Yang Sen was a warlord and general of the Sichuan clique who had a long military career in both China and Taiwan. Although he was a provincial warlord, he loyally served Chiang Kai-shek and his Kuomintang government, especially during the Second Sino-Japanese War. He also served as governor of Sichuan and Guizhou provinces. After the Communists defeated the KMT in the Chinese Civil War, he retreated with the KMT government to Taiwan. He was also known as a Taoist master and had numerous wives, concubines and children. He published a book about the supercentenarian Li Ching-yuen, who supposedly lived 250 years.
1945–48—Chairman of the Government of Guizhou Province
1949—moved to Taiwan during the Nationalist exodus from the mainland
1950s—An avid sports person, he was the Republic of China's Olympic Committee Chairman and at the Olympic Games in Mexico carried the national flag of Taiwan, Republic of China in the opening ceremony. He was a well-known mountaineer and the Chairman of the Taiwan Mountain Climbing Association as well. He had 12 wives and 43 children at least.
General Yang knew the Taoist Master Li Ching-yuen personally and became his disciple, practicing his teaching until the end of his life. In 1927 he invited him to his residence in Wanxian, Sichuan. After his master's death, General Yang wrote the report "A Factual Account of the 250 Year-Old Good-Luck Man.", where he described Li Ching Yuen's appearance: "He has good eyesight and a brisk stride; Li stands seven feet tall, has very long fingernails, and a ruddy complexion." The Tai Chi Chuan Master T. T. Liang learned from General Yang the practice of the "Eight Brocade Qigong". His student Stuart Alve Olson wrote in 2002 the book "Qigong Teachings of a Taoist Immortal: The Eight Essential Exercises of Master Li Ching-Yun", taking General Yang's report as reference.
