Chen Xilian
Encyclopedia
Chen Kaichu, better known by the nom de guerre Chen Xilian was a general of People's Liberation Army
of China and a member of the Central Committee
Politburo
.
Chen was born in Hong'an County, Hubei
Province of China in 1915. He joined his local Chinese Red Army guerrilla unit in 1929, and the Communist Youth League
a year later. He was an army general from 1955 and a year later an Alternate Member of the 8th Central Committee
(CC). Chen was a member of the CPC Politburo
through three party congresses (1969–80), but fell afoul of Deng Xiaoping
’s reforms and was demoted with three colleagues (Wu De
, Ji Dengkui and Wang Dongxing
) dubbed the “Small Gang of Four” to mere CC status in February 1980. Chen was assigned to the Standing Committee of the party Central Advisory Committee in September 1982.
, Xu Xiangqian
and Li Xiannian
, included such future leaders as Qin Jiwei
. They fought Sichuan warlords on the western leg of the Long March
. At the close of the Long March
, Chen – like his colleagues Xu Shiyou
and Yu Qiuli
– would find himself on the wrong side of the Mao Zedong
-Zhang Guotao
dispute, and badly battered by Muslim cavalry and warlord armies. After the fighting, Chen emerged as a division commander and reached Yan'an
in late 1935. He was assigned to the 129th Division of Eighth Route Army
, which later became the core of the 2nd Field Army of Liu Bocheng
and Deng Xiaoping
.
On October 19, 1937 he led the 769th Regiment, First Column, against Japanese units defending Yangmingbao airport, destroying 24 planes, and killing more than 100 Japanese soldiers, which alleviated the air threat on the Xikou Front. Chen at this time served under Xu Xiangqian with future generals Xu Shiyou
, Xu Haidong
and Han Xianchu
.
, and by September had succeeded the reassigned Xu Shiyou as 385th Brigade Commander; his political commissar at the time was future Public Security Minister Xie Fuzhi
.
After a brief stint at the Central Party School in Yan'an (in 1943, likely his only formal education), Chen in September 1945 was commander of the Second Military Subdistrict in Southern Hebei. His 385th Brigade combined with local unites to create the 7th Brigade, which eventually became the 3rd Column of the Central Plains Field Army. His Deputy Commander, Zeng Shaoshan, and other key officers remained with Chen through the Huai-Hai
and Crossing the Yangtze
campaigns, and for many years thereafter.
In the Spring of 1949, after the fall of Nanjing
, Chen’s 3rd Army moved into Zhejiang, and saw action at Hangzhou and Shanghai. His unit remained in place while his co-commanders, Chen Geng
and Yang Yong, embarked on the South-west Campaign. As the Civil War wound down, Chen was left in command of a key region of Eastern China. Among his 2nd Field Army subordinates to later rise in power were future politburo members Xie Fuzhi, Li Desheng
and Liu Huaqing
.
, Sichuan. He was also the commander of PLA's at East Sichuan
region and a member of the Southwest Military Administrative Committee, under the leadership of Deng Xiaoping, He Long
and Liu Bocheng. He was then assigned as commander of the entire PLA Artillery Corps and president of the Artillery Academy.
In 1955, Chen was assigned the rank of general, and the following year made an Alternate Member of the CPC Central Committee. In 1958, the PLA opened up a massive and sustained artillery barrage against the Nationalist-held island of Quemoy (Jinmen). General Chen was likely in direct command of the failed 400-piece cannonade.
The purge of Peng Dehuai
in 1959 brought down two of his key allies as well: Chief-of-Staff Huang Kecheng
and Shenyang MR Commander Deng Hua. Chen Xilian was send to Manchuria to take over from General Deng in one of the most sensitive regions of the Sino-Soviet border. He served in the post until 1973; his deputy was his old comrade in arms, Zeng Shaoshan.
.
In mid-1963, Chen was promoted to CCP Secretary for the CC Northeast Central Party Bureau, where he worked closely with Song Renqiong
. In 1965, Chen was made a member of the National Defense Council, and remained in that post until the organization was abolished in 1975.
Chen was attacked by Red Guards
during the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution as one who resisted radicalization. Throughout 1967, he sought to survive by minimally acquiesing to Red Guard demands, placing PLA officers in sensitive positions such as provincial Revolutionary Committees and rapidly promoting inexperienced radicals to high positions. It appears that Chen directed radical hostility toward Song and the regional party apparatus. It is less clear if he deliberately launched the March 1969 border incident with the Soviet Union.
