Cheng Fangwu (; August 24, 1897 – 17 May 1984) was a top level Party elder 元老 who cut his teeth at the beginning of the

long march The Long March (, lit. ''Long Expedition'') was a military retreat undertaken by the Chinese Red Army, Red Army of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), the forerunner of the People's Liberation Army, to evade the pursuit of the National Revolut ...

, responsible for education of the

Chinese Red Army The Chinese Workers' and Peasants' Red Army or Chinese Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army, commonly known as the Chinese Red Army or simply the Red Army, are the armed forces of the Chinese Communist Party. It was formed when Communist ...

and the party apparatus from the mid-1930s to the end of his life. Earlier in the 1920s he was active as an author of the new literature and a translator.

Biography

Cheng Fangwu was born in

Xinhua County Xinhua County () is a county and the 4th most populous county-level division in the Province of Hunan, China; it is under the administration of Loudi City. Located along the middle reaches of the Zi River, it covers 3,635 square kilometers and ...

Hunan Hunan (, ; ) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China, part of the South Central China region. Located in the middle reaches of the Yangtze watershed, it borders the province-level divisions of Hubei to the north, Jiangxi to ...

in 1897. He went to Japan in 1910 as a student of Military Science at the Tokyo Imperial University. He returned to China in 1921 and joined the

Creation Society The Creation Society was a left-wing cultural organisation in China to encourage literary and cultural exploration. The founders wished to establish a 'society of art for art's sake'. The Society was established by a group of students who were ...

circle of scholars with

Yu Dafu Yu Wen, better known by his courtesy name Yu Dafu (December 7, 1896 – September 17, 1945) was a modern Chinese short story writer and poet. He was one of the new literary group initiators, and this new literary group was named the Creation Soc ...

and other Chinese intellectuals, publishing numerous articles promulgating the new literature. He was appointed to the faculty of

Sun Yat-sen University Sun Yat-sen University (, abbreviated SYSU and colloquially known in Chinese as Zhongda), also known as Zhongshan University, is a national key public research university located in Guangzhou, Guangdong, China. It was founded in 1924 by and nam ...

in Canton in 1924 and also to the Physics faculty at

Whampoa Military Academy The Republic of China Military Academy () is the service academy for the army of the Republic of China, located in Fengshan District, Kaohsiung. Previously known as the the military academy produced commanders who fought in many of China ...

. He joined the

Kuomintang The Kuomintang (KMT), also referred to as the Guomindang (GMD), the Nationalist Party of China (NPC) or the Chinese Nationalist Party (CNP), is a major political party in the Republic of China, initially on the Chinese mainland and in Tai ...

Party in 1925. Despite the establishment jobs he soon became close to

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, premier of the People's Republic of China from 1 October 1949 until his death on 8 J ...

and

Mao Zedong Mao Zedong pronounced ; also romanised traditionally as Mao Tse-tung. (26 December 1893 – 9 September 1976), also known as Chairman Mao, was a Chinese communist revolutionary who was the founder of the People's Republic of China (PRC) ...

and joined a failed Communist coup d'état. On the government arrest list, Cheng then went in exile to Japan and later Europe, specifically Germany. He mastered the German language and years later authored the direct translation from German to Chinese of

Marx Karl Heinrich Marx (; 5 May 1818 – 14 March 1883) was a German philosopher, economist, historian, sociologist, political theorist, journalist, critic of political economy, and socialist revolutionary. His best-known titles are the 1848 p ...

and

Engels Friedrich Engels ( ,"Engels"
''

The Communist Manifesto ''The Communist Manifesto'', originally the ''Manifesto of the Communist Party'' (german: Manifest der Kommunistischen Partei), is a political pamphlet written by German philosophers Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. Commissioned by the Comm ...

" which became texts for the Chinese Communist Party. 1928 he joined the Chinese Communist Party in Paris and published their house journal. Cheng returned to China in September 1931 and soon went to Eyuwan (鄂豫皖), a soviet style administered area of about 3 north central Chinese provinces (

Hubei Hubei (; ; alternately Hupeh) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China, and is part of the Central China region. The name of the province means "north of the lake", referring to its position north of Dongting Lake. The prov ...

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 ...

and

Henan Henan (; or ; ; alternatively Honan) is a landlocked province of China, in the central part of the country. Henan is often referred to as Zhongyuan or Zhongzhou (), which literally means "central plain" or "midland", although the name is al ...

