Guan Xiangying Biography

Author: Mu Xin
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2002-08-01
Features: Guan Xiangying (1902—1946), a Manchu from Jin County, Liaoning Province. In 1920, he entered Dalian Fushimai Public School to study commerce, where he began to engage with new (new thoughts) and actively participated in anti-Japanese patriotic activities. In March 1923, after graduating, he became a printing worker. In the spring of 1924, he joined the Chinese Socialist Youth League. That same year in May, he enrolled at Shanghai University and joined the work of the Zhabei Municipal Association. By the end of the year, he went to the Soviet Union to study at the Oriental University in Moscow. In January 1925, he joined the Communist Party of China. After the May Thirtieth Movement, he returned to Shanghai and engaged in workers' and Communist Youth League activities. By the end of the year, he was appointed Secretary of the Shandong Provincial Committee of the Communist Youth League. In May 1927, he attended the Fourth National Congress of the Communist Youth League and was later assigned to the Henan Provincial Committee of the Communist Party of China. Soon after, he was transferred to the Organization Department of the Central Committee of the Communist Youth League. In June 1928, he attended the Sixth National Congress of the Communist Party of China and was elected as a member of the Central Committee. After the congress, he became Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Youth League. In 1930, he was transferred to the Military Commission of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and later became the Secretary of the Jiangyang Military Commission. Soon after, he was sent to Shanghai to participate in the leadership of the Workers' League. In 1931, he was arrested. While in prison, he suffered severe torture but remained steadfast and was released after six months through the efforts of the Party organization. In January 1932, he arrived at the Xiang-E Revolutionary Base Area and served as a member of the Central Committee of the Xiang-E Bureau, Chairman of the Xiang-E Military Commission, and Political Commissar of the Red Third Army. He fought alongside He Long and others, leading the Red Third Army to campaigns in the Xiang-E-Yu-Chuan region. In July 1934, he was elected as a member of the Revolutionary Committee of the Qiandong Special Region. That same year in October, after his forces reunited with the Red Sixth Army led by Ren Bishi, the Red Third Army was restored to its former designation as the Red Second Army, and he served as Deputy Political Commissar. Together with He Long and Ren Bishi, he unified the command of the Red Second and Red Sixth Armies, establishing the Xiang-E-Chuan-Qian Revolutionary Base Area. After a year of struggle, they defeated the enemy's two encirclement campaigns. In November 1935, he was ordered to lead the main forces of the Red Second and Red Sixth Armies on the Long March. In July 1936, he reunited with the Red Fourth Front Army in the Ganzi region of Western Kiangsi, and following Central Committee orders, the Red Second and Red Sixth Armies were merged into the Red Second Front Army, with him serving as Deputy Political Commissar. During the Long March, he fought against Zhang Guotao's factional activities that sought to split the Party and the Red Army alongside Zhu De, Ren Bishi, He Long, and Liu Bocheng. In October of the same year, he reunited with the Red First Front Army. After the outbreak of the War of Resistance Against Japan in 1937, the Red Second Front Army was reorganized into the 20th Division of the Eighth Route Army, and he served as Director of the Political Training Department, later becoming Political Commissar. In September of the same year, he led his troops to the northern region of Shanxi for the front lines of the War of Resistance Against Japan, establishing the Jin-Shui. In December, he led the main force of the 20th Division to Ji Zhong, where he engaged in guerrilla warfare in the rear plains. In December 1939, the December Incident occurred, and he led his troops back to the northern region of Shanxi at night to rescue the crisis and crush the second anti-communist campaign launched by the Kuomintang reactionaries. At the same time, alongside He Long and Lin Feng, he led the people of Jin-Shui in defeating the "sweeps" by the Japanese invaders and devoted great enthusiasm to the construction of the base area. Due to overwork, he fell ill starting in 1940 and fought a remarkable battle against the disease. At the Seventh National Congress of the Communist Party of China in 1945, he was re-elected as a member of the Central Committee. He passed away on July 21, 1946, in Yan'an.