Xu Xiangqian (November 8, 1901 – September 21, 1990) was a Chinese Communist military leader and one of the ten marshals of the

People's Liberation Army The People's Liberation Army (PLA) is the principal military force of the People's Republic of China and the armed wing of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). The PLA consists of five service branches: the Ground Force, Navy, Air Force, ...

. He was the son of a wealthy landowner, but joined the

Kuomintang The Kuomintang (KMT), also referred to as the Guomindang (GMD), the Nationalist Party of China (NPC) or the Chinese Nationalist Party (CNP), is a major political party in the Republic of China, initially on the Chinese mainland and in Tai ...

's National Revolutionary Army, against his parents' wishes, in 1924. When the Kuomintang (KMT) began to fight the Communists (CCP) in 1927, Xu left Chiang's forces and led a Communist army based in

Sichuan Sichuan (; zh, c=, labels=no, ; zh, p=Sìchuān; alternatively romanized as Szechuan or Szechwan; formerly also referred to as "West China" or "Western China" by Protestant missions) is a province in Southwest China occupying most of th ...

under the political authority of Zhang Guotao. After Zhang defected to the KMT in the late 1930s, Xu survived politically and rejoined the Red Army, in a less senior position, under the leadership of

Mao Zedong Mao Zedong pronounced ; also Romanization of Chinese, romanised traditionally as Mao Tse-tung. (26 December 1893 – 9 September 1976), also known as Chairman Mao, was a Chinese communist revolutionary who was the List of national founde ...

. During the

Second Sino-Japanese War The Second Sino-Japanese War (1937–1945) or War of Resistance (Chinese term) was a military conflict that was primarily waged between the Republic of China and the Empire of Japan. The war made up the Chinese theater of the wider Pacific Thea ...

(1937-1945) Xu served in several military units in Communist-controlled areas across

North China North China, or Huabei () is a geographical region of China, consisting of the provinces of Beijing, Tianjin, Hebei, Shanxi and Inner Mongolia. Part of the larger region of Northern China (''Beifang''), it lies north of the Qinling–Huai ...

, and directed the construction of several bases areas. When the

Chinese Civil War The Chinese Civil War was fought between the Kuomintang-led government of the Republic of China and forces of the Chinese Communist Party, continuing intermittently since 1 August 1927 until 7 December 1949 with a Communist victory on main ...

resumed, in 1947, Xu was active in North China. Forces under his command were responsible for the capture of the heavily fortified city of

Taiyuan Taiyuan (; ; ; Mandarin pronunciation: ; also known as (), ()) is the capital and largest city of Shanxi Province, People's Republic of China. Taiyuan is the political, economic, cultural and international exchange center of Shanxi Province ...

in the later stages of the war, in 1949. After the establishment of the People's Republic of China in 1949, Xu was recognized as one of China's "Ten Marshals". He held numerous political and military positions, and survived the

Cultural Revolution The Cultural Revolution, formally known as the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, was a sociopolitical movement in the People's Republic of China (PRC) launched by Mao Zedong in 1966, and lasting until his death in 1976. Its stated go ...

despite attempting to moderate some of its more destructive effects. He was an important supporter of

Deng Xiaoping Deng Xiaoping (22 August 1904 – 19 February 1997) was a Chinese revolutionary leader, military commander and statesman who served as the paramount leader of the China, People's Republic of China (PRC) from December 1978 to November 1989. Aft ...

and his return to political power in 1976. He continued to serve in a number of political and military positions until he was forced to retire in 1985. His grandson is allegedly Xu Lei (徐雷), since April 2022 the CEO of JD.com, however the family relationship is disputed and other sources name his grandson as Xu Luo (徐珞).

Biography

Early military career

Xu was born in Wutai County,

Shanxi Shanxi (; ; formerly romanised as Shansi) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China and is part of the North China region. The capital and largest city of the province is Taiyuan, while its next most populated prefecture-lev ...

. He was the son of a wealthy landowner and scholar who had passed the Qing civil service examination.Lew 13 He attended the

Normal College and graduated in 1923.Wortzel & Higham 285 After graduation he had a short career as school teacher, then despite his parents' objections, he joined and attended the first class of the Whampoa Military Academy in 1924.Kristof After his graduation from the academy he held various officer ranks in the National Revolutionary Army between 1925 and 1927. In 1926 he took part in Chiang Kai-shek's Northern Expedition to recover East China from several warlords. After the campaign was successful he moved to Wuchang, where he taught at a military academy. While teaching in Wuchang he joined the

Chinese Communist Party The Chinese Communist Party (CCP), officially the Communist Party of China (CPC), is the founding and sole ruling party of the People's Republic of China (PRC). Under the leadership of Mao Zedong, the CCP emerged victorious in the Chinese Ci ...

. After the end of the Nationalist-Communist alliance in 1927 Xu went underground. He did not participate in the failed Nanchang Uprising, but led the failed Guangzhou Uprising shortly after. He did not become an associate of

, instead becoming one of the main military commanders of a rival Communist leader, Zhang Guotao. The army Xu commanded under Zhao was called the "4th Front Army". He served as Zhang's principle commander with Ye Jianying as Chief of Staff. During this time, he helped Zhang to establish new communist bases and expanded the 4th Front Army of the

Chinese Red Army The Chinese Workers' and Peasants' Red Army or Chinese Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army, commonly known as the Chinese Red Army or simply the Red Army, are the armed forces of the Chinese Communist Party. It was formed when Communis ...

