Wan was born in Jilin in 1880. He enlisted in the army in his early years, joining the Fengtian clique after the establishment of the Republic of China. He served as a commander in various units of the Fengtian Army. He became governor of Heilongjiang in 1928 after governor Wu Junsheng was assassinated along with Fengtian clique leader Zhang Zuolin in the Huanggutun incident.[1] On 29 December 1928, Zhang Zuolin's successor and son Zhang Xueliang along with Wan and Zhang Zuoxiang, acting against Japanese interests and demands in Manchuria declared in a public wire that the four provinces of Fengtian (Liaoning), Jilin, Heilongjiang and Rehe would accept the rule of the National Government based in Nanjing. From 1929 until 1931, he was chairman of the Heilongjiang provincial government.
During the Mukden Incident he was in Beiping, cut off from Heilongjiang by the Japanese invasion of Liaoning and Jilin provinces. Zhang Xueliang promoted Ma Zhanshan Governor of Heilongjiang in his place. After the Northeastern Army retreated from the Japanese-occupied Northeast he commanded its 32nd Corps, including the 139th Division at Lengkou Pass during the Defense of the Great Wall in 1933. Afterwards, he commanded the 53rd Corps, retained in Northern China while most of the Northeastern Army was sent to Northwestern China to fight the Chinese Communists.[1]
After the Marco Polo Bridge Incident he sent a brigade to reinforce 29th Corps during the Battle of Beiping-Tianjin. His 53rd Corps also fought in the Beiping–Hankou Railway Operation and the Tianjin–Pukou Railway Operation. He commanded the 26th Army in the Battle of Wuhan. During the war, he was chairman of the Liaoning provincial government in exile. From 1942 to 1945, he was a member of the National Military Council. After the end of the war with Japan he served in various anti-Communist positions in North China. He left for Taiwan in 1949 and died in Taichung in 1951.[1]
Republic of China
Republic of China
