Ling Yun (; 29 June 1917 – 15 March 2018), born as Wu Peilin (), was a politician 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 ...

, who served as the first Minister of State Security, from June 1983 (officially from July 1) to September 1985. A protégé of General

Luo Ruiqing Luo Ruiqing (; May 31, 1906 – August 3, 1978), formerly romanized as Lo Jui-ch'ing, was a People's Republic of China, Chinese army officer and politician, general of the People's Liberation Army. As the first Ministry of Public Security ...

, he headed the 1st Bureau of the

Ministry of Public Security Ministry of Public Security can refer to: * Ministry of Justice and Public Security (Brazil) * Ministry of Public Security of Burundi * Ministry of Public Security (Chile) * Ministry of Public Security (China) * Ministry of Public Security of Co ...

during the early

Maoist Maoism, officially Mao Zedong Thought, is a variety of Marxism–Leninism that Mao Zedong developed while trying to realize a socialist revolution in the agricultural, pre-industrial society of the Republic of China (1912–1949), Republic o ...

years, dealing with suppression of political, ethnic and religious opponents 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 ...

Biography

Ling Yun was born in

Jiaxing Jiaxing (), alternately romanized as Kashing, is a prefecture-level city in northern Zhejiang province, China. Lying on the Grand Canal of China, Jiaxing borders Hangzhou to the southwest, Huzhou to the west, Shanghai to the northeast, and the p ...

Zhejiang ) , translit_lang1_type2 = , translit_lang1_info2 = ( Hangzhounese) ( Ningbonese) (Wenzhounese) , image_skyline = 玉甑峰全貌 - panoramio.jpg , image_caption = View of the Yandang Mountains , image_map = Zhejiang i ...

on 29 June 1917. He joined the

(CCP) in April 1938 and became a guerrilla fighter in

Shanxi Province Shanxi; formerly romanised as Shansi is a province in North China. Its capital and largest city of the province is Taiyuan, while its next most populated prefecture-level cities are Changzhi and Datong. Its one-character abbreviation is ( ...

. He received military training at the "Shanxi Youth Officers School", run by warlord

Yan Xishan Yan Xishan (; 8 October 1883 – 22 July 1960; also romanized as Yen Hsi-shan) was a Chinese warlord who served in the government of the Republic of China from June 1949 to March 1950 as its last premier in mainland China and first premi ...

, who, at the time, was working together with the CCP to oppose the

Empire of Japan The Empire of Japan, also known as the Japanese Empire or Imperial Japan, was the Japanese nation state that existed from the Meiji Restoration on January 3, 1868, until the Constitution of Japan took effect on May 3, 1947. From Japan–Kor ...

during 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 ...

. Later, he moved to neighboring

Shaanxi Province Shaanxi is a province in north Northwestern China. It borders the province-level divisions of Inner Mongolia to the north; Shanxi and Henan to the east; Hubei, Chongqing, and Sichuan to the south; and Gansu and Ningxia to the west. Shaanxi ...

, where he studied at the "Northern Shaanxi Public School", which was established in 1937 by the CCP to train anti-Japanese military and political officers. After graduating, he was posted at the headquarters of the CCP 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 ...

, where he joined and advanced in the ranks of the

Central Social Affairs Department The Central Social Affairs Department () was the intelligence and counter-intelligence agency of the Chinese Communist Party Central Committee from 1939 to 1949, prior to the establishment of the People's Republic of China. Its successors inc ...

, led, at the time, by

Kang Sheng Kang Sheng (; 4 November 1898 – 16 December 1975), born Zhang Zongke (), was a Chinese Communist Party (CCP) official, politician and calligrapher best known for having overseen the work of the CCP's internal security and intelligence appara ...

. After the outbreak 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 ...

, Ling became a member of the North China

land reform Land reform (also known as agrarian reform) involves the changing of laws, regulations, or customs regarding land ownership, land use, and land transfers. The reforms may be initiated by governments, by interested groups, or by revolution. Lan ...

team led by Kang Sheng, and was active in seizing land from wealthy landlords and distributing it to peasants. In August 1948, he served as the Director of the Public Security Bureau (police chief) of the city of

Weifang Weifang ( zh, s=潍坊, t=濰坊, p=Wéifāng) is a prefecture-level city in central Shandong province, People's Republic of China. The city borders Dongying to the northwest, Zibo to the west, Linyi to the southwest, Rizhao to the south, Qingdao ...

