Chen Geng

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
In this Chinese name, the family name is Chen.
Chen Geng
陈赓
People's Liberation Army General Staff Department
In office
31 October 1954 – October 1959
ChiefSu Yu→Huang Kecheng
President of PLA Military Engineering Institute
In office
11 July 1952 – 16 March 1961
Preceded byPosition established
Succeeded byLiu Juying
Political Commissar of PLA Military Engineering Institute
In office
September 1953 – May 1958
Preceded byPosition established
Succeeded byXie Youfa
Chairman of Yunnan Government
In office
January 1950 – April 1955
Preceded byPosition established
Succeeded byGuo Yingqiu
Personal details
Born(1903-02-27)February 27, 1903
Hanyu Pinyin
Chén Gēng

Chen Geng (

senior general
in 1955. He then founded an academy of military technologies but died before finalizing the ballistic missile and nuclear weapons programs.

Biography

Born in Xiangxiang, Hunan, Chen Geng was the second child in a sibling group of 12.[1][2] His grandfather Chen Yihuai (陈益怀) was an officer in the Xiang Army led by Zeng Guofan, a statesman, military general, and Confucian scholar of the late Qing dynasty (1644–1911).[3][2] After his retirement, Chen Yihuai bought agricultural land with the reward, and by the time Chen Geng was born, his family owned several hundred mu and became one of the wealthiest in the region.[3][2] Chen's father was named Chen Daoliang and his mother named Peng Xuexian.[3][4] But as his only older brother died young from illness, Chen became the eldest son of the family.[3][5] At 13, his father arranged a marriage with a daughter two years older, but Chen refused the marriage and left his family to join the warlord's army.[6][7] It was a disillusioned Chen who left the army at 18 and found a job at the Hunan Railway Bureau as a receptionist.[8][9] During this period, he met Mao Zedong.[10][9]

Chen joined the

Whampoa Military Academy in 1924.[11][12] Chen, Jiang Xianyun [zh], and He Zonghan [zh], were considered the top three students of the academy at the time.[13][12] Chen gained the confidence of Chiang Kai-shek and became commander of his garrison.[14][15] In October 1925, during the second campaign against the local warlord Chen Jiongming, Chiang suffered a stunning defeat, Chiang was covered with shame but refused to flee, trying to kill himself.[16][15] Chen Geng managed to take his pistol and piggy backed him for around 10km out of danger.[16][15] He thus gained Chiang's confidence; however, when the Kuomintang broke ties with the Communists in 1927, Chen went underground as a Communist agent in Shanghai.[17][18]

In March 1933, Chen was sent to Shanghai to treat his leg wounds, but Chen was captured in Shanghai by the

Song Qingling and other Communists.[23] He moved to the Central Soviet Area and was appointed president of Peng Pai Yang Yin Infantry School (彭湃杨殷步兵学校).[24] From October 1934 to December 1935, he fought against the Kuomintang army in Guizhou and then in Shanxi, Shaanxi and Gansu in 1936.[25] In February 1937 he was accepted to Counter-Japanese Military and Political University.[26][27]

When the

Huaihai Campaign.[31] The war ended and the 4th Column became the 4th Army Group, and Chen served as commander and political commissar. His troops entered Yunnan in 1949.[32][33]

At the request of Chen's longtime friend

senior general in September 1955 by Chairman Mao Zedong. His brother-in-law, Tan Zheng, who was married to Chen's sister, Chen Qiuju, was strongly influenced by Chen to join the Communists and became a senior general at the same time.[36]

Returning from the Korean War, Chen founded the PLA Military Engineering Institute in Harbin, engaging in the development of technological weapons.[37] The school became one of the most famous universities in China in a few years.[37] Because of his experience, Chen focused on China's ballistic missile and nuclear weapons program.[37] He died of a heart attack in Shanghai on March 16, 1961.

Personal life

In 1927 Chen married Wang Genying (王根英), who was killed in the Second Sino-Japanese War. She was survived by their son:

  • Chen Zhifei (陈知非), engineer.

