Wu Peifu

Wu Peifu
吳佩孚
Wu in 1926
Nickname"Jade Marshal" (玉帥)
Born(1874-04-22)April 22, 1874
DiedDecember 4, 1939(1939-12-04) (aged 65)
Allegiance
Branch Beiyang Army
Zhili clique
Service years1898–1927
RankMarshal
Commands3rd Division, Beiyang Army
Conflicts
Awards
Wu Peifu
Traditional Chinese吳佩孚
Simplified Chinese吴佩孚
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu PinyinWú Pèifú
Wade–GilesWu2 P'ei4-fu2
IPAIPA: pʰèɪ̯fú]

Wu Peifu (traditional Chinese: 吳佩孚; simplified Chinese: 吴佩孚; pinyin: Wú Pèifú; Wade–Giles: Wu2 P'ei4-fu2; 22 April 1874 – 4 December 1939) was a Chinese warlord and major figure in the Warlord Era in China from 1916 to 1927.

He became a key figure of the Beiyang Army after Yuan Shikai's death in 1916. As a member of the Zhili clique he played a pivotal role in various military conflicts. Wu's military acumen earned him the nickname "Jade Marshal" and he was renowned for his strategic brilliance, however, his political alliances were often unstable. Wu's reputation was tarnished by his violent suppression of a workers' strike in 1923. By 1927, Wu was challenged by the National Revolutionary Army during the Northern Expedition, and he eventually retreated from politics.

In his later years, Wu refused to cooperate with the Japanese during the Second Sino-Japanese War.