Zhang Zongchang, courtesy name Xiaokun, was a Chinese warlord who ruled Shandong from 1925 to 1928. A member of the Fengtian clique, Zhang was notorious for his brutal and ruthless behavior, eccentric personality, and extravagant lifestyle, which earned him nicknames such as the "Dogmeat General"; Time dubbed him China's "basest warlord". Zhang's troops were defeated by the National Revolutionary Army during the Northern Expedition in 1928, and he fled to Japan before returning to Shandong in 1932, where he was assassinated by a young officer.

A warlord is an individual who exercises military, economic, and political control over a region, often within a country without a strong national government, through usually informal or illegal coercive control over the local armed forces. Warlords have existed throughout much of history, albeit in a variety of different capacities within the political, economic, and social structure of states or ungoverned territories. The term is often applied in the context of China around the end of the Qing Dynasty, especially during the Warlord Era. The term can also be used for any supreme military leader.