Events in the year 1959 in China. The country had an estimated population of 665 million people.

Incumbents

Chairman of the Chinese Communist Party The Chairman of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party () was the leader of the Chinese Communist Party. The position was established at the 8th National Congress in 1945 and abolished at the 12th National Congress in 1982, bei ...

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) ...

President of the People's Republic of China The president of the People's Republic of China, commonly called the president of China, is the head of state and the second-highest political office of the People's Republic of China. The presidency is constitutionally a largely ceremonial off ...

(until April 27),

Liu Shaoqi Liu Shaoqi ( ; 24 November 189812 November 1969) was a Chinese revolutionary, politician, and theorist. He was Chairman of the NPC Standing Committee from 1954 to 1959, First Vice Chairman of the Chinese Communist Party from 1956 to 1966 and C ...

(starting April 27) *

Premier of the People's Republic of China The premier of the State Council of the People's Republic of China, commonly called the premier of China and sometimes also referred to as the prime minister, is the head of government of China and leader of the State Council. The premier is ...

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 ...

Chairman of the National People's Congress The chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress is the presiding officer of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPCSC), which is the permanent body of the National People's Congress, highest orga ...

(until April 27),

Zhu De Zhu De (; ; also Chu Teh; 1 December 1886 – 6 July 1976) was a Chinese general, military strategist, politician and revolutionary in the Chinese Communist Party. Born into poverty in 1886 in Sichuan, he was adopted by a wealthy uncle at ...

(starting April 27) *

Vice President of the People's Republic of China The vice president of the People's Republic of China (), also known as state vice chairman (), is a senior position in the government of the People's Republic of China. It was formerly translated as the vice chairman of the People's Republic of ...

(until April 27),

Song Qingling Rosamond Soong Ch'ing-ling (27 January 189329 May 1981) was a Chinese political figure. As the third wife of Sun Yat-sen, then Premier of the Kuomintang and President of the Republic of China, she was often referred to as Madame Sun Yat-sen. ...

Dong Biwu Dong Biwu (; 5 March 1886 – 2 April 1975) was a Chinese communist revolutionary and politician, who served as acting Chairman of the People's Republic of China between 1972 and 1975. Early life Dong Biwu was born in Huanggang, Hubei to ...

(starting April 27) *

Vice Premier of the People's Republic of China The vice premiers of the State Council of the People's Republic of China () are high-ranking officials under the premier and above the state councillors and ministers. Generally, the title is held by multiple individuals at any given time, with ...

Chen Yun Chen Yun (, pronounced ; 13 June 1905 – 10 April 1995) was one of the most influential leaders of the People's Republic of China during the 1980s and 1990s and one of the major architects and important policy makers for the Reform and op ...

Governors

* Governor of Anhui Province: Huang Yan * Governor of Fujian Province:

Ye Fei Ye Fei (; 7 May 1914 – 18 April 1999) was a Philippine-born Chinese military general and politician of the People's Republic of China. Born Sixto Mercado Tiongco in the Philippines to a Chinese father and a Filipino mother, he joined the Chi ...

then

Jiang Yizhen Jiang Yizhen (; March 1915 – March 24, 1994) was a People's Republic of China politician. He was born in Liancheng County, Fujian. He was Chinese Communist Party Committee Secretary and Governor of his home province. He was People's Congress ...

* Governor of Gansu Province:

Deng Baoshan Deng Baoshan () (1894 – November 27, 1968) was a People's Republic of China politician. He was born in Tianshui, Gansu Province. He was commander of the New 1st Army. During the Xi'an Incident of 1936, he supported Zhang Xueliang Chang ...

* Governor of Guangdong Province: Chen Yu * Governor of Guizhou Province: Zhou Lin * Governor of Hebei Province:

Liu Zihou Liu Zihou (; December 1909 – December 22, 2001) was a Communist revolutionary leader and politician of the People's Republic of China. He served as Governor of Hubei and Hebei provinces, and as the top leader of Hebei during the Cultural Revol ...

* Governor of Heilongjiang Province:

Li Fanwu Li Fanwu () (May 3, 1912 – 1986) original name Li Fude (), also known as Zhang Song (), was a People's Republic of China politician. He was born in Muling, Mudanjiang, Heilongjiang Province. He was governor of his home province. He was a delega ...

* Governor of Henan Province:

Wu Zhipu Wu Zhipu () (1906–1967) was the first CPC governor of Henan and CPC Committee Secretary of Henan. He was born in Henan. Wu pressured his subordinates to harvest grain well in excess of official quotas during the Great Leap Forward The Grea ...

* Governor of Hubei Province:

Zhang Tixue Zhang Tixue () (1915–1973) born Zhang Tizhao () was a People's Republic of China politician. He was born in Xin County, Henan Province. He was Communist Party of China Committee Secretary and Governor of Hubei (1956). 1915 births 1973 de ...

