Guo Songling () (1883 – 24 December 1925) was a Chinese general who served in the Fengtian Army under Zhang Zuolin during the Chinese Warlord Era. A republican sympathiser who briefly served under Sun Yat-Sen, he was a teacher of and an important influence on Zhang Zuolin's son, Zhang Xueliang. Citing desire to avoid civil war, he led a three-month rebellion against Zhang Zuolin which led to his defeat and execution. Youth and formative years Guo Songling was born in 1883 in a village on the outskirts of Mukden, the capital of Fengtian Province, Qing China, which is modern day Shengyang, with a traditional ancestral hometown of Taiyuan in Central China. In 1905, the Viceroy of Manchuria Zhao Erxun set up the Fengtian Primary Army School, to which 22 year old Guo Songling was admitted. On high marks, he was recommended the following year to enter the Baoding Military Academy, Northern China's premier military academy. In 1907, he graduated and joined the Qing Dynasty's Qing New Army as a sergeant in Mukden. In 1909, general Zhu Qinglan became the guard commander, and Zhu became a close patron of Guo. When Zhu's post was rotated, Guo followed Zhu to a new post in Sichuan province. In divisions overseen by Zhu, the revolutionary secret society Chinese Revolutionary League (Tongmenghui), was active and was tolerated. Guo Songling joined the Tongmenghui in 1910. Military career In 1911, during the Railway Protection Movement, the Sichuan Tongmenghui erupted in protest against the Qing government, encircling Chengdu. Guo Songling however did not participate in this uprising and, now the battalion commander for Northern Chengdu, was able to diplomatically put it down without bloodshed. Suspected of republican sympathies, Guo Songling was relieved of his command by Sichuan Governor-General Zhao Erfeng, only recovering it after the appeals of his patron Zhu Qinglan. Late in the same year, the Xinhai Revolution broke out and spread to Sichuan. Sichuan declared independence and in Chengdu formed the "Chinese Military Government of Sichuan". During this period out-of-province officers like Zhu Qinglan were pushed out of the military government in favor of local Sichuanese officers. With his patron removed, Guo Songling resigned decided to return to Manchuria. Constitution Protection Movement In July 1917, Sun Yat-Sen declared the Constitution Protection Movement in opposition to the Beiyang clique warlords that had taken over the national government, establishing a military government in Guangzhou. Guo's patron Zhu Qinglan