Already a powerful figure in regional military affairs, Chen’s career reached its pinnacle during the Cultural Revolution. He was elevated to the Politburo at the 1969 9th National Party Congress and, as the PLA took over regional administration, became CCP 1st Secretary of Liaoning Province (1971–74).
In 1971, Chen was the first MR commander to denounce Lin Biao
following his alleged coup d'état attempt and subsequent death. The Writing Group of Liaoning Provincial Party Committee, an origin under General Chen's direct and complete control, launched an attack on Lin in the November 1971 issue of "Red Flag" (Hongqi).
After being reelected to the politburo in 1973, Chen traded his Northeast power base for the leadership of the Beijing Military Region command in January 1974 and remained in that post until January 1980, when he was replaced by Qin Jiwei. He was named Vice Premier in the mid-1970s, a title he retained until his downfall in 1980.
In 1976, following the death of Zhou Enlai
and subsequent purge of Deng Xiaoping
, General Chen is thought to have briefly acted as Defense Minister and Military Affairs Commission secretary-general, in place of Marshall Ye Jianying
. While some sources give credit to Chen for managing the arrest of the Gang of Four
in the September coup d'état, others give full credit to Wang Dongxing
.
Deng Xiaoping's 1977 re-emergence led to the exoneration of the very people who had facilitated General Chen Xilian's rapid rise in power, by being victims of Mao's purges. Peng Dehuai, Huang Kecheng, Deng Hua and Song Renqiong (along with scores of others) were rehabilitated in 1977-79, at the expense of Chen's power. He was purged in February 1980 along with three other beneficaiaries of the Cultural Revolution: Wu De, Ji Dengkui and Wang Dongxing.
People's Liberation Army
The People's Liberation Army is the unified military organization of all land, sea, strategic missile and air forces of the People's Republic of China. The PLA was established on August 1, 1927 — celebrated annually as "PLA Day" — as the military arm of the Communist Party of China...
of China and a member of the Central Committee
Central Committee
Central Committee was the common designation of a standing administrative body of communist parties, analogous to a board of directors, whether ruling or non-ruling in the twentieth century and of the surviving, mostly Trotskyist, states in the early twenty first. In such party organizations the...
Politburo
Politburo
Politburo , literally "Political Bureau [of the Central Committee]," is the executive committee for a number of communist political parties.-Marxist-Leninist states:...
.
Chen was born in Hong'an County, Hubei
Hubei
' Hupeh) is a province in Central China. The name of the province means "north of the lake", referring to its position north of Lake Dongting...
Province of China in 1915. He joined his local Chinese Red Army guerrilla unit in 1929, and the Communist Youth League
Communist Youth League
The Communist Youth League of China also known as the China Youth League is a youth movement of the People's Republic of China for youth between the ages of fourteen and twenty-eight, run by Communist Party of China. The league is organized on the party pattern. Its leader is its First Secretary...
a year later. He was an army general from 1955 and a year later an Alternate Member of the 8th Central Committee
Central Committee
Central Committee was the common designation of a standing administrative body of communist parties, analogous to a board of directors, whether ruling or non-ruling in the twentieth century and of the surviving, mostly Trotskyist, states in the early twenty first. In such party organizations the...
(CC). Chen was a member of the CPC Politburo
Politburo
Politburo , literally "Political Bureau [of the Central Committee]," is the executive committee for a number of communist political parties.-Marxist-Leninist states:...
through three party congresses (1969–80), but fell afoul of Deng Xiaoping
Deng Xiaoping
Deng Xiaoping was a Chinese politician, statesman, and diplomat. As leader of the Communist Party of China, Deng was a reformer who led China towards a market economy...
’s reforms and was demoted with three colleagues (Wu De
Wu De
Wu De was a politician of the Communist Party of China and the People's Republic of China.-From the revolution to the People's Republic:...
, Ji Dengkui and Wang Dongxing
Wang Dongxing
Wang Dongxing was Mao Zedong's principal bodyguard during the Cultural Revolution....
) dubbed the “Small Gang of Four” to mere CC status in February 1980. Chen was assigned to the Standing Committee of the party Central Advisory Committee in September 1982.
1930s
In the early 1930s, Chen Xilian served in the 4th Front Army as a political instructor and communications man, moving up the ranks to Regiment political commissar in 1934. His unit, which was led by Zhang GuotaoZhang Guotao
Zhang Guotao was a founding member and important leader of the Chinese Communist Party and bitter rival to Mao Zedong. During the 1920s he studied in the Soviet Union and became a key contact with the Comintern and organized the CCP labor movement in the United Front with the Guomindang...
