Ulanhu
ᠤᠯᠠᠭᠠᠨᠬᠦᠦ 乌兰夫
Ulanhu in 1955
Vice President of China
In office 15 March 1983 – 15 March 1988
President	Li Xiannian
Leader	Deng Xiaoping
Preceded by	Soong Ching-ling andDong Biwu (until 1972) vacant
Succeeded by	Wang Zhen
Head of theUnited Front Work Department
In office 2 June 1977 – 26 April 1982
Preceded by	Li Dazhang
Succeeded by	Yang Jingren
Personal details
Born	23 December 1907 Tumed Left Banner,Suiyuan,Qing dynasty (present-dayHohhot,Inner Mongolia,China)
Died	8 December 1988(1988-12-08) (aged 80) Beijing,China
Political party	Chinese Communist Party
Spouse	Yun Liren
Alma mater	Moscow Sun Yat-sen University

Ulanhu orUlanfu (Chinese:乌兰夫;pinyin:Wūlánfū; 23 December 1907 – 8 December 1988), bornYun Ze (Chinese:云泽),^[1] was the foundingChairman of China'sInner Mongolia Autonomous Region, serving from 1947 to 1966.

An ethnicTumed Mongol, he took thenom de guerre Ulanhu (lit. 'Red son')[2] and had the nickname of "Mongol Prince” during his political career. He served as Vice-Premier between 1956 and 1966. He was purged during theCultural Revolution but later reinstated. Between 1983 and 1988 he held the office ofVice President of China.

Ulanhu was the highest-ranking minority official in PRC history, and became an icon of loyalty both to the Mongolian people and to the PRC.^[3] Except for the period of the Cultural Revolution, his family dominated the politics of Inner Mongolia.^[4] His sonBuhe served as Chairman of Inner Mongolia for a decade, and his granddaughterBu Xiaolin was appointed to the same position in 2016.

This sectiondoes notcite anysources. Please helpimprove this section byadding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged andremoved.(April 2024) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

Born inTumed Left Banner, just outside the city ofHohhot, Ulanhu was the child of herders. He went to elementary school in his hometown, and went on to study at the Mongolian-Tibetan College of Beiping (now Beijing). He joined the Socialist Youth League of China (later renamedCommunist Youth League) in 1924, intending to become communist revolutionary. In 1925, he joined theChinese Communist Party and was sent toMoscow Sun Yat-sen University in the Soviet Union to study Marxism. In Moscow, Ulanhu shared a desk withChiang Ching-kuo, the son ofChiang Kai-shek.

In 1929, when he returned from his studies, Ulanhu began organizing communist rallies in Mongolia, and was appointed a Committee Member of the CCP's West-Mongolia Working Committee. In 1931, Ulanhu was chosen to run the military and intelligence offices in Mongolia, serving in Ikh Juu League (now the city ofOrdos). During theSecond World War, Ulanhu led his forces to stop theJapanese from advancing towards Hohhot and led his officers to march to northern Shaanxi where he continued battling against the Japanese forces. In August 1941, he arrived at the revolutionary base ofYan'an to work on ethnic affairs.

During the Chinese Civil War, Ulanhu was one of the commanders of thePingjin Campaign and theLiaoshen Campaign, he also led his Communist forces to destroy the local bandits and anti-communist forces in Mongolia. Ulanhu was instrumental in bringing Inner Mongolia under the control of the Chinese Communist Party and was elected the Acting Governor and founding Chairman of the Autonomous Government of Inner Mongolia in 1947. Inner Mongolia was the first of five recognized autonomous regions in China.^{[citation needed]}

In September 1954, Ulanhu was named Vice-Premier, ranking eighth.

In 1955 he was awarded the rank of General (shangjiang), becoming one of only 57 generals bestowed the honour of being a "founding general" of the People's Republic. He served asParty Committee Secretary andregional government chairman of Inner Mongolia from the region's founding to 1966.^{[citation needed]}

During theGreat Leap Forward, Ulanhu delayedde facto communization in Mongol pastoral areas.^[5]: 134 Traditional forms of herd management remained until 1965 when herds were communized just before the Cultural Revolution.^{[5]: 134–135}

At the beginning of theCultural Revolution, zealousRed Guard organizations attempted to storm the Inner Mongolia government headquarters. Ulanhu used troops at his disposal to repel them, only to be later undone by military forces sent in by leftist leaders in Beijing, ousting him from office. He was accused of "ruling Inner Mongolia like an independent kingdom",^[6] and persecuted as a suspected member of the independence-leaningInner Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party, a charge later proven to be false. However, while he was a target forstruggle, Ulanhu survived the Cultural Revolution without enduring some of the more severe physical hardships inflicted upon some of his colleagues, largely owing to the support of PremierZhou Enlai.^{[citation needed]}

Ulanhu was politically rehabilitated in 1973, prior to the10th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party, with the personal blessing of Mao Zedong. In 1977, Ulanhu became head of the United Front Department of the central organization of the CCP. Among various other posts, he served one term asVice President of China under PresidentLi Xiannian from 1983 to 1988. Upon completion of the term as vice-president, he was elected vice-chairman of theNational People's Congress. He died shortly thereafter in 1988 after an illness. He was eulogized with high honours by the CCP.^{[citation needed]}

In 1992, the Ulanhu Memorial Hall was opened to the public in Hohhot. HisSelected Works were published in 1999 at a dedication ceremony attended byJiang Zemin,General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party.^[7] In December 2007, the CCP held a high-profile conference to commemorate the 100th anniversary of Ulanhu's birth. In 2009, the historic epicSpring Comes Early to the Grasslands aired on China Central Television, and depicted some of Ulanhu's activities during the revolution.^{[citation needed]}

Ulanhu married twice and had four sons and four daughters. His son,Buhe, served as the Chairman of Inner Mongolia from 1982 to 1993. His granddaughter (Buhe's daughter)Bu Xiaolin was appointed Chairwoman of Inner Mongolia in March 2016, making her the third generation of the Ulanhu family to hold that position.^[8] Another son of Ulanhu, Uje, served as mayor ofBaotou.^{[citation needed]}

• List of officers of the People's Liberation Army
• Inner Mongolian People's Republic
• Inner Mongolia incident

• Vice premiers of the People's Republic of China
• 1907 births
• 1988 deaths
• Chinese Communist Party politicians from Inner Mongolia
• Chinese people of Mongolian descent
• Members of the 11th Politburo of the Chinese Communist Party
• Members of the 12th Politburo of the Chinese Communist Party
• Members of the CPPCC Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region Committee
• Moscow Sun Yat-sen University alumni
• People from Hohhot
• People's Liberation Army generals from Inner Mongolia
• People's Republic of China politicians from Inner Mongolia
• Political office-holders in Inner Mongolia
• Vice Chairpersons of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference
• Vice Chairpersons of the National People's Congress
• Vice presidents of the People's Republic of China
• Victims of the Cultural Revolution
• Chairpersons of the CPPCC Inner Mongolia Regional Committee

• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata
• Use dmy dates from February 2020
• Articles containing Chinese-language text
• Articles containing Mongolian-language text
• Articles needing additional references from April 2024
• All articles needing additional references
• All articles with unsourced statements
• Articles with unsourced statements from April 2024
• S-bef: 'before' parameter includes the word 'vacant'
• Template:Succession box: 'before' parameter includes the word 'vacant'
• S-bef: 'before' parameter includes the word 'created'
• Template:Succession box: 'before' parameter includes the word 'created'