). This mountain region was a core Communist power base which they administered entirely. Cheng was the senior commissar responsible for most of the administrative activity, including the economy, education, taxation and transportation. At the second Chinese Soviet Congress in 1934, he was elected to various official positions including the Political Central Committee and to head the Party Education Committee. From then on he was always responsible for the Party education systems as they evolved.

Long March and Beyond

October 1934 Cheng accompanied the

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army (Russian: Рабо́че-крестья́нская Кра́сная армия),) often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic and, after ...

on its epic

Long March The Long March (, lit. ''Long Expedition'') was a military retreat undertaken by the Chinese Red Army, Red Army of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), the forerunner of the People's Liberation Army, to evade the pursuit of the National Revolut ...

. One year later they arrived in the

Yan'an Yan'an (; ), alternatively spelled as Yenan is a prefecture-level city in the Shaanbei region of Shaanxi province, China, bordering Shanxi to the east and Gansu to the west. It administers several counties, including Zhidan (formerly Bao'an ...

caves of northern

Shaanxi Shaanxi (alternatively Shensi, see #Name, § Name) is a landlocked Provinces of China, province of China. Officially part of Northwest China, it borders the province-level divisions of Shanxi (NE, E), Henan (E), Hubei (SE), Chongqing (S), Sichu ...

. Thousands of Chinese youths journeyed to Ya'an following the full scale Japanese invasion of China in 1937. Cheng established the Shaanbei Public Academy which was the official party school reporting directly to the Central Committee. In 1939 Huabei United University was established by combining 4 institutions including the Shaanbei Public Academy. This was a university on the move, following the progress of the Red Army. At one time due to certain special conditions, 1,500 students were sent behind the Japanese enemy lines. Cheng went with them and organized their continuing education which required scheduling surreptitious class gatherings. The People's Republic of China was established in 1949, People's University (Remin University) the following year. Cheng Fangwu was successively Vice-President, President and President Emeritus from then on. Cheng Fangwu was a fervent dedicated Marxist to the core, and had the same commitment to cadre education. He required his education system to conform to reality, of which he experienced in abundance. One reality which he never anticipated was being attacked personally (two broken bones) with the University disbanded during the

Cultural Revolution The Cultural Revolution, formally known as the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, was a sociopolitical movement in the People's Republic of China (PRC) launched by Mao Zedong in 1966, and lasting until his death in 1976. Its stated goal ...

. Mao finally protected him in 1974 by setting up a special office for Cheng to translate Marx and Engels. He was rehabilitated in 1978 and his university re-established. He was the President and Party Secretary of

Shandong University Shandong University (, abbreviated as Shanda, , English abbreviation SDU) is a public research comprehensive university in Jinan, Shandong with one campus in Weihai, Shandong and one campus in Qingdao, Shandong and is supported directly by ...

Jinan Jinan (), Postal Map Romanization, alternately romanization of Chinese, romanized as Tsinan, is the Capital (political), capital of Shandong province in East China, Eastern China. With a population of 9.2 million, it is the second-largest city i ...

from August 1958 until January 1974. Shandong is a regular university, part of the Education Ministry. Cheng brought a fresh breeze and re-invigorated the University with his focus on grass roots reality and personal knowledge of the subject matter. He set a personal example by always writing his own memo's, reports and text notes.

Quotes and Vignettes -- 小镜头

There are many colorful stories about Cheng Fangwu. During a criticism session, the lead persecutor was reciting a poem by Mao Zedong to threaten Cheng. The poem was saying that a hunter of tigers and leopards should not be afraid of bears. The speaker mispronounced the last word in the poem as "ba". Cheng replied, "You said it wrong, instead of 'ba' you want 'pi'!" The entire hall applauded ... pi also means fart. * Mao said of Cheng Fangwu ... ** "Shaanbei Public School will certainly do well because of having Cheng Fangwu in the field of Education and Chau Choun Chueng in the field of Military Technology." on November 1937 in Northern China ** "Shaanbei Public School reflects the image of united revolution and China's development. China will not be destroyed with the existence of Shaanbei Public School." on March 3, 1938 in Northern China ** "There are two precious lessons I give for the students of Shaanbei Public School: The first, insist on the direction of politics; The second, is to work hard and stride to the end. During the past seventeen years, when the communist group met extraordinary hardship and still insisted on their political direction, the struggling hardship became the whole communist tradition, and Cheng Fangwu is just this kind of man." on April 1, 1938 at Opening Ceremony speech of the 2nd graduating year * On May 21, 1976, one of the Communist Leader, Marshal

Zhu De Zhu De (; ; also Chu Teh; 1 December 1886 – 6 July 1976) was a Chinese general, military strategist, politician and revolutionary in the Chinese Communist Party. Born into poverty in 1886 in Sichuan, he was adopted by a wealthy uncle at ...

