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'''Chen Yi''' a Chinese communist military commander and statesman of the twentieth century (1901-1972) who served as a leading field commander of the People's Liberation Army, as mayor of Shanghai, and as foreign minister of the People's Republic of China.

== Early Life and Education ==
Chen Yi was born on 26 August 1901 in Lezhi, in Sichuan province, into a family of moderate standing. He received a good classical education and then studied in France as part of the work-study movement, where he came into contact with radical political ideas and with other young Chinese who would later become leaders of the communist movement.

On his return to China he became active in revolutionary politics and joined the Communist Party. He served as an officer in the Nationalist army during the campaigns of the 1920s and, after the split between the communists and the Nationalists in 1927, he took part in the armed uprisings that marked the beginning of independent communist military activity.

He remained in the south and the centre of China during the difficult years that followed, helping to build guerrilla forces and to maintain communist presence in areas where the movement was under severe pressure. His experience of irregular warfare would shape his later career as a commander.

== Military Career and the Civil War ==
During the war against Japan Chen Yi commanded communist forces in central and eastern China, where his troops conducted guerrilla operations behind the Japanese lines and helped to expand the territory controlled by the communist movement. He was one of the most senior and respected commanders of the New Fourth Army and later of the field armies of the civil war period.

In the renewed civil war between the communists and the Nationalists after 1945 he took command of major campaigns in eastern China, culminating in the capture of Shanghai in 1949. His forces, organised as the Third Field Army, played a decisive part in the defeat of the Nationalist armies in the east.

He was known as a commander of great personal courage and unpretentious manner, respected by his troops and by his colleagues for his directness and his care for the soldiers under his command. He combined military competence with a measure of literary culture, writing poetry that reflected his experience of war and revolution.

== Mayor of Shanghai and National Office ==
After the founding of the People's Republic in 1949 Chen Yi was appointed the first mayor of Shanghai, a task of immense difficulty. He was responsible for restoring order and basic services in a vast and complex city that had just passed through the upheavals of war and the departure of much of its former administration and business elite.

As mayor he dealt with problems of supply, unemployment, currency and public order, and he sought to win the cooperation of the city's remaining industrial and professional classes while consolidating the authority of the new government. His tenure was marked by both the restoration of essential services and the imposition of the new political order.

He was later appointed to senior positions in the central government, becoming a marshal of the People's Liberation Army and a member of the highest political bodies of the state. His combination of military prestige and administrative experience made him one of the most prominent figures of the early People's Republic.

== Foreign Minister and Public Figure ==
In 1958 Chen Yi became foreign minister of the People's Republic, a post he held until his death. In this role he represented China in a period of intense international tension, including the split with the Soviet Union and the conflicts of the Cold War, and he was known for his blunt and forceful public statements.

He travelled abroad, negotiated with foreign governments and led delegations to international conferences, presenting the position of his government with vigour. His manner was combative but also capable of warmth, and he became one of the most recognisable Chinese figures on the world stage.

His writings and speeches from this period, together with his memoirs of the revolutionary years, made him a well-known public figure, admired at home for his straightforwardness and his air of soldierly candour.

== Late Years, Political Trouble and Legacy ==
During the Cultural Revolution Chen Yi came under criticism and pressure, and he found himself in conflict with radical factions within the leadership. Although he was not entirely removed from office, he was subjected to political attacks and to the strain of the factional struggles of the period.

He fell ill and died on 6 January 1972 in Beijing. His death, and the attendance at his funeral of senior leaders, became one of the events that marked the turn of the political tide against the radicals of the Cultural Revolution.

He is remembered as one of the ten marshals of the People's Liberation Army, as the first mayor of communist Shanghai and as a forthright foreign minister. His career spanned the revolutionary wars and the early decades of the People's Republic, and he remains a significant figure in the military and diplomatic history of modern China.

== See also ==
* People's Liberation Army
* Second Sino-Japanese War
* Shanghai
* Republic of China

== References ==

<ref name="r1">Chen Yi, Collected Works of Chen Yi, People's Publishing House, 1979.</ref>
<ref name="r2">Chen Yi, Poems of Chen Yi, People's Literature Publishing House, 1977.</ref>
<ref name="r3">William W. Whitson, The Chinese High Command: A History of Communist Military Politics, Praeger, 1973.</ref>
<ref name="r4">Frederic Wakeman, The Shanghai Badlands, Cambridge University Press, 1996.</ref>

<references />

[[Category:History]]
[[Category:Military]]
[[Category:Contemporary China]]

Chen Yi - Revision history

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