15 Facts About Zhao Erfeng

Zhao Erfeng, courtesy name Jihe, was a late Qing Dynasty official and Han Chinese bannerman who belonged to the Plain Blue Banner.

Zhao Erfeng was an assistant amban in Tibet at Chamdo in Kham.

Zhao Erfeng was appointed in March 1908 under Lien Yu, the main amban in Lhasa.

Formerly Director-General of the Sichuan-Hubei Railway and acting viceroy of Sichuan province, Zhao was a much-maligned Chinese general of the late imperial era who led military campaigns throughout Kham, earning himself the nickname "the Butcher of Kham" and "Zhao the Butcher".

Zhao Erfeng crushed the Tibetan Lamas and their monasteries in the 1905 Tibetan Rebellion in Yunnan and Sichuan, he then crushed the rebels at the siege of Chantreng which lasted from 1905 to 1906.

Zhao Erfeng extended Chinese rule into Kham, and was appointed Amban in 1908.

Zhao Erfeng had successfully dismantled the powers of the tribal chieftains within the region of Kham.

Zhao Erfeng retained in office the high officials then appointed, and pardoned all Tibetans who had assisted the mission.

On 7 September 1911, Zhao Erfeng ordered the arrest of the Pu Diajun, Luo Lun, and others.

At a protest on 8 September 1911, Zhao Erfeng ordered soldiers to fire on the protestors, which they did, killing 26 people during the Bloody Chengdu Incident.

Zhao Erfeng summoned troops from Wuchang, leading rebels there to see it as an opportunity to rebel.

Zhao Erfeng was the younger brother of Zhao Erxun, who was an important figure in the final years of the Qing Empire.

Zhao Erfeng played an antagonistic role during the Railway Protection Movement and the Miao rebellion in Yongning.

Zhao Erfeng planned to unify Sichuan, Kham and U-Tsang into a single administrative district in order to counter British influence in the region as well as on the Dalai Lama.

In Kham, Zhao Erfeng employed the bureaucratization of native officers, more commonly known by its Chinese name of kai-t'u kuei-liu, which was a policy carried out by Later Ming dynasty and Qing dynasty depriving local native chieftains, or t'u-ssu of their political power.