Yang Yong (; 28 October 1913 – 6 January 1983) was a general 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. He served as the secretary of the

Secretariat of the Chinese Communist Party The Central Secretariat of the Chinese Communist Party, officially the Secretariat of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, is a body serving the Politburo of the Chinese Communist Party and its Standing Committee. The secretariat is ...

between September 1982 and January 1983, and

governor of Guizhou The politics of Guizhou Province in the People's Republic of China is structured in a dual party-government system like all other governing institutions in mainland China. The Governor of Guizhou is the highest-ranking official in the People's Gove ...

, from January 1950 to April 1951.

Life

Yang Yong was born Yang Shijun () in Wenjiashi Town of Liuyang,

Hunan Hunan (, ; ) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China, part of the South Central China region. Located in the middle reaches of the Yangtze watershed, it borders the province-level divisions of Hubei to the north, Jiangxi to ...

province,

Republic of China Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the northeast ...

. In 1926, Yang joined the Young Pioneers of China and served as the captain. In April 1927, he joined the

Communist Youth League of China The Communist Youth League of China (CYLC), also known as the Young Communist League of China or simply the Communist Youth League (CYL), is a youth movement of the People's Republic of China for youth between the ages of 14 and 28, run by the ...

. After the Mari Incident (), he took part in the

Long March The Long March (, lit. ''Long Expedition'') was a military retreat undertaken by the Chinese Red Army, Red Army of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), the forerunner of the People's Liberation Army, to evade the pursuit of the National Revolut ...

. In February 1930, Yang 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 ...

and

Chinese Workers' and Peasants' Red Army The Chinese Workers' and Peasants' Red Army or Chinese Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army, commonly known as the Chinese Red Army or simply the Red Army, are the armed forces of the Chinese Communist Party. It was formed when Communist ...

, at that time, he took part in the

Fifth Encirclement Campaign against Jiangxi Soviet The fifth encirclement campaign against Jiangxi Soviet, Kiangsi (Jiangxi) Soviet was a series of battles fought during the Chinese Civil War from 25 September 1933, to October 1934 between Chiang Kai-shek's Kuomintang, Chinese Nationalists (K ...

. 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 wounded in the

Battle of Pingxingguan The Battle of Pingxingguan (), commonly called the Great Victory of Pingxingguan in Mainland China, was an engagement fought on 25 September 1937, at the beginning of the Second Sino-Japanese War, between the Eighth Route Army of the Chinese Com ...

. In May 1940, Yang served as the

commanding officer The commanding officer (CO) or sometimes, if the incumbent is a general officer, commanding general (CG), is the officer in command of a military unit. The commanding officer has ultimate authority over the unit, and is usually given wide latitu ...

of the West of Shandong Military Region. In 1945, Yang took part in the

Handan Campaign Handan Campaign (邯郸战役), also known as Pinghan Campaign (平汉战役), short for Beiping-Hankou Campaign (北平汉口战役), is one of the largest clashes between the communist force and the nationalist force immediately after the end of ...

, then Longhai Campaign,

Dingtao Campaign Dingtao Campaign (定陶战役) was a series of battles fought between the nationalists and the communists during Chinese Civil War in the post World War II era, and resulted in the communist victory. Prelude After the defeat of Longhai Campa ...

, and Huai County Campaign. In July 1947, Yang took part in the West of Henan Campaign, Yuncheng Campaign. One year later, he took part in the Huaihai Campaign. After 1949, he commanded the 5th Army (including the

17th 17 (seventeen) is the natural number following 16 and preceding 18. It is a prime number. Seventeen is the sum of the first four prime numbers. In mathematics 17 is the seventh prime number, which makes seventeen the fourth super-prime, as s ...

and 18th Corps) of the Second Field Army. After the founding of PRC, Yang served as the

and commanding officer of Guizhou Military Region. At the end of 1950, Yang entered the PLA National Defence University and served as the director. In April 1953, Yang went to

North Korea North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and shares borders with China and Russia to the north, at the Yalu River, Y ...

to assist in the

Korean War , date = {{Ubl, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 (''de facto'')({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=6, day1=25, year1=1950, month2=7, day2=27, year2=1953), 25 June 1950 – present (''de jure'')({{Age in years, months, weeks a ...

. On September 27, 1955, he was made a full general of PLA. In October 1958, he was appointed as commanding officer of Beijing Military Region. In 1966,

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) ...

launched 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 ...

, he suffered political persecution and experienced mistreatment; he was rehabilitated in 1972. In 1972, he served as the deputy commanding officer of

Shenyang Military Region The Shenyang Military Region was one of seven military regions for the Chinese People's Liberation Army. It has command and control of military and armed police forces in the three northeast provinces of Jilin, Heilongjiang, and Liaoning, which ...

, then he was transferred to

Xinjiang Xinjiang, SASM/GNC: ''Xinjang''; zh, c=, p=Xīnjiāng; formerly romanized as Sinkiang (, ), officially the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region (XUAR), is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China (PRC), located in the northwest ...

. In August 1973, Yang was elected as a member of

Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party The Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party, officially the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, is a political body that comprises the top leaders of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). It is currently composed of 205 fu ...

, and was re-elected in August 1977. In August 1975, Yang served as the commanding officer of

Xinjiang Military Region The Lanzhou Military Region was one of seven military regions in the People's Republic of China. It directed all People's Liberation Army and People's Armed Police forces in Xinjiang, Qinghai, Gansu, Ningxia, Shaanxi, and Ngari Prefecture in nor ...

. In September 1977, Yang was transferred to Beijing as the Deputy

Chief of Staff The title chief of staff (or head of staff) identifies the leader of a complex organization such as the armed forces, institution, or body of persons and it also may identify a principal staff officer (PSO), who is the coordinator of the supporti ...

of People's Liberation Army General Staff Department and a member of Central Military Commission. In February 1978, Yang was elected as a member of

Standing Committee of the National People's Congress The Standing Committee of the National People's Congress of the People's Republic of China (NPCSC) is the permanent body of the National People's Congress (NPC) of the People's Republic of China (PRC), which is the highest organ of state po ...

. In January 1980, Yang served as the deputy secretary general of Central Military Commission. In September 1982, Yang was elected as a member of Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party and secretary of

. On January 6, 1983, Yang died of illness in Beijing, aged 70.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Yang, Yong 1913 births 1983 deaths Chinese Communist Party politicians from Hunan Governors of Guizhou Members of the Secretariat of the Chinese Communist Party People from Liuyang People's Liberation Army generals from Hunan People's Republic of China politicians from Hunan Hakka people Hakka generals Politicians from Changsha Commanders of the Xinjiang Military District Commanders of the Guizhou Military District Deputy commanders of the Shenyang Military Region Commanders of the Beijing Military Region Chinese military personnel of World War II

Life

See also

References