh of Kwangtung. Lu became inspector general of Kwangtung and Kwangsi, and his authority over these two important provinces made him the strongest warlord in south China. His prominence was such that during the restoration attempt of Chang Hsün (q.v.) in July 1917 Lu was named imperial viceroy of Kwangtung and Kwangsi in the hope of winning his support. After Sun Yat-sen initiated the so-called constitution protection movement in the summer of 1917, he received assurances of cooperation from Lu Jung-t'ing and T'ang Chi yao. On 31 August, the rump parliament at Canton established a military government, with Sun Yat-sen as commander in chief (tayuan-shuai) and with Lu Jung-t'ing and T'ang Chi-yao as commanders (yuan-shuai). Although Lu allowed the new government to 'exist at Canton and took part in it, he did not sever all links with the Peking government. The situation at Canton was an odd one—Sun Yat-sen had the support of the rump parliament, but he had no military forces; Lu Jung-t'ing had military power, but he did not enjoy popular support. Once Lu had consolidated his own authority and had won some territory in Hunan in October-November 1917, he began to lose interest in the constitution protection movement. He and the other Kwangsi militarists also attempted to prevent Sun from building up his own military establishment {see Ch'en Chiungming). In the spring of 1918, having become dissatisfied with the military government, Lu and the other southern militarists caused the reorganization of the Canton regime. Supreme authority was given to a board of seven directors general: Ts'en Ch'un-hsuan (chairman), Lu Jung-t'ing, Sun Yat-sen, T'ang Shao-yi, Wu T'ing-fang, T'ang Chi-yao, and Lin Pao-tse. Sun Yat-sen withdrew from the government in May (although he did not resign formally until August) and went to Shanghai. T'ang Shao-yi and Wu T'ing-fang also left Canton; and T'ang Chi-yao, who had not come to Canton at the time of the reorganization, remained in Yunnan. With only Ts'en Ch'un-hsuan, Lu Jung-t'ing, and Lin Pao-tse in Canton, the board could not act, for it lacked a quorum. The rump parliament remedied the situation by appointing Hsiung K'o-wu, Liu Hsien-shih, and Wen Chung-yao to the board.

In August 1920 Ch'en Chiung-ming (q.v.), then at Changchow, Fukien, w^ith his Kwangtung Army, decided to give active support to Sun Yat-sen's plan to establish a new national government at Canton. He advanced into Kwangtung at Sun's behest and, with the help of local militia, defeated the Kwangsi armies. On 24 October, Lu Jung-t'ing and Ts'en Ch'en-hsuan announced the dissolution of the military government. Lu departed for Kwangsi with his remnant forces, and Ts'en went to Shanghai. The Kwangtung Army occupied Canton on 26 October.

In December 1920 the Peking government appointed Lu Jung-t'ing defense commissioner for the Kwangtung border area; a month later, he was made defense commissioner for the Kwangsi border area. Sun Yat-sen, on assuming office as president extraordinary of the new Canton government in May 1921, announced plans for a northern expedition and ordered Ch'en Chiung-ming to advance against the Kwangsi militarists. Lu's armies were unable to hold back Ch'en's Kwangtung Army; it captured Wuchow on 26 June and Nanning in July. Lu's armies had been destroyed and Kwangsi had been brought under the control of the Canton government by the end of September. Because Lu Jung-t'ing's authority had been rooted in military power, the destruction of his army ended his career as a public figure, although he made a few attempts to return to power. In 1923 he asked T'ang Chi-yao for help, and T'ang sent a small force into Kwangsi. Ts'ao K'un (q.v.) appointed him military governor of Kwangsi in 1924, but Lu was unable to assume office because he had no military establishment. Lu spent the last years of his life in Tientsin and Shanghai, where he lived modestly. He died in Shanghai in 1927.