Ulanhu or Ulanfu ( 23 December 1907 – 8 December 1988), born Yun Ze (), was the founding Chairman of China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, serving from 1947 to 1966. An ethnic Tumed Mongol, he took the

nom de guerre A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person or group assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true name ( orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individu ...

Ulanhu () and had nickname of "Mongol Prince” during his political career. He served as Vice-Premier between 1956 and 1966. He was purged 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 goa ...

but later reinstated. Between 1983 and 1988 he held the office of Vice President of the People's Republic of China. Ulanhu was the highest-ranking minority official in PRC history, and became an icon of loyalty both to the Mongolian people and to the PRC. Except for the period of the Cultural Revolution, his family dominated the politics of Inner Mongolia. His son Buhe served as Chairman of Inner Mongolia for a decade, and his granddaughter

Bu Xiaolin Bu Xiaolin (; mn, ; born August 1958) is a Chinese politician of Mongol descent. She had served as chairwoman of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region People's Government (equivalent of a provincial governor) since March 2016. She is the daugh ...

was appointed to the same position in 2016.

Early career

Born in Tumed Left Banner, just outside the city of

Hohhot Hohhot,; abbreviated zh, c=呼市, p=Hūshì, labels=no formerly known as Kweisui, is the capital of Inner Mongolia in the north of the People's Republic of China, serving as the region's administrative, economic and cultural center.''The N ...

, Ulanhu was the child of herders. He went to elementary school in his hometown, and went on to study at the Mongolian-Tibetan College of Beiping (now Beijing). He joined the Socialist Youth League of China (later renamed Communist Youth League) in 1924, intending to become communist revolutionary. In 1925, he 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 Ci ...

and was sent to

Moscow Sun Yat-sen University Moscow Sun Yat-sen University, officially the Sun Yat-sen Communist University of the Toilers of China, was a Comintern school, which operated from 1925–1930 in the city of Moscow, Russia, then the Soviet Union. It was a training camp for ...

in the Soviet Union to study Marxism. In Moscow, Ulanhu shared a desk with Chiang Ching-kuo, the son of Chiang Kai-shek. In 1929, when he returned from his studies, Ulanhu began organizing communist rallies in Mongolia, and was appointed a Committee Member of the CPC's West-Mongolia Working Committee. In 1931, Ulanhu was chosen to run the military and intelligence offices in Mongolia, serving in Ikh Juu League (now the city of Ordos). During the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

, Ulanhu led his forces to stop the Japanese from advancing towards

and led his officers to march to northern Shaanxi where he continued battling against the Japanese forces. In August 1941, he arrived at the revolutionary base of Yan'an to work on ethnic affairs.

Civil war

During the Chinese Civil War, Ulanhu was one of the commanders of the Pingjin Campaign and the Liaoshen Campaign, he also led his Communist forces to destroy the local bandits and anti-communist forces in Mongolia. Ulanhu was instrumental in bringing Inner Mongolia under the control of the Communist Party of China and was elected the Acting Governor and founding Chairman of the Autonomous Government of Inner Mongolia in 1947. Inner Mongolia was the first of five recognized autonomous regions in China. In September 1954, Ulanhu was named Vice-Premier, ranking eighth. In 1955 he was awarded the rank of General ('' shangjiang''), becoming one of only 57 generals bestowed the honour of being a "founding general" of the People's Republic. He served as Party Committee Secretary and

regional government Local government is a generic term for the lowest tiers of public administration within a particular sovereign state. This particular usage of the word government refers specifically to a level of administration that is both geographically-l ...

chairman of Inner Mongolia from the region's founding to 1966.

Cultural Revolution

Ulanhu and the delegates of Inner Mongolia People's Congress

At the beginning of the

, zealous Red Guard organizations attempted to storm the Inner Mongolia government headquarters. Ulanhu used troops at his disposal to repel them, only to be later undone by military forces sent in by leftist leaders in Beijing, ousting him from office. He was accused of "ruling Inner Mongolia like an independent kingdom", and persecuted as a suspected member of the independence-leaning Inner Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party, a charge later proven to be false. However, while he was a target for struggle, Ulanhu survived the Cultural Revolution without enduring some of the more severe physical hardships inflicted upon some of his colleagues, largely owing to the support of 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 from 1 October 1949 until his death on 8 January 1976. Zhou served under Chairman M ...

After rehabilitation and death

Ulanhu was politically rehabilitated in 1973, prior to the 10th Party Congress, with the personal blessing of Mao Zedong. In 1977, Ulanhu became head of the United Front Department of the central organization of the CPC. Among various other posts, he served one term as Vice President of the People's Republic of China under President Li Xiannian from 1983 to 1988. Upon completion of the term as vice-president, he was elected vice-chairman of the National People's Congress. He died shortly thereafter in 1988 after an illness. He was eulogized with high honours by the ruling Communist Party. In 1992, the Ulanhu Memorial Hall was opened to the public in Hohhot. His ''Selected Works'' were published in 1999 at a dedication ceremony attended by

Jiang Zemin Jiang Zemin (17 August 1926 – 30 November 2022) was a Chinese politician who served as general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) from 1989 to 2002, as chairman of the Central Military Commission from 1989 to 2004, and as p ...

General Secretary of the Communist Party of China The general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party () is the head of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), the sole ruling party of the People's Republic of China (PRC). Since 1989, the CCP general secretary has been the paramount leader o ...

. In December 2007, the Communist Party held a high-profile conference to commemorate the 100th anniversary of Ulanhu's birth. In 2009, the historic epic ''Spring Comes Early to the Grasslands'' aired on China Central Television, and depicted some of Ulanhu's activities during the revolution.

Family

Ulanhu married twice and had four sons and four daughters. His son, Buhe, served as the Chairman of Inner Mongolia from 1982 to 1993. His granddaughter (Buhe's daughter)

was appointed Chairwoman of Inner Mongolia in March 2016, making her the third generation of the Ulanhu family to hold that position. Another son of Ulanhu, Uje, served as mayor of

Baotou Baotou (; mn, Buɣutu qota, Бугат хот) is the largest city by urban population in Inner Mongolia, China. Governed as a prefecture-level city, as of the 2020 census, its built-up (''or metro'') area made up of its 5 urban districts is ...

References