Rao Shushi (; 1903—1975) was a Chinese politician and a

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) leader before he was purged in 1954 alongside Gao Gang. He was imprisoned in 1955 and died in custody in 1975.

Early years

As a native of Lingchuan (),

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 ...

, Rao was among the few senior leaders of early stage of CCP who received a higher education. He became educated at

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 ...

in his early days and later joined the Chinese Youth, and turned into a CCP member in 1925. Around 1928 Rao worked in the northeast of

with central delegations of CCP. Then he was sent to

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 ...

to mobilize youth, and once was Secretary of Communism Youth League for that province. When the 1920s revolution was oppressed by

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 ...

, Rao went abroad for study in England, France and the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

for approximately a year. He went back to China and worked in northeast China in 1929, being appointed as the Secretary of Communism Youth League, once as Acting General Secretary of CCP of the northeast, as the superior of

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 ...

, who was Propaganda Minister of the CCP northeast division. As Liu was so young and had been voted as Central Commissioner of CCP in the Sixth National Congress of CCP, he was the one who was most likely to get promoted as General Secretary of the northeast CCP, and Liu actually attained the position before long, which brought great threat to Rao and sowed the seeds of resentment and jealousy for several decades. Between 1930 and 1931, Rao was put in jail by

for more than a year. After that he was released in 1932 and transferred to Shanghai to work on labor union, once as Propaganda Minister and Secretary General of Chinese State Labor Union, while his rival Liu became superior again as the Chairman of China State Labor Union. In 1935 Rao was sent to study abroad in

again, and in 1936 to the United States and France to do alliance work with Chinese living overseas, in which he published several newspaper such as Herald, Motherland Defence Times to publicize CCP policies on alliance against Japanese.

Return to China

In 1939 Rao returned to China and worked in the New 4th Army, acting as Deputy General Secretary of Southeast Bureau of CCP. In 1941 when New 4th Army was attacked by

army and lost most of its senior leaders, Rao had to work for Liu again, who was appointed as Commissar, and Rao as Acting Director of Political Department. Furthermore, the Central Committee of CCP decided to merge Southeast Bureau with Central Plain Burean into Central China Bureau, Liu as general secretary, Rao as his deputy. In 1942, Rao replaced Liu who was called back to

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 ...

as Acting general secretary and Commissar of New 4th Army. In the Seventh National Congress of CCP in 1945, Rao was voted as Central Commissioner, which meant he had entered the central stage of political life of CCP, and in August of the same year, both of his acting position turned into regularity. In 1946, Rao was one of the CCP delegates to work with delegates of

and the United States on peace talks, with rank of

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 ...

, many of his counterparts who got rank of

Colonel General Colonel general is a military rank used in some armies. It is particularly associated with Germany, where historically General officer#Old European system, general officer ranks were one grade lower than in the Commonwealth and the United States, ...

and General after they defeated

in 1949 only got rank of Major General at that time, which could indicated Rao's appeal and importance to

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 ...

. After the outbreak of Chinese civil war, Rao held the position of Commissar 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 ...

Field Army, East China Field Army and East China Military Area, which controlled troops more than 360,000. In 1948 Rao was appointed as General Secretary of East China Bureau of CCP. Although Chen Yi as Commander was No1 in East China but he only took in charge of the military, in contrast to Rao's having more influence on cadres appointment and promotion, which built his power base in East China.

Post-People's Republic of China establishment and death

After the formal establishment of People's Republic of China in 1949, Rao held the position of Chairman of Military and Political Committee of

East China East China () is a geographical region in the People’s Republic of China, mainly consisting of seven province-level administrative divisions, namely the provinces (from north to south) Shandong, Jiangsu, Anhui, Zhejiang, Jiangxi, Fujian, ...

besides General Secretary of East China Bureau of CCP. And in the same year, Rao, Gao Gang,

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 ...

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 ...

, Liu Bocheng were appointed respectively as the Chairman of East China, Northeast China, South Central China, Northwestern China and Southwestern China. In 1953 Rao was transferred to Beijing and got promotion as Minister of Organization Department of CCP, which was in charge of senior cadres promotion and candidate recommendation. It was said that Gao Gang who was transferred to Beijing in 1953 too, competed with

as heir to

, exploiting Rao's hostilities to Liu and set up ally with Rao. Unfortunately, Gao and Rao obviously underestimated Mao's fear of being a puppet and Liu's influence in the CCP. Both of them were purged in 1954 and stripped of CCP membership in 1955. Gao Gang expressed his resistance by way of suicide in 1954, Rao was put in

jail A prison, also known as a jail, gaol, penitentiary, detention center, correction center, correctional facility, or remand center, is a facility where people are imprisoned under the authority of the state, usually as punishment for various cr ...

in humiliation in 1955. After ten years in jail, Rao suffered from

schizophrenia Schizophrenia () is a mental disorder characterized variously by hallucinations (typically, Auditory hallucination#Schizophrenia, hearing voices), delusions, thought disorder, disorganized thinking and behavior, and Reduced affect display, f ...

. Mao showed his clemency by releasing Rao and taking Rao custody in a farm until his death in 1975.

References

External links

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Rao Shushi
" {{DEFAULTSORT:Rao, Shushi 1903 births 1975 deaths Chinese Communist Party politicians from Jiangxi Politicians from Fuzhou, Jiangxi Republic of China politicians from Jiangxi People's Republic of China politicians from Jiangxi Political office-holders in Shanghai Secretaries of the Communist Party Shanghai Committee Inmates of Qincheng Prison Heads of the Organization Department of the Chinese Communist Party Members of the 7th Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party People with schizophrenia