, after it was captured by 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 ...

, and from 1949 to 1952 he was Deputy Director of the Public Security Bureau of

Jinan Jinan is the capital of the province of Shandong in East China. With a population of 9.2 million, it is one of the largest cities in Shandong in terms of population. The area of present-day Jinan has played an important role in the history of ...

, the capital of

Shandong Shandong is a coastal Provinces of China, province in East China. Shandong has played a major role in Chinese history since the beginning of Chinese civilization along the lower reaches of the Yellow River. It has served as a pivotal cultural ...

. From 1952 to 1966, Ling was based 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 ...

, as Deputy Director and then Director of the 1st Bureau of the

, and from 1963 Deputy Minister of Public Security, handling very sensitive issues, as his Bureau dealt with the suppression of political, ethnic and religious separatism. After the outbreak 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 ...

in 1966, the leadership of the Ministry of Public Security (with the notable exception of the Minister himself,

Xie Fuzhi Xie Fuzhi (; 26 September 1909 – 26 March 1972) was a Chinese Communist Party military commander, political commissar, and national security specialist. He was born in 1909 in Hong'an County, Hubei and died in Beijing in 1972. Xie was known ...

, who was an ally of the radicals) was accused of having created "an underground counter-revolutionary Ministry of Public Security headed by Luo Ruiqing" (the previous Minister). All 7 Deputy Ministers were removed from office, as were 63 department heads within the Ministry. Ling himself was expelled from the CCP, arrested, tortured by

Red Guards The Red Guards () were a mass, student-led, paramilitary social movement mobilized by Chairman Mao Zedong in 1966 until their abolition in 1968, during the first phase of the Cultural Revolution, which he had instituted.Teiwes According to a ...

, and then sent to do manual labor. After the Cultural Revolution, Ling Yun was restored to all his posts and was again appointed Deputy Minister of Public Security in 1978, serving until 1983. In June 1983,

Deng Xiaoping Deng Xiaoping also Romanization of Chinese, romanised as Teng Hsiao-p'ing; born Xiansheng (). (22 August 190419 February 1997) was a Chinese statesman, revolutionary, and political theorist who served as the paramount leader of the People's R ...

, who had risen to supreme power in China, decided to create a new security, intelligence and regime protection agency by merging the

counter-intelligence Counterintelligence (counter-intelligence) or counterespionage (counter-espionage) is any activity aimed at protecting an agency's intelligence program from an opposition's intelligence service. It includes gathering information and conducting ac ...

and political security departments of the Ministry of Public Security with the

Central Investigation Department The Central Investigation Department () was the intelligence and counter-intelligence agency of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) from 1949 to 1983. In 1983, the Investigation Department and other relevant agencies wer ...

(which had been China's primary civilian intelligence apparatus since 1955). Deng did this because he wanted to sideline

Luo Qingchang Luo Qingchang (; 4 September 1918 15 April 2014) was a Chinese politician and long-time leader of the security and intelligence services of the Chinese Communist Party, where he worked for 45 years (1938–1983), eventually serving as Director o ...

, who had been the Director of the Central Investigation Department since 1973, and strongly opposed Deng's policies (he was loyal to the Maoist legacy). As a result, the new Ministry of State Security was established, and Ling Yun, as an experienced counterintelligence specialist, became the first Minister. Ling remained in office until September 1985, when he retired and was replaced by the much younger

Jia Chunwang Jia Chunwang (; born May 1938) is a Chinese politician, intelligence officer, and prosecutor who held top positions in both the security apparatus and judiciary of the People's Republic of China.

. Ling died in Beijing on March 15, 2018.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ling, Yun 1917 births 2018 deaths Chinese men centenarians Ministers of state security of the People's Republic of China Politicians from Jiaxing People's Republic of China politicians from Zhejiang Chinese Communist Party politicians from Zhejiang Delegates to the 12th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party Delegates to the 3rd National People's Congress Delegates to the 5th National People's Congress