Biography of Cheng Qian

Author: Chen Liming
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-01-01
Features: He was honored by Mao Zedong as the "Old Superior" and "Old Leader," and was hailed as a rare "military talent" and "scholarly general" in the history of the Republic of China. From the Xinhai Revolution to the Northern Expedition, from the War of Resistance against Japan to the Hunan Uprising, his life, full of hardships and legends, witnessed the decline of an old era and the beginning of a new one. Cheng Qian was a nationalist elder with an extraordinary relationship with the Communist Party of China, including Mao Zedong. At the age of 18, Mao Zedong was a soldier under his command, and thus was always respected by Mao Zedong as the "Old Superior" and "Old Leader." In his early years, he participated in the Xinhai Revolution. During the Northern Expedition, he led the Sixth National Revolutionary Army, led by Lin Boku, to occupy Nanjing. In the War of Resistance against Japan, he commanded the operations against Japan in five battle zones north of the Yangtze River, providing mutual support with the guerrilla warfare led by the Communist Party. In the Liberation War, as the Director of the Changsha Military and Political Command, he became the key figure in the Hunan Uprising. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, he served as the Governor of Hunan, Vice Chairman of the National Defense Commission, and Vice Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress. He attended the th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, and Mao Zedong personally went to the station to greet him. Mao Zedong also once invited him to visit Zhongnanhai together and personally rowed the boat for him. He was a rare "military talent" and "scholarly general" in the nationalist camp. He had four marriages in his life, and his emotional journey was as full of hardships and legends as his life path.