Zuo Quan ( zh, s=左权; 15 March 1905 – 2 June 1942), also named Zuo Shuren (), born in

Liling Liling () is a county-level city and the 12th most populous county-level division in Hunan Province, China; it is under the administration of the prefecture-level city of Zhuzhou. Located on the middle eastern margin of the province, the city i ...

Hunan Hunan is an inland Provinces of China, province in Central China. Located in the middle reaches of the Yangtze watershed, it borders the Administrative divisions of China, province-level divisions of Hubei to the north, Jiangxi to the east, Gu ...

, was a general in the

Chinese Red Army The Chinese Red Army, formally the Chinese Workers' and Peasants' Red Army( zh, labels=no, t=中國工農紅軍) or just the Red Army( zh, labels=no, t=紅軍), was the military wing of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) from 1928 to 1937. I ...

during the

Chinese Communist Revolution The Chinese Communist Revolution was a social revolution, social and political revolution in China that began in 1927 and culminated with the proclamation of the People's Republic of China (PRC) in 1949. The revolution was led by the Chinese C ...

and 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 a senior staff officer of the

Eighth Route Army The Eighth Route Army (), officially titled as the List of Army Groups of the National Revolutionary Army, 18th Group Army, was a Field army, group army nominally under the banner of the National Revolutionary Army (NRA) of the Republic of Ch ...

. He died in combat in 1942. Zuo graduated in the first class of

Whampoa Military Academy The Republic of China Military Academy ( zh, t=中華民國陸軍軍官學校, p=Zhōnghúa Mīngúo Lùjūn Jūnguān Xúexiào, poj=Tiong-hôa Bîn-kok Lio̍k-kun Kun-koaⁿ Ha̍k-hāu), also known as the Chinese Military Academy (CMA), is ...

, 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 1925, and helped to found a secret organization amongst Whampoa's pro-communist students, the Huoxingshe, and later another called Young Soldiers United (Qingnian Junren Lianhehui). Zuo was appointed a company commander in the Nationalist Army after graduation. After the end of the

First United Front The First United Front , also known as the KMT–CCP Alliance, of the Kuomintang (KMT) and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), was formed in 1924 as an alliance to end Warlord Era, warlordism in China. Together they formed the National Revolution ...

which result in the split between the Communist and the

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 ...

, Zuo travelled to Moscow where he studied at Sun Yatsen University and then the Soviet Military Academy, graduating in 1930. Zuo travelled back to China, arriving in

Shanghai Shanghai, Shanghainese: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: is a direct-administered municipality and the most populous urban area in China. The city is located on the Chinese shoreline on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the ...

with

Liu Bocheng Liu Mingzhao (; 4 December 1892 – 7 October 1986), more commonly known as Liu Bocheng (), was a Chinese military officer and Marshal of the People's Republic of China. Known as the 'half' of the "Three and A Half" Strategists of China in mode ...

, and was sent to the Soviet area in Jiangxi. Zuo became an instructor and then commandant of the First Branch, Red Army Military Academy, and later assumed command of the New 12th Army. After 1933 Zuo was appointed the First Army Group Chief of Staff, and participated in the

Long March The Long March ( zh, s=长征, p=Chángzhēng, l=Long Expedition) was a military retreat by the Chinese Red Army and Chinese Communist Party (CCP) from advancing Kuomintang forces during the Chinese Civil War, occurring between October 1934 and ...

. When the Anti Japanese War began in 1937, Zuo became the Deputy Chief of Staff, Eighth Route Army, and was a key organizer in 1938-39 of the highly successful rear area behind Japanese lines upon which the Eighth Route Army's reputation was built. From August to December 1940, Zuo participated in the leadership of the Hundred Regiments Campaign. In 1941, when the Social Affairs Department (Shehuibu) sent an intelligence detachment to the Eighth Route Army to support it, that group was at first sponsored by Zuo Quan who subordinated it to his own staff within a year and subsequently controlled its tasking, personnel, and operations. While under Zuo the detachment successfully established intelligence stations behind enemy lines throughout the Taihang-Shandong area, and set up an agent network in

Beiping "Beijing" is from pinyin ''Běijīng,'' which is romanized from , the Chinese name for this city. The pinyin system of transliteration was approved by the Chinese government in 1958, but little used until 1979. It was gradually adopted by various ...

. In May–June 1942 Zuo engaged in battles to cover the retreat of the Eighth Route Army, and was fatally wounded by a Japanese artillery shell on 2 June 1942 while leading a breakout. After his death the CCP renamed Liao County in

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 Zuoquan County, in his honor.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Zuo, Quan Military personnel of the Republic of China killed in the Second Sino-Japanese War Chinese Communist Party politicians from Hunan 1905 births 1942 deaths National Revolutionary Army generals from Hunan Frunze Military Academy alumni Politicians from Zhuzhou Republic of China politicians from Hunan Chinese expatriates in the Soviet Union Moscow Sun Yat-sen University alumni