Yuanshuai Ye Jianying
叶剑英
3rd Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress
In office 5 March 1978 – 18 June 1983
President	None (post abolished in 1975)
Preceded by	Soong Ching-ling (acting)
Succeeded by	Peng Zhen
5th First Vice Chairman of the Chinese Communist Party
In office 7 October 1976 – 12 September 1982
Chairman	Hua Guofeng Hu Yaobang
Preceded by	Hua Guofeng
Succeeded by	Position abolished
Vice Chairman of the Chinese Communist Party
In office 30 August 1973 – 12 September 1982
Chairman	Mao Zedong Hua Guofeng Hu Yaobang
3rd Minister of National Defense
In office 17 January 1975 – 26 February 1978
Premier	Zhou Enlai Hua Guofeng
Preceded by	Marshal Lin Biao
Succeeded by	Marshal Xu Xiangqian
Member of the National People's Congress
In office 15 September 1954 – 6 June 1983
Constituency	Guangdong At-large (54–59) PLA At-large (59–83)
1st Mayor of Guangzhou
In office 1949–1952
Preceded by	Position Created
Succeeded by	He Wei
Personal details
Born	葉劍英 (1897-04-28)28 April 1897 Mei County, Guangdong, Qing Dynasty
Died	22 October 1986(1986-10-22) (aged 89) Beijing, China
Nationality	Chinese (Ethnicity: Hakka people subgroup of Han Chinese)
Political party	Communist Party of China (1927–1985)
Spouse	6
Children	3 sons including Ye Xuanping, 3 daughters + 1 adopted daughter Dai Qing
Alma mater	Yunnan Military Academy Communist University of the Toilers of the East
Awards	Order of Victory of Resistance against Aggression (1946) Order of August 1 (1st Class Medal) (1955) Order of Independence and Freedom (1st Class Medal) (1955) Order of Liberation (1st Class Medal) (1955) details...
Nickname(s)	叶帅 (Marshal Ye) 花帅 ("Playboy Marshal")
Military service
Allegiance	Communist Party of China  People's Republic of China
Branch/service	People's Liberation Army Ground Force 18th Army Group, NRA Chinese Workers' and Peasants' Red Army 1st Army and 4th Army, National Revolutionary Army
Years of service	1917–1985
Rank	Marshal of the People's Republic of China Lieutenant general of the National Revolutionary Army, Republic of China
Commands	Chief of Staff, 4th Army, NRA Chief of Staff, Chinese Red Army Chief of Staff, 18th Army Group, NRA Chief of the General Staff, CMC

Ye Jianying (simplified Chinese: 叶剑英; traditional Chinese: 葉劍英; 28 April 1897 – 22 October 1986) was a Chinese Communist revolutionary leader and politician, one of the founding Ten Marshals of the People's Republic of China. He was the top military leader in the 1976 coup that overthrew the Gang of Four and ended the Cultural Revolution, and was the key supporter of Deng Xiaoping in his power struggle with Hua Guofeng. After Deng ascended power, in his capacity as Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, Ye served as China's head of state during the period from 1978 to 1983.

Life

Born Ye Yiwei (Chinese: 叶宜伟) into a wealthy Christian Hakka merchant family in an old rural village at Jiaying county (modern-day renamed as Meixian District), his courtesy name was Cangbai (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 the Kuomintang (KMT). He taught at the Whampoa Military Academy, and in 1927 joined the Communist Party.

That year, he participated in the failed Nanchang Uprising and was forced to flee to Hong Kong with two other uprising leaders, Zhou Enlai and Ye Ting (no relation), with only a pair of handguns to share between them. Shortly after, he faithfully carried out his assigned duties during the Guangzhou 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 and Nie Rongzhen. However, Ye was far more fortunate than Ye Ting, who was made a scapegoat for the Comintern's failures and forced into exile. Ye was not blamed, and subsequently studied military science in Moscow.

After returning to China in 1932 he joined the Jiangxi Soviet, serving as Chief of Staff of Zhang Guotao's Fourth Front Army. However, after Zhang's fighters met up with Mao Zedong's force during the Long March, the two leaders disagreed on the subsequent movement of the Chinese Red Army. Zhang insisted on turning southward to establish a new base in the regions inhabited by Tibetan and Qiang 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".

After the establishment of the People'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 Cantonese landlords 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 emphasized class struggle. His policies deemed too soft, Ye and his local cadres were soon replaced by Lin 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.

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.

After Lin Biao was overthrown and died in 1971, Ye's influence grew, and in 1975 he was appointed Defense Minister, taking Lin Biao's post. From 1973, he was also a Vice Chairman of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party.

He led the conspiracy of generals and Party elders that overthrew Jiang Qing and the Gang of Four; during initial planning at his residence, he and Li Xiannian communicated by writing, although they sat next to each other, because of the possibility of bugging.

Thanks to Ye's support of Chairman Hua Guofeng, he was confirmed as party vice-chairman at the Eleventh National 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 appointed Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, filling a post left unoccupied since Zhu De's death in 1976. As such, Ye was China's ceremonial Head of State. Ye retired from this position 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.

Family

Ye married six times and had six children. His sons include Ye 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 in Hong Kong.

Awards

 Republic of China

Order of Victory of Resistance against Aggression (1946)

 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)

References