Sheng Shicai (Chinese: 盛世才; 3 December 1895 – 13 July 1970) was a Chinese warlord who ruled the province of Xinjiang from 1933 to 1944.
He was a Manchurian-born Han Chinese, educated in Tokyo, Empire of Japan, where he studied political economy and later attended the Imperial Japanese Army Academy. Sheng had become a Marxist in his youth, and after returning to China he participated in the anti-imperialist May Fourth Movement in 1919. In 1927, he joined the Northern Expedition, a military campaign of the Kuomintang against the Beiyang government.
In 1929, he was called into service of the Governor of Xinjiang, Jin Shuren, where he served as Chief of Staff of the Frontier Military and Chief Instructor at the Provincial Military College. With the Kumul Rebellion ongoing, Jin was overthrown in a coup d'état on 12 April 1933 and Sheng was appointed duban or Military Governor of Xinjiang. Since then, he led a power struggle against his rivals, of whom Ma Zhongying and Zhang Peiyuan were most notable. The first to be removed were the coup leaders and by them appointed Civil Governor Liu Wenlong by September 1933. Ma and Zhang were defeated militarily by June 1934 with help from the Soviet Union, whom Sheng invited to intervene, subordinating himself to the Soviets in return. He was dubbed the "King of Xinjiang" during his rule.
As ruler of Xinjiang, Sheng implemented his Soviet-inspired policies through his political program of Six Great Policies, adopted in December 1934. His rule was marked by his nationality policy which promoted national and religious equality and identity of various nationalities of Xinjiang. The province saw a process of modernization, but also the subordination of economic interests in Soviet favor. The Soviets had a monopoly over Xinjiang trade and exploited its rare materials and oil. In 1937, in parallel with the Soviet Great Purge, Sheng conducted a purge on his own, executing, torturing to death and imprisoning 100,000 people.
With the Soviets distracted by its war with Germany, Sheng approached the Nationalist Chinese government in July 1942 and expelled the Soviet military and technical personnel. However, he still maintained effective power over Xinjiang. In the meantime, the Soviets managed to hold off the Germans and the Japanese launched an extensive offensive against the Chinese, which led Sheng to try to change sides again by arresting the Kuomintang officials and invoking Soviet intervention for the second time in 1944. The Soviets ignored the request and the Chinese government removed him from the post naming him Minister of Agriculture and Forestry in August 1944.
Sheng held the ministerial post by July 1945 and later worked as an adviser to Hu Zongnan and held a military post. He joined the rest of the Kuomintang in Taiwan after the defeat in the Chinese Civil War in 1949. In Taiwan, Sheng lived in a comfortable retirement and died in Taipei in 1970.
Sheng, an ethnic Han Chinese, was born in Kaiyuan, Manchuria, in a well-to-do peasant family on 3 December 1895. His great-grandfather, Sheng Fuxin (盛福信), was originally from Shandong Province and later fled to Kaiyuan. Sheng enrolled at the Provincial Forestry and Agricultural School in Mukden, aged 14. Aged 17, Sheng enrolled at the Wusong Public School in Shanghai, where he studied political science and economy. There, he became friendly with students and teachers of "radical inclinations". After graduating in 1915, under their advice he went to study in Tokyo, Empire of Japan. There, Sheng enrolled at the Waseda University, where he studied political economy for a year. During that time, Sheng expressed nationalistic attitudes and was exposed to The ABC of Communism (Chinese: 共产主义ABC\) and other leftist publications.
Unrest in China made him return to homeland. In 1919, he participated in the May Fourth Movement as a representative of the Liaoning students. During this period, he developed radical and anti-Japanese sentiments. By his own admission, Sheng became a Marxist the very same year and his political opponents claimed he became a communist during his second stay in Japan in the 1920s. During that time, he realised the "futility of book learning", and decided to enter a military career. He took military training in the southern province of Kwantung, known for liberal and reformist views. Later, he enrolled at the Northeastern Military Academy.
Sheng entered military service under Guo Songling, Deputy of Zhang Zuolin, a Manchurian warlord. He rapidly rose to become Staff Officer with the rank of lieutenant colonel, and was given command of a company. Because of his commendable service, Guo sponsored his admission to the Imperial Japanese Army Academy for advanced military studies. Three years later he completed his studies, with minor interruptions in 1925, when he was involved in Manchurian politics.
At that time, Sheng supported a campaign against Zhang, briefly returning to Manchuria. Although he supported the anti-Zhang coup, he was able to return to Japan with the support of Feng Yuxiang and Chiang Kai-Shek, from whom he received financial help and considered him as his patron.
Sheng returned from Japan in 1927 to participate in the Northern Expedition A rising young officer, Sheng was given the rank of colonel and served as a Staff Officer of the Chiang's field headquarters under He Yingqin. During the Northern Expedition, Sheng proved himself as a worthy officer, serving in various command staff capacities.
Sheng was a member of the Guominjun, a leftist nationalist faction that supported the Nationalist government in China. However, Sheng did not join the Kuomintang because of his belief in Marxism. After the Expedition was completed, he was made chief of the war operations section of the general staff in Nanjing, but resigned in 1929 over a disagreement with his superiors. After the apparent setback in his career, Sheng dedicated himself to the question of strengthening China's border defences.
Not long after Sheng's resignation, a delegation from Xinjiang came to Nanjing to ask for financial aid. The Governor of Xinjiang Jin Shuren asked one of the members of the delegation, the Deputy General Secretary of Xinjiang Guang Lu, to find a competent officer to reorganise the provincial military. After discreet enquiries, Sheng was appointed to Jin's staff and arrived in Xinjiang via Soviet Union in the winter of 1929–30. Chiang Kai-Shek may have endorsed Sheng's decision to go to Xinjiang. Therefore, the appointment of Ma Zhongying, Sheng's rival, as a commander of the 36th Division in Xinjiang embarrassed and frustrated Sheng. Sheng's welcome in Xinjiang was cold. Jin considered him a potential threat. Despite the doubts, Jin appointed him Chief of Staff of the Frontier Army and subsequently named him Chief Instructor at the Provincial Military College.
In the summer of 1932, the fighting between Ma and Jin had significantly intensified. Ma's Hui forces were able to break the defence lines at Hami and enter Xinjiang through the Hexi Corridor. In December 1932, Ma's forces started the siege of Ürümqi, but the White Russians and Sheng's troops successfully defended the city. In March 1933, the Manchurian Salvation Army, part of the National Revolutionary Army (NRA), came to their aid through the Soviet territory. During these events, Jin's prestige declined and correspondingly Sheng became increasingly popular. The culmination was the coup staged by the White Russians and a group of provincial bureaucrats led by Chen Zhong, Tao Mingyue and Li Xiaotian on 12 April 1933, who overthrew Jin, who escaped to China proper via Siberia.
Sheng, who was marshalling the provincial forces in eastern Xinjiang, returned to Ürümqi to seize power in the midst of the chaos. Without conferring the Chinese government, the coup leaders appointed Sheng the Commissioner of the Xinjiang Border Defence, i. e., Military Governor or duban on 14 April 1933, resurrecting the old title. Liu Wenlong, a powerless provincial bureaucrat was installed as the Civil Governor.