Deng Zhongxia (or Teng Chung-hsia; October 5, 1894 – September 21, 1933) was an early 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 an important Marxist intellectual and labor movement leader. Having led many strikes and uprisings against Chiang Kai-shek's

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 ...

government, he became one of the most wanted CCP members by the Kuomintang. He was captured and executed in 1933.

Biography

Born in October 1894 in Yizhang,

Hunan Hunan is an inland Provinces of China, province in Central China. Located in the middle reaches of the Yangtze watershed, it borders the Administrative divisions of China, province-level divisions of Hubei to the north, Jiangxi to the east, Gu ...

, Deng was a philosophy graduate of

Peking University Peking University (PKU) is a Public university, public Types of universities and colleges in China#By designated academic emphasis, university in Haidian, Beijing, China. It is affiliated with and funded by the Ministry of Education of the Peop ...

. He joined the May 4th Movement in 1919 and initiated the Marxist Research Group in the university. In 1920, that group set up a communist organization in which Li Dazhao was elected as the party secretary and of which Deng became a member. Inspired by communism, Deng became involved in the labor movement in Beijing during the same year. He set up workers' unions and provided education to the workers. In 1922, he was elected as the director of a nationwide labor organization at the First Chinese Labor Meeting held 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 ...

. In July of the same year, he was elected as 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 ...

at the Second Party Congress. In 1923, under Li's recommendation, he received an administrative job from

Shanghai University Shanghai University (SHU) is a municipal public university in Shanghai, China. It is owned by the Shanghai Municipal People's Government. The university is part of Project 211 and the Double First-Class Construction. Shanghai University mai ...

, which was co-founded by the CCP and the Kuomintang during their short-term cooperation. During Deng's tenure, he invited a number of communists, including Cai Hesen, Qu Qiubai and Li Da, to teach at the school. In 1925, after the establishment of the All-China Federation of Labor, Deng was designated as the publicity minister in Guangzhou and organized the Canton-Hong Kong strike, which lasted from June 1925 to October 1926. When the Kuomintang and the CCP split, Deng proposed an uprising in

Nanchang Nanchang is the capital of Jiangxi, China. Located in the north-central part of the province and in the hinterland of Poyang Lake Plain, it is bounded on the west by the Jiuling Mountains, and on the east by Poyang Lake. Because of its strate ...

Jiangxi ; Gan: ) , translit_lang1_type2 = , translit_lang1_info2 = , translit_lang1_type3 = , translit_lang1_info3 = , image_map = Jiangxi in China (+all claims hatched).svg , mapsize = 275px , map_caption = Location ...

, to fight against Kuomintang leader Chiang Kai-shek's

massacre A massacre is an event of killing people who are not engaged in hostilities or are defenseless. It is generally used to describe a targeted killing of civilians Glossary of French words and expressions in English#En masse, en masse by an armed ...

of CCP members. In the CCP's critical August 7 Meeting in 1927, Deng was a supporter of land revolution and armed struggle. He was also elected as an alternate member of the provisional Political Bureau of the Central Committee of CCP. After the meeting, he was sent to Shanghai to organize the surviving party members. In 1928, he was appointed to Guangzhou and Hong Kong to rebuild destroyed CCP organizations. In 1930, he joined the armed struggle in Hunan and the Western Hubei Communist Base as the political commissar of the No. 2 Red Army with He Long and Zhou Yiqun. In 1932, he secretly returned to Shanghai to continue the underground struggle in the Kuomintang controlled economic hub. However, his identity was discovered, and he was arrested in Shanghai in May 1933. As Deng was an important CCP leader, his capture drew Chiang Kai-shek's attention. Chiang ordered Deng sent to Nanjing's prison camp and offered him a high position within the Kuomintang with good pay. But Deng refused the offer, and thus was severely tortured before being executed on September 21, 1933.

References

External links

Deng Zhongxia
{{Authority control 1894 births 1933 deaths Alternates of the 2nd Central Executive Committee of the Chinese Communist Party Alternates of the 3rd Central Executive Committee of the Chinese Communist Party Members of the 5th Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party Alternates of the 6th Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party Chinese revolutionaries Communists executed by the Republic of China Delegates to the 5th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party Executed revolutionaries Executed people from Hunan Peking University alumni People executed by the Republic of China by firearm