Chen Yannian (1898 – 4 July 1927) was a Chinese revolutionary and early leader of the

Communist Party A communist party is a political party that seeks to realize the socio-economic goals of communism. The term ''communist party'' was popularized by the title of '' The Manifesto of the Communist Party'' (1848) by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. ...

Biography

Chen was born in Anqing Prefecture,

Anhui Anhui , (; formerly romanized as Anhwei) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China, part of the East China region. Its provincial capital and largest city is Hefei. The province is located across the basins of the Yangtze River ...

, in 1898, to

Chen Duxiu Chen Duxiu ( zh, t=陳獨秀, w=Ch'en Tu-hsiu; 8 October 187927 May 1942) was a Chinese revolutionary socialist, educator, philosopher and author, who co-founded the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) with Li Dazhao in 1921. From 1921 to 1927, he ...

, a revolutionary socialist, educator, philosopher and author, who co-founded the Communist Party with Li Dazhao in 1921. His siblings were, in order of birth: Chen Qiaonian, Chen Songnian and Chen Yuying. He attended the Anqing Shangzhi School () and Quanwan Middle School (). In 1915, he went to study in Shanghai with his younger brother Chen Qiaonian. Soon after, the two brothers were accepted to

Aurora University Aurora University (AU) is a private university in Aurora, Illinois. In addition to its main campus and the Orchard Center in Aurora, AU offers programs online, at its George Williams College campus in Williams Bay, Wisconsin, and at the Woodsto ...

. In December 1919, under the influence of the

May Fourth Movement The May Fourth Movement was a Chinese anti-imperialist, cultural, and political movement which grew out of student protests in Beijing on May 4, 1919. Students gathered in front of Tiananmen (The Gate of Heavenly Peace) to protest the Chin ...

, the two brothers went to

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan ar ...

to study under a work-study programme. In June 1922, he co-founded the Chinese Youth Communist Party with Zhao Shiyan and

Zhou Enlai Zhou Enlai (; 5 March 1898 – 8 January 1976) was a Chinese statesman and military officer who served as the first premier of the People's Republic of China from 1 October 1949 until his death on 8 January 1976. Zhou served under Chairman Ma ...

and served as the propaganda director. In 1922, he joined the

French Communist Party The French Communist Party (french: Parti communiste français, ''PCF'' ; ) is a political party in France which advocates the principles of communism. The PCF is a member of the Party of the European Left, and its MEPs sit in the European Un ...

. In the winter of 1922, with the approval of the CPC Central Committee, the two brother joined the Communist Party. In September 1924, Chen returned to

Shanghai Shanghai (; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four direct-administered municipalities of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the Huangpu River flowin ...

. In October, he came to

Guangzhou Guangzhou (, ; ; or ; ), also known as Canton () and alternatively romanized as Kwongchow or Kwangchow, is the capital and largest city of Guangdong province in southern China. Located on the Pearl River about north-northwest of Hong ...

as a special commissioner of the

Central Committee of the Communist Party of China The Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party, officially the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, is a political body that comprises the top leaders of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). It is currently composed of 205 fu ...

and served as secretary of Guangdong Provincial Committee of the

Communist Youth League of China The Communist Youth League of China (CYLC), also known as the Young Communist League of China or simply the Communist Youth League (CYL), is a youth movement of the People's Republic of China for youth between the ages of 14 and 28, run by th ...

and director of the Organization Department. In February 1925, he succeeded Zhou Enlai as secretary of the CPC Guangdong Provincial Committee. In June, Chen, Deng Zhongxia,

Su Zhaozheng Su Zhaozheng () (1885, Qi'ao Island – 1929, Shanghai), early phase leader of the Communist Party of China, labour movement activist. A native of the Qi'ao Island of Xiangshan County, Guangdong Province, he became a sailor, active in Sun Yat ...

led the

Canton–Hong Kong strike The Canton–Hong Kong strike was a strike and boycott that took place in British Hong Kong and Guangzhou (Canton), Republic of China, from June 1925 to October 1926.Jens Bangsbo, Thomas Reilly, Mike Hughes. 995(1995). Science and Football III: ...

. In April 1927, when Chen went to

Wuhan Wuhan (, ; ; ) is the capital of Hubei Province in the People's Republic of China. It is the largest city in Hubei and the most populous city in Central China, with a population of over eleven million, the ninth-most populous Chinese city a ...

to attend the

5th National Congress of the Communist Party of China Fifth is the Ordinal number (linguistics), ordinal form of the number 5, five. Fifth or The Fifth may refer to: * Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution, as in the expression "pleading the Fifth" * Fifth column, a political term * Fifth ...

, the Central Committee appointed him to take over the post of secretary of the CPC Jiangsu and Zhejiang Provincial Committee and was elected an alternate member of the Political Bureau of the

5th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China Fifth is the ordinal form of the number five. Fifth or The Fifth may refer to: * Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution, as in the expression "pleading the Fifth" * Fifth column, a political term * Fifth disease, a contagious rash th ...

. On his way to Shanghai, the

Shanghai massacre The Shanghai massacre of 12 April 1927, the April 12 Purge or the April 12 Incident as it is commonly known in China, was the violent suppression of Chinese Communist Party (CCP) organizations and leftist elements in Shanghai by forces supportin ...

broke out. In June 1927, the Central Committee abolished the Jiangsu and Zhejiang Provincial Committee and established Jiangsu Provincial Committee and Zhejiang Provincial Committee respectively. Chen was appointed secretary of the CPC Jiangsu Provincial Committee. On June 26, he was arrested by the Kuomintang police, and later tortured during questioning. On the evening of 4 July 1927, he was pinned down and hacked to death by the Kuomintang police after refusing to kneel for his execution. In 2009, he was selected as "100 Heroes and Models who made Outstanding Contributions to the Founding of New China" by the Propaganda Department and the Organization Department.

Monuments

There is a road named "Yanqiao Road" () after him and his younger brother Chen Qiaonian in

Hefei Hefei (; ) is the capital and largest city of Anhui Province, People's Republic of China. A prefecture-level city, it is the political, economic, and cultural center of Anhui. Its population was 9,369,881 as of the 2020 census and its built-up ( ...

References

Works cited

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Chen, Yannian 1898 births 1927 deaths Chinese Communist Party politicians from Anhui Delegates to the 5th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party Members of the 5th Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party People from Anqing Republic of China politicians from Anhui