Peng Dehuai

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Péng Déhuái (T. Chinese: 彭德懷, S. Chinese: 彭德怀, Wade-Giles: P'eng Te-huai) (October 24, 1898 - November 29, 1974) was a prominent Chinese Communist military leader. Traditional Chinese characters are one of two standard character sets of printed contemporary Chinese written language. ... Simplified Chinese characters (Simplified Chinese: 简体字; Traditional Chinese: 簡體字; pinyin: jiǎntǐzì; also called 简化字/簡化字, jiǎnhuàzì) are one of two standard character sets of printed contemporary Chinese written language. ... Wade-Giles, sometimes abbreviated Wade, is a Romanization (phonetic notation and transliteration) system for the Chinese language based on Mandarin. ... October 24 is the 297th day of the year (298th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 68 days remaining. ... 1898 (MDCCCXCVIII) was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Monday of the 12-day-slower Julian calendar). ... November 29 is the 333rd (in leap years the 334th) day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1974 (MCMLXXIV in Roman) is a common year starting on Tuesday (click on link for calendar). ... The Communist Party of China (CPC) or Chinese Communist Party (CCP) (Simplified Chinese: 中国共产党; Traditional Chinese: 中國共産黨; Hanyu Pinyin: ) is the ruling political party of the Peoples Republic of China. ...

Early Life

Peng Dehuai (pronounced Pung Dew-why) was born in 1898 in Xiang County of Hunan Province. He was a rough-hewn man from very humble beginnings. Peng was exiled from his family home at the age of nine. Before joining the army at sixteen, he had worked in coal mines at the age of thirteen and at dams of the Lake Dongting at the age of fifteen. He attended the Hunan Military Academy and served as a Nationalist Officer. Until 1916, he was a day laborer and then a soldier in a Warlord Army for $5.50 a month. He soldiered the rest of his life, some 60 years. Hunan (Chinese: 湖南; Hanyu Pinyin: ) is a province of China, located in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River and south of Lake Dongting (hence the name Hunan, meaning south of the lake). Hunan is sometimes called 湘 (pinyin: Xiāng) for short, after the Xiang River which runs through the province. ... Wyoming coal mine Coal mining is the mining of coal. ... Scrivener Dam, in Canberra, Australia, was engineered to withstand a once-in-5000-years flood event A dam is a barrier across flowing water that obstructs, directs or retards the flow, often creating a reservoir, lake or impoundment. ... Lake Dongting (Also the Dong Lake, 洞庭湖; Pinyin: dòng tíng hú; Wade-Giles: Tung-ting Hu) is a large, shallow lake in northeastern Hunan Province of China. ...

Red Army Commander

By the age of twenty-eight he was a brigade-commander in the Kuomintang Army and had begun a flirtation with radical politics. Peng was forced to flee Chiang Kai-shek's purge in 1927 and joined the Communist Party of China, participating in the Long March. He commanded the Third Army during the Long March. The Chinese Nationalist Party (Traditional Chinese: 中國國民黨; Simplified Chinese: 中国国民党; Hanyu Pinyin: ; Wade-Giles: Chung1-kuo2 Kuo2-min2-tang3; Tongyong Pinyin: Jhōngguó Guómíndǎng), commonly known as the Kuomintang (KMT), is a conservative political party currently active in the Republic of China (ROC) on Taiwan. ... Chiang Kai-shek (October 31, 1887 – April 5, 1975) was a Chinese military and political leader who assumed the leadership of the Kuomintang (KMT) after the death of Sun Yat-sen in 1925. ... Overview map of the course of the Long March The Long March (Chinese: 長征; Hanyu Pinyin: ) was a massive military retreat undertaken by the Chinese Communist Army to evade the pursuit of the Kuomintang army. ...

His contributions to the CPC were highly praised and earned him the nickname "Great General Peng" (彭大将军). As a poem by Mao Zedong in remembrance of Peng's contributions in the Long March put it, " (help· info) (December 26, 1893 – September 9, 1976; Mao Tse-tung in Wade-Giles) was the chairman of the Politburo of the Communist Party of China from 1943 and the chairman of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China from 1945 until his death. ...

