Ye Zhengda (; 22 August 1927 – 14 December 2017) was a Chinese aircraft designer and

lieutenant general Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a three-star military rank (NATO code OF-8) used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the ...

of the

People's Liberation Army Air Force 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 Peo ...

. He was also an adjunct professor and senior engineer at

Northwestern Polytechnical University Northwestern Polytechnical University (NWPU; ) is a national key public research university in Xi'an, China. The university is funded by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology. The university is a Chinese national Class A Double ...

. He was a member of the 10th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party and a delegate to the

5th National People's Congress The 5th National People's Congress () was in session from 1978 to 1983. It succeeded the 4th National People's Congress. It held five plenary sessions in this period. The Congress passed the 1978 Constitution of the People's Republic of China ...

Biography

Ye was born Ye Funong () on 22 August 1927 in

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 ...

, with his

ancestral home An ancestral home is the place of origin of one's extended family, particularly the home owned and preserved by the same family for several generations. The term can refer to an individual house or estate, or to a broader geographic area such as a ...

Huiyang Huiyang District ( postal: Waiyeung; is a district of Huizhou, Guangdong province, People's Republic of China. It was renamed in 2003 amid the restructuring of districts and counties in Huizhou. Formerly named Huiyang city (county level), its si ...

Guangdong Guangdong (, ), alternatively romanized as Canton or Kwangtung, is a coastal province in South China on the north shore of the South China Sea. The capital of the province is Guangzhou. With a population of 126.01 million (as of 2020) ...

. He was the first of nine children of the famous general

Ye Ting Ye Ting () (September 10, 1896 – April 8, 1946), born in Huiyang, Guangdong, was a Chinese military leader who played a key role in the Northern Expedition to reunify China after the 1911 Revolution. After serving with the Kuomintang, Ye ...

and his wife Li Xiuwen, who both died in a plane crash in 1946. His siblings included Ye Zhengming (, 1931–2003), Ye Huaming (, born 1935), Ye Jianmei (, 1937–1993), Ye Yangmei (, 1936–1946), Ye Zhengguang (, born 1939), and Ye Qiguang (born 1942). In 1947, Ye attended a Russian-language school in northeastern China founded by the Northeast Democratic United Army. He 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 the following year. He graduated from

Moscow Aviation Institute Moscow Aviation Institute (National Research University) (MAI; russian: Московский авиационный институт, МАИ) is one of the major engineering institutes in Moscow, Russia. Since its inception MAI has been spearhe ...

in 1955, where he majored in aircraft production. In August 1956, China established its first aircraft design office at

Shenyang Aircraft Corporation Shenyang Aircraft Corporation (SAC) or Shenyang Aerospace Corporation is a Chinese civilian and military aircraft manufacturer located in Shenyang, Liaoning, a subsidiary of the state-owned aircraft manufacturer AVIC. Founded in 1951 as the cl ...

, with

Xu Shunshou Xu Shunshou (; 21 August 1917 – 6 January 1968) was a Chinese aircraft designer and a founder of the aircraft manufacturing industry in the People's Republic of China. He was the founding director of the PRC's first aircraft design organizatio ...

as director. Ye Zhengda and

Huang Zhiqian Huang Zhiqian (; 24 January 1914 – 20 May 1965) was a Chinese aircraft designer. He served as Chief Designer of the Shenyang Aircraft Design Institute and was in charge of designing the Shenyang J-8, China's first high-speed, high-altitude in ...

were appointed deputy directors. He participated in the design of China's first trainer jet, the

Shenyang JJ-1 The Shenyang JJ-1, also known as the Hong Zhuan-503 or ''Red Special'', was a jet trainer developed in the People's Republic of China (PRC) during the 1950s. It was the first jet aircraft designed in China, with Xu Shunshou as the chief designer ...

. He later served as deputy dean of the Six Research Institute of the PRC Ministry of National Defense, deputy director of Defense Industry of the

State Council of the People's Republic of China The State Council, constitutionally synonymous with the Central People's Government since 1954 (particularly in relation to local governments), is the chief administrative authority of the People's Republic of China. It is chaired by the p ...

, deputy director of the Science and Technology Committee of the

Commission for Science, Technology and Industry for National Defense The Commission for Science, Technology and Industry for National Defense (COSTIND; Chinese: 国防科学技术工业委员会) was a civilian ministry within the State Council of the People's Republic of China, responsible for setting policy for d ...

, and director of the 2nd and 3rd Chinese Society of Aeronautics and Astronautics. He was awarded the military rank of

(zhongjiang) in 1988. He retired in 1998. On December 14, 2017, he died 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 ...

Personal life

Ye Zhengda married Ren Yue (), an actress of the

August First Film Studio August First Film Studio, or Bayi Film Studio (Chinese: 八一电影制片厂; pinyin: ''Bāyī diànyǐng zhì piàn chǎng)'', is the only military film studio in China. It was founded on August 1, 1952 to film It is a comprehensive film studi ...

, in

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 ...

Awards

* Special Prize of the National Prize for Progress in Science and Technology * Second Prize of the National Prize for Progress in Science and Technology * First Prize for Military Scientific Research Achievements of the People's Liberation Army (PLA) * Second Prize of Military Scientific Research Achievements of the People's Liberation Army (PLA) * 1998 - Victory Medal

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ye, Zhengda 1927 births 2017 deaths Chinese aircraft designers Moscow Aviation Institute alumni Northwestern Polytechnical University faculty People's Liberation Army generals from Shanghai Engineers from Shanghai People's Liberation Army Air Force generals