In February 1942, he married Fu Ya (傅涯), the couple had four children, one daughter and three sons, in order of birth:

  • Chen Zhijian (陈知建), military officer.
  • Chen Zhijin (陈知进), doctor and professor, only daughter.
  • Chen Zhishu (陈知庶), military officer.
  • Chen Zhiya (陈知涯), politician.

Chen Geng was well known as a joker and a prankster amongst comrades. He was a gifted performer and was well known for his gags and play acting. This proved instrumental in his underground work. He was jovial and well liked by both Communist comrades as well as former classmates in Whampoa who became Nationalist officers as well as Chiang Kai-shek himself. This, as well as having once saved Chiang's life a decade ago, proved critical for his release from Chiang's custody in 1933. He had a caring attitude towards comrades and was instrumental in arranging Peng Dehuai's marriage to Pu Anxiu. He was the only Communist Whampoa student to visit his rehabilitated former classmates that had come out of Gongde Lin prison.

References

  1. ^ Mu Xin (2010), p. 1.
  2. ^ a b c Yin Jiamin (2015), p. 5–8.
  3. ^ a b c d Mu Xin (2010), p. 3–7.
  4. ^ Yin Jiamin (2015), p. 9.
  5. ^ Yin Jiamin (2015), p. 9–12.
  6. ^ Mu Xin (2010), p. 8–9.
  7. ^ Yin Jiamin (2015), p. 13–15.
  8. ^ Mu Xin (2010), p. 12–14.
  9. ^ a b Yin Jiamin (2015), p. 19–21.
  10. ^ Mu Xin (2010), p. 14–20.
  11. ^ Mu Xin (2010), p. 38.
  12. ^ a b Yin Jiamin (2015), p. 28–36.
  13. ^ Mu Xin (2010), p. 38–40.
  14. ^ Mu Xin (2010), p. 45–45.
  15. ^ a b c Yin Jiamin (2015), p. 39–49.
  16. ^ a b Mu Xin (2010), p. 48–60.
  17. ^ Mu Xin (2010), p. 68–80.
  18. ^ Yin Jiamin (2015), p. 55–67.
  19. ^ Mu Xin (2010), p. 87–89.
  20. ^ a b Yin Jiamin (2015), p. 68–72.
  21. ^ Mu Xin (2010), p. 91–92.
  22. ^ Mu Xin (2010), p. 93–94.
  23. ^ Mu Xin (2010), p. 97–98.
  24. ^ Mu Xin (2010), p. 102–104.
  25. ^ Mu Xin (2010), p. 112–135.
  26. ^ Mu Xin (2010), p. 142.
  27. ^ Yin Jiamin (2015), p. 112–158.
  28. ^ Mu Xin (2010), p. 175–250.
  29. ^ Mu Xin (2010), p. 263–289.
  30. ^ Mu Xin (2010), p. 293.
  31. ^ Mu Xin (2010), p. 296–323.
  32. ^ Mu Xin (2010), p. 325.
  33. ^ Yin Jiamin (2015), p. 162–278.
  34. ^ Mu Xin (2010), p. 328.
  35. ^ Mu Xin (2010), p. 330–350.
  36. ^ Yin Jiamin (2015), p. 3–5.
  37. ^ a b c Teng Xugun (2013), p. 1–15.

Bibliography

  • Mu Xin (2010). 陈赓传 [Biography of Chen Geng] (in Chinese). Beijing: People's Publishing House.
    ISBN 9787010092614
    .
  • Yin Jiamin (2015). 传奇大将陈赓 [Legendary General Chen Geng] (in Chinese). Beijing: Contemporary China Publishing House.
    ISBN 9787515403977
    .
  • Teng Xugun (2013). 陈赓大将与哈军工 [Senior General Chen Geng and the Harbin Institute of Military Engineering] (in Chinese). Beijing: Contemporary China Publishing House.
    ISBN 9787515401478
    .
Government offices
Preceded by
Position established
 Chairman (Governor) of Yunnan Government
1950–1955 		Succeeded by
Military offices
Preceded by
Position established
 President of PLA Military Engineering Institute
1952–1961 		Succeeded by
Preceded by
Position established
 Political Commissar of PLA Military Engineering Institute
1953–1958 		Succeeded by
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