Biography of Zhang Wentian (Revised Edition)

Author: Cheng Zhongyuan
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-12-01
Features: The Biography of Zhang Wentian is one of the important tasks undertaken by the Zhang Wentian Collection Editing Group, which was established with the approval of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China. The book was written by Cheng Zhongyuan, a member of the group. The author strives to make this book a reliable historical account with accurate materials and fair evaluations. Under the leadership of the group and with the support of all its members, the author spent eight years collecting, organizing, and researching Zhang Wentian's historical materials. He reviewed a large amount of archival documents, visited numerous relatives, comrades, subordinates, and students of Zhang Wentian, and based the book on rich first-hand materials, while also incorporating research findings from academia. It took him over three years to complete this book. Comrade Chen Yun wrote the book title for this publication.
Zhang Wentian was born on August 15, 1900, in Pudong, Shanghai. He joined the Communist Party of China in 1925 and the same year went to the Soviet Union to study at the Sun Yat-sen University of Moscow and the Red Professors' College. He returned to China in 1930 and became the Minister of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China in 1931, as well as a member of the Provisional Central Political Committee and its Standing Committee. In 1933, he arrived at the Central Revolutionary Base Area and served as a member of the Central Political Committee and Secretary of the Central Secretariat. He participated in the Long March in 1934. During the Long March, Zhang Wentian firmly supported Mao Zedong's correct military strategies. At the Zunyi Conference, he made a report against the "Leftist" military errors, based on discussions with Mao Zedong and Wang Jiaxiang before the conference, and made significant contributions to saving the Party and the Red Army and achieving a fundamental shift in the Party's military line.
During the Yan'an period, Zhang Wentian was in charge of the theoretical publicity and cadre education for the entire Party for a long time. After 1938, he served as a Standing Committee member of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and Secretary of the Secretariat, concurrently holding positions such as Minister of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China's Propaganda Department and President of the Marxism-Leninism College. He did a great deal of publicity and educational work to promote the nationwide resistance against Japanese aggression and trained a large number of cadres for the Party. His speeches such as On Youth Self-Cultivation and On How to Treat Others had a broad impact among cadres and young people.
After the Yan'an Rectification Campaign began in 1941, Zhang Wentian spent over a year conducting rural social surveys in northern Shaanxi and northern Shanxi, writing several research reports. After the victory in the War of Resistance Against Japan, Zhang Wentian went to Northeast China to work on local issues,、。，《》，。1950，，，，。197671，。