ABSTRACT
The political situation in China in the early 1920s continued to be characterized by the internal power struggle between the warlords. Sun Yat-sen lived in Canton, where he had founded the Kuomintang Party. General Chen Jiongming was the dominant warlord in the surrounding province of Guangdong. He had been one of those who had risen up against the imperial government in 1911 and had now joined his military units to Sun's political forces. Sun Yat-sen's plan was to make a joint advance on the north from Canton in a large-scale campaign. In time a Northern Expedition might lead to the unification of China. General Chen, however, had no real intention of co-operating with Sun. He turned against him and had his men fire on Sun's house. In the dark of night Sun Yat-sen and his young wife, Soong Qing Ling, managed to escape from Canton.
