Peng Zhen (pronounced ; October 12, 1902 – April 26, 1997) was a Chinese politician and leading 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 ...

. He led the party organization in Beijing following the victory of the Communists in 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 ...

in 1949, but was purged during 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 ...

for opposing Mao's views on the role of literature in relation to the state. He was rehabilitated under

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 ...

in 1982 along with other 'wrongly accused' officials, and became the inaugural head of the Central Political and Legal Affairs Commission.

Biography

Born in Houma,

Shanxi Shanxi; Chinese postal romanization, formerly romanised as Shansi is a Provinces of China, province in North China. Its capital and largest city of the province is Taiyuan, while its next most populated prefecture-level cities are Changzhi a ...

province, Peng was originally named Fu Maogong (傅懋恭). He joined the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in 1923 as a founding member of the Shanxi Province CCP. Arrested in 1929, he continued underground political activities while imprisoned. He was released from prison in 1935 and began organizing a resistance movement against the invading Japanese forces. Peng was important in developing the

Second United Front The Second United Front ( zh, t=第二次國共合作 , s=第二次国共合作 , first=t , l=Second Nationalist-Communist Cooperation, p=dì èr cì guógòng hézuò ) was the alliance between the ruling Kuomintang (KMT) and the Chinese Co ...

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 ...

. Around the same time, he was appointed the Organization Department Director of the North Bureau of CCP. Mao Sihanouk

Peng also served on a number of positions as vice-president of the Central Party School and director of the CCP Policy Research Office. In 1945 he served in the history research committee and the organizing committee of the CCP's 7th National Congress. In September 1945 Peng was sent 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 ...

to take up overall leadership of the CCP in

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 ...

. He was accompanied 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 ...

who was to assist Peng with directing military operations against the Nationalists. Peng decided that the CCP could hold the 3 big cities of the Northeast:

Shenyang Shenyang,; ; Mandarin pronunciation: ; formerly known as Fengtian formerly known by its Manchu language, Manchu name Mukden, is a sub-provincial city in China and the list of capitals in China#Province capitals, provincial capital of Liaonin ...

Changchun Changchun is the capital and largest city of Jilin, Jilin Province, China, on the Songliao Plain. Changchun is administered as a , comprising seven districts, one county and three county-level cities. At the 2020 census of China, Changchun ha ...

and

Harbin Harbin, ; zh, , s=哈尔滨, t=哈爾濱, p=Hā'ěrbīn; IPA: . is the capital of Heilongjiang, China. It is the largest city of Heilongjiang, as well as being the city with the second-largest urban area, urban population (after Shenyang, Lia ...

. When the Nationalists under the command of Du Yuming attacked in November 1945, the Communists were forced back. Peng was removed as the CCP leader in the northeast after further failure by Lin Biao's forces in March 1946 led to the Communists retreat back to Harbin. Peng was a member of the CCP Central Committee starting from 1944 as well as a member of the Secretariat of the CCP Central Committee. He also held the positions of First Secretary of the Beijing Municipal Committee, and Mayor of Beijing from 1951 to 1966. In addition to being mayor, he was a high-ranking member of the

Politburo A politburo () or political bureau is the highest organ of the central committee in communist parties. The term is also sometimes used to refer to similar organs in socialist and Islamist parties, such as the UK Labour Party's NEC or the Poli ...

from 1956 to 1966. In June 1960, he attended Bucharest Conference of Representatives of Communist and Workers Parties, countering Soviet leader

Khrushchev Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev (– 11 September 1971) was the General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1953 to 1964 and the Premier of the Soviet Union, Chai ...

during the conference. Peng was appointed head of the

Five Man Group The Five Man Group (; also known as the Group of Five) was an informal committee established in the People's Republic of China in early 1965 to explore the potential for a "cultural revolution" in China. The group was led by Peng Zhen (the mayor ...

in charge of preparing a "cultural revolution", but he fell out of favor with Mao Zedong in April 1966 when he attacked Mao's belief that all

literature Literature is any collection of Writing, written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially novels, Play (theatre), plays, and poetry, poems. It includes both print and Electroni ...

should support the state. He was accused of being an associate to Wu Han's counter-revolutionary clique and deposed at a May 1966 conference in what became the opening act of the

. Lu Dingyi,

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 ...

and

Yang Shangkun Yang Shangkun (3 August 1907 – 14 September 1998) was a Chinese Chinese Communist Party, Communist military and political leader, president of the People's Republic of China from 1988 to 1993, and one of the Eight Elders that dominated the par ...

were also deposed. Peng survived the Cultural Revolution, and was eventually rehabilitated under

. He subsequently became Secretary of the Central Political and Legal Affairs Commission, a post he already held from late 1950s in the capacity of leader of a Central Politics and Law Leading Group. Beginning in 1983, as Chairman of the Standing Committee of the Sixth National People's Congress, he sought to increase the NPC's power. He used the NPC as a base to oppose reform.Joseph Fewsmith, ''China since Tiananmen'', Cambridge University Press. 2009 In January 1987, Peng Zhen played a pivotal role in

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 ...

's resignation as General Secretary by attack and criticizing Hu during a meeting. Peng left Politburo after the 13th Party Congress in November 1987 and retired from politics in March 1988 after

Wan Li Wan Li (December 1916 – 15 July 2015) was a Chinese Communist revolutionary and politician who served as First Vice Premier of the People's Republic of China from 1983 to 1988 and the 5th Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National Peo ...

took over his position as Chairman of

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 ...

. During the

1989 Tiananmen Square protests and massacre The Tiananmen Square protests, known within China as the June Fourth Incident, were student-led demonstrations held in Tiananmen Square in Beijing, China, lasting from 15 April to 4 June 1989. After weeks of unsuccessful attempts between t ...

, Peng Zhen supported the declaration of martial law in Beijing and the removal of Zhao Ziyang. Peng Zhen died on April 26, 1997, from blood cancer aged 94, two months after the death of former vice premier Deng Xiaoping, and was eulogized with high honours by the highest organs of the party and the state. His official obituary declared him a "great proletarian revolutionary, politician, and outstanding expert in the affairs of the state; unswerving Marxist, instrumental in laying the foundations of legal institution in our country, and excellent leader of the party and state." The obituary also curiously made mention of his support of Deng Xiaoping's 1992 "southern tour" which re-ignited economic reforms after relative stagnation following the

. He was considered one of the Eight Elders of the CCP.

Awards and honors

* Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Order of Sowathara (Cambodia, 1956) * PRK_Order_of_the_National_Flag_-_1st_Class_BAR

First Class of the Order of the National Flag (North Korea, 1962) 象征中朝人民互相支持并肩作战的伟大友谊朝最高人民会议授予彭真一级国旗勋章. People's Daily. 1962-05-03: 1.

References

Citations

Sources

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