All of the information stated in this article is based on reliable sources of information and is detailed at the end of the article
≺ Preamble≻
Sichuan warlord Yang Sen, a legendary figure with "many harems" and twists and turns in the fate of his family, what kind of story is hidden in his life?
≺ Janssen's career as a warlord and the establishment of a family ≻
Born in 1884 in Guang'an, Sichuan, in a family closely linked to the military, the young Janssen was full of interest in military life under the influence of his father.
In 1908, he entered the newly established military academy in Sichuan Province, where he not only received formal military training, but also formed deep friendships with some future bigwigs, such as Liu Xiang, and Yang Sen's military career began here.
With his excellent military talents and drill skills, Yang Sen quickly rose to prominence in the army, and his troops won many proofreads and were appreciated by their superiors.
After the Northern Expedition, Yang Sen decisively chose to support Chiang Kai-shek and join the side of the Kuomintang.
With years of accumulated contacts and military achievements, Yang Sen was appointed commander of the 20th Army of the Nationalist Army, and was eventually promoted to commander-in-chief of the 27th Army of the Nationalist Army.
After the victory of the Anti-Japanese War, he served as the chairman of Guizhou Province for a time and became a military and political leader with great power.
While his military and political circles are prominent, Janssen's personal life is also quite colorful.
He has his own unique set of principles in taking concubines, that is, "three no's and three wants": regardless of background, rich or poor, regardless of culture.
As long as the woman is young, beautiful, and has a style, she may become a member of his harem, and this principle made Yang Sen have many beautiful wives and concubines, and it also became the focus of social discussion at that time.
In Yang Sen's life, he openly accepted a total of twelve concubines, and the harem was full of beauties, and the addition of each wife and concubine was a symbol of his power, and it also reflected the helplessness of the fate of women in that era.
From Yang Sen's first wife, a typical rural woman, to Zhang Lingfeng, who was only 17 years old when she married at the age of 90, each woman's story is a portrayal of women's life in that era.
In Yang Sen's harem, whether it is origin, status, or fate, they are all different.
They were either forced to marry into the Yang family, or hoped to change their fate by marrying Yang Sen, but in the end, most of them did not get true happiness.
And in Yang Sen's later life, as his power faded and his health deteriorated, these former harem beauties also looked for their own way out.
Some of those women were far away from him, and some were free in a new life.
At the end of Yang Sen's life, only Zhang Lingfeng was still by his side, which made people feel the impermanence of fate and the complexity of people's hearts.
≺ Janssen's family life in his later years ≻
Yang Sen, a warlord who once dominated for a while, married Zhang Lingfeng, who was 73 years younger than him, in his later years.
This Zhang Lingfeng is really a maverick woman, and on the wedding night, she issued such a heavyweight question: "You have married so many wives and concubines in your life, how many of them are sincere to you?" This sentence pierced the heart, and people couldn't help but think about this special marriage.
Yang Sen has been in the military and political worlds all his life, with a group of wives and concubines, which can be said to be infinitely beautiful, but when he faced Zhang Lingfeng's question, he was speechless.
At this moment, has he carried out some kind of reflection in his heart? Life is like a play, is he reflecting on the gains and losses of his life, or is he reflecting on his attitude towards these women?
Janssen's management of his wives and concubines was notoriously strict, almost controlling, waking up on time, practicing regularly, and prohibiting entertainment, and the rules at home were no different from those in the barracks.
Under such strict family rules, the wives and concubines live quite depressed, which has to make people feel that Yang Sen's way of treating wives and concubines is actually a deprivation of women's dignity.
After the young man lost his wife, Yang Sen obeyed his parents and found a continuation, who was honest and spent his life guarding the old house of the Yang family.
With the continuous changes in Yang Sen's career trajectory, he has concubines in various places, some of which are "gifts" from his subordinates, and some of which he unilaterally likes, forcibly grabs, and breaks up several pairs of lovers.
Despite this, there is also their unique warmth between Yang Sen and the youngest concubine Zhang Lingfeng, Zhang Lingfeng gave birth to a child for Yang Sen, which undoubtedly brought Yang Sen comfort in his later years.
In this home, perhaps it is this kind of life that has become one of the few happy memories of Yang Sen's later years.
Life is always teaching us, and the enlightenment of Janssen's life to us is complex and profound.
We should respect every woman, not only in words, but also in action, from the little things of daily life.
Everyone is an independent individual, and they should all be respected and loved, and Janssen's life in his later years may be a little happy, but more of a deep reflection and remorse.
Reading it, it makes people feel emotional.
≺ The dissolution of the Janssen family and the rebirth of descendants ≻
With the death of Yang Sen due to lung cancer, the warlord who had been glorious and powerful for a long time finally came to an end, and for Zhang Lingfeng, this was not only the end of an era, but also the relief of the burden in her heart that had been suppressed for a long time.
From a young girl forced to enter the Yang Mansion to becoming the mother of a child, she spent too many unbearable days in that golden cage.
The 43 children left behind by Yang Sen have different destinations and destinies, some have left deep roots in the mainland, some have followed their father to Taiwan, and some have chosen their own paths and gone overseas.
Different life experiences have made these children have different attitudes towards their warlord fathers.
Some children choose to try their best to forget that period of history, while others love and hate, grateful to their father for nurturing and educating them, but they are also deeply influenced by his old ideas and find it difficult to gain freedom in the true sense.
Their fate has become a small footnote in the changes of history, with both halos and shadows.
Yang Sen's death was undoubtedly a liberation for those wives and concubines who had been included in his harem, and these women, who were once young and beautiful, were also imprisoned in that golden cage, suffering both mental and physical torture.
Nowadays, there are many performances of film and television dramas, and even more people still hope to be an aunt's wife on the Internet, but they don't know that the real aunt's wife in the Republic of China has a bad life.
≺ Conclusion ≻
Janssen's life is full of legends, from a small officer to a hegemon, his methods, his wisdom, his determination all embody the heroism of an era, but he is so authoritarian and cruel in the treatment of family and wives and concubines.
Such a contrast makes people wonder if behind the power, there is a cold mirror in everyone's heart, reflecting the deepest darkness and greed in human nature.
The disintegration of the Janssen family is not only the dissolution of a family, but also symbolizes the collapse of a feudal remnant and the awakening of women's free consciousness in the new era.
In the long river of history, the fate of each individual is so insignificant, but their stories constitute the most vivid memory of that era.
Information sources:
1. Qianjiang Evening News: July 21, 2019, "Fantasizing about being a warlord's wife is ignorance and self-loss"
2. Phoenix Information: January 29, 2008, "The Great Warlord Yang Sen and His Twelve Wives and Concubines"