, Xu Xiangqian
Xu Xiangqian
Xu Xiangqian was a Chinese communist military leader.-Biography:Xu was born in Wutai county, Shanxi province, China. He was admitted to the Whampoa Academy in 1924 and held various officer ranks in the National Revolutionary Army between 1925 and 1927...
and Li Xiannian
Li Xianniàn
Li Xiannian was President of the People's Republic of China between 1983 and 1988 and then chairman of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference until his death. He was an influential political figure throughout the PRC, having been a member of the Politburo of the Communist Party of...
, included such future leaders as Qin Jiwei
Qin Jiwei
Qin Jiwei was a general of the People's Republic of China, Minister of National Defense and a member of the Chinese Communist Party Politburo.Qin Jiwei was born to a poor peasant family in Huang'an , Hubei Province of China in November 1914....
. They fought Sichuan warlords on the western leg of the Long March
Long March
The Long March was a massive military retreat undertaken by the Red Army of the Communist Party of China, the forerunner of the People's Liberation Army, to evade the pursuit of the Kuomintang army. There was not one Long March, but a series of marches, as various Communist armies in the south...
. At the close of the Long March
Long March
The Long March was a massive military retreat undertaken by the Red Army of the Communist Party of China, the forerunner of the People's Liberation Army, to evade the pursuit of the Kuomintang army. There was not one Long March, but a series of marches, as various Communist armies in the south...
, Chen – like his colleagues Xu Shiyou
Xu Shiyou
Xu Shiyou was a general in the Chinese People's Liberation Army. Born in Hubei, Xu grew up studying martial arts at the Shaolin Temple for eight years and he later became a soldier in Wu Peifu's warlord army...
and Yu Qiuli
Yu Qiuli
Yu Qiuli was vice prime minister of China from 1975 until 1982 and was a member of the Communist Party of China Politburo, a group of 19 to 25 people who oversee the Communist Party of China...
– would find himself on the wrong side of the Mao Zedong
Mao Zedong
Mao Zedong, also transliterated as Mao Tse-tung , and commonly referred to as Chairman Mao , was a Chinese Communist revolutionary, guerrilla warfare strategist, Marxist political philosopher, and leader of the Chinese Revolution...
-Zhang Guotao
Zhang Guotao
Zhang Guotao was a founding member and important leader of the Chinese Communist Party and bitter rival to Mao Zedong. During the 1920s he studied in the Soviet Union and became a key contact with the Comintern and organized the CCP labor movement in the United Front with the Guomindang...
dispute, and badly battered by Muslim cavalry and warlord armies. After the fighting, Chen emerged as a division commander and reached Yan'an
Yan'an
Yan'an , is a prefecture-level city in the Shanbei region of Shaanxi province in China, administering several counties, including Zhidan County , which served as the Chinese communist capital before the city of Yan'an proper took that role....
in late 1935. He was assigned to the 129th Division of Eighth Route Army
Eighth Route Army
The Eighth Route Army was the larger of the two major Chinese communist forces that formed a unit of the National Revolutionary Army of the Republic of China which fought the Japanese from 1937 to 1945. In contrast to most of the National Revolutionary Army, it was controlled by the Communist...
, which later became the core of the 2nd Field Army of Liu Bocheng
Liu Bocheng
Liu Bocheng was a Chinese Communist military commander and Marshal of the People's Liberation Army.Liu is known as one of the "Three and A Half" Strategists of China in modern history...
and Deng Xiaoping
Deng Xiaoping
Deng Xiaoping was a Chinese politician, statesman, and diplomat. As leader of the Communist Party of China, Deng was a reformer who led China towards a market economy...
.
On October 19, 1937 he led the 769th Regiment, First Column, against Japanese units defending Yangmingbao airport, destroying 24 planes, and killing more than 100 Japanese soldiers, which alleviated the air threat on the Xikou Front. Chen at this time served under Xu Xiangqian with future generals Xu Shiyou
Xu Shiyou
Xu Shiyou was a general in the Chinese People's Liberation Army. Born in Hubei, Xu grew up studying martial arts at the Shaolin Temple for eight years and he later became a soldier in Wu Peifu's warlord army...
, Xu Haidong
Xu Haidong
Xu Haidong was a Grand General in the People's Liberation Army of China.Xu was born in Huangpi , Hubei, China. He was the six kid of his parents, who had a total of 10 children. His father was Xue Zhongben and his mother is only remembered by her last name, Wu...
and Han Xianchu
Han Xianchu
Han Xianchu was a general of the Chinese Communist Party. Han participated in many military campaigns and battles such as Battle of Pingxingguan, Liaoshen Campaign, Pingjin Campaign, Hainan Campaign, and the Korean War...
