Figure 19 : Zhang Zuolin (1875-1928), the “Mukden Tiger,” was an illiterate, opium-addicted Figure 17: Duan Qirui (1865-1936) was the ex-bandit chief. His Japanese-backed Fengtian consummate warlord politician and for a time, the Clique controlled Manchuria and for a brief while most powerful man in China until his Anhui Clique the “national” government in Beijing before being was defeated by Cao Kun and Wu Beifu’s Zhili defeated by the Guomindang in 1928. Zhang was Clique. He is wearing the Striped Tiger together with killed when his armored train was blown up by his the Order of Rank and Merit, the Precious Brilliant Japanese sponsors as he retreated to Manchuria. Golden Grain, and the Golden Grain. He is wearing the Striped Tiger and the Order of Rank and Merit. Figure 18: Feng Guozhang (1859-1919) was a Beiyang Army stalwart who took over as president after Li Yuanhong was deposed in a monarchist coup Figure 20: Zhang Shaozeng (1879-1928) was a Zhili that restored the Qing Dynasty for just five days. He Clique general who briefly served as premier during is wearing the Striped Tiger together with the Grand Li Yuanhong’s second Presidency in 1923 before Order, the Precious Brilliant Golden Grain and the fleeing to Tianjin. He was assassinated in 1928 by Golden Grain. Zhang Zuolin. He is wearing the Striped Tiger and the Order of Rank and Merit. Vol. 66, No. 1 (January-February 2015) 23 reflected the pride and confidence of the new Republic and foreshadowed the violence that would consume China under Yuan Shikai and his successors. “More officers than soldiers; more soldiers than guns; more bandits than people” conveyed the popular mood. It is fitting that China’s most recognizable award from this period should be a military one. Acknowledgments I am indebted to James Peterson for his pioneering study on the Striped Tiger; Brian Simpkin (Dix Noonan Webb), Paul Wood (Morton and Eden) and Mark Quayle and Oliver Pepys (Spink & Son) for many of the images; and to Nick from Moscow and other contributors on the Gentleman’s Military Interest Club forum. This article is dedicated to my friend and fellow member Richard LaTondre, whose passion has long been the Striped Tiger. Figure 21: Chen Shaokuan (1889-1969) served Endnotes: 1. H.G.W. Woodhead, The Truth About the Chinese Republic (Hurst the Qing, Republican, Nationalist and Communist & Blackett, 1925). governments. When Japan invaded China in 1937, 2. Phillip Jowett, Chinese Warlord Armies 1911-12 (Osprey, 2010). Chen fought a desperate rear-guard action against 3. The term Beiyang originated in the late Qing era and comprised overwhelming enemy forces only to see his small the coastal areas of Zhili Province (modern Hebei), Liaoning and navy destroyed. He was sacked by Chiang Kai-shek Shandong Province in northeast China. during the Civil War for refusing to attack the 4. Articles 1 and 2, Decree No. 9. Communists and later joined the new Communist 5. Article 3, Decree No. 9, as amended by the “Decree to Amend government. Here he is wearing his Early Republic Article 3 of the Decree on Decorations for the Army and Navy.” decorations including the Striped Tiger, Precious 6. Article 10, Decree No. 9. 7. Articles 6 and 9, Decree No. 9. Brilliant Golden Grain and Golden Grain. 8. Articles 1, 2 and 3, Decree No. 11. 9. Article 3, Decree No. 11. Conclusion 0. Article 4, Decree No. 11. 1. Article 4, Decree No. 9. In 1928 the Beiyang government was defeated by Chiang 2. These are set out in Decree No. 11. 3. James Peterson, “The Order of the Striped Tiger of the Republic Kai-shek and the Guomindang and a new national of China,” Journal of the Orders and Medals Society of America, government established in Nanjing. The Striped Tiger was 13 (October 1962). abolished in 1929 along with the other decorations of the 4. Article 10, Decree No. 9. Early Republic, although awards likely ceased in 1928. 5. According to Werlich, this was to avoid similarity with the red sash Many of the warlords would swap their Striped Tigers for of the Grand Order: Robert Werlich, Orders and Decorations of All Nations (Quaker Press, 1990). the Sacred Tripods and Blue Sky and White Suns of the 6. Japanese influence can also be seen in the design of the late Qing new regime. But by then, their squabbles had left China Orders of the Yellow, Blue, Black and Red Dragon. enfeebled in the face of a predatory Japan. 7. Patricia Welch, Chinese Art: A Guide to Motifs and Visual Imagery (Tuttle Publishing, 2008). 8. Zhu Wen, Chinese Motifs of Good Fortune (Better Link Press, 2011). It is difficult for a modern reader to fully comprehend 9. Nick Komiya, “Introduction to Order Citations Signed by the the chaos of Warlord China. It was as if the Governors Emperors”, http://www.wehrmacht-awards.com/forums/ of Missouri, Kentucky and Tennessee mobilised their showthread.php?t=348221, 4 April 2009 (accessed 5 June 2013). National Guard and declared war on one another, their 20. In contrast, the Order of the Golden Grain and the Order of the armies marching to battle wearing the same United States Precious Brilliant Golden Grain were exclusively produced by the Chinese Mint in Tianjin, with a handful of foreign-made Army uniform and flying the Stars and Stripes. Extend exceptions. this scenario to all 50 states and a portrait of 1920s China 21. James Peterson (1962). emerges. 22. Richard Catalano, Imperial Medals Japan Newsletter Issue #7, August 2012. 23. “Chinese Awards and Decorations”, www.worcestershireregi The Striped Tiger is perhaps the archetypal decoration ment.com. of the Early Republic or Warlord Period. Its symbolism 24. James Peterson (1962). 24 JOMSA Vol. 66, No. 1 (January-February 2015) 25.