He enrolled in the infantry division of the Baoding Military Academy in 1917, and was the same class as Ye Ting and Gu Zhutong.

In 1927, in order to resist the National Revolutionary Army's Northern Expedition, Sun Chuanfang allied himself with Zhang Zongchang.

The following year, the 47th division engaged in the encirclement and suppression of Hubei, Henan, Anhui, and Jiangsu areas controlled by the communists.

On May 4, 1937, the Military Commission appointed Shangguan Yunxiang as the director of Suijing in the border areas of Henan, Hubei, and Shaanxi.

In 1940, Shangguan led his department to move to the south of Anhui, and launched the Wannan Incident against the New Fourth Army early next year.