* Governor of Hunan Province:

Cheng Qian Cheng Qian (; 31 March 1882 – 5 April 1968) was a Chinese army officer and politician who held very important military and political positions in both the Republic of China and the People's Republic of China.Wolfgang Bartke, ''Who was Who in the ...

* Governor of Jiangsu Province:

Hui Yuyu Hui Yuyu () (1909 – July 1989) was a People's Republic of China politician. He was the older brother of Zhou Hui, Communist Party of China Committee Secretary of Hunan and Inner Mongolia. He was born in Guannan County, Jiangsu Province. He was t ...

* Governor of Jiangxi Province:

Shao Shiping Shao Shiping () (1900–1965) was a Chinese politician. He was born in Yiyang County, Jiangxi Province in the People's Republic of China. He joined the Communist Youth League of China and the Communist Party of China in 1925. In January 1928, al ...

* Governor of Jilin Province:

Li Youwen Li Youwen () (1901–1984) was a People's Republic of China politician. He was born in Liaoyang County, Liaoning Province. He served as Governor of Jilin Province. He was a delegate to the 5th National People's Congress The 5th National Peo ...

* Governor of Liaoning Province:

Huang Oudong Huang Oudong () (September 14, 1905 – November 28, 1993) was a People's Republic of China politician. He was born in Yongfeng County, Jiangxi Province. He was Communist Party of China Committee Secretary (1954–1958), Governor (1958–1967) an ...

* Governor of Qinghai Province: Yuan Renyuan * Governor of Shaanxi Province:

Zhao Shoushan Zhao Shoushan (; 12 November 1894 – 20 June 1965) was a KMT general and later Chinese Communist Party politician. He is the grandfather of Zhao Leji. Career Zhao Shoushan was born in Hu County, Shaanxi in 1894. After the foundation of the Peop ...

(until July),

Zhao Boping Zhao Boping () (July 1, 1902 – May 7, 1993) was a People's Republic of China politician. He was born in Lantian County, Xi'an, Shaanxi Province. He joined the Chinese Communist Party in February 1927. He was governor of his home province. He was ...

(starting July) * Governor of Shandong Province:

Tan Qilong Tan Qilong (; 3 January 1913 – 22 January 2003) was a politician in the People's Republic of China. Over his long career, he served as the Communist Party Chief, the top government official, of four different provinces: Zhejiang (twice), Shand ...

* Governor of Shanxi Province:

Wei Heng Wei Heng (; 1915 – 29 January 1967), also known as Wei Laiyu (), was a Chinese Communist revolutionary and politician from Shanxi province. He was the Communist Party First Secretary and top leader of Shanxi province until he was overthro ...

* Governor of Sichuan Province:

Li Dazhang Li Dazhang () ( December 1900 – May 3, 1976) was a People's Republic of China politician. He was born in Hejiang County, Luzhou, Sichuan Province. In 1920 Li went to France on the same work-study leave scheme attended by numerous high level Comm ...

* Governor of Yunnan Province: Ding Yichuan * Governor of Zhejiang Province:

Zhou Jianren Zhou Jianren (; 1888–1984) was a politician and biologist of the People's Republic of China. He was the younger brother of Lu Xun and Zhou Zuoren. When the office of the Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress was ...

Events

* Continuing

Great Leap Forward The Great Leap Forward (Second Five Year Plan) of the People's Republic of China (PRC) was an economic and social campaign led by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) from 1958 to 1962. CCP Chairman Mao Zedong launched the campaign to reconstruc ...

* Continuing

Great Chinese Famine The Great Chinese Famine () was a period between 1959 and 1961 in the history of the People's Republic of China (PRC) characterized by widespread famine. Some scholars have also included the years 1958 or 1962. It is widely regarded as the dead ...

* April - First plenary session of the

2nd National People's Congress The 2nd National People's Congress () was in session from 1959 to 1964. It held four sessions in this period. Elections to the Congress Since the succeeding Congress was to be the first to be elected under the 1954 Constitution of the People' ...

was elected the President of China. * March 10 - Start of the

1959 Tibetan uprising The 1959 Tibetan uprising (also known by other names) began on 10 March 1959, when a revolt erupted in Lhasa, the capital of Tibet, which had been under the effective control of the People's Republic of China since the Seventeen Point Agreemen ...

* July 2 - Start of the

Lushan Conference The Lushan Conference was a meeting of the top leaders of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) held between July and August 1959. The CCP Politburo met in an "expanded session" (''Kuoda Huiyi'') between July 2 and August 1, followed by the 8th Plenu ...

* October 1 -

10th anniversary of the People's Republic of China The 10th anniversary celebrations of founding of the People's Republic of China were held on 1 October 1959. The main event was held in Tiananmen Square in Beijing. A grand banquet with many international dignitaries had been organized on the pre ...

Other events

* October 1 - Opening of

Changfeng Park Changfeng Park (; ; literally: Park of Far Off Wind) is a landscaped park in the west of Shanghai, China. The size of the park is 364,000 square meters. It features an artificial lake, Yinchu Lake, and an artificial hill, Tiebi Hill. There are va ...