, despite the fact that his wife was executed by Zhang Guotao in his political purges. While under suspicion and the surveillance of Zhang's political commissars, Xu Xianqian lead the 80,000 strong 4th Front Army of the

to victory against local warlords troops that numbered more than 300,000. Over 100,000 warlord troops were killed in conflicts with Xu's forces, and the remaining 200,000 deserted or retreated to other Nationalist-aligned areas. In 1934 Chiang Kai-shek defeated the armies associated with

Zhou Enlai Zhou Enlai (; 5 March 1898 – 8 January 1976) was a Chinese statesman and military officer who served as the first premier of the People's Republic of China from 1 October 1949 until his death on 8 January 1976. Zhou served under Chairman Ma ...

and Mao Zedong, forcing them to undertake the

Long March The Long March (, lit. ''Long Expedition'') was a military retreat undertaken by the Red Army of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), the forerunner of the People's Liberation Army, to evade the pursuit of the National Army of the Chinese Nati ...

. Zhang Guotao considered attacking them, but Xu refused. Xu's refusal to attack Zhang's rivals may have contributed to Mao's acceptance of Xu under his own leadership later, after Zhang's 4th Front Army was eventually defeated by Chiang. Zhang was purged after returning to the areas around Yan'an controlled by Mao, but Xu was allowed to rejoin the Red Army under Mao's leadership after making an extensive self-criticism. His first position under Mao, as the deputy commander of the 129th division, was effectively a demotion. During the

(1937-1945), Xu did not remain with the 129th division, but was transferred to several different positions during the war. He briefly spend time with Luo Ronghuan building bases in Communist-controlled areas of Shandong before being transferred to

He Long He Long (; March 22, 1896 – June 9, 1969) was a Chinese Communist revolutionary and one of the ten marshals of the People's Liberation Army. He was from a poor rural family in Hunan, and his family was not able to provide him with any formal ...

's United Defense Army, in which he served as deputy commander. The Communist bases Xu helped to establish proved useful after World War II ended 1945 and the Chinese Civil War resumed. In the early stages of the war, when the Kuomintang forced the Communist headquarters in Shaanxi to evacuate, it was evacuated to the bases established by Xu. After During the Chinese Civil War, Xu participated in several battles in

. Contrary to the common tactic of many Communist commanders during the Civil War, who favored attacking only after establishing forces of several times the defenders, Luo often engaged numerically equal or superior forces and emerged victorious. In 1948 and 1949 Luo engaged and defeated the forces of Yan Xishan, a

warlord who was aligned with the Kuomintang.

Political career

After the Communists won the civil War in 1949, Xu served as the General Chief of Staff of the

. Xu may not have been active as PLA Chief-of-Staff (1949–54), but was named one of the 10 Marshals in 1955, (the only Northerner to have received this honour) and as a member of the party Military Affairs Committee in 1961. Xu was formally succeeded as Chief-of-Staff by Su Yu, in 1954. He became one of China's vice premiers in 1965. Xu suffered political persecution by Red Guards in 1967, when he was accused of opposing the leadership of

Lin Biao ) , serviceyears = 1925–1971 , branch = People's Liberation Army , rank = Marshal of the People's Republic of China Lieutenant general of the National Revolutionary Army, Republic of China , commands ...

and attempting to moderate some of the more radical effects of the

.Associated Press He survived politically, and later that year was allowed to join both the Politburo and the Cultural Revolution Group. In 1969 he joined the Central Committee. Xu protected

when Deng was purged from the government in 1976. Later in 1976 he was one of the military supporters of

Hua Guofeng Hua Guofeng (; born Su Zhu; 16 February 1921 – 20 August 2008), alternatively spelled as Hua Kuo-feng, was a Chinese politician who served as Chairman of the Chinese Communist Party and Premier of the People's Republic of China. The design ...

's coup against the Gang of Four, which eventually brought Deng back to power and formally ended the Cultural Revolution. While serving as Defense Minister from 1978 to 1981, Xu advocated developing the

as a well-trained, well-equipped military force and promoted the use of foreign military technology. This view was a departure from Maoist political doctrine, and Xu promoted dramatic predictions of an imminent conflict with the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

in order to generate political support for his ideas. In 1978, Xu was almost killed in an accident of Chinese HJ-73 ATGM demonstration when the missile suddenly malfunctioned and turned 180 degrees after traveling several hundred meters, flying in opposite direction toward the observation platform, where Xu and other top ranking Chinese officers were sitting, and landed right in front of the platform. It was fortunate for Xu and the others on the platform that the missile failed to explode, and they survived and remained there until the completion of the demonstration. Xu did not originally plan to attend the demonstration, but because both Ye Jianying and Nie Rongzhen, who originally planned to attend, were hospitalized at the time, Xu was invited instead. Xu led the preparations for PLA operations in the Sino-Vietnam War in 1979. After resigning as Defense Minister in 1981, Xu remained active in politics. He served in the Politburo and the Central Committee, and was the vice chairman of the Central Military Commission. He was forced to resign his positions, along with Nie Rongzhen and Ye Jianying, in 1985. During the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989, he and Marshal Nie Rongzhen, published statements which, while calling for civil order, warned that the PLA should not resort to bloodshed to suppress the protests. Xu died in 1990. According to his wishes, no memorial service was to be conducted for him which was refused by the government and he was given a memorial with full military honours. He was cremated and his ashes were scattered across the Dabie, Daba,

Taihang Mountains The Taihang Mountains () are a Chinese mountain range running down the eastern edge of the Loess Plateau in Shanxi, Henan and Hebei provinces. The range extends over from north to south and has an average elevation of . The principal peak is ...

, and Hexi Corridor. His official obituary stated that "his life was a glorious one... Xu was an outstanding Communist, a great proletarian revolutionary, a strategist, and one of the founders of the Chinese People's Liberation Army."

References

Citations

Sources

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. n ...