Zhang Xi (; 1 February 1912 – 8 January 1959) was a
Chinese Communist
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 Civil ...
revolutionary and politician. He was the first
CPC Party Chief
A Party Committee Secretary () is the leader of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) organization in a province, city, village, or other administrative unit. In most cases, it is the ''de facto'' highest political office of its area of jurisdictio ...
of
Henan
Henan (; or ; ; alternatively Honan) is a landlocked province of China, in the central part of the country. Henan is often referred to as Zhongyuan or Zhongzhou (), which literally means "central plain" or "midland", although the name is al ...
province 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 ...
, and one of the founding members of the
State Planning Commission. He died of
nasopharynx cancer
Nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC), or nasopharynx cancer, is the most common cancer originating in the nasopharynx, most commonly in the postero-lateral nasopharynx or pharyngeal recess ( fossa of Rosenmüller), accounting for 50% of cases. NPC occurs ...
in 1959, at the age of 46.
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 ...
, he was posthumously denounced as a traitor, and his ashes were exhumed and discarded.
Republic of China
Zhang Xi was born 1 February 1912 in Dongtian Village,
Pingxiang County
Pingxiang County () is a county under the administration of the prefecture-level city of Xingtai, in the south of Hebei province, China, located about from downtown Xingtai. It has a population of 280,000 residing in an area of . In the Han dynas ...
,
Hebei
Hebei or , (; alternately Hopeh) is a northern province of China. Hebei is China's sixth most populous province, with over 75 million people. Shijiazhuang is the capital city. The province is 96% Han Chinese, 3% Manchu, 0.8% Hui, an ...
province. His original name was Wang Changzhen (). In 1931, while a student at the Provincial No. 4 Normal School in
Xingtai
Xingtai (), formerly known as Xingzhou and Shunde, is a prefecture-level city in southern Hebei province, People's Republic of China. It has a total area of and administers 4 districts, 2 county-level cities and 12 counties. At the 2020 censu ...
, 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 ...
, and later became its leader. After the 1931
Mukden Incident
The Mukden Incident, or Manchurian Incident, known in Chinese as the 9.18 Incident (九・一八), was a false flag event staged by Japanese military personnel as a pretext for the 1931 Japanese invasion of Manchuria.
On September 18, 1931, L ...
, which led to the Japanese occupation of
Manchuria
Manchuria is an exonym (derived from the endo demonym " Manchu") for a historical and geographic region in Northeast Asia encompassing the entirety of present-day Northeast China (Inner Manchuria) and parts of the Russian Far East (Outer Manc ...
, he organized student protests in Xingtai against the Japanese aggression.
In the autumn of 1932, Zhang was arrested in Xingtai by 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 ...
(KMT) government, and imprisoned at the Caolanzi Prison in Beiping (now
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 ...
) for more than four years. Also held in the prison were other important Communist leaders including
Bo Yibo
Bo Yibo (; 17 February 1908 – 15 January 2007) was a Chinese politician. He was one of the most senior political figures in China during the 1980s and 1990s.
After joining the Chinese Communist Party when he was 17, he worked as a Communist P ...
,
An Ziwen
An Ziwen (; 25 September 1909 – 25 June 1980), born as An Zhihan (安之瀚), was a Chinese politician and member of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party. He served as minister of the CCP Central Committee Organization Departme ...
, and
Liu Lantao
Liu Lantao (; November 1910 – 31 December 1997) was a Chinese Communist revolutionary and politician of the People's Republic of China.
Early life
Liu was born in Shaanxi Province in 1910. After participating in the May Thirtieth Movement of 19 ...
. In 1934, Zhang joined the
Communist Party of China
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 Civil ...
while in prison. In 1935, the KMT government signed the
He–Umezu Agreement with Japan, agreeing to cease all KMT activities in Hebei, including Beiping, and released the Communist prisoners in Beiping the following year.
