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{{EngvarB|date=January 2019}}{{Short description|Qing dynasty modernized army}}File:Wuwei Right Troop1.jpg|thumb|250px|Troops of the Wuwei Corps led by Yuan Shikai escorting Empress Dowager Cixi back to the Forbidden CityForbidden CityThe Wuwei Corps{{sfn|Ding|1986|p=47}} ({{zh|s=|t=|p=Wǔwèijūn|w=Wu-wei chün}}){{sfn|Powell|1972|pp=102–103}} or Guards Army{{sfn|Powell|1972|pp=102–103}}{{sfn|Wang|1995|p=71|ps=: "In May 1899, Yuan Shikai, commander of China's strongest army, the Wuwei Youjun or the Right Division (new name for Yuan's Newly Created Army) of the Guards Army [Note: The Guards Army or Wuwei Jun included Left, Right, Front, Rear, and Center Divisions]..."}} was a modernised army unit of the Qing dynasty of China. Made up of infantry, cavalry and artillery, it was formed in May{{sfn|Wang|1995|p=71|ps=: "In May 1899, Yuan Shikai, commander of China's strongest army, the Wuwei Youjun or the Right Division (new name for Yuan's Newly Created Army) of the Guards Army [Note: The Guards Army or Wuwei Jun included Left, Right, Front, Rear, and Center Divisions]..."}} or June 1899 and trained by western military advisers. The guard took responsibility for the security of Peking (Beijing) and the Forbidden City, with Ronglu as its supreme commander. This move was an attempt by the Qing imperial court to create a western-style army equipped with modern weaponry following the Qing Empire's defeat in the First Sino-Japanese War. Three out of the five divisions of the Wuwei Corps were disbanded after two years due to attrition caused by the Boxer Rebellion.

Formation

Empress Dowager Cixi held supreme power at the Qing imperial court after she placed the Guangxu Emperor under house arrest. Ronglu, who controlled the Grand Council and the Ministry of Defence, subsequently received orders to recruit a 90,000-men army drawn from various units under the control of Nie Shicheng, Song Qing, Dong Fuxiang and Yuan Shikai.{{sfn|Liu|1978}}THESIS, Guo Hui 郭辉,weblink "An Account of Ronglu's Military Activities" 荣禄军事活动述论, 2009, M.A. Thesis, Hebei University, zh, 2014-02-14, 2014-02-22,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20140222042658weblink">weblink dead, WEB,weblink The specifics of 'Cixi's westward journey' (＂慈禧西行＂始末), Xinhai Net (辛亥革命网), 2010-12-06,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20120812115542weblink">weblink 2012-08-12, 2014-02-15, zh,

Five Divisions of the Wuwei

The corps consisted of five "divisions" described as "regiments" by some sources:{{sfn|Ding|1986|p=47}} Left, Right, Front, Rear, and Center{{sfn|Powell|1972|pp=102–103}}{{sfn|Wang|1995|p=71|ps=: "In May 1899, Yuan Shikai, commander of China's strongest army, the Wuwei Youjun or the Right Division (new name for Yuan's Newly Created Army) of the Guards Army [Note: The Guards Army or Wuwei Jun included Left, Right, Front, Rear, and Center Divisions]..."}}Although the Chinese names for these units featured the stem jun, literally "corps" or "army", recent studies in English appear to coalesce around referring to these units as "divisions" ({{Harvnb|Purcell|2010}}, {{Harvnb|Wang|1995}}, etc. probably after {{Harvnb|Powell|1972}}). The transition from "army" to "divisions" was expressed in one study as follows: "Jung-lu [Ronglu] then proceeded to reorganize the four armies (now divisions)".{{harvnb|Purcell|2010|p=29}}{| border="1" class="wikitable" style="text-align:center; margin: 1em auto 1em auto;"|+ Wuwei Divisions! Division !! Commander

