Yang Sen (c.1887-), Szechwanese military and political leader who served as commander in chief of the Twenty-seventh Group Army and deputy commander of the Ninth War Area in 1938-44. He was governor of Kweichow in 1945-47 and mayor of Chungking in 1948-49. A native of Kuangan, Szechwan, Yang Sen was born into a scholarly family of landowners. Although many members of the family were interested in things military, Yang's father did not wish him to pursue a military career. Accordingly, Yang was sent to a private school for the classical education that would prepare him for the imperial examinations and a civil service career. But military exercises interested Yang more than books, and he secretly took up such training with a cousin. Some time later, when members of the Yang clan assembled in the village square for an exhibition of military skills on the occasion of the Dragon Boat festival, Yang Sen, at the urging of his cousin, displayed his skills in horsemanship and archery. As a result, Yang's father relented and allowed him to enroll at the Szechwan Army Primary School.

Upon graduation in 1906, Yang Sen enrolled at the Szechwan Short-Term Military Academy, where one of his classmates was Liu Hsiang (q.v.). In 1910 he began active service as a platoon leader in the 65th Regiment of the Szechwan forces. About this time, he joined the T'ung-meng-hui, and in 1911 he was among those who actively opposed the Ch'ing government's plans for nationalization of the projected Szechwan-Hankow railroad and who supported the republican revolution. In 1912 he and Liu Hsiang were selected for service in the guards battalion of Chang Lan (q.v.). After participating in the so-called second revolution {see Li Lieh-chün) in 1913, Yang fled to Yunnan, where he joined the military staff of Ts'ai O (q.v.). When Ts'ai returned to Yunnan in December 1915 to organize a revolt against Yuan Shihk'ai, Yang became a staff officer in the First Army, led by Ts'ai, of the National Protection Army. He marched into Szechwan with that force at the beginning of 1916. The Yunnan force remained in Szechwan long after the deaths of both Yuan Shih-k'ai and Ts'ai O. Finally, in May 1920, Szechwanese troops began a campaign against the "guest armies" from Yunnan and Kweichow. Yang, as a loyal Szechwanese, promptly joined the Second Army of Liu Hsiang as a regimental commander. When that campaign ended, the provincial military leaders declared Szechwan's independence and elected Liu Hsiang commander in chief of all Szechwan armies. Yang succeeded Liu as commander of the Second Army. In 1922, after launching a campaign against Tan Mou-hsin, Liu Hsiang and Yang Sen were forced out of Szechwan by a coalition headed by Liu Ch'eng-hsun. Yang then entered the service of Wu P'ei-fu (q.v.) as commander of a mixed brigade (reorganized from the remnants of his own army) at Ichang, Hupeh. Liu became his director of reorganization. With the aid of Wu P'ei-fu's forces, they fought their way back to power in Szechwan in 1923. Yang then became Szechwan military rehabilitation commissioner, with Liu as Szechwan-Yunnan border defense commissioner. But when Wu P'ei-fu fell from power at Peking late in 1924, Liu decided to move against Yang. In March 1925 Liu's uncle Liu Wen-hui, Teng Hsi-hou (qq.v.). Yuan Tsu-ming, and Lai Hsin-hui moved against Yang and drove him from Szechwan. In the spring of 1926, however, Yang returned to power, with the aid of Wu P'ei-fu and with the support of Teng Hsi-hou and Yuan Tsu-ming. That May, Yang became civil governor of Szechwan, with Teng as military governor and Yuan as Szechwan- Kweichow border defense commissioner. When the Northern Expedition began in mid- 1926, Yang Sen decided to support the Nationalists. In June, he was appointed commander of the Fifth Route Army. Later that year, he became commander of the Twentieth Army, stationed in the Wanhsien- Ichang sector. The head of the Twentieth Army's political department was Chu Teh (q.v.), who had served with Yang in Ts'ai O's forces. When Yang discovered that his troops were being indoctrinated with Marxist-Leninist principles, he caused the arrest and execution of 23 cadres in the 14th Division. Chu Teh, readily perceiving the significance of this development, abandoned his post and went to Kiangsi. When the Kuomintang split into factions in 1927 over the question of cooperation with the Communists, Yang decided to support Chiang Kai-shek. Although he aided Chiang in campaigns against the Wuhan regime, early in 1928 he was relieved of his command because of his continuing association with Wu P'ei-fu. When it became apparent that Yang had no ambitions involving Wu, he was restored to command and was appointed to the Szechwan government council. In December 1928 he and other Szechwanese leaders issued a public telegram denouncing Liu Wen-hui, then the governor of Szechwan. Internal conflict again plagued Szechwan as the forces of Yang Sen and Liu Hsiang took to the field. Yang did well in the conflict until his supporter Kuo Ju-tung defected to the two Lius. In January 1929 Yang was forced out of Wanhsien and was dismissed from his posts by the National Government. Yang remained at the head of his army and consolidated his position in Nanchung, Kwangan, Chühsien, Yingshan, Pengan, and Yuehchih. He remained aloof from civil conflict until late 1932, when he joined with Liu Hsiang and Teng Hsi-hou in a campaign against Liu Wen-hui.

After the Communist Fourth Front Army of Hsvi Hsiang-ch'ien (q.v.) inflicted a defeat on Yang Sen in the autumn of 1933, Yang accepted an appointment as commander in chief of the Fourth Route of the so-called bandit-suppression forces in Szechwan, serving under Liu Hsiang. The campaign against Liu Wen-hui also continued, and in October Liu Hsiang succeeded him as governor of Szechwan. With the help of Nationalist troops commanded by Hu Tsung-nan (q.v.), Yang Sen and Liu Hsiang countered the Communist threat to Szechwan in 1935.

When the Sino-Japanese war broke out in July 1937, Yang Sen was the first Szechwanese general to accept orders to move his troops out of the province and to the front. He fought bravely on the Shanghai front and at Anking, Anhwei, and he received command of the Sixth Army Group. In 1938 he became commander in chief of the Twenty-seventh Group Army and deputy commander of the Ninth War Area (Hunan and western Kiangsi), serving under Hsueh Yueh (q.v.). After he repulsed major attacks on Changsha in September 1939, September 1941, and December 1941, he was promoted to the rank of full general. In 1942-43 his forces held the Hsinchiang River line without much difficulty. In 1944, however, the Japanese launched the offensive known as Operation Ichi-go and virtually destroyed Yang's forces, capturing Changsha on 18 June. Yang was transferred to the Hunan-Kwangsi border in September and was relieved of his command in December. On 16 January 1945 he was appointed governor of Kweichow. He held that post until April 1948, when he became mayor of Chungking and director of its Kuomintang headquarters. When the Chinese Communists forced the National Government to retreat to Chungking in the autumn of 1949, Yang received the concurrent post of Chungking garrison commander. He remained loyal to the Nationalists even though most of the Szechwan militarists declared allegiance to the Chinese Communists. He finally left Szechwan for Taiwan when ordered to do so by Chiang Kai-shek in December. Some of his forces continued to fight the Chinese Communists in the early 1950's. In Taipei, Yang served as an adviser on national strategy in the presidential office and as chairman of the Chinese National Athletic Foundation.

Yang Sen married several times and had many children, most of whom remained on the mainland after 1949.