Cao Diqiu () (

Wade–Giles Wade–Giles ( ) is a romanization system for Mandarin Chinese. It developed from the system produced by Thomas Francis Wade during the mid-19th century, and was given completed form with Herbert Giles's '' A Chinese–English Dictionary'' ...

Ts'ao Ti-ch'iu) (August 1, 1909 – March 29, 1976) was a Chinese Communist revolutionary and politician.

Biography

Cao Diqiu was born in

Ziyang Ziyang ( zh, s=资阳 , t=資陽 , p=Zīyáng , w=Tzu-yang) is a prefecture-level city in eastern Sichuan province, China. It is bordered by the provincial capital of Chengdu to the northwest, Deyang to the north, Suining to the northeast, Chong ...

Sichuan Sichuan is a province in Southwestern China, occupying the Sichuan Basin and Tibetan Plateau—between the Jinsha River to the west, the Daba Mountains to the north, and the Yunnan–Guizhou Plateau to the south. Its capital city is Cheng ...

, China. He joined the

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 ...

(CCP) in 1929. After graduating from Sichuan University, he went to northern

Jiangsu Jiangsu is a coastal Provinces of the People's Republic of China, province in East China. It is one of the leading provinces in finance, education, technology, and tourism, with its capital in Nanjing. Jiangsu is the List of Chinese administra ...

Province after the outbreak of the

Second Sino-Japanese War The Second Sino-Japanese War was fought between the Republic of China (1912–1949), Republic of China and the Empire of Japan between 1937 and 1945, following a period of war localized to Manchuria that started in 1931. It is considered part ...

to participate in guerrilla activities. In November 1949, Cao Diqiu served as the third secretary of the Chongqing Municipal Committee and deputy mayor of

Chongqing ChongqingPostal Romanization, Previously romanized as Chungking ();. is a direct-administered municipality in Southwestern China. Chongqing is one of the four direct-administered municipalities under the State Council of the People's Republi ...

. He was de-facto in charge of the work of the municipal government. Cao was unanimously elected as

Mayor of Chongqing The mayor of Chongqing, officially the Mayor of the Chongqing Municipal People's Government, is the head of Chongqing, Chongqing Municipality and leader of the Chongqing Municipal People's Government. The mayor is elected by the Chongqing Municipal ...

in January 1951 by the

Chongqing Municipal People's Congress The Chongqing Municipal People's Congress is the local people's congress of Chongqing. The Municipal People's Congress is elected for a term of five years. The meetings of the Chongqing Municipal People's Congress are held at least once a year i ...

. He later became the municipal committee's first secretary in 1952, holding both offices concurrently. In 1954, Cao was also chosen as the third secretary of the Sichuan Provincial Committee. In November 1955, Cao was transferred to

Shanghai Shanghai, Shanghainese: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: is a direct-administered municipality and the most populous urban area in China. The city is located on the Chinese shoreline on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the ...

and served as

deputy secretary Deputy or depute may refer to: * Steward (office) * Khalifa, an Arabic title that can signify "deputy" * Deputy (legislator), a legislator in many countries and regions, including: ** A member of a Chamber of Deputies, for example in Italy, Spain, ...

of the Shanghai Municipal Committee of the CCP. In December, the first Shanghai People's Congress unanimously elected him as deputy mayor of Shanghai. In July 1956, he was elected as Secretary of the Municipal Secretariat. In January 1957, he was appointed as the Executive Vice Mayor. In December 1965, he was elected as the third

mayor of Shanghai The mayor of Shanghai, officially the Mayor of the Shanghai Municipal People's Government, is the head of Shanghai Municipality and leader of the Shanghai Municipal People's Government. The mayor is elected by the Shanghai Municipal People's C ...

with a unanimous vote by the People's Congress. At the start of 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 ...

, Cao presided over the daily work of the Shanghai Municipal Party Committee due to Chen Pixian, then First Secretary of the Municipal Committee still recovering from his illness at the time of May 1966. In 1967, Cao was deposed and arrested alongside the rest of the Municipal Committee in the wake of the

January Storm The January Storm, formally known as the January Revolution, was a ''coup d'état'' in Shanghai that occurred between 5 January and 23 February 1967, during the Cultural Revolution. The coup, precipitated by the ''Sixteen Articles'' and unexpe ...

. During a

struggle session Struggle sessions (), or denunciation rallies or struggle meetings, were violent public spectacles in Maoist China where people accused of being "Five Black Categories, class enemies" were public humiliation, publicly humiliated, accused, beaten ...

, Cao was forced by the left-radical rebels to kneel on an overhead maintenance vehicle with his arms tied behind his back and a wooden sign hung around his neck, and paraded through busy downtown areas such as

Nanjing Road Nanjing Road (; Shanghainese: ''Noecin Lu'') is a road in Shanghai, the eastern part of which is the main shopping district of Shanghai. It is one of the world's busiest shopping streets, along with Fifth Avenue, Oxford Street, Orchard Road, T ...

, an act which exposed him to many risks of physical injury. On the orders of the

Gang of Four The Gang of Four () was a Maoist political faction composed of four Chinese Communist Party (CCP) officials. They came to prominence during the Cultural Revolution (1966–1976) and were later charged with a series of treasonous crimes due to th ...

, was labelled as a ''great traitor'' and subject to countless interrogations during his arrest. Cao was imprisoned for six years up till his transferring to the Municipal May 7 Cadre School for labour in May 1973 as a result of there being insufficient evidence for him to be labelled as a traitor. His imprisonment led to immense physical and mental damage dealt to his health. Cao Diqiu died in Shanghai on 29 March 1976 after almost a decade's worth of torment in the form of struggle sessions and

character assassination Character assassination (CA) is a deliberate and sustained effort to damage the reputation or credibility of an individual. The term ''character assassination'' became popular around 1930. This concept, as a subject of scholarly study, was origi ...

. On 23 June 1978, with the approval of the CCP Central Committee, the CCP Shanghai Municipal Committee held a grand ceremony to rebury Cao's ashes, thoroughly rehabilitating him and restoring his political reputation. Cao's ashes were sent to Beijing by a special plane and placed in the

Babaoshan Revolutionary Cemetery The Babaoshan Revolutionary Cemetery () is Beijing's main resting place for the highest-ranking revolutionary heroes, high-ranking government officials and, in recent years, individuals deemed of major importance due to their contributions to soc ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cao, Diqiu 1909 births 1976 deaths 20th-century mayors of places in China People's Republic of China politicians from Sichuan Chinese Communist Party politicians from Sichuan Mayors of Shanghai Mayors of Chongqing Political office-holders in Chongqing Victims of the Cultural Revolution Politicians from Ziyang Sichuan University alumni People of the Cultural Revolution Inmates of Tilanqiao Prison Delegates to the 8th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party