The People's Liberation Army General Political Department (GPD; ) was the former chief political organ under the Central Military Commission of

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 ...

. It led all political activities in 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, ...

. Its former director-generals include

Liu Shaoqi Liu Shaoqi ( ; 24 November 189812 November 1969) was a Chinese revolutionary, politician, and theorist. He was Chairman of the NPC Standing Committee from 1954 to 1959, First Vice Chairman of the Chinese Communist Party from 1956 to 1966 and C ...

Luo Ronghuan Luo Ronghuan (; November 26, 1902 – December 16, 1963) was a Chinese communist military leader. He served as a Vice Chair of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress. Biography Luo was born in a village in Hengshan County, ...

Tan Zheng Tan Zheng (; June 14, 1906 – November 6, 1988) was a Chinese general, Communist revolutionary leader and strategist. He was a major leader of the Red Army and the People's Liberation Army. Childhood Tan Zheng was born in a little village cal ...

, Xiao Hua,

Li Desheng Li Desheng (; 4 May 1916 – 8 May 2011) was a general in the Chinese People's Liberation Army. He was born in Xin County, Henan, China, an area now known as the "Cradle of Generals" for the large number of senior military officers born in the r ...

Zhang Chunqiao Zhang Chunqiao (; 1 February 1917 – 21 April 2005) was a prominent Chinese political theorist, writer, and politician. He came to the national spotlight during the late stages of the Cultural Revolution, and was a member of the ultra-Maoist gr ...

Wei Guoqing Wei Guoqing (; Zhuang: Veiz Gozcing; 2 September 1913 – 14 June 1989) was a Chinese government official, military officer and political commissar of Zhuang ethnicity. He served as the Chairman of Guangxi from 1958 to 1975 and on the Chines ...

Yu Qiuli Yu Qiuli (; 15 November 1914 – 3 February 1999) was a Chinese Communist army officer and politician, general of the People's Liberation Army. A veteran of the Long March, he held top military and government positions under both Mao Zedong and D ...

Yang Baibing Yang Baibing (; 9 September 1920 – 15 January 2013) was a Chinese military officer. He was a senior general and political commissar in the Chinese People's Liberation Army and the younger half-brother of Yang Shangkun. Together, the two broth ...

, Yu Yongbo,

Xu Caihou Xu Caihou (; June 1943 – March 15, 2015) was a Chinese general in the People's Liberation Army (PLA) and vice-chairman of the Central Military Commission (CMC), the country's top military council. As Vice-chairman of the CMC, he was one of th ...

, and

Li Jinai Li Jinai (; b. July 1942) is a general in the People's Liberation Army. Biography Li Jinai was born in Teng County (now Tengzhou), Shandong in July 1942. He joined the Chinese Communist Party (CPC) in May 1965 and joined the People's Liberation ...

. Its last head was Zhang Yang, who committed suicide. The department was disbanded in January 2016 and a new agency, the

Political Work Department of the Central Military Commission The Political Work Department of the Central Military Commission () is the chief political organ under the Central Military Commission. It was created in January 2016 following the 2015 People's Republic of China military reform. Its predec ...

was founded in its place.

During the Cultural Revolution

The General Political Department of the People's Liberation Army played an important role for Mao Zedong 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 ...

, through its control of "political departments" that were set up throughout the state apparatus. In the summer of 1964 before the Cultural Revolution, organizations called "political departments" were set up in throughout branches of the administration in China, in central and regional levels. Members were to study the works of Mao Zedong and emulate the army. These organizations were headed by the General Political Department, the organ by which

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

Lin Biao ) , serviceyears = 1925–1971 , branch = People's Liberation Army , rank = Marshal of the People's Republic of China Lieutenant general of the National Revolutionary Army, Republic of China , commands ...

exercised control over the armed forces. This made the economic "political department" also under command of the armed forces, rather than the Party's

Central Committee Central committee is the common designation of a standing administrative body of Communist party, communist parties, analogous to a board of directors, of both ruling and nonruling parties of former and existing socialist states. In such party org ...

. This effectively created a "parallel

chain of command A command hierarchy is a group of people who carry out orders based on others' authority within the group. It can be viewed as part of a power structure, in which it is usually seen as the most vulnerable and also the most powerful part. Milit ...

" which bypassed the Party. The role of the GPD during the Cultural Revolution meant that when the Party lines of command failed amidst chaos, alternative chains of command would be implemented. By 1966, before the Cultural Revolution began, this system was effective.

Structure

The General Political Department was led by a director, usually of General rank, and numerous deputy directors, most of whom were also accorded General rank (others were Lt. Generals). The director was a military-region level position. The last director was Zhang Yang, who served until 2016 and became head of the department's successor body. The department also had a number of departments under it: the General Office, the Discipline Inspection Department, the Foreign Affairs Bureau General Office, the Justice Bureau General Office, Mass Work Bureau General Office, Cadre Department, Culture Department, Directly Subordinated Organs Work Department, Liaison Department, Organization Department, Propaganda Department, Security Department. The department also oversees the

Military Museum of the Chinese People's Revolution The Military Museum of the Chinese People's Revolution or China People's Revolution Military Museum () is a museum located in Haidian District, Beijing, China that displays restored military equipment from the history of the People's Liberation ...

, the ''

PLA Daily The ''People's Liberation Army Daily'' (), or ''PLA Daily'' for short, is the official newspaper of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA). Institutionally, the ''PLA Daily'' is the mouthpiece of and speaks for the Central Military Commission ...

'', the PLA Literature and Art Press (Kunlun Press), PLA Pictorial, and PLA Press.

References

{{People's Liberation Army People's Liberation Army Central Military Commission (China)

During the Cultural Revolution

Structure

See also

References