Lü Zhengcao () (4 January 1904 – 13 October 2009) was a Chinese military officer. He was one of the original ''Shang Jiang'' of the

People's Liberation Army The People's Liberation Army (PLA) is the principal military force of the People's Republic of China and the armed wing of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). The PLA consists of five service branches: the Ground Force, Navy, Air Force, ...

. Lü was born in Haicheng, in the province of

Liaoning Liaoning () is a coastal province in Northeast China that is the smallest, southernmost, and most populous province in the region. With its capital at Shenyang, it is located on the northern shore of the Yellow Sea, and is the northernmost ...

. He joined 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 ...

in 1937. He fought in China's war against Japan 1937–1945 as well as the civil war against 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 ...

1945–1949. Before he joined the Communists, Lü worked as an assistant to the Kuomintang general,

Zhang Xueliang Chang Hsüeh-liang (, June 3, 1901 – October 15, 2001), also romanized as Zhang Xueliang, nicknamed the "Young Marshal" (少帥), known in his later life as Peter H. L. Chang, was the effective ruler of Northeast China and much of northern ...

. It was in this role that he was a witness to the

Xi'an Incident The Xi'an Incident, previously romanized as the Sian Incident, was a political crisis that took place in Xi'an, Shaanxi in 1936. Chiang Kai-shek, leader of the Nationalist government of China, was detained by his subordinate generals Chang Hs ...

, whereby Zhang and his fellow general,

Yang Hucheng Yang Hucheng () (26 November 1893 – 6 September 1949) was a Chinese general during the Warlord Era of Republican China and Kuomintang general during the Chinese Civil War. Yang Hucheng joined the Xinhai Revolution in his youth and had bec ...

, forced the then-Chinese leader,

Chiang Kai-shek Chiang Kai-shek (31 October 1887 – 5 April 1975), also known as Chiang Chung-cheng and Jiang Jieshi, was a Chinese Nationalist politician, revolutionary, and military leader who served as the leader of the Republic of China (ROC) from 1928 ...

to suspend the civil war with the Communists in 1936 in order and join forces against the Japanese. Lü resigned from the Kuomintang in 1937 and joined the Communist Party. He then commanded a military force that fought the Japanese army in northern China. Following the Communist victory of 1949, Lü served as a senior military leader of the PRC. He was appointed as a ''Shang Jiang'' (general) in 1955 following the re-establishment of rank. In 1985, to support the return of the critically endangered

Père David's deer The Père David's deer (''Elaphurus davidianus''), also known as the ''milu'' () or elaphure, is a species of deer native to the subtropical river valleys of China. It grazes mainly on grass and aquatic plants. It is the only extant member of ...

to China, Lü Zhengcao helped found and chair the China Milu Foundation, now known as the China Biodiversity Conservation and Green Development Foundation.(Chines
商晓达, 麋鹿与名人
2007-12-17 On 13 October 2009, Lü died in

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

at the age of 105 by Western age reckoning, or at the age of 106 by the traditional age system. At the time of his death, he was the last survivor of the original generals of the People's Liberation Army.

References

External links

Last of New China's first generals passes away
- Obituary from ''

Xinhua Xinhua News Agency (English pronunciation: )J. C. Wells: Longman Pronunciation Dictionary, 3rd ed., for both British and American English, or New China News Agency, is the official state news agency of the People's Republic of China. Xinhua ...

''
Lu Zhengcao
- Daily Telegraph obituary {{DEFAULTSORT:Lu Zhengcao 1904 births 2009 deaths People's Liberation Army generals from Liaoning Chinese centenarians Men centenarians People from Haicheng, Liaoning Chinese Communist Party politicians from Liaoning People's Republic of China politicians from Liaoning Alternate members of the 7th Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party Vice Chairpersons of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference Politicians from Anshan Burials at Babaoshan Revolutionary Cemetery Chinese people in rail transport