.
1940s
In the Summer of 1940, Chen’s unit participated in the Hundred Regiments Campaign near TaiyuanTaiyuan
Taiyuan is the capital and largest city of Shanxi province in North China. At the 2010 census, it had a total population of 4,201,591 inhabitants on 6959 km² whom 3,212,500 are urban on 1,460 km². The name of the city literally means "Great Plains", referring to the location where the Fen River...
, and by September had succeeded the reassigned Xu Shiyou as 385th Brigade Commander; his political commissar at the time was future Public Security Minister Xie Fuzhi
Xie Fuzhi
Xie Fuzhi was a Communist Party of China military commander, political commissar, and national security specialist. He was born in 1909 in Hong'an County, Hubei and died in Beijing in 1972. He was married to Liu Xiangping...
.
After a brief stint at the Central Party School in Yan'an (in 1943, likely his only formal education), Chen in September 1945 was commander of the Second Military Subdistrict in Southern Hebei. His 385th Brigade combined with local unites to create the 7th Brigade, which eventually became the 3rd Column of the Central Plains Field Army. His Deputy Commander, Zeng Shaoshan, and other key officers remained with Chen through the Huai-Hai
Huaihai Campaign
Huaihai Campaign or Battle of Hsupeng was a military action during 1948 and 1949 that was the determining battle of the Chinese Civil War. It was one of the few conventional battles of the war. 550,000 troops of the Republic of China were surrounded in Xuzhou and destroyed by the communist...
and Crossing the Yangtze
Yangtze River
The Yangtze, Yangzi or Cháng Jiāng is the longest river in Asia, and the third-longest in the world. It flows for from the glaciers on the Tibetan Plateau in Qinghai eastward across southwest, central and eastern China before emptying into the East China Sea at Shanghai. It is also one of the...
campaigns, and for many years thereafter.
In the Spring of 1949, after the fall of Nanjing
Nanjing
' is the capital of Jiangsu province in China and has a prominent place in Chinese history and culture, having been the capital of China on several occasions...
, Chen’s 3rd Army moved into Zhejiang, and saw action at Hangzhou and Shanghai. His unit remained in place while his co-commanders, Chen Geng
Chen Geng
Chen Geng was a Chinese communist military leader.-Early life:Born in Hunan province, Chen was second of 12 siblings. However, because his elder brother died early due to illness, Chen became the eldest son. His grandfather, Chen Yiqong was an officer in the imperial Chinese army and was rewarded...
and Yang Yong, embarked on the South-west Campaign. As the Civil War wound down, Chen was left in command of a key region of Eastern China. Among his 2nd Field Army subordinates to later rise in power were future politburo members Xie Fuzhi, Li Desheng
Li Desheng
Li Desheng was a general in the Chinese People's Liberation Army. He was born in Xin County, Henan, China, an area now known as the "Cradle of Generals" for its surprising number of senior military officers born in the region...
and Liu Huaqing
Liu Huaqing
Liu Huaqing was the Commander of the Chinese People's Liberation Army Navy from 1982 through 1988, and is considered to been responsible for its modernization efforts....
.
1950s
In 1950, he was appointed CPC 1st Secretary and Mayor of ChongqingChongqing
Chongqing is a major city in Southwest China and one of the five national central cities of China. Administratively, it is one of the PRC's four direct-controlled municipalities , and the only such municipality in inland China.The municipality was created on 14 March 1997, succeeding the...
, Sichuan. He was also the commander of PLA's at East Sichuan
Sichuan
' , known formerly in the West by its postal map spellings of Szechwan or Szechuan is a province in Southwest China with its capital in Chengdu...
region and a member of the Southwest Military Administrative Committee, under the leadership of Deng Xiaoping, He Long
He Long
He Long was a Chinese military leader. He rose to the rank of Marshal and Vice Premier after the founding of the People's Republic of China.-Early life:He Long was a member of the Tujia ethnic group...
and Liu Bocheng. He was then assigned as commander of the entire PLA Artillery Corps and president of the Artillery Academy.
In 1955, Chen was assigned the rank of general, and the following year made an Alternate Member of the CPC Central Committee. In 1958, the PLA opened up a massive and sustained artillery barrage against the Nationalist-held island of Quemoy (Jinmen). General Chen was likely in direct command of the failed 400-piece cannonade.
