Yondonwangchug was an Inner Mongolia

Inner Mongolia

Inner Mongolia is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China, located in the northern region of the country. Inner Mongolia shares an international border with the countries of Mongolia and the Russian Federation...

n nobleman of Ulanqab League and politician under the Qing Dynasty

Qing Dynasty

The Qing Dynasty was the last dynasty of China, ruling from 1644 to 1912 with a brief, abortive restoration in 1917. It was preceded by the Ming Dynasty and followed by the Republic of China....

, Republic of China

Republic of China

The Republic of China , commonly known as Taiwan , is a unitary sovereign state located in East Asia. Originally based in mainland China, the Republic of China currently governs the island of Taiwan , which forms over 99% of its current territory, as well as Penghu, Kinmen, Matsu and other minor...

 and Mengjiang

Mengjiang

Mengjiang , also known in English as Mongol Border Land, was an autonomous area in Inner Mongolia, operating under nominal Chinese sovereignty and Japanese control. It consisted of the then-Chinese provinces of Chahar and Suiyuan, corresponding to the central part of modern Inner Mongolia...

 governments.

Names

His name Yondonwangchug, also spelled Yondan Wangchuk or Yunden Wangchuk, is of Tibetan origin

Tibetan name

Ethnic Tibetan personal names typically consist of two juxtaposed elements.Family names are rare except among those of aristocratic ancestry...

; it is transcribed into Chinese as . For short, he is referred to as Prince Yun, a translation of .

Career

Yondonwangchug was born in 1870 in what is today Darhan Muminggan United Banner

Darhan Muminggan United Banner

Darhan Muminggan United Banner is a banner of west-central Inner Mongolia, People's Republic of China. It is under the administration of Baotou City, to the south-southwest.-References:*...

. In his early years, he studied the Tibetan

Tibetan language

The Tibetan languages are a cluster of mutually-unintelligible Tibeto-Burman languages spoken primarily by Tibetan peoples who live across a wide area of eastern Central Asia bordering the Indian subcontinent, including the Tibetan Plateau and the northern Indian subcontinent in Baltistan, Ladakh,...

 and Chinese

Chinese language

The Chinese language is a language or language family consisting of varieties which are mutually intelligible to varying degrees. Originally the indigenous languages spoken by the Han Chinese in China, it forms one of the branches of Sino-Tibetan family of languages...

 languages. He became deputy head of Ulanqab League in 1896. In 1924, he established the banner's first school.

In 1934, he took up the chairmanship of the Mongol Local Autonomy Political Affairs Committee

Mongol Local Autonomy Political Affairs Committee

The Mongol Local Autonomy Political Affairs Committee , also referred to as the Pailingmiao Council or Peilingmiao Council, was a political body of ethnic Mongols in the Republic of China...

 under the Nanjing

Nanjing

' is the capital of Jiangsu province in China and has a prominent place in Chinese history and culture, having been the capital of China on several occasions...

 government. However, he was frustrated by its limited authority and clashes with Suiyuan Province authorities under Fu Zuoyi

Fu Zuoyi

Fu Zuoyi was a Chinese military leader. He began his military career in the service of Yan Xishan, and he was widely praised for his defense of Suiyuan from the Japanese. During the final stages of the Chinese Civil War, Fu surrendered the large and strategic garrison around Beiping to Communist...

. Angered by Shirabdorji's uncooperative attitude towards the Committee, in October 1935 Yondonwangchug attempted to strip Shirabdorji of his titles, and sent troops to Shirabdorji's residence; Shirabdorji responded that the council had no power to order his dismissal or appoint new officials to his positions, which were, after all, hereditary. There, Yondonwangchug's forces clashed with Fu's; the Nanjing government did little to intervene. After he incident he went into virtual retirement, and formally resigned in March 1936.

Yondonwangchug was named chairman of the pro-Japanese Mongol Military Government when it was established in April 1936. In July 1936, a newspaper account states that he was arrested on a visit to Bailingmiao and held in the military headquarters there, and charged with high treason. In October 1937 he was announced as the chairman of the new Mongol United Autonomous Government. He died in July 1938, reportedly by poisoning.