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Cao Kun (Traditional Chinese: ??; Simplified Chinese: ??; pinyin
Pinyin

Pinyin, more formally Hanyu pinyin, is the most commonly used Romanization system for Standard Mandarin. Hanyu is the Chinese Language, and pinyin means "phonetics", or more literally, "spelling sound" or "spelled sound"....
: Cáo Kun; Wade-Giles
Wade-Giles

Wade-Giles , sometimes abbreviated Wade, is a Romanization system for the Mandarin Chinese language used in Beijing. It developed from a system produced by Thomas Francis Wade in the mid-19th century, and reached settled form with Herbert Giles' Chinese language-English language dictionary of 1892....
: Ts'ao K'un; Courtesy name: Zhongshan ) (December 12, 1862-May 15, 1938) was a military leader of the Zhili clique
Zhili clique

The Zhili clique was one of several mutually hostile cliques or factions that split from the Beiyang Army during the Republic of China's warlord era....
 in the Beiyang Army
Beiyang Army

The Beiyang Army was a powerful, Western-style China armed force created by the Qing Dynasty government in the late 19th century. It was the centerpiece of a general reconstruction of China's military system....
.

Early life & Rise to leadership
Cao was born in a poor family in Tianjin
Tianjin

is the third largest city of the People's Republic of China in terms of urban population. Administratively it is one of the four municipality that have Political divisions of China status, reporting directly to the central government....
.






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Cao Kun
Cao Kun (Traditional Chinese: ??; Simplified Chinese: ??; pinyin
Pinyin

Pinyin, more formally Hanyu pinyin, is the most commonly used Romanization system for Standard Mandarin. Hanyu is the Chinese Language, and pinyin means "phonetics", or more literally, "spelling sound" or "spelled sound"....
: Cáo Kun; Wade-Giles
Wade-Giles

Wade-Giles , sometimes abbreviated Wade, is a Romanization system for the Mandarin Chinese language used in Beijing. It developed from a system produced by Thomas Francis Wade in the mid-19th century, and reached settled form with Herbert Giles' Chinese language-English language dictionary of 1892....
: Ts'ao K'un; Courtesy name: Zhongshan ) (December 12, 1862-May 15, 1938) was a military leader of the Zhili clique
Zhili clique

The Zhili clique was one of several mutually hostile cliques or factions that split from the Beiyang Army during the Republic of China's warlord era....
 in the Beiyang Army
Beiyang Army

The Beiyang Army was a powerful, Western-style China armed force created by the Qing Dynasty government in the late 19th century. It was the centerpiece of a general reconstruction of China's military system....
.

Early life & Rise to leadership


Cao was born in a poor family in Tianjin
Tianjin

is the third largest city of the People's Republic of China in terms of urban population. Administratively it is one of the four municipality that have Political divisions of China status, reporting directly to the central government....
. During the First Sino-Japanese War
First Sino-Japanese War

The First Sino-Japanese War was a war fought between Qing Dynasty China and Meiji period Imperial Japan over the control of Korea. The Sino-Japanese War would come to symbolize the degeneration and enfeeblement of the Qing Dynasty and demonstrate how successful modernization had been in Japan since the Meiji Restoration as compared with the...
 in 1894, he went with the army to fight in Choson. After the war was over, he joined Yuan Shikai
Yuan Shikai

Yuan Shikai was an important Chinese people general and politician famous for his influence during the Qing Dynasty#Rule of Empress Dowager Cixi, his role in the events leading up to the abdication of the Pu Yi of China, his autocratic rule as the second President of the Republic of China of the Republic of China, and his short-lived attem...
 to participate in the training of New Army
New Army

The New Armies were the modernized Qing dynasty army, military training and equipped according to Western world standards. The first of the new armies was founded in 1895 with Germany arms....
 (Known as the Beiyang Army
Beiyang Army

The Beiyang Army was a powerful, Western-style China armed force created by the Qing Dynasty government in the late 19th century. It was the centerpiece of a general reconstruction of China's military system....
). Admired by Yuan, Cao managed to rise very quickly.

