Yang Zhicheng (; 30 November 1903 – 3 February 1967) 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. He was a member of the Standing Committee of the

3rd National People's Congress The 3rd National People's Congress () was in session from 1964 to 1975. It held only one session in the ten years. The session was held from December 21, 1964, till January 4, 1965. The Congress elected the state leaders: *President of the Peop ...

Biography

Early life and education

Yang was born Yang Xuqing () into a Kam people family in Sansui County,

Guizhou Guizhou (; formerly Kweichow) is a landlocked province in the southwest region of the People's Republic of China. Its capital and largest city is Guiyang, in the center of the province. Guizhou borders the autonomous region of Guangxi to t ...

, on 30 November 1930. In 1919 he attended Guizhou A-type Agricultural School, and participated in the parade of Guizhou students in support of the

May Fourth Movement The May Fourth Movement was a Chinese anti-imperialist, cultural, and political movement which grew out of student protests in Beijing on May 4, 1919. Students gathered in front of Tiananmen (The Gate of Heavenly Peace) to protest the Chinese ...

. He joined the Yunnan-Guizhou United Army after graduation. In March 1926, he was admitted to the

Republic of China Military Academy The Republic of China Military Academy () is the service academy for the army of the Republic of China, located in Fengshan District, Kaohsiung. Previously known as the the military academy produced commanders who fought in many of China's ...

and 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 ...

under the introduction of

Zhou Yiqun Zhou Yiqun () (June 25, 1896 – May 20, 1931) courtesy name Lifeng (), was a member of the Chinese Workers' and Peasants' Red Army. He was born in Tongren, Guizhou Province. In 1919, after completing his early education in Guiyang, he went to Jap ...

, and became a member of 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 March the next year. Soon after he took part in the

Nanchang Uprising The Nanchang Uprising () was the first major Nationalist Party of China–Chinese Communist Party engagement of the Chinese Civil War, begun by the Chinese Communists to counter the Shanghai massacre of 1927 by the Kuomintang. The Kuomint ...

. His right leg was wounded during the . In April of the same year, he went to Jinggang Mountains with Zhu De and Chen Yi and served as company commander of the 28th Regiment of the 4th Army of the Workers and Peasants Revolutionary Army. He was seriously injured during the counter-encirclement and suppression campaign. 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 October 1934.

Second Sino-Japanese War

In June 1937, Yang served as a commander, and later became head of the School Affairs Department of the Counter-Japanese Military and Political University. In 1938, he went to the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

to cure diseases. Afterwards, he studied in the Party School of the Far East Bureau of the Soviet Communist Party and the

Frunze Military Academy The M. V. Frunze Military Academy (russian: Военная академия имени М. В. Фрунзе), or in full the Military Order of Lenin and the October Revolution, Red Banner, Order of Suvorov Academy in the name of M. V. Frunze (rus ...

Chinese Civil War

In January 1946, he returned to China with Li Lisan. In February 1946, he served as political commissar of the General Logistics Department of the Northeast Democratic United Army, organizing the logistics supply for the

Siping campaign The Siping Campaign (四平战役) was a nine-month struggle between the communist and the Nationalists for Siping in Jilin, China during the Chinese Civil War in the post World War II era, and resulted in communist victory. Prelude By the earl ...

. In May 1948, he served as head of the newly established Quartermaster Production Department of the Northeast Military Region, responsible for the material support of the Liaoshen campaign and the Pingjin campaign. He was head of the Quartermaster Production Department of the Fourth Field Army and Central China Military Region in May 1949, in addition to serving as head of Light Industry of the Central South Military Commission.

PRC era

In August 1950, the Quartermaster Production Department of the Central South Military Region was merged into its Logistics Department, and Yang became head of the Logistics Department of the Central South Military Region. In September 1954, he was appointed as deputy head of the Supervision Department of the Armed Forces of the People's Liberation Army. He was awarded the military rank of

('' shangjiang'') by Chairman

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) ...

in 1955. He was made vice president of the

PLA Academy of Military Sciences The Academy of Military Sciences () is the highest-level research institute of the People's Liberation Army (PLA). It is headquartered in Beijing. The academy was founded in March 1958 and as of 2002, its staff included approximately 500 resea ...

in May 1958. He took up the post of vice president of the PLA Higher Military Academy which he held from September 1962 to February 1967, although he remained vice president of the PLA Academy of Military Sciences until September 1963. On 3 February 1967, he died from an illness 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 63.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Yang, Zhicheng 1903 births 1967 deaths People from Sansui County Kam people Republic of China Military Academy alumni People's Liberation Army generals from Guizhou People's Republic of China politicians from Guizhou Chinese Communist Party politicians from Guizhou Members of the Standing Committee of the 3rd National People's Congress