Rao Shoukun (; 30 September 1915 – 14 September 2006) was a founding

lieutenant general Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the battlefield, who was norma ...

('' zhongjiang'') of 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 ...

(PLA). He was a representative of the 11th and

12th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party The 12th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party was convened from September 1–11, 1982. The path of modernization through socialism was laid out. 1,600 delegates and 160 alternate delegates represented the party's 39.65 million members. ...

. He was a delegate to the

5th Fifth is the ordinal form of the number five. Fifth or The Fifth may refer to: * Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution, as in the expression "pleading the Fifth" * Fifth Avenue * Fifth column, a political term * Fifth disease, a cont ...

and

6th National People's Congress The 6th National People's Congress (NPC) was in session from 1983 to 1988. It held five sessions in this period. Background This new Congress was the first under the current 1982 Constitution, and the first to be elected under the rules of th ...

Biography

Rao was born into a peasant family in Dexing County (now Dexing),

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 ...

, on 30 September 1915. Under the influence of

Fang Zhimin Fang Zhimin (, Wade–Giles: Fang Chih Min; August 21, 1899 – August 6, 1935) was a Chinese communist military and political leader. Life Fang was born in 1899. He was born in a poor peasant household in Yixian, Jiangxi Province. To propagate ...

, he joined the

Communist Youth League of China The Communist Youth League of China (CYLC; also known as the Young Communist League of China or simply the Communist Youth League or CYL) is a people's organization of the People's Republic of China for youth between the ages of 14 and 28, r ...

in June 1931. He enlisted in the

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Republic and, from 1922, the Soviet Union. The army was established in January 1918 by a decree of the Council of People ...

in February 1932, and joined 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 ...

(CCP) in June 1933. During the Agrarian Revolutionary War, he fought guerrilla warfare with

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 ...

troops in both Jiangxi and

Fujian Fujian is a provinces of China, province in East China, southeastern China. Fujian is bordered by Zhejiang to the north, Jiangxi to the west, Guangdong to the south, and the Taiwan Strait to the east. Its capital is Fuzhou and its largest prefe ...

provinces. 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 ...

, he was given the position of a regimental commander, serving in the battlefields of

Anhui Anhui is an inland Provinces of China, province located in East China. Its provincial capital and largest city is Hefei. The province is located across the basins of the Yangtze and Huai rivers, bordering Jiangsu and Zhejiang to the east, Jiang ...

. During 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 ...

, he served in the war and engaged in the ,

Menglianggu campaign The Menglianggu campaign () was fought between the nationalists and the communists during the Chinese Civil War in the post-World War II era and resulted in communist victory. The campaign was later used by the communists as a specific battle ...

, Yangtze River Crossing campaign, and

Shanghai Campaign The Shanghai Campaign was a series of battles fought between the nationalists and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in 1949 for the control of Shanghai, the largest city in China in the latter stage of the Chinese Civil War, and resulted in t ...

. After the establishment of the Communist State in 1949, he successively served as commander of the 7th Fleet of the Navy of the East China Military Region, commander of the Wusong Fortress, and commander of the Songhu Base. He attained the rank of

('' zhongjiang'') in 1955. In October 1958, he was made deputy commander of the East China Sea Fleet of the

People's Liberation Army Navy The People's Liberation Army Navy, also known as the People's Navy, PLA Navy or simply Chinese Navy, is the naval warfare military branch, branch of the People's Liberation Army, the national military of the People's Republic of China. It i ...

. In 1966, 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 ...

broke out, he was discharged and suffered

political persecution Political repression is the act of a state entity controlling a citizenry by force for political reasons, particularly for the purpose of restricting or preventing the citizenry's ability to take part in the political life of a society, thereby ...

, and forced to work in Luoyang Diesel Engine Factory and then a factory of the Harbin Navy. He was reinstated as president of the Seventh Research Institute of the

Ministry of Defense A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is the part of a government responsible for matters of defence and military forces, found in states where the government is divided ...

. In 1975, he was named commander of the

North Sea Fleet The North Sea Fleet (NSF; ), concurrently the Northern Theater Command Navy (), is one of the three fleets of China's People's Liberation Army Navy. Headquartered in Qingdao, Shandong, the fleet provides naval forces to the Northern Theater Comma ...

, succeeding . In January 1980, he was promoted to become commander of

Jinan Military Region The Jinan Military Region was a PLA Military Region located in the east of the People's Republic of China, covering the Shandong and Henan Provinces, which also formed military districts. It appears that Yang Dezhi was one of the first comman ...

, a position he held until June 1985. In 1985, he became a member of the Advisory Committee of the CPC Central Committee. On 14 September 2006, he died in

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 ...

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 ...

, at the age of 90.

Publication

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rao, Shoukun 1915 births 2006 deaths People from Dexing, Jiangxi Counter-Japanese Military and Political University alumni People's Liberation Army generals from Jiangxi People's Republic of China politicians from Jiangxi Chinese Communist Party politicians from Jiangxi Commanders of the Jinan Military Region Delegates to the 5th National People's Congress Delegates to the 6th National People's Congress