[In] High mountains, dangerous roads, deep pits,

Troops ride lengthwise and crosswise,

Who dares to [put the] spear crosswise and draw the horse to a stop?

Only our [or my, depending on different interpretations] Great General Peng!"

山高路遠溝深

大軍縱橫馳奔

誰敢橫刀立馬

唯我彭大將軍

Peng Dehuai and Lin Biao were generally reckoned to be the Red Army's best battlefield commanders. They do not seem to have been rivals during the Long March. Both of them had supported Mao's rise to de facto leadership at Zuni in January 1934. According to Harrison E. Salisbury's The Long March, by May 1935 Lin Biao was dissatisfied with Mao's strategy. He says of Mao's circlings to evade the armies of Chiang Kai-shek: "the campaign had begun to look like one of Walt Disney's early cartoons in which Mickey Mouse again and again escaped the clutches of the huge, stupid cat." (Page 188, chapter 18.) But according to Salisbury, Lin Biao in May 1934 tried to persuade Mao to turn over active command to Peng Dehuai. Hunting spear and knife, from Mesa Verde National Park. ... Lin Biao Lin Biao (Chinese: 林彪; Hanyu Pinyin: ; Wade-Giles: Lin Piao) (December 5, 1907 - September 13, 1971) was a Chinese Communist military and political leader, once known as Mao Zedongs comrade-in-arms and likely successor, but later discredited as a traitor. ... Chiang Kai-shek (October 31, 1887 – April 5, 1975) was a Chinese military and political leader who assumed the leadership of the Kuomintang (KMT) after the death of Sun Yat-sen in 1925. ...

"A tough Red Army commander who looked a little like a bulldog and fought like one, Peng was a rough-hewn man with strong back and shoulders, from years of early labour... Peng got his first revolutionary spark from a great-uncle who found with the Taipings in the rebellion of the 1850s. Then, said the uncle, the Taipings found food for everyone, the women unbound their feet, and the land was shared among the tillers... Taiping (also Itu Aba, Chinese: 太平島) is the largest island of Nansha Islands (Spratly Islands) in the South China Sea. ...

"All his life Peng spoke frankly, bluntly, and he wrote in plain, vigorous Chinese, often at great length so that no one might doubt his meaning.

"The contrast between Mao's top field commanders [Peng and Lin Biao] could hardly have been more sharp, but on the Long March they worked well together, Lin specializing in feints, masked strategy, surprises, ambushes, flank attacks, pounces from the rear, and stratagems. Peng met the enemy head-on in frontal assaults and fought with such fury that again and again he wiped them out. Peng did not believe a battle well fought unless he managed to replenish--and more than replenish--any losses by seizure of enemy guns and converting prisoners of war to new and loyal recruits to the Red Army." (Ibid., pages 191-192) Overview map of the course of the Long March The Long March (Chinese: 長征; Hanyu Pinyin: ) was a massive military retreat undertaken by the Chinese Communist Army to evade the pursuit of the Kuomintang army. ...

Edgar Snow in Red Star Over China has much more to say about Peng than Lin, evidently having long conversations and giving Peng two whole chapters, more than any individual apart from Mao. The book is unfortunately out of print, though Snow's biography of Mao is available for download on the internet. Mao Zedong in 1931. ...

