The Chinese warlord Yen Hsi-shan (1883-1960) ruled Shansi Province in northwest China from 1911 to 1949. Because of his program of reforms, Shansi was dubbed the "model province."

Yen Hsi-shan was born in the village of Ho-pien not far from the provincial capital of Taiyüan. His father was a small banker, an occupation in which Shansiers had traditionally been famous, and Yen served as apprentice while studying the classics. In 1901 the bank's failure forced Yen to leave home and enroll in the government-supported military college in Taiyüan. He continued his military education in Japan under a government scholarship; there he joined the revolutionary T'ung-meng hui, of which Sun Yat-sen was a prominent leader. Following his return home, Yen rose to the rank of colonel in the New Shansi Army.

Hearing of the Wuchang revolt in October 1911, Yen declared Shansi independent of the Manchu government, but only...