Zhang Lan (; 1872 – February 1955),

courtesy name A courtesy name (), also known as a style name, is a name bestowed upon one at adulthood in addition to one's given name. This practice is a tradition in the East Asian cultural sphere, including China, Japan, Korea, and Vietnam.Ulrich Theo ...

Biaofang (表方), was a Chinese political activist best known for being the chairman of the

China Democratic League The China Democratic League (CDL) is one of the eight legally recognized minor political parties in the People's Republic of China under the Chinese Communist Party's United Front. The CDL was originally founded in 1941 as an umbrella coalition ...

from its founding in 1941 until his death in 1955.

Biography

Zhang was born into a scholarly family in

Nanchong Nanchong (; Sichuanese: lan2cong1) is a prefecture-level city in the northeast of Sichuan province, China, with an area of . At the 2020 census it was home to 5,607,565 people, of whom 1,936,534 lived in the built-up (or 'metro') area made of th ...

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 t ...

in 1872. Witnessing the turmoil at the end of the

Qing dynasty The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing,, was a Manchu-led imperial dynasty of China and the last orthodox dynasty in Chinese history. It emerged from the Later Jin dynasty founded by the Jianzhou Jurchens, a Tungusic-speak ...

, Zhang was attracted to the reformist views of

Liang Qichao Liang Qichao (Chinese: 梁啓超 ; Wade-Giles: ''Liang2 Chʻi3-chʻao1''; Yale: ''Lèuhng Kái-chīu'') (February 23, 1873 – January 19, 1929) was a Chinese politician, social and political activist, journalist, and intellectual. His thou ...

, and he joined the group advocating constitutional monarchy for China. In 1911, Zhang was vice-chairman of the committee of shareholders that opposed the planned nationalization of the projected Sichuan-

Hankou Hankou, alternately romanized as Hankow (), was one of the three towns (the other two were Wuchang and Hanyang) merged to become modern-day Wuhan city, the capital of the Hubei province, China. It stands north of the Han and Yangtze Rivers whe ...

railroad. The protests against the plan swelled into an uprising that was easily quelled by authorities. Zhang remained a political leader in Sichuan province. In 1916, he organized a small force to act against

Yuan Shikai Yuan Shikai (; 16 September 1859 – 6 June 1916) was a Chinese military and government official who rose to power during the late Qing dynasty and eventually ended the Qing dynasty rule of China in 1912, later becoming the Emperor of China. H ...

, but Yuan died before the troops saw any action. Zhang served briefly in 1920 as governor of Sichuan province. In the following years, however, Zhang focused primarily on education. He served as president of Chengdu Normal College for two years before becoming president of Chengdu University in 1928. 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 T ...

began in 1937, Zhang was appointed a member of the National Political Council (國民參政會). Although he rarely participated in the body's deliberations, he was respected for his speeches criticizing the Nationalist government. When a number of opposition groups joined to form the League of Chinese Democratic Political Groups in 1941, Zhang was elected chairman. As a non-partisan figure, he calmed disagreements between the various constituent groups of the League. He retained this position after the League's reorganization into the China Democratic League in 1944, and until his death in 1955. The China Democratic League was outlawed in 1947, after which Zhang was placed under house arrest in

Shanghai Shanghai (; , , Standard Chinese, Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four Direct-administered municipalities of China, direct-administered municipalities of the China, People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the ...

. In the spring of 1949, he escaped with the aid of

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 Ci ...

agents and traveled to

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), Chinese postal romanization, alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the Capital city, capital of the China, People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's Li ...

to assist in forming the new government. He headed the China Democratic League delegation to the first

Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference The Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC, zh, 中国人民政治协商会议), also known as the People's PCC (, ) or simply the PCC (), is a political advisory body in the People's Republic of China and a central part of ...

in September 1949, and was elected one of the Vice-chairmen of the Central People's Government after the founding 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 List of countries and dependencies by population, most populous country, with a Population of China, population exceeding 1.4 billion, slig ...

on October 1. Zhang held this position until 1954, when the government was reorganized to have only one vice-chairman, at which time he was made a Vice Chair of the

Standing Committee A committee or commission is a body of one or more persons subordinate to a deliberative assembly. A committee is not itself considered to be a form of assembly. Usually, the assembly sends matters into a committee as a way to explore them more ...

of the

National People's Congress The National People's Congress of the People's Republic of China (NPC; ), or simply the National People's Congress, is constitutionally the supreme state authority and the national legislature of the People's Republic of China. With 2,9 ...

. Zhang died of

arteriosclerosis Arteriosclerosis is the thickening, hardening, and loss of elasticity of the walls of arteries. This process gradually restricts the blood flow to one's organs and tissues and can lead to severe health risks brought on by atherosclerosis, which ...

in February 1955 at the age of 84. He was survived by his wife, Liu Huicheng.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Zhang, Lan 1872 births 1955 deaths Republic of China politicians from Sichuan Members of the China Democratic League Vice presidents of the People's Republic of China Members of the Standing Committee of the 1st Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference Vice Chairpersons of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference Vice Chairpersons of the National People's Congress Politicians from Nanchong People's Republic of China politicians from Sichuan Burials at Babaoshan Revolutionary Cemetery