He Long

He Long
​《解放军画报》记者 林扬 · Public domain · source
Name	He Long
Native name	和龍
Birth date	1896-03-22
Birth place	Sangzhi, Hunan, Qing China
Death date	1969-06-09
Death place	Beijing, People's Republic of China
Occupation	Military leader, statesman
Party	Chinese Communist Party
Rank	Marshal of the People's Liberation Army

He Long was a prominent Chinese revolutionary and military leader who rose from rural origins to become a Marshal of the People's Liberation Army and a senior official in the early People's Republic of China. He played a significant role in the Northern Expedition, the Long March, and the Chinese Civil War, and later held high posts in the Central Military Commission and the National People's Congress before being purged during the Cultural Revolution and posthumously rehabilitated.

Early life and education

Born in Sangzhi County, Hunan during the late Qing dynasty, he came of age amid social upheaval following the Xinhai Revolution and the decline of the Imperial Chinese system. His formative years overlapped with the rise of regional warlords such as Cai E and the political ferment of the Republic of China (1912–1949), which shaped his exposure to peasant struggles and local labor movements. He received limited formal schooling but was influenced by new ideas circulating from urban centers like Changsha and Wuhan, where figures associated with the May Fourth Movement, Li Dazhao, and Chen Duxiu were active.

Revolutionary activities and involvement in the Communist Party

He joined revolutionary networks that intersected with the Tongmenghui-influenced societies and later with organizations linked to the Chinese Communist Party. He became involved in uprisings and rural organizing associated with leaders from Hunan and neighboring provinces, aligning with cadres influenced by Mao Zedong, Zhu De, and Peng Dehuai. During the split between the Kuomintang and the Chinese Communist Party, he participated in anti-warlord and anti-imperialist campaigns that paralleled actions in the Northern Expedition and scuffles with forces loyal to Chiang Kai-shek and regional commanders. His networks connected him to insurgent bases in provinces such as Guizhou, Sichuan, and Yunnan, and to tactical doctrines influenced by early Soviet advisers and the Comintern.

Military career and role in the Chinese Civil War

He emerged as a field commander in guerrilla warfare and conventional operations against National Revolutionary Army units during the protracted conflicts of the 1920s and 1930s. He commanded forces in the south and west, participating in strategic withdrawals during the Long March alongside columns led by Zhu De and Mao Zedong, and engaging in campaigns that intersected with the activities of generals like Lin Biao and Liu Bocheng. During the Second Sino-Japanese War, his forces cooperated with the Eighth Route Army and the New Fourth Army in joint resistance against the Empire of Japan, coordinating with leaders such as Peng Dehuai and Zhou Enlai. In the renewed Chinese Civil War after 1945, he directed operations that contributed to the Communist capture of strategic cities and regions from Kuomintang commanders loyal to Chiang Kai-shek, participating in campaigns analogous to the Huaihai Campaign and the Liaoshen Campaign in broader strategic terms.

Political career in the People's Republic of China

After 1949 he held senior military and political posts within the new state apparatus, serving in bodies such as the Central Military Commission and representing military constituencies in the National People's Congress. He was conferred the rank of Marshal in the 1955 PLA rankings, joining other marshals like Peng Dehuai, Luo Ronghuan, and Nie Rongzhen, and worked on military modernization efforts that interacted with policies from the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party and the State Council. He participated in national campaigns and policies during the First Five-Year Plan period and engaged with initiatives tied to leaders such as Liu Shaoqi and Zhou Enlai.

Persecution during the Cultural Revolution and rehabilitation

During the Cultural Revolution he was targeted in political struggles involving factions aligned with Mao Zedong's radical campaigns and the Gang of Four, suffering denunciation, removal from positions, and physical mistreatment akin to the fates of other senior cadres such as Peng Dehuai and Liu Shaoqi. He died in 1969 amid the turmoil; in subsequent years, during the shift in leadership after Mao Zedong's death and the arrest of the Gang of Four, he was officially rehabilitated by decisions of the Chinese Communist Party Central Committee and commemorated alongside other restored figures in the process of post-Mao rectification led by cadres like Deng Xiaoping.

Personal life and legacy and memorialization

His family origins in Hunan and connections to local revolutionary societies have been commemorated in museums and memorials in places including Sangzhi and provincial museums in Hunan Province. His legacy is reflected in military histories, biographies produced by institutions such as the PLA Academy of Military Science and state publishing houses, and in the naming of schools and monuments similar to memorials for leaders like Zhu De and Peng Dehuai. Historians and scholars from universities including Peking University and Tsinghua University have debated his role alongside other figures in works appearing in journals connected to the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, and his image appears in military commemorations, state media retrospectives, and local heritage sites that mark the revolutionary history of twentieth-century China.

Category:1896 births Category:1969 deaths Category:Marshals of the People's Liberation Army