(; ja, 将, Shō; ) is the rank held by general officers in some

East Asia East Asia is the eastern region of Asia, which is defined in both Geography, geographical and culture, ethno-cultural terms. The modern State (polity), states of East Asia include China, Japan, Mongolia, North Korea, South Korea, and Taiwan. ...

n militaries. The ranks are used in both the

People's Republic of China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

and the Republic of China on

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...

. The People's Liberation Army and the People's Armed Police use three levels at present while the

Republic of China Armed Forces The Republic of China Armed Forces (ROC Armed Forces) are the armed forces of the Republic of China (ROC), once based in mainland China and currently in its remaining jurisdictions which include the islands of Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen, Matsu ...

use four. In both

North North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating direction or geography. Etymology The word ''north ...

and

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korean Peninsula and sharing a land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed by the Yellow Sea, while its eas ...

the rank is also used.

Chinese variant

People's Liberation Army

The same rank names are used for all services, prefixed by ''haijun'' () or ''kongjun'' ().

Under the rank system in place in the PLA in the era 1955–1965, there existed the rank of () or Grand General. This rank was awarded to 10 of the veteran leaders of the PLA in 1955 and never conferred again. It was considered equivalent to the Soviet rank of (

Army General Army general is the highest ranked general officer in many countries that use the French Revolutionary System.　 In countries that adopt the general officer four rank system, it is rank of general commanding an army in the field, but in coun ...

) which is generally considered a five-star rank, although the insignia itself had only four. The decision to name the equivalent rank when it was briefly re-established in 1988-1994 was likely due to a desire to keep the rank of an honorary one awarded after a war, much as General of the Armies in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land warfare, land military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight Uniformed services of the United States, U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army o ...

. It was offered to Deng Xiaoping who declined the new rank. Thus it was never conferred and scrapped in 1994.

Republic of China Armed Forces

Japanese Self Defense Forces

The same rank names are used for all services, prefixed by ( ja, 陸, lit=land), ( ja, 海, lit=sea) or ( ja, 空, lit=air).

Korean variant

North Korea

South Korea

References

{{Reflist Jiang Military ranks of the People's Republic of China Military of the Republic of China