He was made a general in the Beiyang Army
Beiyang Army

The Beiyang Army was a powerful, Western-style China armed force created by the Qing Dynasty government in the late 19th century. It was the centerpiece of a general reconstruction of China's military system....
 and led the Zhili clique after the death of Feng Guozhang
Feng Guozhang

F?ng Gu?zhang, a native of Hejian, Hebei. He was a Beiyang Army general and politician in early History of the Republic of China. He founded the Zhili clique of warlords....
. During the 1918 election, he was promised the vice-presidency by Duan Qirui
Duan Qirui

Duan Qirui was a China warlord and politician, commander in the Beiyang Army, and the president of the Republic of China from November 24, 1924 to April 20, 1926....
 but the office remained vacant after most of the National Assembly
National Assembly of the Republic of China

The National Assembly of the Republic of China refers to several parliamentary bodies that existed in the history of the Republic of China. The National Assembly was originally founded in 1913 as the first legislature in Chinese history, but was disbanded less than a year later as President Yuan Shikai assumed dictatorial power....
 left, depriving it of a quorum
Quorum

In law, a quorum is the minimum number of members of a deliberative body necessary to conduct the business of that group. Ordinarily, this is a majority of the people expected to be there, although many bodies may have a lower or higher quorum....
. He felt betrayed by Duan and defeated him in battle in 1920. He forced the resignations of both Xu Shichang
Xu Shichang

Xu Shichang or was President of the Republic of China from October 10, 1918 to June 2, 1922....
 and Li Yuanhong
Li Yuanhong

Li Yuanhong was a China general and political figure during the Qing dynasty and the History of the Republic of China. He was twice president of the Republic of China....
 and was president of the Republic of China
President of the Republic of China

The President of the Republic of China is the head of state of the Republic of China . The Republic of China was founded in 1911 governing the whole of China....
 (in Beijing
Beijing

is a metropolis in northern China and the Capital of the People's Republic of China. It is one of the four municipality of China, which are equivalent to province in China's Political divisions of China....
) from October 10, 1923 to November 2, 1924.

"Bribing President"


Cao Kun infamously acquired the presidential office by openly bribing assembly members with 5000 silver dollars each. This episode brought disrepute to the Beiyang government
Beiyang Government

The Beiyang government or warlord government collectively refers to a series of military regimes that ruled from Beijing from 1912 to 1928 at Zhongnanhai....
 and its assembly, which lacked a quorum to even hold elections. It turned all the rival factions against him and his own clique began suffering from dissension. Relations with his chief protege, Wu Peifu
Wu Peifu

Wu Peifu or Wu P'ei-fu , was a major Chinese warlord in the struggles between the warlords who dominated History of the Republic of China from 1916 to 1927....
, soured and there was rumours of an impending split within the Zhili clique but they stayed together to fight against the Fengtian clique
Fengtian clique

The Fengtian Clique was one of several mutually hostile cliques or factions that split from the Beiyang Army in the Republic of China's warlord era....
.

One of his first acts as president was to promulgate the 1923 constitution of China. Hastily drafted by the guilt-ridden assembly, it was deemed the most democratic and progressive yet, but like previous charters it was ignored completely.

During a war against Zhang Zuolin
Zhang Zuolin

Zhang Zu?l?n , nicknamed the "Old Marshal" , "Rain Marshal" ....
 in October 1924, Cao was betrayed and imprisoned by his General Feng Yuxiang
Feng Yuxiang

Feng Yuxiang was a warlord during history of the Republic of China.As the son of an officer in the Qing Dynasty Qing_Dynasty#Transition_and_modernization, Feng spent his youth immersed in the military life....
 in the Beijing coup
Beijing coup

The Beijing coup refers to the 1924 coup d'etat by Feng Yuxiang against the Beiyang government of President of the Republic of China Cao Kun. Although there have been several coups in Beijing before and after, the 1924 coup remains the most significant and dramatic....
. Feng occupied Beijing
Beijing

is a metropolis in northern China and the Capital of the People's Republic of China. It is one of the four municipality of China, which are equivalent to province in China's Political divisions of China....
 and forced Cao to resign. His brother, Cao Rui, committed suicide while under house arrest. He was released two years later as a goodwill gesture by Feng to Wu Peifu.

Cao died in his home at Tianjin
Tianjin

is the third largest city of the People's Republic of China in terms of urban population. Administratively it is one of the four municipality that have Political divisions of China status, reporting directly to the central government....
 in May 1938.

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