Huanggutun incident

Huanggutun Incident (Chinese: 皇姑屯事件; pinyin: Huánggū Tún Shìjiàn), or Zhang Zuolin Explosion Death Incident (Japanese: 張作霖爆殺事件, Hepburn: Chosakurin bakusatsu jiken^?), was an assassination plotted and committed on June 4, 1928 by the Japanese Kwantung Army, that targeted Fengtian warlord Zhang Zuolin. It took place at the Huanggutun Railway Station near Shenyang, where Zhang's personal train was destroyed by a railside explosion. This incident was concealed in Japan at the time and was referred only as "A Certain Important Incident in Manchuria" (満州某重大事件, Manshu bou judai jiken^?).

Following the Xinhai Revolution of 1911, China dissolved in spontaneous devolution, with local officials and military leaders assuming power independent of control by the weak central government. In north China, the once powerful Beiyang Army split up into various factions after the death of Yuan Shikai in 1916. Zhang Zuolin, being the leader of the Fengtian clique, was one of the most powerful warlords as he managed to seize control of entire Manchuria, at the time consists of nine provinces.

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