, in Putuo District,

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 ...

* Opening of People's Park, in

Xining Xining (; ), alternatively known as Sining, is the capital of Qinghai province in western China and the largest city on the Tibetan Plateau. The city was a commercial hub along the Northern Silk Road's Hexi Corridor for over 2000 years, and wa ...

Qinghai Qinghai (; alternately romanized as Tsinghai, Ch'inghai), also known as Kokonor, is a landlocked province in the northwest of the People's Republic of China. It is the fourth largest province of China by area and has the third smallest po ...

* Establishment of

Chaohu Prison Chaohu Prison is a prison in Chaohu, Anhui Anhui , (; formerly romanized as Anhwei) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China, part of the East China region. Its provincial capital and largest city is Hefei. The province is lo ...

, in

Chaohu Chaohu () is a county-level city of Anhui Province, People's Republic of China, it is under the administration of the prefecture-level city of Hefei. Situated on the northeast and southeast shores of Lake Chao, from which the city was named, Chao ...

Anhui Anhui , (; formerly romanized as Anhwei) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China, part of the East China region. Its provincial capital and largest city is Hefei. The province is located across the basins of the Yangtze River ...

* Establishment of the

Fourth Affiliated Hospital of XMU The Fourth Affiliated Hospital of Xinjiang Medical University, also known as the Hospital of Chinese Medicine of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region () is a teaching hospital in Urumqi, Xinjiang Xinjiang, SASM/GNC: ''Xinjang''; zh, c ...

, in Urumqi,

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 ...

* Establishment of the National Ballet of China Symphony Orchestra * Establishment of the

State Bureau of Surveying and Mapping The State Bureau of Surveying and Mapping, or the National Bureau of Surveying and Mapping (), was the central agency that was responsible for surveying and mapping in the People's Republic of China (PRC). It was established in 1959 and was made d ...

Education

Establishments

Anhui University of Chinese Medicine Anhui University of Chinese Medicine (AHUTCM, ) is a comprehensive public university based in Hefei, Anhui Anhui , (; formerly romanized as Anhwei) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China, part of the East China region. Its p ...

, in

Hefei Hefei (; ) is the capital and largest city of Anhui Province, People's Republic of China. A prefecture-level city, it is the political, economic, and cultural center of Anhui. Its population was 9,369,881 as of the 2020 census and its built-up ( ...

, Anhui *

Anhui University of Finance and Economics Anhui University of Finance and Economics (AUFE) (), founded as Anhui Institute of Finance and Trade () in 1959, is a university in Bengbu, Anhui Province, China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East ...

, in

Bengbu Bengbu () is a city in northern Anhui Province, China. Its population was 3,296,408 registered residents at the 2020 census. 1,968,027 lived in the built-up area made of four Bengbu urban districts and Fengyang County in Chuzhou Prefecture, large ...

, Anhui * Beijing Institute of Textile Technology *

Yunnan Arts University Yunnan Arts University (), founded in 1959, is a Chinese Institute located in Kunming, Yunnan Province, China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's List of countries and depen ...

, in

Kunming Kunming (; ), also known as Yunnan-Fu, is the capital and largest city of Yunnan province, China. It is the political, economic, communications and cultural centre of the province as well as the seat of the provincial government. The headquar ...

Yunnan Yunnan , () is a landlocked Provinces of China, province in Southwest China, the southwest of the People's Republic of China. The province spans approximately and has a population of 48.3 million (as of 2018). The capital of the province is ...

Births

Li Qiang Li Qiang (; born 23 July 1959) is a Chinese politician and a senior leader of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), serving as the second-ranking member of the 20th CCP Politburo Standing Committee, behind CCP general secretary Xi Jinping. From 2 ...

* Zhu Xingliang *

Deng Kai Deng Kai (; born December 1959) is a Chinese politician currently serving as the deputy party secretary of the All-China Federation of Trade Unions. He was previously deputy Party Secretary of Henan province. He worked for most of his career in ...

Dai Jinhua Dai Jinhua () is a Chinese feminist cultural critic. She is a Professor in the Institute of Comparative Literature and Culture, Peking University. Her research interests include popular culture, film studies, and gender studies. She taught at t ...

* Ma Zhengqi

Deaths

Wong Shik Ling Wong Shik-Ling (also known as S. L. Wong) (1908–1959) was a prominent scholar in Cantonese research. He is famous for his authoritative book, ''A Chinese Syllabary Pronounced According to the Dialect of Canton'' (), which is influential in Cant ...

* Lei Jingtian * Zhang Xi * Li Daichen *

Li Jishen Li Jishen or Li Chi-shen (5 November 1885 – 9 October 1959) was a Chinese military officer and politician, general of the National Revolutionary Army of the Republic of China, Vice Chairman of the People's Republic of China (1949–1954) ...

References

1950s in China Years of the 20th century in China {{Asia-year-stub

Incumbents

Governors

Events

Other events

Education

Establishments

Births

Deaths

See also

References