People's Liberation Army General Political Department
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The General Political Department of the People's Liberation Army (GPD; ) was the former chief political organ under the
Central Military Commission Central Military Commission may refer to: *Central Military Commission (China), the highest national defense organization in the People's Republic of China. *Central Military Commission of the Communist Party of Vietnam, the highest body in Vietnam ...
of
Chinese Communist Party The Communist Party of China (CPC), also translated into English as Chinese Communist Party (CCP), is the founding and One-party state, sole ruling party of the People's Republic of China (PRC). Founded in 1921, the CCP emerged victorious in the ...
. It led all political activities in the
People's Liberation Army The People's Liberation Army (PLA) is the military of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and the People's Republic of China (PRC). It consists of four Military branch, services—People's Liberation Army Ground Force, Ground Force, People's ...
. Its former director-generals include
Liu Shaoqi Liu Shaoqi ( ; 24 November 189812 November 1969) was a Chinese revolutionary and politician. He was the chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress from 1954 to 1959, first-ranking Vice Chairman of the Chinese Communis ...
, Luo Ronghuan, Tan Zheng, Xiao Hua, Li Desheng,
Zhang Chunqiao Zhang Chunqiao (; 1 February 1917 – 21 April 2005) was a Chinese political theorist, writer, and politician. He came to the national spotlight during the late stages of the Cultural Revolution, and was a member of the ultra-Maoist group dub ...
, Wei Guoqing,
Yu Qiuli Yu Qiuli (; 15 November 1914 – 3 February 1999) was a Chinese Communist army officer and politician, general of the People's Liberation Army. A veteran of the Long March, he held top military and government positions under both Mao Zedong and ...
, Yang Baibing, Yu Yongbo,
Xu Caihou Xu Caihou (; June 1943 – 15 March 2015) was a Chinese general in the People's Liberation Army (PLA) and vice chairman of the Central Military Commission (CMC), the country's top military council. As vice chairman of the CMC, he was one of the ...
, and Li Jinai. Its last head was Zhang Yang, who committed suicide. The department was disbanded in January 2016 and a new agency, the
Political Work Department of the Central Military Commission The Political Work Department of the Central Military Commission () is the chief political organ under the Central Military Commission (CMC). It was created in January 2016 following the military reforms under CMC chairman Xi Jinping. Its p ...
, was founded in its stead.


During the Cultural Revolution

The General Political Department of the People's Liberation Army played an important role for
Mao Zedong Mao Zedong pronounced ; traditionally Romanization of Chinese, romanised as Mao Tse-tung. (26December 18939September 1976) was a Chinese politician, revolutionary, and political theorist who founded the People's Republic of China (PRC) in ...
during the
Cultural Revolution The Cultural Revolution, formally known as the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, was a Social movement, sociopolitical movement in the China, People's Republic of China (PRC). It was launched by Mao Zedong in 1966 and lasted until his de ...
, through its control of "political departments" that were set up throughout the state apparatus. In the summer of 1964 before the Cultural Revolution, organizations called "political departments" were set up in throughout branches of the administration in China, in central and regional levels. Members were to study the works of Mao Zedong and emulate the army. These organizations were headed by the General Political Department, the organ by which
Mao Zedong Mao Zedong pronounced ; traditionally Romanization of Chinese, romanised as Mao Tse-tung. (26December 18939September 1976) was a Chinese politician, revolutionary, and political theorist who founded the People's Republic of China (PRC) in ...
and
Lin Biao Lin Biao ( zh, 林彪; 5 December 1907 – 13 September 1971) was a Chinese politician and Marshal of the People's Republic of China who was pivotal in the Chinese Communist Party, Communist Chinese Communist Revolution, victory during the Chines ...
exercised control over the armed forces. This made the economic "political department" also under command of the armed forces, rather than the Party's Central Committee. This effectively created a "parallel
chain of command A command hierarchy is a group of people who carry out orders based on others' authority within the group. Military chain of command In a military context, the chain of command is the line of authority and responsibility along which orders ...
" which bypassed the Party. The role of the GPD during the Cultural Revolution meant that when the Party lines of command failed amidst the chaos, alternative chains of command would be implemented directly controlled by Mao. By 1966, even before the Cultural Revolution began, this system was effective.


Structure

The General Political Department was led by a director, usually of General rank, and numerous deputy directors, most of whom were also accorded General rank (others were Lt. Generals). The director was a military-region level position. The last director was Zhang Yang, who served until 2016 and became head of the department's successor body. The department also had a number of departments under it: the General Office, the Discipline Inspection Department, the Foreign Affairs Bureau General Office, the Justice Bureau General Office, Mass Work Bureau, General Office, Cadre Department, Culture Department, Directly Subordinated Organs Work Department, Liaison Department, Organization Department, Propaganda Department, and Security Department. The department also oversaw the
Military Museum of the Chinese People's Revolution The Military Museum of the Chinese People's Revolution is the national military museum of China, located in Haidian, Beijing. The collection mainly focuses on military equipments and cultural relics reflecting the military history of the Peopl ...
, the ''
PLA Daily The ''People's Liberation Army Daily'' (), or ''PLA Daily'' for short, is the official newspaper of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA). Institutionally, the ''PLA Daily'' is the mouthpiece of and speaks for the Central Military Commission ( ...
'', the PLA Literature and Art Press (Kunlun Press), PLA Pictorial, and PLA Press.


See also

* Political Warfare Bureau,
Ministry of National Defense (Republic of China) The Ministry of National Defense of the Republic of China (MND; ) is the ministry of the Taiwan, Republic of China (ROC), which is now based primarily in the Taiwan Area but Republic of China (1912–1949), formerly governed Mainland China prior ...


References

{{People's Liberation Army People's Liberation Army Central Military Commission (China)