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Zhang Xun

Chinese general (1854-1923)

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General referenceInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionJun 24, 2026
Entity authorityQ699600
Source-derived summary

Zhang Xun (Chinese: 張勳; pinyin: Zhāng Xūn; Wade–Giles: Chang1 Hsün1; September 16, 1854 – September 11, 1923), courtesy name Shaoxuan (少軒), art name Songshou Laoren (松壽老人), nickname Bianshuai (辮帥, lit. 'marshal with queue'), was a Chinese general and Qing loyalist who attempted to restore the abdicated emperor Puyi in the Manchu Restoration of 1917. He also supported Yuan Shikai during his time as president.

Biography

He was born on September 16, 1854, in Chitian village, Fengxin county, Jiangxi.

Zhang served as a military escort for Empress Dowager Cixi during the Boxer Uprising. He later served as a subordinate of General Yuan Shikai in the Beiyang Army. He fought for the Qing at Nanjing in 1911, and then after the fall of the Qing, he remained loyal to Yuan Shikai. Despite serving as a general in the new Republic, he refused to cut his queue, as a symbol of his loyalty to the Qing. He was called the "Queue General". He seized Nanjing from the KMT in 1913, defeating the Second Revolution. Despite allowing his troops to savagely loot the city, Zhang was named a field marshal by Yuan.

Editorial summary

Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Zhang Xun” is chinese general (1854-1923). The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Zhang, Chinese and general, not as a finished interpretation.

Editorial reviewA practical starting point whose main value is the path it opens into stronger specialist and primary sources. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1854, 1923, 1917, 1911—that can be checked directly. The authority record carries competing date values—1854-09-16, 1854-01-01—which should remain separate until their references and qualifiers are resolved. For this dossier, Zhang, Chinese and general is the immediate research focus.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

The phrase “chinese general (1854-1923)” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.

Evidence profile

Named sources, stable identifiers and responsible institutions provide the strongest route from overview to verifiable evidence. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jun 24, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q699600. VIAF identifies the subject as 70274838. The Library of Congress control number is n82075579. 4 of 4 selected statements include explicit references; 1 carry qualifiers and 1 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1854, 1923, 1917 and 1911.

Critical limits

Overview language is designed for orientation and should not be treated as a substitute for the evidence cited beneath it. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.

Best used for
  • Subject orientation
  • Search vocabulary
  • Locating named sources
Verify next

The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Zhang Xun”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Zhang Xun primary sources, Zhang Xun archive and Zhang research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Zhang Xun”?
  2. Which institution is responsible for the underlying evidence?
  3. Which cited source is closest to the event, object or claim?
Subject index

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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from Zhang Xun” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.