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Ye Jianying (simplified Chinese:叶剑英;traditional Chinese:葉劍英; 28 April 1897 – 22 October 1986) was aChinese Communistrevolutionary leader and politician, one of theTen Marshals of the People's Republic of China. He was the top military leader in the 1976coup that overthrew theGang of Four and ended theCultural Revolution, and was the key supporter ofDeng Xiaoping in his power struggle withHua Guofeng between 1978 and 1981, which ended in Hua fading into political obscurity. In his capacity asChairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, Ye served asChina's head of state from 1978 until 1983.
BornYe Yiwei (Chinese:叶宜伟) into a wealthy ChristianHakka merchant family in an old rural village at Jiaying county, renamed as theMeixian District, Meizhou, Guangdong, in the modern day. Hiscourtesy name wasCangbai (滄白) and most of Ye Jianying's siblings died before being adults due to severe illness.[1]
After graduation from the Yunnan Military Academy in 1919, he joined theKuomintang (KMT). He taught at theWhampoa Military Academy, and in 1927 joined theChinese Communist Party.[citation needed]
That year, he participated in the failedNanchang Uprising and was forced to flee toHong Kong with two other uprising leaders,Zhou Enlai andYe Ting (no relation), with only a pair of handguns to share between them. Shortly after, he faithfully carried out his assigned duties during theGuangzhou Uprising, although he had been opposed to it; upon this uprising's failure he was once again obliged to flee to Hong Kong with Ye Ting andNie Rongzhen. However, Ye was far more fortunate than Ye Ting, who was made a scapegoat for theComintern's failures and forced into exile. Ye was not blamed, and subsequently studied military science inMoscow.[citation needed]
After returning to China in 1932 he joined theJiangxi Soviet, serving as Chief of Staff ofZhang Guotao's Fourth Front Army. However, after Zhang's fighters met up withMao Zedong's force during theLong March, the two leaders disagreed on the subsequent movement of theChinese Red Army. Zhang insisted on turning southward to establish a new base in the regions inhabited byTibetan andQiang minorities. (This later proved to be a disaster, as Mao had anticipated, with Zhang losing over 75% of his men and retreating to the Communist base at Yan'an.) During the two leaders' disagreement, Ye – though he was Zhang's Chief of Staff – sided with Mao; and instead of supporting Zhang unconditionally as he had during the Guangzhou Uprising, Ye absconded to Mao's headquarters with Zhang's code books and maps. As a result, Zhang's communications with Comintern were cut, while Mao was able to establish a radio link, leading to Comintern's acceptance of Mao's leadership. Mao would never forget Ye's contribution, observing later that "Ye Jianying saved the (Chinese Communist) Party, the (Chinese) Red Army, and the (Chinese) Revolution".[citation needed]
After the establishment of thePeople's Republic of China, Ye was placed in charge of Guangdong, which was to cost him his political career under Mao's reign. Ye understood that the economic conditions in the province were very different from those in the rest of China, since most Cantoneselandlords were peasants themselves who participated in production without exploiting their tenants. He therefore declined to dispossess the landlords, and instead protected their businesses and land. However, Ye's policies contradicted the general directives of the Party-mandated land reform, which emphasizedclass struggle. His policies deemed too soft, Ye and his local cadres were soon replaced byLin Biao's, and a much harsher policy was implemented and hundreds of thousands of Cantonese landlords were executed, with Ye's political career effectively over.[citation needed]
However, Mao did not forget what Ye had done for him during the Long March, and thus removed him only from political posts while preserving his military positions. As a result, until 1968, Ye remained active in various military functions, having been made a marshal in 1955. Ye was clever in using his military influence to provide limited support and he was responsible for interfering with assassination attempts on reformers.[citation needed]
Lin Biao died in an aircraft crash in 1971 (theLin Biao incident).[2]: 154 During the subsequentCriticize Lin, Criticize Confucius campaign, many generals who had been supported by Lin were removed and military programs Lin had implemented were canceled.[2]: 154 In 1973, the PLA completed a thorough re-organization.[2]: 154 Thereafter, Ye handled the PLA's operations in consultation withZhou Enlai.[2]: 154 In 1975, Ye was appointedDefense Minister, filling Lin Biao's former post. From 1973, he was also a Vice Chairman of theCentral Committee of the Chinese Communist Party.[citation needed]
Ye led the group of generals and Party elders thatoverthrewJiang Qing and theGang of Four; during initial planning at his residence, he andLi Xiannian communicated by writing, although they sat next to each other, because of the possibility ofbugging. On 6 October 1976, Ye ordered the arrest of the Gang of Four andMao Yuanxin.[2]: 155
Thanks to Ye's support of ChairmanHua Guofeng, he was confirmed asparty vice-chairman at the EleventhNational Congress of the Chinese Communist Party in 1977. Because the physical demands of Defense Minister were too great for the octogenarian Ye, he resigned from that position in 1978 and was appointedChairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, filling a post left unoccupied sinceZhu De's death in 1976. As such, Ye was China's ceremonialHead of State.[citation needed]
Consistent with Deng'sone country, two systems approach, Ye elaborated onChinese unification through his 30 September 1981 "Nine Points Proposal" in which Taiwan would retain a high degree of autonomy following unification.[3]: 228 The Nine Points Proposal also talked of trade, transportation, and postal services as "three links" across the strait and "four exchanges" in the areas of culture, academics, economics, and sports.[3]: 228
Ye retired from the Chair of the NPC Standing Committee in 1983 and in 1985 he withdrew completely from the Politburo Standing Committee. He died a little over a year later at the age of 89 on October 22, 1986.[4]
Ye married six times and had six children. His sons includeYe Xuanping (1924–2019),Ye Xuanning (1938–2016), and Ye Xuanlian (叶选廉, born 1952). Ye's granddaughter Robynn Yip (born 1986), daughter of Xuanlian, is a professional musician based inHong Kong.[citation needed]
People's Republic of China
Order of August 1 (1st Class Medal) (1955)
Order of Independence and Freedom (1st Class Medal) (1955)
Order of Liberation (1st Class Medal) (1955)| Government offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Mayor of Beijing 1949 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded byas chairman of theROC Guangdong Provincial Government | Governor of Guangdong 1949–1953 | Succeeded by |
| Vacant Title last held by MarshalLin Biao | Minister of National Defense 1975–1978 | Succeeded by MarshalXu Xiangqian |
| Assembly seats | ||
| Preceded byas Acting Chairwoman | Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress 1978–1983 | Succeeded by |
| Head of State of thePeople's Republic of China (as Chairman of the NPC Standing Committee) 1978–1983 | Succeeded byasPresident of the People's Republic of China | |
| Party political offices | ||
| Preceded by | Secretary of the CPC Guangdong Committee 1949–1955 | Succeeded by |
| Vacant Title last held by Lin Biao | Vice Chairman of the Chinese Communist Party 1973–1982 Served alongside:Zhou Enlai,Hua Guofeng,Deng Xiaoping,Wang Dongxing,Li Desheng,Kang Sheng,Wang Hongwen,Chen Yun,Zhao Ziyang | Post abolished |
| Military offices | ||
| New title | Commander of thePLA Guangdong Military District 1949–1951 | Succeeded by |
| Political Commissar of the PLA Guangdong Military District 1949–1950 | Succeeded by | |
TenMarshals of the People's Republic of China | |||
|---|---|---|---|
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