Yun Daiying (August 12, 1895 – April 29, 1931) was an early leader of the

Chinese Communist Party 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 ...

Early life

In 1913, Yun Daiying entered the private Zhonghua University in Wuchang, and after graduation in 1918, he stayed there as an instructor. In 1919, he participated in the

May Fourth Movement The May Fourth Movement was a Chinese anti-imperialist, cultural, and political movement which grew out of student protests in Beijing on May 4, 1919. Students gathered in front of Tiananmen (The Gate of Heavenly Peace) to protest the Chines ...

Wuhan Wuhan (, ; ; ) is the capital of Hubei Province in the People's Republic of China. It is the largest city in Hubei and the most populous city in Central China, with a population of over eleven million, the ninth-most populous Chinese city an ...

. In 1920, he founded the Socialist Youth League of China with Xiao Chunü and others, and in 1921, he joined the

as one of the first batch of party members. In 1923, he became an instructor at

Shanghai University Shanghai University, commonly referred to as SHU, or colloquially Shangda (), is a Public university, public research university located in Shanghai. The 555-acre main Baoshan District, Shanghai, Baoshan campus is situated in the north of Shang ...

. 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 flowin ...

, he became a leader of the Communist Youth League of China and the chief editor of the periodical ''China Youth'' from 1925 to 1927.

Political career

In 1924, he joined under orders 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 ...

(

First United Front The First United Front (; alternatively ), also known as the KMT–CCP Alliance, of the Kuomintang (KMT) and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), was formed in 1924 as an alliance to end warlordism in China. Together they formed the National Revo ...

), promoting cooperation between the Communist Party and the Kuomintang. In 1925, he led the

May Thirtieth Movement The May Thirtieth Movement () was a major labor and anti-imperialist movement during the middle-period of the Republic of China era. It began when the Shanghai Municipal Police opened fire on Chinese protesters in Shanghai's International Settl ...

in Shanghai. He went to the

Whampoa Military Academy The Republic of China Military Academy () is the service academy for the army of the Republic of China, located in Fengshan District, Kaohsiung. Previously known as the the military academy produced commanders who fought in many of China ...

in Canton in 1926, where he became a military instructor in the political department, aiding the work of

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 Ma ...

. In the

Northern Expedition The Northern Expedition was a military campaign launched by the National Revolutionary Army (NRA) of the Kuomintang (KMT), also known as the "Chinese Nationalist Party", against the Beiyang government and other regional warlords in 1926. The ...

of July, he stayed in Canton. In September after the North Expedition forces liberated

, he went to Wuhan to become the chief military instructor of the

Republic of China Military Academy The Republic of China Military Academy () is the service academy for the army of the Republic of China, located in Fengshan District, Kaohsiung. Previously known as the the military academy produced commanders who fought in many of China' ...

. After Chiang Kai-shek and

Wang Jingwei Wang Jingwei (4 May 1883 – 10 November 1944), born as Wang Zhaoming and widely known by his pen name Jingwei, was a Chinese politician. He was initially a member of the left wing of the Kuomintang, leading a government in Wuhan in oppositi ...

launched a purge against the communists in succession in April and July 1927, he was sent to

Jiujiang Jiujiang (), formerly transliterated Kiukiang or Kew Keang, is a prefecture-level city located on the southern shores of the Yangtze River in northwest Jiangxi Province, People's Republic of China. It is the second-largest prefecture-level city ...

, where he helped organize the Nanchang Uprising. In the end of 1927, he led the

Guangzhou Uprising Guangzhou (, ; ; or ; ), also known as Canton () and Chinese postal romanization, alternatively romanized as Kwongchow or Kwangchow, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Guangdong Provinces of China, province in South China, sou ...

and was appointed secretary-general of the Canton Soviet Government. After its failure, he fled first to

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delta i ...

and later to Shanghai. In the end of 1928, he started to direct propaganda work of the communist party, creating the periodical ''Red Flag''. In June 1929, he was elected as a central committee member in the 2nd Plenary Session of 6th Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party. Due to his opposition to leftist mistakes within the party, he was demoted and appointed communist party council secretary of Shanghai Ludong District.

Execution

On May 6, 1930, he was captured and detained in Shanghai, and later in February 1931, he was detained in

Nanjing Nanjing (; , Mandarin pronunciation: ), alternately romanized as Nanking, is the capital of Jiangsu province of the People's Republic of China. It is a sub-provincial city, a megacity, and the second largest city in the East China region. T ...

. Initially, he did not reveal his identity. Right before he was to be rescued out of prison, he was identified and betrayed by

Gu Shunzhang Gu Shunzhang (; 1903 – 1934), born Gu Fengming was an early leader, spymaster, and defector of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Sent to Soviet Russia to train in espionage, Gu was chosen by Zhou Enlai to lead the CCP's first intelligen ...

. After Chiang Kai-shek's men failed to entice or force surrender, Chiang ordered his execution on April 29. Before his death, Yun Daiying wrote in prison a poem of martyrdom:

''Having roamed far and wide, I recollect old comrades,'' ''Old comrades are immortal regardless of life or death,'' ''I've dismissed personal loss, seeing it as negligible,'' ''Preserving my heroic bent albeit serving as prisoner.''

Statue

His statue was erected at

Central China Normal University Central China Normal University (CCNU) or Huazhong Normal University (), located in Luonan Subdistrict, Hongshan District in Wuhan, the capital of Hubei Province, is a comprehensive university directly under the administration of the Chinese Mini ...

References

*Diaries of Yun Daiying, Beijing: Central Chinese Communist Party School Press, 1981 (Chinese) *Chronicles of Yun Daiying, Wuhan: Huazhong Normal University Press, 2006 (Chinese)
Chinese Marxist Library: Yun Daiying
{{DEFAULTSORT:Yun, Daiying 1895 births 1931 deaths Chinese Communist Party politicians from Hubei People executed by the Republic of China Central China Normal University alumni Politicians from Wuhan Republic of China politicians from Hubei Executed people from Hubei Executed Republic of China people Republic of China journalists Writers from Wuhan Chinese revolutionaries