Yao Xian (; 27 April 1927 – 3 March 2018) was a Chinese fighter pilot and

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 ...

of the

People's Liberation Army Air Force The People's Liberation Army Air Force, also referred to as the Chinese Air Force () or the People's Air Force (), is the primary aerial warfare service of the People's Liberation Army. The PLAAF controls most of the PLA's air assets, includi ...

(PLAAF). He fought in 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 ...

and the

Korean War The Korean War (25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953) was an armed conflict on the Korean Peninsula fought between North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea; DPRK) and South Korea (Republic of Korea; ROK) and their allies. North Korea was s ...

, and later served as Deputy Commander of the

Lanzhou Military Region The Lanzhou Military Region was one of seven military regions in the People's Republic of China. It directed all People's Liberation Army and People's Armed Police forces in Xinjiang, Qinghai, Gansu, Ningxia, Shaanxi, and Ngari Prefecture in no ...

Air Force and then concurrently as Commander of the

Beijing Military Region The Beijing Military Region was one of seven military regions for the Chinese People's Liberation Army. From the mid-1980s to 2017, it had administration of all military affairs within Beijing city, Tianjin city, Hebei province, Shanxi province, ...

Air Force and Deputy Commander of the Beijing MR.

Early life

Yao Xian was born on 27 April 1927 to a peasant family in Zhuguantun Village (), Yutian County,

Hebei Hebei is a Provinces of China, province in North China. It is China's List of Chinese administrative divisions by population, sixth-most populous province, with a population of over 75 million people. Shijiazhuang is the capital city. It bor ...

Province. His original name was Wei Yaoxian (). He went to school at the age of seven, but joined the local resistance force when he was 13 after the

Japanese invasion of China The Second Sino-Japanese War was fought between the 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 of World War II, and often r ...

Career

He 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 ...

in June 1945, and was selected to undergo pilot training at the Northeast People's Liberation Army Aviation School (a predecessor of the

PLA Air Force Aviation University The People's Liberation Army Air Force Aviation University () is a military university in Changchun, Jilin, China. As of fall 2014, the university has 7 campuses, consists of 7 departments, covers a total area of , with more than 19,000,000 s ...

) in April 1948. He was deployed in the newly established 7th Mixed Brigade after graduating in June 1950, just before the

broke out. In 1951, Yao's unit, the PLAAF

4th Fighter Aviation Division The 4th Aviation Division is a formation of the Chinese People's Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF). Initially established in 1950, it served in Korea under Commander Fang Ziyi and Commissar Ye Songsheng, flying Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15s. It ended i ...

(reorganized from the 7th Mixed Brigade) was deployed to fight in North Korea. Yao participated in his first air battle on 2 October 1951, as a wingman of the squadron leader , in the airspace above

Anju, South Pyongan Anju (; ) is a city in South Pyongan Province, North Korea. Its population was 240,117 in 2008. The Ch'ongch'on River passes through Anju. 200px, Sinanju Chongnyon station in the western part of Anju Climate Administrative divisions Anju-si ...

. He served as a deputy squadron commander, later promoted to commander. On 17 May 1953, in an air battle north of

Pyongyang Pyongyang () is the Capital city, capital and largest city of North Korea, where it is sometimes labeled as the "Capital of the Revolution" (). Pyongyang is located on the Taedong River about upstream from its mouth on the Yellow Sea. Accordi ...

, Yao Xian's squadron shot down four American

F-86 Sabre The North American F-86 Sabre, sometimes called the Sabrejet, is a transonic jet fighter aircraft. Produced by North American Aviation, the Sabre is best known as the United States' first swept-wing fighter that could counter the swept-wing Sov ...

fighters, while losing two

MiG-15 The Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15 (; USAF/DoD designation: Type 14; NATO reporting name: Fagot) is a jet fighter aircraft developed by Mikoyan-Gurevich for the Soviet Union. The MiG-15 was one of the first successful jet fighters to incorporate s ...

s. During the war he was credited with shooting down one American F-86 jet and damaging two others, and awarded the First-Grade Merit. After the Korean War, Yao was successively promoted to regiment commander, division commander, and deputy corps commander. In 1978, he was appointed deputy commander of the

Air Force. He was transferred to the

Air Force (MRAF) in 1987, and promoted to Commander of the Beijing MRAF and concurrently Deputy Commander of the Beijing Military Region in 1990. He was awarded the rank of lieutenant general in 1988. He retired in January 1993.

Personal life

In 1956, Yao Xian married Mao Yufang (), a textile worker from

Liaoyang Liaoyang ( zh, s=辽阳 , t=遼陽 , p=Liáoyáng) is a prefecture-level city of east-central Liaoning province, China, situated on the Taizi River. It is approximately one hour south of Shenyang, the provincial capital, by car. Liaoyang is hom ...

, who first saw him on the cover of the ''Hangkong'' (Aviation) magazine and met him when he went to her factory to give a speech. She had already been admitted to Qingdao Textile Institute, but gave up the opportunity to attend university to marry him.

Death

Yao Xian died in the morning of 3 March 2018, on the same day as his friend and colleague, fellow Korean War veteran and PLAAF lieutenant general Lin Hu. They were born in the same year and graduated from the same aviation school.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Yao Xian 1927 births 2018 deaths People's Liberation Army Air Force generals Deputy commanders of the Beijing Military Region Chinese Korean War pilots PLA Air Force Aviation University alumni People's Liberation Army generals from Hebei People from Tangshan 20th-century Chinese generals