Tang Jiyao

Tang Jiyao was a general and warlord of Yunnan during the Warlord Era of .

Tang was born in Huize county in 1883 in nowadays Qujing, Yunnan province. He became a revolutionary warrior in southwestern China after he finished his military studies in Japan.

When Yuan Shikai proclaimed himself as the emperor of China in the December of 1915, Tang announced the independence of Yunnan with Cai E , Li Jiejun and others. He was also a leader of the army which fought successfully against the army of Yuan Shikai.

Tang was a notable figure because of his anti-Communist ideology and pro-Sun Yat-sen policies. After Cai E died in 1916, Tang helped Sun set up the Constitutional Protection Movement in 1917 and assisted Sun in defeating the Old Guangxi Clique and later Chen Jiongming's rebellion.

Six days after Sun's death in 1925, Tang claimed to be Sun's successor and head of the Kuomintang, the party flatly rejected his claims. Upset, he invaded Guangdong and Guangxi but was defeated by Li Zongren in the Yunnan-Guangxi War. He later became vice premier of Chen Jiongming's China Public Interest Party. He died in 1927 in Kunming, one month after he was ousted by Hu Ruoyu and Long Yun in a military coup, which made him lose all of his power in Yunnan.