Ye Qun (; 2 December 1917 – 13 September 1971) was the wife of
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 ...
, the
Vice Chairman of Chinese Communist Party who controlled China's
military power along with 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) ...
. She was mostly known for taking care of politics for her husband. Ye was a member of the
9th Politburo of the Chinese Communist Party The 9th Politburo of the Chinese Communist Party was elected at the 1st Plenary Session of the 9th Central Committee on April 28, 1969 and sat in session until August 1973, consisting of 21 members and 4 alternate members. It met for four years, du ...
. She died with Lin Biao and their son
Lin Liguo in a plane crash over
Mongolia
Mongolia; Mongolian script: , , ; lit. "Mongol Nation" or "State of Mongolia" () is a landlocked country in East Asia, bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south. It covers an area of , with a population of just 3.3 million, ...
on September 13, 1971. They also had a daughter,
Lin Liheng
Lin Liheng (; born 31 August 1944) is the daughter of Lin Biao and Ye Qun, nicknamed "Dou Dou" (''lit''. bean bean) because Lin Biao loved eating beans.
Early life
Lin Liheng was born in Yan'an. She went with her father, Lin Biao, to Moscow wh ...
(Doudou), who was not on the airplane.
Early life
Ye Qun was born in
Minhou County
Minhou County (; Foochow Romanized: Mìng-âu) is a county in the eastern Fujian Province, China, it is under the administration of the prefecture-level city of Fuzhou, the provincial capital. The Min River flows in a southeast direction through ...
,
Fujian Province
Fujian (; alternately romanized as Fukien or Hokkien) is a province on the southeastern coast of China. Fujian is bordered by Zhejiang to the north, Jiangxi to the west, Guangdong to the south, and the Taiwan Strait to the east. Its cap ...
. In 1935, she attended a middle school affiliated with the
Beijing Pedagogical University and took part in the anti-Japanese demonstrations by Beijing students on December 9, 1935. Early in 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 ...
, she briefly joined one of the
Kuomintang
The Kuomintang (KMT), also referred to as the Guomindang (GMD), the Nationalist Party of China (NPC) or the Chinese Nationalist Party (CNP), is a major political party in the Republic of China, initially on the Chinese mainland and in Tai ...
youth organizations. She later went to
Yan'an
Yan'an (; ), alternatively spelled as Yenan is a prefecture-level city in the Shaanbei region of Shaanxi province, China, bordering Shanxi to the east and Gansu to the west. It administers several counties, including Zhidan (formerly Bao'an ...
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 ...
in 1938.
[贴身秘书曝林彪叶群私生活细节(图)](_blank)
/ref>
In 1942, Ye Qun married Lin Biao, with whom she had two children: son Lin Liguo (林立果) and daughter Lin Liheng
Lin Liheng (; born 31 August 1944) is the daughter of Lin Biao and Ye Qun, nicknamed "Dou Dou" (''lit''. bean bean) because Lin Biao loved eating beans.
Early life
Lin Liheng was born in Yan'an. She went with her father, Lin Biao, to Moscow wh ...
(林立恒).
Political career
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 ...
, she served as staff officer, secretary, translator and other positions in the headquarters of the units within 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, ...
. Following the founding of the People's Republic of China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
in 1949, Ye Qun took on the role of Lin Biao's secretary. From that time on, she began to actively participate in political activities. She served as the deputy director of the General Education Department within the Ministry of Education
An education ministry is a national or subnational government agency politically responsible for education. Various other names are commonly used to identify such agencies, such as Ministry of Education, Department of Education, and Ministry of Pub ...
. She later served deputy director of the Shanghai
Shanghai (; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four direct-administered municipalities of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the Huangpu River flow ...
Municipal Education Bureau and deputy director of the Guangzhou
Guangzhou (, ; ; or ; ), also known as Canton () and alternatively romanized as Kwongchow or Kwangchow, is the capital and largest city of Guangdong province in southern China. Located on the Pearl River about north-northwest of Hong Kon ...
Education Bureau.
In 1960, he returned to Beijing from Guangzhou and served as director of Lin Biao's office. In late 1965, she assisted Lin Biao in bringing down his adversary, Luo Ruiqing, the Chief of the General Staff of the People's Liberation Army. As a result, although she was not a member of the CCP Central Committee
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 ...
at the time, she attended a 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 contraction ...
meeting in December 1965. During the meeting, she was given the floor three times and over a period of about ten hours she enumerated the "offenses" of Luo Ruiqing, who according to the Ye, misinterpreted Maoism
Maoism, officially called Mao Zedong Thought by the Chinese Communist Party, is a variety of Marxism–Leninism that Mao Zedong developed to realise a socialist revolution in the agricultural, pre-industrial society of the Republic of Chi ...
and tried to launch a coup to remove Lin Biao from power in the Ministry of Defense
{{unsourced, date=February 2021
A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is an often-used name for the part of a government responsible for matters of defence, found in state ...
.
