Deng Yingchao (; 4 February 1904 – 11 July 1992) was the Chairwoman of the

Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference The Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) is a political advisory body in the People's Republic of China and a central part of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP)'s United front (China), united front system. Its members adv ...

from 1983 to 1988, a member of 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 ...

, and the wife of the first Chinese Premier,

Zhou Enlai Zhou Enlai ( zh, s=周恩来, p=Zhōu Ēnlái, w=Chou1 Ên1-lai2; 5 March 1898 – 8 January 1976) was a Chinese statesman, diplomat, and revolutionary who served as the first Premier of the People's Republic of China from September 1954 unti ...

Early life

With ancestry in Guangshan County (),

Henan Henan; alternatively Honan is a province in Central China. Henan is home to many heritage sites, including Yinxu, the ruins of the final capital of the Shang dynasty () and the Shaolin Temple. Four of the historical capitals of China, Lu ...

, she was born Deng Wenshu () in

Nanning Nanning; is the capital of the Guangxi, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region in South China, southern China. It is known as the "Green City (绿城) " because of its abundance of lush subtropical foliage. Located in the South of Guangxi, Nanning ...

Guangxi Guangxi,; officially the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, is an Autonomous regions of China, autonomous region of the China, People's Republic of China, located in South China and bordering Vietnam (Hà Giang Province, Hà Giang, Cao Bằn ...

. Growing up in a poverty-stricken family, her father died when she was at a young age and her single mother taught and practiced medicine. Deng studied at Beiyang Women's Normal School.Lv Bicheng: Newspaper Woman, Educator and Buddhist
, Frank Zhao, 13 January 2014, Women of China, retrieved 11 April 2014 Deng participated as a team leader in the May Fourth Movement, where she met

in 1919. During the May Fourth Movement, Deng held a pessimistic view of marriage believing that a woman's life effectively ended when she married. Deng was one of the founding members of the Awakening Society in September 1919. Deng and Zhou married on 8 August 1925 in

Guangzhou Guangzhou, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Canton or Kwangchow, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Guangdong Provinces of China, province in South China, southern China. Located on the Pearl River about nor ...

. Deng joined the Communist Youth League of China (CYL) in 1924 and became a member of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in 1925. After the White Terror massacres in 1927, Deng worked underground in Shanghai for five years.

Chinese Civil War

Deng was one of the few women to survive the

Long March The Long March ( zh, s=长征, p=Chángzhēng, l=Long Expedition) was a military retreat by the Chinese Red Army and Chinese Communist Party (CCP) from advancing Kuomintang forces during the Chinese Civil War, occurring between October 1934 and ...

. However, during the Long March she developed pulmonary tuberculosis. Gdna-hvvuiyn2019890

After the victory of the Anti-Japanese War, Deng Yingchao, as the only female representative of the Chinese Communist Party, attended the first Political Consultative Conference in Chongqing. In March 1947, she has served as a member of the Rear Working Committee of the CCP Central Committee and acting secretary of the Women's Committee of the CCP Central Committee. She was elected to serve on the Executive Council of the

Women's International Democratic Federation The Women's International Democratic Federation (WIDF) is an international women's rights organization. Established in 1945, it was most active during the Cold War when, according to historian Francisca de Haan, it was "the largest and probably ...

in 1948 and 1953. In June 1949, she was elected as a member of the Preparatory Committee of the National Committee of the

and became a member of the drafting group of the Common Program. Later, entrusted by

Mao Zedong Mao Zedong pronounced ; traditionally Romanization of Chinese, romanised as Mao Tse-tung. (26December 18939September 1976) was a Chinese politician, revolutionary, and political theorist who founded the People's Republic of China (PRC) in ...

and Zhou Enlai, she personally went to Shanghai and invited

Soong Ching Ling Soong Ch'ing-ling (27 January 1893 – 29 May 1981), Christian name Rosamonde or Rosamond, was a Chinese political figure. She was the wife of Sun Yat-sen, therefore known by Madame Sun Yat-sen and the "''Father of the Nation, Mother of Mode ...

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 ...

to participate in the preparation of the Central People's Government of the

People's Republic of China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

People's Republic of China

When the People's Republic of China was founded, Deng Yingchao was elected to the National Women's first to the third vice chairman, honorary chairman of the Fourth; Chinese People's Conseil national children's vice chairman. Since the Eighth National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party, Deng Yingchao has been a member of the

Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party The Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party, officially the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, is the Central committee, highest organ when the National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party, national congress is not ...