1937 to 1953

During World War II Peng served as deputy commander-in-chief of the Communist forces and coordinated the Hundred Regiments Campaign. Peng went on to serve with distinction behind Japanese lines in North China. After the Japanese surrender Peng and He Long were cutting Beijing's Nationalist Kuomintang connections with the rest of China and effectively surrounded Beijing. Thereafter, during the late stages of the Chinese Civil War he led the 1st Field Army in its conquest of Shaanxi, Gansu, Ningxia, and Qinghai provinces. The Second Sino-Japanese War was a major invasion of eastern China by Japan preceding and during World War II. It ended with the surrender of Japan in 1945. ... The Hundred Regiments Offensive (Chinese: 百團大戰) (August 20, 1940 - December 5, 1940) was a major campaign of the Communist Party of Chinas Red Army commanded by Peng Dehuai against the Imperial Japanese Army in Central China. ... The Chinese Nationalist Party (Traditional Chinese: 中國國民黨; Simplified Chinese: 中国国民党; Hanyu Pinyin: ; Wade-Giles: Chung1-kuo2 Kuo2-min2-tang3; Tongyong Pinyin: Jhōngguó GuómíndÇŽng), commonly known as the Kuomintang (KMT), is a conservative political party currently active in the Republic of China (ROC) on Taiwan. ... Combatants Chinese Kuomintang Chinese Communist Party Commanders Chiang Kai-shek Mao Zedong Strength Casualties {{{notes}}} The Chinese Civil War (Traditional Chinese: 國共内戰; Simplified Chinese: 国共内战; Hanyu Pinyin: ; literally Nationalist-Communist Civil War) was a conflict in China between the Kuomintang (Chinese Nationalist Party; KMT) and the Communist Party of China (CCP). ... Shaanxi (Simplified Chinese: 陕西; Traditional Chinese: 陝西; pinyin: ; Wade-Giles: Shan-hsi; Postal System Pinyin: Shensi, pronounced like Shahn-shee) is a north-central province of the Peoples Republic of China, and includes portions of the Loess Plateau on the middle reaches of the Yellow River as... Gansu (Simplified Chinese: 甘肃; Traditional Chinese: 甘肅; Hanyu Pinyin: ; Wade-Giles: Kan-su, or modified as Kan-suh) is a province located in the northwest of the Peoples Republic of China. ... Ningxia (Simplified Chinese: 宁夏; Traditional Chinese: 寧夏; pinyin: ; Wade-Giles: Ning-hsia; Postal Pinyin: Ningsia) is an autonomous region of the Peoples Republic of China, located on the northwest loess highland, the Yellow River flows through a vast area of its land. ... Qinghai (Chinese: 青海; Hanyu Pinyin: ; Wade-Giles: Ching-hai; Postal System Pinyin: Tsinghai) is a province of the Peoples Republic of China, named after the enormous Qinghai Lake (Koko Nor). ...

He was the supreme commander of Chinese volunteers during the Korean War (1950-1953). The Defense Minister, a member of the Politburo of the Communist Party of China, and was made a marshal of the People's Liberation Army in 1955. However, his treatment of returning Chinese POW's from the Korean war was heavily criticized later. Strategic mistakes which led to the American capture of three Chinese armies also led to disfavor in the party. He was to have many military clashes with Marshal Lin Biao and won most of them. The Korean War, from June 25, 1950 to cease-fire on July 27, 1953 (the war has not ended officially), was a conflict between North Korea and South Korea. ... The Ministry of National Defense of the Peoples Republic of China is a ministry under the State Council. ... The Politburo of the Communist Party of China ( Chinese: 中国共产党中央政治局 pinyin: Zhōngguó Gòngchǎndǎng Zhōngyāng Zhèngzhìjú) is a group of 19 to 25 people who oversee the Communist Party of China. ... Marshal (also spelled Marshall) is a word used in several official titles of various branches of society. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ...

Fall From Power

In June 1959, he tried to tell Chairman Mao at the Lushan Conference that then Great Leap Forward was a big lie and it would cost him his life during the Cultural Revolution. Neither Mao nor Peng wanted a split but once Mao initiated the break with Peng, the whole Politburo and the Central Committee were bound to support Mao. They all quarreled with Peng, with Lin Biao the leader.

