Dong Biwu ( zh , c=董必武 , p=Dǒng Bìwǔ , w=Tung Pi-wu; 5 March 1886 – 2 April 1975) was a Chinese communist revolutionary and politician, who served as acting Chairman of the People's Republic of China between 1972 and 1975.

Early life

Dong Biwu was born in

Huanggang Huanggang is a prefecture-level city in easternmost Hubei, Hubei Province, China. It is situated to the north of the middle reaches of the Yangtze River and is bounded in the north by the Dabie Mountains and is named after Mount Huanggang, Huang ...

, Hubei, to a landlord family, and received a classical education. In 1911, he joined the

Tongmenghui The Tongmenghui of China was a secret society and underground resistance movement founded by Sun Yat-sen, Song Jiaoren, and others in Tokyo, Empire of Japan, on 20 August 1905, with the goal of overthrowing China's Qing dynasty. It was formed ...

, and participated in the Wuchang Uprising. He then went to

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

in 1913 to study law at

Nihon University , abbreviated as , is a private research university in Japan. Its predecessor, Nihon Law School (currently the Department of Law), was founded by Yamada Akiyoshi, the Minister of Justice, in 1889. The university's name is derived from the Ja ...

. While there, he joined

Sun Yat-sen Sun Yat-senUsually known as Sun Zhongshan () in Chinese; also known by Names of Sun Yat-sen, several other names. (; 12 November 186612 March 1925) was a Chinese physician, revolutionary, statesman, and political philosopher who founded the Republ ...

's newly-formed Chinese Revolutionary Party, later to become 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 ...

. In 1915, he returned to China, organizing resistance against the

Yuan Shikai Yuan Shikai (; 16 September 18596 June 1916) was a Chinese general and statesman who served as the second provisional president and the first official president of the Republic of China, head of the Beiyang government from 1912 to 1916 and ...

regime In politics, a regime (also spelled régime) is a system of government that determines access to public office, and the extent of power held by officials. The two broad categories of regimes are democratic and autocratic. A key similarity acros ...

in his native Hubei, which landed him in prison for six months. Upon his release, he returned to Japan to complete his law studies. Between 1919 and 1920, he lived in Shanghai, where he was first exposed to Marxism through a group of Communist intellectuals centered around Li Hanjun. Returning to Hubei, he set up a local Communist apparatus, and in 1921, he attended the

1st National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party The 1st National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party was held in Shanghai and Jiaxing between July 23 and August 2, 1921. The Congress established the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). The congress began in a ''shikumen'' building of the Fren ...

, representing Wuhan along with Chen Tanqiu. Incidentally, Dong was the only other person than

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 ...

to be present at both the founding congress of the party and the proclamation ceremony of the People's Republic of China twenty-eight years later.

Revolutionary period

Throughout the first half of the 1920s, Dong remained a member of both the Kuomintang and the Communist Party. However, with the tensions between the two parties increasing, he eventually chose to side with the Communists in the summer of 1927. After the Nanchang Uprising, he was forced into hiding, first seeking refuge in Kyoto for eight months, and then making his way to the Soviet Union. There, he attended the International Lenin School and the Moscow Sun Yat-sen University between 1928 and 1931. Upon his return to China in 1932, he became active in the

Jiangxi Soviet The Jiangxi Soviet, sometimes referred to as the Jiangxi-Fujian Soviet, was a soviet area that existed between 1931 and 1934, governed by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). It was the largest component of the Chinese Soviet Republic and hom ...

, where he served as Political Director of the Red Army Academy and President of the Party School. During this time, Dong sided with Mao Zedong over Li Lisan in the two men's struggle for party leadership. He then took part in 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 ...

, and upon the arrival in

Yan'an Yan'an; ; Chinese postal romanization, alternatively spelled as Yenan is a prefecture-level city in the Shaanbei region of Shaanxi Province of China, province, China, bordering Shanxi to the east and Gansu to the west. It administers several c ...