The purge of Peng Dehuai
Peng Dehuai
Peng Dehuai was a prominent military leader of the Communist Party of China, and China's Defence Minister from 1954 to 1959. Peng was an important commander during the Second Sino-Japanese War, the Chinese civil war and was also the commander-in-chief of People's Volunteer Army in the Korean War...
in 1959 brought down two of his key allies as well: Chief-of-Staff Huang Kecheng
Huang Kecheng
Huang Kecheng was one of ten senior generals of People's Liberation Army.-Biography:General Huang Kecheng was born in Yongxing, Hunan, China, and he was the third of four children...
and Shenyang MR Commander Deng Hua. Chen Xilian was send to Manchuria to take over from General Deng in one of the most sensitive regions of the Sino-Soviet border. He served in the post until 1973; his deputy was his old comrade in arms, Zeng Shaoshan.
The 1960s, the GPCR and its aftermath
Chen inherited a region in the grip of starvation, due to the policy mismanagement of the Great Leap ForwardGreat Leap Forward
The Great Leap Forward of the People's Republic of China was an economic and social campaign of the Communist Party of China , reflected in planning decisions from 1958 to 1961, which aimed to use China's vast population to rapidly transform the country from an agrarian economy into a modern...
.
In mid-1963, Chen was promoted to CCP Secretary for the CC Northeast Central Party Bureau, where he worked closely with Song Renqiong
Song Renqiong
Song Renqiong was a general in the People's Liberation Army of the People's Republic of China .Song was born in Liuyang, Hunan Province....
. In 1965, Chen was made a member of the National Defense Council, and remained in that post until the organization was abolished in 1975.
Chen was attacked by Red Guards
Red Guards (China)
Red Guards were a mass movement of civilians, mostly students and other young people in the People's Republic of China , who were mobilized by Mao Zedong in 1966 and 1967, during the Cultural Revolution.-Origins:...
during the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution as one who resisted radicalization. Throughout 1967, he sought to survive by minimally acquiesing to Red Guard demands, placing PLA officers in sensitive positions such as provincial Revolutionary Committees and rapidly promoting inexperienced radicals to high positions. It appears that Chen directed radical hostility toward Song and the regional party apparatus. It is less clear if he deliberately launched the March 1969 border incident with the Soviet Union.
Already a powerful figure in regional military affairs, Chen’s career reached its pinnacle during the Cultural Revolution. He was elevated to the Politburo at the 1969 9th National Party Congress and, as the PLA took over regional administration, became CCP 1st Secretary of Liaoning Province (1971–74).
In 1971, Chen was the first MR commander to denounce Lin Biao
Lin Biao
Lin Biao was a major Chinese Communist military leader who was pivotal in the communist victory in the Chinese Civil War, especially in Northeastern China...
following his alleged coup d'état attempt and subsequent death. The Writing Group of Liaoning Provincial Party Committee, an origin under General Chen's direct and complete control, launched an attack on Lin in the November 1971 issue of "Red Flag" (Hongqi).
After being reelected to the politburo in 1973, Chen traded his Northeast power base for the leadership of the Beijing Military Region command in January 1974 and remained in that post until January 1980, when he was replaced by Qin Jiwei. He was named Vice Premier in the mid-1970s, a title he retained until his downfall in 1980.
In 1976, following the death of Zhou Enlai
Zhou Enlai
Zhou Enlai was the first Premier of the People's Republic of China, serving from October 1949 until his death in January 1976...
and subsequent purge of Deng Xiaoping
Deng Xiaoping
Deng Xiaoping was a Chinese politician, statesman, and diplomat. As leader of the Communist Party of China, Deng was a reformer who led China towards a market economy...
, General Chen is thought to have briefly acted as Defense Minister and Military Affairs Commission secretary-general, in place of Marshall Ye Jianying
Ye Jianying
Ye Jianying was a Chinese communist general and the chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress from 1978 to 1983.-Biography:...
. While some sources give credit to Chen for managing the arrest of the Gang of Four
Gang of Four
The Gang of Four was the name given to a political faction composed of four Chinese Communist Party officials. They came to prominence during the Cultural Revolution and were subsequently charged with a series of treasonous crimes...
in the September coup d'état, others give full credit to Wang Dongxing
Wang Dongxing
Wang Dongxing was Mao Zedong's principal bodyguard during the Cultural Revolution....
.
Deng Xiaoping's 1977 re-emergence led to the exoneration of the very people who had facilitated General Chen Xilian's rapid rise in power, by being victims of Mao's purges. Peng Dehuai, Huang Kecheng, Deng Hua and Song Renqiong (along with scores of others) were rehabilitated in 1977-79, at the expense of Chen's power. He was purged in February 1980 along with three other beneficaiaries of the Cultural Revolution: Wu De, Ji Dengkui and Wang Dongxing.