He was disgraced in 1959, in part because his criticisms of Mao Zedong's Great Leap Forward that went beyond what Mao considered legitimate. Mao accepted that there had been mistakes, including the 'backyard furnaces', but still saw the process as generally positive. Mao had even suggested that Peng write a criticism - whether this was a trap or whether Peng went too far is moot. Definitely, Mao started treating him as an enemy. As a consequence, he was removed from all posts and placed under constant supervision and house arrest in Chengdu, Sichuan; Lin Biao took over the post of Minister of Defense. He was eventually exiled, and shunned for the next 16 years under house arrest. 1959 (MCMLIX) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... (help· info) (December 26, 1893 – September 9, 1976; Mao Tse-tung in Wade-Giles) was the chairman of the Politburo of the Communist Party of China from 1943 and the chairman of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China from 1945 until his death. ... This article or section contains information that has not been verified and thus might not be reliable. ... In justice and law, house arrest is the situation where a person is confined (by the authorities) to his or her residence. ... Location within China Chengdu (Chinese: 成都 , Pronunciation: (Pinyin) / Cheng-tu (Wade-Giles)), located in the southwest China, is the capital of Sichuan province and a sub-provincial city. ... Sichuan (Chinese: 四川; Hanyu Pinyin: ; Wade-Giles: Ssu-ch`uan; Postal Pinyin: Szechwan and Szechuan) is a province in central-western China with its capital at Chengdu. ... Lin Biao Lin Biao (Chinese: 林彪; Hanyu Pinyin: ; Wade-Giles: Lin Piao) (December 5, 1907 - September 13, 1971) was a Chinese Communist military and political leader, once known as Mao Zedongs comrade-in-arms and likely successor, but later discredited as a traitor. ...

There were other major issues in the 1959 dispute. Peng had made the army more professional and less political, changes reversed when Lin Biao replaced him. He had also shown signs of not liking the break with Moscow. Mao in 1959 was in too weak a position to have removed Peng if others had not also been suspicious. Lin Biao Lin Biao (Chinese: 林彪; Hanyu Pinyin: ; Wade-Giles: Lin Piao) (December 5, 1907 - September 13, 1971) was a Chinese Communist military and political leader, once known as Mao Zedongs comrade-in-arms and likely successor, but later discredited as a traitor. ...

He may also have been blamed for the unsuccessful confrontation over Taiwan the previous year:

"On Sept. 17 [1959] Peking announced that Marshal Lin Piao had succeeded Marshal Peng Teh-huai as defence minister… "Marshal Lin Piao was commander-in-chief of the people’s liberation army which conquered the whole of mainland China in 1948-49, but owing to a breakdown of health he was inactive for many years. His return to health and to official activity was indicated when, in 1958, he was appointed a member of the Politburo. Marshal Peng, whose fame was not enhanced by the failure of the Quemoy operation in 1958, remained a deputy prime minister." (Britannica Book of the year 1960)

Persecution, Death and Exoneration

He was arrested in 1966 during the Cultural Revolution and put into the hands of violent Red Guard torturers, beaten and beaten until his internal organs were crushed and his back splintered. During interrogations he shouted denials to the Red Guards who beat him, and it is reputed that he pounded the table so hard the cell walls shook. To his tormentors he shouted "I fear nothing," and to them, personally he pointed his finger and shouted, "Your days are numbered." "The more you interrogate me the firmer I become." Peng lived and died a hero of the Long March. He died November 29, 1974, still loyal to China, the Party, and to the Revolution. He is well respected and loved by the Chinese people.

The Third Plenary Session of the Eleventh Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party, held in 1978, reexamined Marshal Peng's case and reversed the judgment that had been imposed on him. It exonerated him of all charges and reaffirmed his contributions to the Chinese Revolution. General Yang Shangkun, a fellow veteran of the Long March and later the President of the People's Republic of China said of Peng, "He was a man of integrity and uprightness. He spared neither life nor limb fighting for the Chinese Revolution. He was loyal and incorruptible. Nothing could blot out the bright image of Peng Dehuai from China's History." Communist Party of China flag The Communist Party of China (Simplified Chinese: 中国共产党; Traditional Chinese: 中國共産黨; pinyin: Zhōnggu ngchǎndǎng) is the ruling party of the Peoples Republic of China. ... The Chinese Civil War was a conflict in China between the Guomintang (the Nationalist Party; KMT) and the Communist Party of China (CPC). ... Yáng ShàngkÅ«n (May 25, 1907–September 14, 1998) was President of the Peoples Republic of China from 1988 to 1993, and was permanent Vice-chair of the Central Military Commission. ...

Further reading

• Jurgen Domes, P'eng Te-huai: The Man & the Image, Stanford University Press, 1985, hardcover 164 pages, ISBN 0804713030