, he resumed his school leadership duties. In this period, Dong came to be known as one of the ''Five Elders of Yan'an'' (), along with Lin Boqu, Xu Teli, Wu Yuzhang, and Xie Juezai. During the war with Japan, Dong divided his time between Wuhan and Chongqing as a liaison with the Nationalist government, given his previous Kuomintang associations. In 1945, he traveled to San Francisco to attend the founding session of the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

, as part of a delegation led by T.V. Soong. He was the only representative of the Communist Party, whose Central Committee outlined the objectives of the trip as follows: "to win foreign friends, to improve the party's international position, and to try to stay and work in the United States." After the conference, Dong spent several months traveling the United States, seeking to attain these diplomatic goals. Towards the end of the Civil War in 1948, following decisive victories in the north, Dong was appointed Chairman of the North China People's Government.

People's Republic of China

After the founding of the People's Republic of China, Dong served as the Director of the Finance and Economic Committee of the Government Council. In 1954, he was appointed President of the Supreme People's Court. With previous experience in international diplomacy from his visit to the United States in 1945, Dong was chosen to lead a delegation to Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union in 1958, keeping him away from Beijing for two months. In his absence, the work of the Supreme People's Court over the last previous years was reviewed by a group headed by

Peng Zhen Peng Zhen (pronounced ; October 12, 1902 – April 26, 1997) was a Chinese politician and leading member of the Chinese Communist Party. He led the party organization in Beijing following the victory of the Communists in the Chinese Civil War i ...

. On his return, Dong was presented with the shortcomings revealed by the scrutiny, for which he accepted responsibility at a special judicial conference. In early 1959, Dong was named

Vice President of China The vice president of China, officially titled the vice president of the People's Republic of China, is the deputy to the president of the People's Republic of China, the List of state representatives of the People's Republic of China, state r ...

in a joint appointment with

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 ...

, a post he held until his death. Later the same year, Dong defended

Peng Dehuai Peng Dehuai (October 24, 1898November 29, 1974; also spelled as Peng Teh-Huai) was a Chinese general and politician who was the Minister of National Defense (China), Minister of National Defense from 1954 to 1959. Peng was born into a poor ...

from criticism at the

Lushan Conference The Lushan Conference was a meeting of the top leaders of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) held between July and August 1959. The Politburo of the Chinese Communist Party, CCP Politburo met in an "expanded session" (''Kuoda Huiyi'') between July ...

, yet still managed to stay in favor with Mao, unlike others who stood up for the reproached general. In a similar manner, Dong would later remain unaffected by the political turmoil 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 ...

, despite coming from a relatively privileged background. Instead, he rose in prominence and public visibility during these tumultuous years, taking over many of the diplomatic and ceremonial responsibilities previously held by the purged

Liu Shaoqi Liu Shaoqi ( ; 24 November 189812 November 1969) was a Chinese revolutionary and politician. He was the chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress from 1954 to 1959, first-ranking Vice Chairman of the Chinese Communis ...

. Historians have attributed this curious fact not to any cunning political maneuvering, but to Dong's special relationship with Mao and their always getting along well, ever since their first meeting at the founding of the Communist Party in 1921.Song, Yuwu. Ed. ''Biographical Dictionary of the People's Republic of China''. Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 2013. p. 69 In the power vacuum that appeared after the fall of

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 ...

, Dong became Acting

President of China The president of China, officially the president of the People's Republic of China, is the List of state representatives of the People's Republic of China, state representative of the China, People's Republic of China. On its own, it is a Fig ...

, serving in that capacity from February 1972 to January 1975. At that point, the office of president was abolished and the

Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress The chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress is the Speaker (politics), presiding officer of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPCSC), which is the permanent body of the National People's Cong ...

- then

Zhu De Zhu De; (1 December 1886 – 6 July 1976) was a Chinese general, military strategist, politician and revolutionary in the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Zhu was born into poverty in 1886 in Sichuan. He was adopted by a wealthy uncle at ...

- became the formal head of state. Dong was, in turn, elected Vice Chairman of the Standing Committee of the People's National Congress. Dong died in Beijing on 2 April 1975, at the age of 89. In his official obituary, he is described as "one of the founders of the Communist Party of China, a great Marxist, an outstanding proletarian revolutionary, a founding father of the People's Republic of China," and "a founder of China's socialist legal system." In 1991, a statue of Dong was erected in one of Wuhan's central squares, Hongshan Guangchang. The Hubei Provincial Museum houses a collection of Dong's personal items.

References

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External links