, but has never held a government position. It was not until the death of her husband Zhou Enlai in 1976 that she returned to the political arena of the Communist Party. In December of that year, at the third meeting of the Standing Committee of the Fourth National People's Congress, she was added as the vice chairman of the

Standing Committee of the National People's Congress The Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPCSC) is the permanent body of the National People's Congress (NPC), the national legislature of the People's Republic of China. It exercises the powers of the NPC when it is not in s ...

. In March 1978, after being re-elected as the vice chairman of the Standing Committee of the Fifth National People's Congress, Deng Yingchao served as the second secretary of the newly restored CCP Central Commission for Disciplinary Inspection at the third plenary session of the Eleventh Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party that year. Co-opted as a member of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee. Soon thereafter, Deng Yingchao used her early contacts and contacts with the

Kuomintang The Kuomintang (KMT) is a major political party in the Republic of China (Taiwan). It was the one party state, sole ruling party of the country Republic of China (1912-1949), during its rule from 1927 to 1949 in Mainland China until Retreat ...

, as well as her network and reputation in the United Front work, to fully take charge of the work of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party in Taiwan, and concurrently served as the leader of the newly established Central Leading Group for Taiwan Affairs. In 1982, she served as Honorary Chairwoman of the Chinese People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries. From June 1983 to March 1988, she served as Chairwoman of the National Committee of the

. In September 1985, Deng Yingchao voluntarily applied for resignation as a member of the

; and in April 1988, after the expiration of the term of the chairman of the

National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference The National Committee of Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference is the national-level organization that represents the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), the political advisory body in the People's Republic ...

, she resigned and recuperated. In 1987, she served as Honorary Chairwoman of China Population Welfare Foundation. On the same year, when party hard-liners ousted the party's General Secretary,

Hu Yaobang Hu Yaobang (20 November 1915 – 15 April 1989) was a Chinese politician who was a high-ranking official of the People's Republic of China. He held the Leader of the Chinese Communist Party, top office of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) from ...

, in a campaign against bourgeois liberalism, it published a 25-year-old speech by Deng. In June 1989, during the Tiananmen Square protests, she supported the leadership's decision to violently suppress the protests. In October 1990, she resigned as honorary president of the Chinese Nursing Association, due to poor health. In 1991 she served as Honorary Chairwoman of China Society for People's Friendships Studies.

Political positions

Deng promoted the abolition of

foot binding Foot binding (), or footbinding, was the Chinese custom of breaking and tightly binding the feet of young girls to change their shape and size. Feet altered by foot binding were known as lotus feet and the shoes made for them were known as lotus ...

imposed on women. During the Land Reform Movement, Deng emphasized the need to mobilize peasant women to further the agrarian revolution. In a 1947 policy meeting on land reform, she stated that "women function as great mobilizers when they speak bitterness."

Personal life

Deng and Zhou had no children of their own. However, they adopted several orphans of "revolutionary martyrs", including Li Peng, who later became the

Premier of the People's Republic of China The premier of China, officially the Premier of the State Council of the People's Republic of China, is the head of government of the People's Republic of China (PRC) and leader of the State Council. This post was established in 1911 near the e ...

Death and legacy

After retiring, Deng Yingchao's body gradually weakened; especially in 1990, she was admitted to the hospital five times because of colds and pneumonia; in August 1991, she began to suffer from renal failure and became unconscious several times. At 6:55 am on July 11, 1992, Deng Yingchao died in Beijing Hospital at the age of 88. After cremation, her ashes were scattered in the same place where Zhou Enlai's ashes had been scattered. The official Party evaluation of her is "a great proletarian revolutionary, politician, famous social activist, staunch Marxist, outstanding leader of the party and the country, pioneer of the Chinese women's movement, and highly respected chairman of the Sixth CPPCC". There is a memorial hall dedicated to her and her husband in Tianjin ().

In popular culture

Chinese actress Huang Wei has frequently portrayed Deng on screen, including in films '' The Founding of a Republic'' (2009) and '' Mao Zedong 1949'' (2019), and the television series ''Diplomatic Situation'' (2019), among others. Actress Guan Xiaotong portrayed Deng in the historical drama '' The Founding of an Army'' (2017).

References

External links