After his release from prison, Zhang Xi reconnected with the Communist leadership and helped establish and lead the
Hebei
Hebei or , (; alternately Hopeh) is a northern province of China. Hebei is China's sixth most populous province, with over 75 million people. Shijiazhuang is the capital city. The province is 96% Han Chinese, 3% Manchu, 0.8% Hui, an ...
–
Shandong
Shandong ( , ; ; alternately romanized as Shantung) is a coastal province of the People's Republic of China and is part of the East China region.
Shandong has played a major role in Chinese history since the beginning of Chinese civilizati ...
–
Henan
Henan (; or ; ; alternatively Honan) is a landlocked province of China, in the central part of the country. Henan is often referred to as Zhongyuan or Zhongzhou (), which literally means "central plain" or "midland", although the name is al ...
(Ji–Lu–Yu) Communist base. He participated in the
Anti-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 The ...
and the subsequent
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 ...
against the KMT government. He served as Deputy Party Secretary and later Party Secretary of the region, as well as
Political Commissar of the military region.
People's Republic of China
After the Communist forces took control of the entire Henan province from the KMT government in January 1949, Zhang Xi was appointed the Communist Party Chief of the province in May, before the establishment of the People's Republic of China in October.
At 37, he was the youngest provincial party chief, along with
Su Zhenhua
Su Zhenhua (; June 2, 1912 – February 7, 1979), born Su Qisheng (蘇七生), was a Chinese Communist general and politician. He fought for the Communists in the Chinese civil war. After the founding of the People's Republic, Su became an ad ...
, the party chief of
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 ...
.
Zhang oversaw the land reform in Henan, and worked to help its economy recover from more than a decade of warfare.
Zhang Xi's work in Henan was praised by the central government, and in 1952 he was transferred to Beijing to become the Deputy Director of the newly established
State Planning Commission. In September 1956, he was elected as an alternate member of the
8th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China The 8th Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party was in session from 1956 to 1969. It was preceded by the 7th Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party. It held 12 plenary sessions in this period of 13 years. It was the longest serv ...
.
Death
In April 1956, Zhang was diagnosed with
nasopharynx cancer
Nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC), or nasopharynx cancer, is the most common cancer originating in the nasopharynx, most commonly in the postero-lateral nasopharynx or pharyngeal recess ( fossa of Rosenmüller), accounting for 50% of cases. NPC occurs ...
. He was sent to
Moscow
Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...
, where he was treated at the
Kremlin Hospital for three months. After returning to China, it was discovered that his cancer had
metastasized
Metastasis is a pathogenic agent's spread from an initial or primary site to a different or secondary site within the host's body; the term is typically used when referring to metastasis by a cancerous tumor. The newly pathological sites, then, ...
, and he underwent another major operation. He died on 8 January 1959, at the age of 46.
Cultural Revolution
After the radical
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 ...
erupted in 1966, many Communist revolutionaries who had spent time in Kuomintang prisons, including Zhang's former prison mates Bo Yibo and An Ziwen, were denounced as traitors (known as the "
61 Renegades The Case of the 61 Renegades Clique () was created during the Cultural Revolution by Kang Sheng.
Members
*high-ranking officials (22 people): Bo Yibo, Liu Lantao, An Ziwen, Yang Xianzhen, Zhou Zhongying, Ma Huizhi, Xu Zirong, Fu Yutian, Wang Hefen ...
") and persecuted. Zhang was posthumously labelled a traitor, and his ashes were exhumed and discarded.
His name was cleared after the Cultural Revolution ended in 1976.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Zhang Xi
1912 births
1959 deaths
People's Republic of China politicians from Hebei
Chinese Communist Party politicians from Hebei
CCP committee secretaries of Henan
Politicians from Xingtai
Deaths from cancer in the People's Republic of China
Deaths from nasopharynx cancer
61 Renegades
Alternate members of the 8th Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party
Victims of the Cultural Revolution