Yang Dezhong (; 1 December 1923 – 12 November 2020) was a

general A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of highest military ranks, high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers t ...

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, ...

of China who served as party secretary of Tsinghua University from 1970 to 1972 and director of the

Central Guard Bureau The Central Guard Bureau of the General Office of the Chinese Communist Party (), also nominally affiliated with the army and the police as the Guard Bureau of the Joint Staff Department of the Central Military Commission () and the Ninth Burea ...

from 1978 to 1994. He was a member of the

12th 12 (twelve) is the natural number following 11 and preceding 13. Twelve is a superior highly composite number, divisible by 2, 3, 4, and 6. It is the number of years required for an orbital period of Jupiter. It is central to many systems ...

13th In music or music theory, a thirteenth is the note thirteen scale degrees from the root of a chord and also the interval between the root and the thirteenth. The interval can be also described as a compound sixth, spanning an octave pl ...

and

14th Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party The 14th Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party was in session from 1992 to 1997. It held seven plenary sessions. It was preceded by the 13th Central Committee. It was elected by the 14th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party ...

Biography

Yang was born into an intellectual family in

Xi'an Xi'an ( , ; ; Chinese: ), frequently spelled as Xian and also known by #Name, other names, is the list of capitals in China, capital of Shaanxi, Shaanxi Province. A Sub-provincial division#Sub-provincial municipalities, sub-provincial city o ...

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 ...

, on 1 December 1923, while his ancestral home in

Weinan Weinan () is a prefecture-level city in the east central Shaanxi province, China. The city lies on the lower section of the Wei River confluence into the Yellow River, about east of the provincial capital Xi'an, and borders the provinces of Shan ...

. He attended Xi'an Provincial No. 1 High School and graduated from the Counter-Japanese Military and Political University. He became a member of the Chinese National Liberation Vanguard in 1936. He enlisted in the

Eighth Route Army The Eighth Route Army (), officially known as the 18th Group Army of the National Revolutionary Army of the Republic of China, was a group army under the command of the Chinese Communist Party, nominally within the structure of the Chinese ...

in 1938, and 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 ...

(CCP) at the same year. During the

Second Sino-Japanese War The Second Sino-Japanese War (1937–1945) or War of Resistance (Chinese term) was a military conflict that was primarily waged between the Republic of China and the Empire of Japan. The war made up the Chinese theater of the wider Pacific Th ...

, he participated in the Battle of Qingkou and the . During 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 m ...

, he engaged in the , , Battle of Jinan, Huaihai campaign, and Yangtze River Crossing campaign. He was political commissar of the

Central Guard Regiment The Central Guard Unit (CGU; PLA Unit 61889), formerly known as the Central Guard Regiment (CGR; PLA Unit 8341) is a unit of the People's Liberation Army Ground Force (PLAGF) of the People's Republic of ChinaPollpeter and Allen (ed.): p. 28 ...

in June 1953, and held that office until February 1974. He also served as deputy director of the

since 1965. 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 ...

in July 1968, he marched the to stabilize the situation of

Tsinghua University Tsinghua University (; abbreviation, abbr. THU) is a National university, national Public university, public research university in Beijing, China. The university is funded by the Ministry of Education of the People's Republic of China, Minis ...

. As a result of his distinguished performance, he was made party secretary of Tsinghua University. He was appointed director of the Central Guard Bureau in December 1978, in addition to serving as deputy director of the

General Office of the Chinese Communist Party The General Office of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party, often referred to as the Central Office (), is an office directly under the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party in charge of providing support for the Ce ...

in September 1980 and director of the Security Bureau of the People's Liberation Army General Staff Department in January 1983. He was promoted to the rank of

lieutenant general Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a three-star military rank (NATO code OF-8) used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the ...

('' zhongjiang'') in September 1988 and

('' shangjiang'') in 1994. On 12 November 2020, he 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 96.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Yang, Dezhong 1923 births 2020 deaths People from Xi'an Counter-Japanese Military and Political University alumni People's Liberation Army generals from Shaanxi People's Republic of China politicians from Shaanxi Chinese Communist Party politicians from Shaanxi Members of the 12th Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party Members of the 13th Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party Members of the 14th Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party