Chen Shaokun (; 20 April 1921 – 10 October 2020) was a Chinese army officer and politician who served as minister of Metallurgical Industry from 1975 to 1977. Prior to that, he was director of Political Department of

Shenyang Military Region The Shenyang Military Region was one of seven military regions for the Chinese People's Liberation Army. It has command and control of military and armed police forces in the three northeast provinces of Jilin, Heilongjiang, and Liaoning, whic ...

between 1969 and 1970 and deputy political commissar of Shenyang Military Region between 1969 and 1975.

Biography

Chen was born in

Suyu District Suyu District () is one of two districts of Suqian, 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 ...

Suqian Suqian ( zh, s=, t=, p=Sùqiān, IPA: ) is a prefecture-level city in northern Jiangsu Province, China. It borders Xuzhou to the northwest, Lianyungang to the northeast, Huai'an to the south, and the province of Anhui to the west. History Suqi ...

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 ...

, on April 20, 1921. After graduating from Suqian High School, he was admitted to

Counter-Japanese Military and Political University Counter-Japanese Military and Political University (), also commonly known as Kàngdà () and Kangri Junzheng University (), was a comprehensive public university located in Yan'an, Shaanxi, the headquarters of the Chinese Communist Party during ...

. He enlisted in the

Eighth Route Army The Eighth Route Army (), officially titled as the List of Army Groups of the National Revolutionary Army, 18th Group Army, was a Field army, group army nominally under the banner of the National Revolutionary Army (NRA) of the Republic of Ch ...

in 1939, and 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 ...

in 1940.

Second Sino-Japanese War

In 1940, he served in Sishu County () as party chief and deputy captain of guerrilla force. After that, he became director of Politieal Division of the New 1st Group Army.

Chinese Civil War

In the early period of the

Chinese Civil War The Chinese Civil War was fought between the Kuomintang-led Nationalist government, government of the Republic of China (1912–1949), Republic of China and the forces of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Armed conflict continued intermitt ...

, he was political commissar of the 15th Regiment of the 2nd Column in the and then political commissar of the 348th Regiment of the 116th Division in the

39th Group Army The 79th Group Army (), Unit 31671, formerly the 39th Group Army (第三十九集团军), is a military formation of the Chinese People's Liberation Army Ground Force (PLAGF). The 79th Group Army is one of thirteen total group armies of the PLAG ...

. He participated in the 1948

Battle of Jinzhou Battle of Chinchow () took place between the People's Liberation Army and the National Revolutionary Army during the Liaoshen Campaign in the Chinese Civil War. The battle was a turning point in the campaign, which eventually led to capture of ...

attacks led by

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 ...

and

Luo Ronghuan Luo Ronghuan (; November 26, 1902 – December 16, 1963) was a Marshal of the People's Republic of China. He served as a Vice Chair of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress. Biography Luo was born in a village in Hengsh ...

northeast China Northeast China () is a geographical region of China, consisting officially of three provinces Liaoning, Jilin and Heilongjiang. The heartland of the region is the Northeast China Plain, the largest plain in China with an area of over . The regi ...

Liaoning ) , image_skyline = , image_alt = , image_caption = Clockwise: Mukden Palace in Shenyang, Xinghai Square in Dalian, Dalian coast, Yalu River at Dandong , image_map = Liaoning in China (+all claims hatched).svg , ...

province. He also participated in the Pingjin campaign, Yangtze River Crossing Campaign, and Guangdong-Guangxi campaign.

Korean War

After the outbreak of the

Korean War The Korean War (25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953) was an armed conflict on the Korean Peninsula fought between North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea; DPRK) and South Korea (Republic of Korea; ROK) and their allies. North Korea was s ...

, he was commissioned director of Political Department of the 116th Division of the 39th Group Army. His army overwhelmed the 8th Regiment of the 1st Cavalry Division of the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

during the

Battle of Unsan The Battle of Unsan (), also known as the Battle of Yunshan (), was a series of engagements of the Korean War that took place from 25 October to 4 November 1950 near Unsan, North Pyongan province in present-day North Korea North Kore ...

. In 1952, he became deputy political commissar of the 117th Division, and in 1953 received a promotion to political commissar of 115th Division. After returning to China, he became political commissar of 116th Division in 1954. In 1962, he was director of Political Department, deputy political commissar, and then political commissar of the 39th Group Army. He was promoted to the rank of major general ('' Shaojiang'') in 1964. In 1969, he was transferred to

and appointed deputy political commissar and director of Political Department. In February of the following year, he was assigned to the , where he was promoted to its head in 1970. He retired in 1977.

Death

He died in

Beijing Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...

on October 10, 2020, aged 99.

Personal life

He married Yang Jingyuan (). Their son, (born 1955), is also a major general ('' Shaojiang'') 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 ...

(PLA) of China.

Work

Awards

* National Flag Medal (1952) * FreedomAndIndependence2Ribbon

Order of Freedom and Independence (2nd Class Medal) (1952) *

Order of Independence and Freedom 2nd Class

Order of Independence and Freedom Order of Independence and Freedom () was a military award from the People's Republic of China. It was created in 1955, to give recognition to men who distinguished themselves "conspicuously by gallantry and intrepidity" in combat with an enemy o ...

(2nd Class Medal) (1955) * Order of Liberation 2nd Class

Order of Liberation The Order of Liberation (, ) is a French Order which was awarded to heroes of the Liberation of France during World War II. It is a worn by recipients only before the ''Légion d’Honneur'' (Legion of Honour). In the official portrait of G ...

(2nd Class Medal) (1955)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chen, Shaokun 1921 births 2020 deaths People from Suqian People's Republic of China politicians from Jiangsu Chinese Communist Party politicians from Jiangsu People's Liberation Army generals from Jiangsu 20th-century Chinese generals People of the Chinese Civil War Chinese military personnel of World War II Chinese military personnel of the Korean War