, age 90, visited Cheng Fangwu at Central Communist School and said to him, "It is important to understand Marxism. For this purpose we need a good translated book and your translated book (Cheng's 1976 translated book ''

Communist Manifesto ''The Communist Manifesto'', originally the ''Manifesto of the Communist Party'' (german: Manifest der Kommunistischen Partei), is a political pamphlet written by German philosophers Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. Commissioned by the Comm ...

'') is easy to understand. This good job has a worldwide meaning." * Chinese leader,

Chan Wing Chan Wing (1873–1947) is a Chinese businessman in colonial Malaya. He is notable as the developer and owner of what later became the first generation National Palace of Malaysia. Early life Chan arrived in Malaya at the age of 14 with his brot ...

said in 1986: "Cheng Fangwu is our civil revolutionist, loyal warrior, educator, and social scientist."

Background Note 长征教育

Cheng Fangwu is a unique Chinese Communist Party Elder (元老). He was among the earliest well-known intellectual to overtly ally with

, well before many other political and military leaders. Mao gave him the job of educating the party cadre at the beginning of the

even though he was trained in military science in Tokyo. Under the

Chinese Communist The Chinese Communist Party (CCP), officially the Communist Party of China (CPC), is the founding and sole ruling party of the People's Republic of China (PRC). Under the leadership of Mao Zedong, the CCP emerged victorious in the Chinese Civil ...

system, there is a party cadre (commisar) at every level next to a military commander or a civilian manager. This is the party secretary (书记) who has power over personnel decision on the basis of party loyalty and "ideological purity". The consequence is of course rampant pure politics without regard to job skills. During the

and in earlier years, many talented military officers were basically illiterate or barely literate. Cheng's schools and university on the march produced literate cadres who were next to the commanders. Under common duress, they provided practical written communications for widely dispersed military forces. Also by all accounts Cheng's personal example was to focus on reality and not on personnel politics even though he was a committed Marxist. Consequently, the cadre schools and university undoubted fulfilled an important function. Once the People's Republic was established in 1949, the party gained control of the entire education system and everything else. With no existential threat and only internal political strife, the worst aspects of the cadre system gained ascendancy from the early 1960s to 1978. With the "open policies" of

Deng Xiaoping Deng Xiaoping (22 August 1904 – 19 February 1997) was a Chinese revolutionary leader, military commander and statesman who served as the paramount leader of the People's Republic of China (PRC) from December 1978 to November 1989. After CC ...

, there is no formal cadre system in the private sector of the economy, and the cadres began to take a back seat in the public sector. The universities under the Ministry of Education were modeled primarily after the American system with Schools (院) and Departments (系). These were established under the Republic of China dating from 1911. They vigorously reaffirmed their original approach to education after 1978. And in fact Cheng's Remin University itself expanded broadly along the same academic lines. The very strong marxist curriculum is now only part of the entire much broader curriculum. In this respect Cheng Fangwu is a unique figure fulfilling a unique requirement at a unique time; a situation unlikely to be repeated with the present trajectory of China.

Published works

* "New Year Celebration", a novel, 1929, Creation Quarterly * "Mission" a review, 1927, Creation Quarterly * "Stray" novel and poems, 1927,Creation Quarterly * "From Literary Revolution to Revoluationary Literature" essays with Guo Morou, 1928, Creation Quarterly * "Collected Works of Fangwu" essays, 1928, Creation Quarterly * "Literary Reviews" reviews, with You Dafu, 1928, Creation Quarterly * "Xinxing Literature Collection" Reviews and travelogue, 1930, Creation Quarterly * "Memoires of the Long March" Memoires, 1977, Remin Press * "A University amidst the Fire of War" Memoires, 1982, Renmin Education Press * "Collected Works of Cheng Fangwu" 1985, Shandong University Press * "Communist Manisfesto" translation with Xu Bing, 1938, Hong Kong * "German Poem Anthology" translations from Goethe and Heine with Guo Morou, 1927, Creation Quarterly

External links