| Nie Shicheng

Kansu Braves>Rear	Dong Fuxiang

| Song Qing

New Army>Right	Yuan Shikai

| Ronglu

Of these, "by far the strongest"{{sfn|Powell|1972|pp=102–103}} was Yuan Shikai's Right Division, which was merely a rebranding of his existing New Army formed in 1895,{{sfn|Wang|1995|p=71|ps=: "In May 1899, Yuan Shikai, commander of China's strongest army, the Wuwei Youjun or the Right Division (new name for Yuan's Newly Created Army) of the Guards Army [Note: The Guards Army or Wuwei Jun included Left, Right, Front, Rear, and Center Divisions]..."}} while Nie Shicheng's Front Division, trained by German military advisers, ranked as second best.{{sfn|Bodin|1979|p=26}} These two divisions enjoyed the advantage of a modernised infantry military system and training, while the other three divisions still employed the traditional Manchu Banners Army system. Differences in the prowess of the divisions became apparent during training, even though the entire Guards Army had the same modern weaponry.Prior to the creation of the Wuwei Corps, Nie Shicheng's Front Division was known as the "Tenacious Army" ( Wuyi jun,{{zh|t=|p=Wǔyì jūn|w=Wu-i chün|labels=no}}),{{sfn|Powell|1972|pp=102–103}} while Song Qing's troops previously bore the name "Resolute Army" (毅軍 Yi jun).{{sfnm|Powell|1972|1pp=102–103|Bodin|1979|2p=26}} These armies were similarly armed with Mauser rifles and Maxim machine guns.{{sfn|Powell|1972|pp=102–103}}Dong Fuxiang ({{zh|w=Tung Fu-hsiang|labels=no}}) led an army of Muslim warriors, dubbed "the 10,000 Islamic rabble" in the West at the time.{{sfn|Bodin|1979|p=26}} In China, Dong's troops were familiarly known as the "Gan army" (甘軍{{zh|s=甘军|t=甘軍|p=Gān Jūn|w=Kan Chün|labels=no}}) which used the abbreviated name of Gansu Province where many of these soldiers originated. "Gan army" is a literal translation, but English sources usually use the paraphrased name "Kansu Braves".{{sfn|Bodin|1979|p=26}}By imperial edict, Ronglu received nominal command of the entire Wuwei Corps.{{sfn|Purcell|2010|p=29}} His initial task was to incorporate the four pre-existing divisions within the new structure of the Wuwei Corps.{{sfn|Purcell|2010|p=29}} Ronglu later added the Centre Division with himself as commander, a unit composed mostly of Manchu bannermen.{{sfn|Purcell|2010|p=29}}{{Refn|group="lower-alpha"|During this period, despite his appointment to the Grand Council, Ronglu retained command of the Beiyang Army that defended the capital region.{{sfn|Powell|1972|pp=102–103}}}}

Boxer Uprising

During the war against the Eight-Nation Alliance, the Front Division, Rear Division and the Center Division suffered heavy casualties and were disbanded following signature of the Boxer Protocol. The Right Division and the Left Division remained in Shandong Province to suppress a group of Boxers known as the Yihetuan rebels. Both these units remained at full strength as they had not come up against troops of the foreign powers.From March 1899 onwards at the height of the Boxer conflict, Ma Yukun ((:zh:馬玉崑|馬玉崑)) and Jiang Guiti became co-commanders alongside Song Qing at the head of the Left Division.{{sfnm|Ding|1986|1p=47 ("On the Chinese side, the left regiment of the Wuwei division led by Ma Yukun and the Lian division of Zhili led by He Yongsheng were putting up a stubborn defence within the city"|Rhoads|2011|2p=82 ("It looked to Jian Guiti (1843–1922), commander of the Left Division of the Guards Army"|Liu|1978|3p=98 ("時間：光緒二十五年二月至宣統三年九月(1899年3月至1911年12月)... 總統: 宋慶 馬玉崑 姜桂題 二十一～三十五營 武衛左軍" [translation: "Time: March 1899 to December 1911, commander: Song Qing, Ma Yukun, Jiang Guiti. 21–35 battalions. Guards Army's Left Division"]}}

Explanatory notes

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Citations

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References

• BOOK, Bodin, Lynn, Chris Warner (illus.), The Boxer Rebellion, Osprey Publishing, 1979, preview,weblink 26, 9780850453355, {{ISBN|978-0-850-45335-5}}
• JOURNAL, Ding, Mingnan, A Decade of Japan's Aggressive Tactics toward China Oriented by Its" National Policy" of Waging a Final War with Russia (1895-1904), Chinese Studies in History, 19, 4, Summer 1986, 37–62, 10.2753/CSH0009-4633190437, snippet,weblink abstract
• BOOK, Liu, Fenghan 劉鳳翰, 1978, The Wuwei Army 武衛軍,weblink Taipei, Institute of Modern History, Academia Sinica 中央研究院近代史研究所, 706894661, zh,
• BOOK, Powell, Ralph L., The Rise of Chinese Military Power 1895-1912, Princeton, Kennikat Press, 1972, 9780804616454, snippet,weblink (Cited by {{Harvnb|Wang|1995}} below as a reference for English translation of terminology.)
• BOOK, Purcell, Victor, The Boxer Uprising: A Background Study, Cambridge University Press, 2010, preview,weblink 29, 9780804616454, {{ISBN|978-0-521-14812-2}}
• BOOK, Rhoads, Edward J. M., Manchus and Han: Ethnic Relations and Political Power in Late Qing and Early Republican China, 1861–1928, University of Washington Press, 2011, preview,weblink 82, 9780295804125, {{ISBN|978-0-295-80412-5}}
• JOURNAL, Wang, Jianhua, Military Reforms, 1895-1908, Chinese Studies in History, 28, 3–4, Spring–Summer 1995, 67–84, 10.2753/CSH0009-463328030467, snippet,weblink abstract. Reprinted in BOOK, Douglas R. Reynolds (ed. and trans.), China, 1895-1912: State Sponsored Reforms and China's Late-Qing, A special issue of Chinese Studies in History, a journal of translations, M. E. Sharpe, 1995, preview,weblink 67–84, 1-56-324749-6, {{ISBN|978-1-563-24749-1}}.

{{Qing dynasty topics}}