Peng Zhen
| Peng Zhen 彭真 | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Peng Zhen in 1956 | |
| Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress | |
| In office 1983–1988 | |
| Preceded by | Ye Jianying |
| Succeeded by | Wan Li |
| 1st Secretary of CPC Central Political and Legislative Committee | |
| In office 1980–1982 | |
| Succeeded by | Chen Pixian |
| 1st First Secretary of the CPC Beijing Committee | |
| In office 1948–1966 | |
| Preceded by | Office created |
| Succeeded by | Li Xuefeng |
| Personal details | |
| Born | October 12, 1902 Houma, Shanxi, China |
| Died | April 26, 1997 (aged 94) Beijing |
| Nationality | Chinese |
| Political party | Communist Party of China |
| Spouse(s) | Zhang Jieqing |
| Peng Zhen | |||||||||
| Chinese | 彭真 | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| |||||||||
Peng Zhen (pronounced [pʰə̌ŋ tʂə́n]; October 12, 1902 – April 26, 1997) was a leading member of the Communist Party of China. He led the party organization in Beijing following the victory of the Communists in the Chinese Civil War in 1949, but was purged during the Cultural Revolution for opposing Mao's views on the role of literature in relation to the state. He was rehabilitated under Deng Xiaoping in 1982 along with other 'wrongly accused' officials, and became the inaugural head of the CPC Central Political and Legislative Committee.
Biography
Born in Houma, Shanxi province, Peng was originally named Fu Maogong (傅懋恭). He joined the Chinese Communist Party in 1923 as a founding member of the Shanxi Province CP. Arrested in 1929, he continued underground political activities while imprisoned. He was released from prison in 1935 and began organizing a resistance movement against the invading Japanese forces. Around the same time, he was appointed the Organization Department Director of the North Bureau of CPC. He also served on a number of positions as vice-president of the Central Party School and director of the CPC Policy Research Office. In 1945 he served in the history research committee and the organizing committee of the Communist Party's 7th National Congress.
In September 1945 Peng was sent by Mao Zedong to take up overall leadership of the Communists in Manchuria. He was accompanied by Lin Biao who was to assist Peng with directing military operations against the Nationalists. Peng decided that the Communists could hold the 3 big cities of the Northeast: Shenyang, Changchun and Harbin. When the Nationalists under the command of Du Yuming attacked in November 1945, the Communists were forced back. Peng was removed as Communist leader in Manchuria after further failure by Lin Biao's forces in March 1946 led to the Communists retreat back to Harbin.[1]
Peng was a member of the CPC Central Committee starting from 1944 as well as member of the Secretariat of the CPC Central Committee. He also held the positions of First Secretary of the Beijing Municipal Committee, and Mayor of Beijing (1951). He was Politburo member from 1956 to 1966.
Peng was appointed head of the Five Man Group in charge of preparing the cultural revolution, but he fell out of favor with Mao Zedong in April 1966 when he attacked Mao's belief that all literature should support the state. He was accused of being an associate to Wu Han's counter-revolutionary clique and deposed at a May conference, along with Lu Dingyi, Luo Ruiqing and Yang Shangkun, at the very start of the Cultural Revolution.
Peng survived to be rehabilitated under Deng Xiaoping. He subsequently became Secretary of the Political and Legal Affairs Commission of the CPC Central Committee (1980), a post he already held from late 1950s in the capacity of leader of a Central Politics and Law Leading Group. As Chairman of the Standing Committee of the Sixth National People's Congress (1983), he sought to increase the NPC's power. Peng retired from his leading political positions in 1988.
He is considered one of the Eight Immortals of the Communist Party of China.
References
- ↑ Tanner, Harold M. (2012). "Big Army Groups, Standardisation, and Assaulting Fortified Positions: Chinese Ways of Warfare and the Transition from Guerilla to Conventional War in China's Northeast, 1945 - 1948.". Journal of Chinese Military History One (Two): 111–113.
- Original text based on marxists.org article (GNU FDL)
External links
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Nie Rongzhen |
Mayor of Beijing 1951–1966 |
Succeeded by Wu De Acting |
| New title | Secretary-General of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress 1954–1965 |
Succeeded by Liu Ningyi |
| Preceded by Ji Pengfei |
Secretary-General of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress 1979–1980 |
Succeeded by Yang Shangkun |
| Preceded by Ye Jianying |
Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress 1983–1988 |
Succeeded by Wan Li |
| Party political offices | ||
| Preceded by Chen Yun |
Head of the Central Organization Department of the Communist Party of China Acting from 1944–1945 1944–1953 |
Succeeded by Rao Shushi |
| New title | Secretary of the CPC Beijing Committee 1948–1966 |
Succeeded by Li Xuefeng |
| Secretary of the CPC Central Political and Legislative Affairs Commission 1980–1982 |
Succeeded by Chen Pixian | |
| ||||||||||||||
| ||||||||