After 1967, Ye Qun was first a member of the All Army's Cultural Revolution Group
The (Central) Cultural Revolution Group (CRG or CCRG; ) was formed in May 1966 as a replacement organisation to the Central Committee Secretariat and the "Five Man Group", and was initially directly responsible to the Standing Committee of the Po ...
and later the leader of this group. In addition, she was one of the four founding members of the Administrative Bureau of the Central Military Commission, which was formed in August 1967. In 1969, she was acceded to the 9th Politburo of the Communist Party of China, making her and Jiang Qing
Jiang Qing (19 March 191414 May 1991), also known as Madame Mao, was a Chinese communist revolutionary, actress, and major political figure during the Cultural Revolution (1966–1976). She was the fourth wife of Mao Zedong, the Chairman o ...
the first Chinese women to reach such a post of political responsibility. Ye was appointed a member of the CCP Central Committee and chairman of the administrative office of the Central Military Commission. Simon Leys
Pierre Ryckmans (28 September 1935 – 11 August 2014), better known by his pen name Simon Leys, was a Belgian-Australian writer, essayist and literary critic, translator, art historian, sinologist, and university professor, who lived in Austral ...
considers that her accession to the Politburo, with the sole reason of being married to Lin Biao, is proof of the “decline of the regime".[揭秘:林彪妻子叶群和手下黄永胜之间的特殊关系](_blank)
/ref>
French Sinologist
Sinology, or Chinese studies, is an academic discipline that focuses on the study of China primarily through Chinese philosophy, language, literature, culture and history and often refers to Western scholarship. Its origin "may be traced to the ex ...
Jean-Luc Domenach characterizes her as:
"a real educational background, the aspirations of midinette, the taste for money, the fear of her husband, an unlimited admiration for her son and finally panic in the face of danger."
Project 571 and death
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 ...
, tensions between Jiang Qing and Lin Biao's faction escalated. According to Party documents, in early 1971, it was Ye Qun who asked her son Lin Liguo to assassinate 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) ...
during his trip to Shanghai
Shanghai (; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four direct-administered municipalities of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the Huangpu River flow ...
, as part of the plan known as Project 571
Project 571 () was the numeric codename given to an alleged plot to execute a ''coup d'état'' against Chairman Mao Zedong in 1971 by the supporters of Lin Biao, then Vice Chairman of the Chinese Communist Party. In Chinese, the numbers "5-7-1" ...
. The attempt failed, as Mao suddenly changed his plans and returned to Beijing on the evening of September 12. This led to Ye Qun believe that the plan had been exposed. Following the failure of their plans, Ye Qun, Lin Liguo and Lin Biao decided to flee, but their daughter Lin Liheng revealed their escape plan to Premier Zhou Enlai
Zhou Enlai (; 5 March 1898 – 8 January 1976) was a Chinese statesman and military officer who served as the first Premier of the People's Republic of China, premier of the People's Republic of China from 1 October 1949 until his death on 8 J ...
.林彪长女忆叶群:我有一个很坏的“后妈”
/ref>
Presumably fearing to lose time, the Lin family, including Lin Biao, Ye Qun, and Lin Liguo, fled in a PLAAF
The People's Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF; ), also known as the Chinese Air Force (中国空军) or the People's Air Force (人民空军), is an aerial service branch of the People's Liberation Army, the regular armed forces of the P ...
Hawker Siddeley Trident
The Hawker Siddeley HS-121 Trident (originally the de Havilland DH.121 and briefly the Airco DH.121) is a British airliner produced by Hawker Siddeley.
In 1957, de Havilland proposed its DH.121 trijet design to a British European Airways (BEA ...
, from Qinhuangdao Shanhaiguan Airport on September 13, 1971.
Further information from the Party documents later released state:
"the plane was making for 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 ...
but was inadequately fueled for such a trip; it also had on board neither navigator nor radio operator. It crashed in Mongolia
Mongolia; Mongolian script: , , ; lit. "Mongol Nation" or "State of Mongolia" () is a landlocked country in East Asia, bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south. It covers an area of , with a population of just 3.3 million, ...
on September 13, 1971, burning to death all on board."[ Spence, J. D. (1999). '']The search for modern China
''The Search for Modern China'' is a 1990 non-fiction book by Jonathan Spence, published by Century Hutchinson and W. W. Norton & Company.
It covers the period 1600 to 1989. According to Spence, the goal was to explain how Modern China was creat ...
''. New York: Norton. p.585.
However, according to the historian J. D. Spence, "this story is essentially beyond verification, since the photographs later released by the Chinese authorities are of dubious authenticity and details on Lin Biao’s exact plans and on the other plotters are blurred" The government narrative also does not sufficiently explain how and why Lin Biao's plane crashed. It is also still unclear whether Lin Biao himself planned a coup, or whether his Ye Qun and Lin Liguo had such plans and did not inform Lin Biao about it. Skeptics have claimed that Lin's decision to flee to the Soviet Union was illogical, on the grounds that the United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
or Taiwan
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 nort ...
would have been safer destinations.[
On August 20, 1973, the ]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 ...
posthumously expelled Ye Qun from its ranks. In 1981, the Supreme People's Court
The Supreme People's Court of the People's Republic of China (SPC; ) is the highest court of the People's Republic of China. It hears appeals of cases from the high people's courts and is the trial court for cases about matters of national ...
confirmed her as the principal ringleader of the Lin Biao 'counter-revolutionary group'.
See also
*Project 571
Project 571 () was the numeric codename given to an alleged plot to execute a ''coup d'état'' against Chairman Mao Zedong in 1971 by the supporters of Lin Biao, then Vice Chairman of the Chinese Communist Party. In Chinese, the numbers "5-7-1" ...
*Jiang Qing
Jiang Qing (19 March 191414 May 1991), also known as Madame Mao, was a Chinese communist revolutionary, actress, and major political figure during the Cultural Revolution (1966–1976). She was the fourth wife of Mao Zedong, the Chairman o ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ye, Qun
1917 births
1971 deaths
Chinese women in politics
Chinese Communist Party politicians from Fujian
Lin Biao family
Members of the 9th Politburo of the Chinese Communist Party
People of the Cultural Revolution
People's Republic of China politicians from Fujian
Politicians from Fuzhou
Spouses of national leaders
Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in China
Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in Mongolia
Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in 1971
Expelled members of the Chinese Communist Party
Chinese colonels
Chinese female military personnel