Yan Hongyan (; 13 September 1909 – 8 January 1967) was a general of the People's Liberation Army of China. Yan was born in Anding County,

Shaanxi Shaanxi (alternatively Shensi, see § Name) is a landlocked province of China. Officially part of Northwest China, it borders the province-level divisions of Shanxi (NE, E), Henan (E), Hubei (SE), Chongqing (S), Sichuan (SW), Gansu (W), N ...

province in 1909. He joined 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 ...

in 1924. He participated in the North Expedition. Later he became the commander of the Red 30th Army. After the

Second Sino-Japanese War The Second Sino-Japanese War (1937–1945) or War of Resistance (Chinese term) was a military conflict that was primarily waged between the Republic of China and the Empire of Japan. The war made up the Chinese theater of the wider Pacific Th ...

, he was the vice political commissar and director of the political department of the third army group in the No. 2 Field Army. After the formation of 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 ...

, he was the vice governor and vice secretary of CCP's committee in

Sichuan Sichuan (; zh, c=, labels=no, ; zh, p=Sìchuān; alternatively romanized as Szechuan or Szechwan; formerly also referred to as "West China" or "Western China" by Protestant missions) is a province in Southwest China occupying most of the ...

Province. He was made a general in 1955. In August 1959, he became the No. 1 secretary of the CCP's committee in

Yunnan Yunnan , () is a landlocked province in the southwest of the People's Republic of China. The province spans approximately and has a population of 48.3 million (as of 2018). The capital of the province is Kunming. The province borders the C ...

Province, No.1 political commissar of Kunming Military Region, and secretary of secretariat in the Southwest bureau of CCP. In December 1963, he became the chairman of the Yunnan commission of Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, and also an alternative member of the 8th CCP Central Committee. He ran afoul of the Maoist leadership in Beijing shortly after the beginning of 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 ...

and committed suicide on 8 January 1967, one of the most senior so-called " capitalist roaders" to do so.

See also