Ye Jianying

Ye Jianying the Chinese communist marshal, soldier and statesman (1897-1986) who served as a founding commander of the People's Liberation Army and later as head of state of the People's Republic of China. A skilled staff officer and political survivor, he played a decisive part in the arrest of the radical faction in 1976 and in the early years of reform.

Early Career and Military Education

Ye Jianying was born on 28 April 1897 in Meixian county, Guangdong province, into a family of Hakka merchants of modest means. He received a classical education and then entered the Yunnan Military Academy, one of the modern officer schools founded after the collapse of the Qing dynasty, where he trained as a professional soldier. He served in the campaigns of the warlord era and rose steadily in the southern armies.

He joined the Nationalist movement and supported Sun Yat-sen, and he took part in the campaigns of the 1920s that sought to unify China. He served as a staff officer under Chiang Kai-shek during the Northern Expedition, and for a time he was regarded as one of the promising young officers of the Nationalist army. His skill in planning and organisation marked him out for high staff responsibilities.

Converted to communism by the radical currents of the period, he joined the Chinese Communist Party in 1927 and helped to prepare the Nanchang uprising of August of that year. After the rising he went abroad to study in the Soviet Union, where he attended a military academy in Moscow, and on his return he brought to the Red Army a knowledge of modern staff methods and of foreign military organisation.

Staff Officer of the Red Army

Ye Jianying became one of the leading staff officers of the Red Army, serving as chief of staff in the central soviet area in Jiangxi. He helped to plan the great withdrawal of 1934 that became the Long March, and throughout that retreat he was among the small group of commanders responsible for the daily operational direction of the columns. His calm judgement and technical competence made him invaluable to the central leadership.

During the Long March he supported Mao Zedong in the internal disputes over strategy at the Zunyi meeting of 1935, an alignment that secured his standing in the party. He worked to keep the Red Army intact through the appalling hardships of the march and to coordinate the movement of the various field armies toward the northwest.

During the war with Japan he served as chief of staff of the Eighth Route Army and later took part in the negotiations between the communists and the Nationalists over the united front against the invader. His combination of military and diplomatic skills was unusual among the revolutionary commanders, and it prepared him for the political roles he would later fill.

Civil War, the Republic and the Marshalate

In the civil war of 1945-1949 Ye Jianying held senior posts in the general staff and in the campaign to take the south. He helped to direct the operations that captured Guangzhou in 1949 and then served as the city's first communist mayor and as the head of administration in Guangdong province, where he carried out land reform and the consolidation of communist authority.

After the founding of the People's Republic he was appointed a marshal of the People's Liberation Army in 1955, one of the ten men honoured with that rank. He served as chief of the general staff, as a vice premier, and as a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party, and he was deeply involved in the professionalisation of the armed forces and in the drafting of the political and military policies of the early state.

He worked to place the army on a modern footing, encouraging the study of combined operations, the creation of defence industries, and the establishment of research institutes for military affairs. His long experience of staff work and his reputation for moderation made him a trusted figure in the negotiations and committee work of the political establishment.

The Arrest of 1976 and After

In the troubled years of the Cultural Revolution Ye Jianying withdrew somewhat from public prominence but retained his standing as an elder of the party and the army. By 1976, with the death of Zhou Enlai in January and of Mao Zedong in September, the radical faction led by the so-called Gang of Four sought to seize supreme power. Ye Jianying, in alliance with Hua Guofeng and Wang Dongxing, organised the quiet arrest of the radicals on 6 October 1976.

The arrest ended the most disruptive phase of the Cultural Revolution and is generally regarded as one of the most consequential political actions of modern Chinese history. Ye Jianying's authority as a elder statesman and his command of key military units made the operation possible without the bloodshed that many had feared.

In the years that followed he supported the rehabilitation of veteran leaders and the prosecution of the radical faction, and he helped to oversee the transition toward the reform programme that began under Deng Xiaoping. He was named head of state of the People's Republic in 1978, the ceremonial presidency he held until 1983, and he continued to serve as a senior adviser on military affairs.

Death, Reputation and Legacy

Ye Jianying died in Beijing on 22 October 1986, much honoured as the last of the great marshals to die and as a survivor of every phase of the revolutionary struggle from the 1920s to the reform era. He was given a state funeral and his ashes were interred with full ceremony, and his career was held up as an example of loyalty, technical skill and sober judgement.

He is remembered chiefly as the soldier who could plan a campaign and manage a political crisis with equal composure. His decisive role in 1976, when he chose to act against the radical faction, is often counted as his greatest single contribution to the stability of the state, and it gave him lasting influence in the era of reform.

His writings on military affairs, his work in building the armed forces of the new republic, and his reputation for personal austerity contributed to his standing as an elder of the revolutionary generation. He remains a symbol of the professional, staff-minded officer within a revolutionary army, and his name is associated with the political settlement that made possible the reforms of the 1980s.

See also

• Long March
• Gang of Four
• Zunyi Conference
• Cultural Revolution