Peng Zhen (pronounced ; October 12, 1902 – April 26, 1997) was a leading member of the

Chinese Communist Party 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 Ci ...

. He led the party organization in Beijing following the victory of the Communists in the

Chinese Civil War The Chinese Civil War was fought between the Kuomintang-led government of the Republic of China and forces of the Chinese Communist Party, continuing intermittently since 1 August 1927 until 7 December 1949 with a Communist victory on main ...

in 1949, but was purged 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 go ...

for opposing Mao's views on the role of literature in relation to the state. He was rehabilitated under

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 China, People's Republic of China (PRC) from December 1978 to November 1989. Aft ...

in 1982 along with other 'wrongly accused' officials, and became the inaugural head of the

Central Political and Legal Affairs Commission The Central Political and Legal Affairs Commission (), commonly referred to as ''Zhongyang Zhengfawei'' (中央政法委, literally "Central Poli-Legal Commission") in Chinese, is the organization under the Central Committee of the Chinese Comm ...

Biography

Born in Houma,

Shanxi Shanxi (; ; formerly romanised as Shansi) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China and is part of the North China region. The capital and largest city of the province is Taiyuan, while its next most populated prefecture-lev ...

province, Peng was originally named Fu Maogong (傅懋恭). He joined the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in 1923 as a founding member of the Shanxi Province CCP. Arrested in 1929, he continued underground political activities while imprisoned. He was released from prison in 1935 and began organizing a resistance movement against the invading Japanese forces. Around the same time, he was appointed the Organization Department Director of the North Bureau of CCP. He also served on a number of positions as vice-president of the Central Party School and director of the CCP Policy Research Office. In 1945 he served in the history research committee and the organizing committee of the Communist Party's 7th National Congress. In September 1945 Peng was sent by

Mao Zedong Mao Zedong pronounced ; also Romanization of Chinese, 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 List of national founde ...

to take up overall leadership of the Communists in

Northeast China Northeast China or Northeastern China () is a geographical region of China, which is often referred to as "Manchuria" or "Inner Manchuria" by surrounding countries and the West. It usually corresponds specifically to the three provinces east of ...

. He was accompanied by

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 ...

who was to assist Peng with directing military operations against the Nationalists. Peng decided that the Communists could hold the 3 big cities of the Northeast: Shenyang,

Changchun Changchun (, ; ), Chinese postal romanization, also romanized as Ch'angch'un, is the capital and largest city of Jilin, Jilin Province, China, People's Republic of China. Lying in the center of the Songliao Plain, Changchun is administered as a ...

and Harbin. When the Nationalists under the command of Du Yuming attacked in November 1945, the Communists were forced back. Peng was removed as Communist leader in the northeast after further failure by Lin Biao's forces in March 1946 led to the Communists retreat back to Harbin. Peng was a member of the CCP Central Committee starting from 1944 as well as member of the Secretariat of the CCP Central Committee. He also held the positions of First Secretary of the Beijing Municipal Committee, and Mayor of Beijing (1951). He was a member of the

Politburo A politburo () or political bureau is the executive committee for communist parties. It is present in most former and existing communist states. Names The term "politburo" in English comes from the Russian ''Politbyuro'' (), itself a contractio ...

from 1956 to 1966.In June 1960, he attended

Bucharest Conference of Representatives of Communist and Workers Parties The Bucharest Conference of Representatives of Communist and Workers Parties and the Conference of Communist and Workers Parties of the Socialist Countries were two meetings of communist party, communist parties held in Bucharest, Romania on June ...

, countering Soviet leader

Khrushchev Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev (– 11 September 1971) was the First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1953 to 1964 and chairman of the country's Council of Ministers from 1958 to 1964. During his rule, Khrushchev st ...

during the conference. Peng was appointed head of the Five Man Group in charge of preparing a "cultural revolution", but he fell out of favor with Mao Zedong in April 1966 when he attacked Mao's belief that all

literature Literature is any collection of written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially prose fiction, drama, and poetry. In recent centuries, the definition has expanded to inclu ...

should support the state. He was accused of being an associate to Wu Han's counter-revolutionary clique and deposed at a May 1966 conference in what became the opening act of the

. Lu Dingyi, Luo Ruiqing and

Yang Shangkun Yang Shangkun (3 August 1907 – 14 September 1998) was a Chinese Communist military and political leader, President of the People's Republic of China (''de jure'' head of state) from 1988 to 1993, and one of the Eight Elders that dominat ...

were also deposed. Peng survived the Cultural Revolution, and was eventually rehabilitated under

. He subsequently became Secretary of the

, a post he already held from late 1950s in the capacity of leader of a Central Politics and Law Leading Group. Beginning in 1983, as Chairman of the Standing Committee of the Sixth National People's Congress, he sought to increase the NPC's power. Peng retired from his leading political positions in 1988. Peng Zhen died on April 26, 1997, from blood cancer at age of 94 years old, two months after the death of former vice premier Deng Xiaoping, and was eulogized with high honours by the highest organs of the party and the state. His official obituary declared him a "great proletarian revolutionary, politician, and outstanding expert in the affairs of the state; unswerving Marxist, instrumental in laying the foundations of legal institution in our country, and excellent leader of the party and state." The obituary also curiously made mention of his support of Deng Xiaoping's 1992 "southern tour" which re-ignited economic reforms after relative stagnation following the

1989 Tiananmen Square protests and massacre The Tiananmen Square protests, known in Chinese as the June Fourth Incident (), were student-led demonstrations held in Tiananmen Square, Beijing during 1989. In what is known as the Tiananmen Square Massacre, or in Chinese the June Fou ...

. He was considered one of the Eight Elders of the CCP.

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External links

* .
The Peng Zhen Reference Archive
, - , - , - , - , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Peng, Zhen 1902 births 1997 deaths Politicians from Linfen Victims of the Cultural Revolution Chinese Communist Party politicians from Shanxi Chairmen of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress Vice Chairpersons of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference Mayors of Beijing People's Republic of China politicians from Shanxi Members of the Secretariat of the Chinese Communist Party Members of the 12th Politburo of the Chinese Communist Party Members of the 11th Politburo of the Chinese Communist Party Members of the 8th Politburo of the Chinese Communist Party Members of the 7th Politburo of the Chinese Communist Party Burials at Babaoshan Revolutionary Cemetery

Biography

References

Citations

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Further reading

External links