Liang Boqi (; 1918 – December 25, 2013) was the wife of

Zhao Ziyang Zhao Ziyang ( zh, 赵紫阳; pronounced , 17 October 1919 – 17 January 2005) was a Chinese politician. He was the third premier of the People's Republic of China from 1980 to 1987, vice chairman of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) from 198 ...

, the

third Third or 3rd may refer to: Numbers * 3rd, the ordinal form of the cardinal number 3 * , a fraction of one third * Second#Sexagesimal divisions of calendar time and day, 1⁄60 of a ''second'', or 1⁄3600 of a ''minute'' Places * 3rd Street (d ...

premier of the People's Republic of China The premier of the State Council of the People's Republic of China, commonly called the premier of China and sometimes also referred to as the prime minister, is the head of government of China and leader of the State Council. The premier is ...

from 1980 to 1987,

vice chairman The chairperson, also chairman, chairwoman or chair, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the grou ...

of the

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

(CCP) from 1981 to 1982, and

CCP general secretary The general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party () is the Party leader, head of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), the One-party state, sole ruling party of the China, People's Republic of China (PRC). Since 1989, the CCP general secr ...

from 1987 to 1989. In 1918, Liang Boqi was born in

Nanzhuang Nanzhuang Township is a township (Taiwan), rural township in Miaoli County, Taiwan. Geography It has a population total of 10,381 (January 2017) and an area of . Demographics The population consists of Hakka people, Hakkas, Hoklo people, Ho ...

, Chengguan Town,

Neihuang County Neihuang County () is a county in the north of Henan province, China, bordering Hebei Hebei or , (; alternately Hopeh) is a northern province of China. Hebei is China's sixth most populous province, with over 75 million people. Shijiaz ...

. When she was in middle school, she studied in

Kaifeng Kaifeng () is a prefecture-level city in east-central Henan province, China. It is one of the Eight Ancient Capitals of China, having been the capital eight times in history, and is best known for having been the Chinese capital during the Nort ...

and

Wuhan Wuhan (, ; ; ) is the capital of Hubei, Hubei Province in the China, 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 List of cities in China ...

. After the July 7th Incident in 1937, Liang Boqi dropped out of school and returned to her hometown. In April 1938, she participated in the Anti-Japanese Movement led by the Communist Party of China. She served as the "Team" Southern Hebei Sub-division Captain and concurrently serving as the Deputy Director of the Propaganda Department of the Women's Salvation Congress in the Hebei-Shandong-Henan Border Region. In January 1939, Liang Boqi was sent by the CCP organization to

Hua County Hua County or Huaxian () is a county under the administration of Anyang City, in the north of Henan province, China. Its predecessor administrative area Huazhou/Hua prefecture was first established in 596 during the Sui dynasty. In 606 it w ...

Henan Province 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 ...

, as the director of the Women's Salvation Congress, becoming the first full-time female cadre in the Hua County Committee of the CCP and the Hua County Anti-Japanese Democratic Government. At that time, the Huaxian party organization of the CCP was under the leadership of the Hebei, Shandong and Henan Prefectural Committees of the CCP. In the early days of the Anti-Japanese War, the Huaxian party organization of the CCP was mainly active in Dazhai, Sangcun, and Laomiao in Dongxiang. Liang Boqi followed the organization to mobilize women in this area to join the Anti Japanese. During this time, Liang Boqi and Zhao Ziyang, who was working as a superior, had the opportunity to connect and discovered their shared experiences of studying in Kaifeng and Wuhan. This brought them closer together. Liang Boqi organized anti-Japanese training classes for women activists in Zhaozhuang Village of Sang Village, inviting Zhao Ziyang, the prefectural party secretary, to come and teach. She had a good connection with the masses and often organized women in the village to learn and sing anti-Japanese songs. Despite Zhao Ziyang's admiration for her, the cruelty of the war and the pressing circumstances prevented them from developing a romantic relationship. The Japanese army later conducted the brutal "Five-Five Raids" in the area, targeting the eastern part of Huaxian County and the base area, causing great suffering and suppression of anti-Japanese activists under their rule. In 2019, Liang Boqi's remains were interred alongside the remains of her husband in a cemetery located about 60 kilometers outside Beijing.

References

{{reflist 2013 deaths 1918 births Politicians from Anyang Chinese Communist Party politicians from Henan People's Republic of China politicians from Henan 20th-century Chinese women politicians Political office-holders in Guangdong Political office-holders in Sichuan 20th-century Chinese politicians Women in war in China Women in warfare post-1945