He was born in Zhili province and graduated from a Japanese military academy in 1901. He was a known radical who advocated constitutional monarchy and supported Wu Luzhen's mutiny during the Xinhai Revolution. He became the Progressive Party boss of Tianjin. In 1912, he secured the loyalty of the Inner Mongolian tribes to Yuan Shikai. He broke with Yuan during the National Protection War and was one of the first to fight against Zhang Xun's attempt to restore the Qing dynasty in 1917.