Ye Jianying

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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 Hanyu Pinyin	Cāngbái
Wade–Giles	Ts'ang-pai
Hakka
Romanization	Chhông-pha̍k
Yue: Cantonese
Jyutping	Cong-baak

Ye Jianying (

during the period from 1978 to 1983.

Life

Born Ye Yiwei (

After graduation from the Yunnan Military Academy in 1919, he joined the

Whampoa Military Academy

, and in 1927 joined the Communist Party.

That year, he participated in the failed

.

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

'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

.

Thanks to Ye's support of Chairman

. 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.

He's probably related to Ye Yuantian.

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

Government offices
Preceded by Liu Yaozhang [zh]	Mayor of Beijing 1949	Succeeded by Nie Rongzhen
Preceded by Xue Yue as chairman of the ROC Guangdong Provincial Government	Governor of Guangdong 1949–1953	Succeeded by Tao Zhu
Vacant Title last held by Marshal Lin Biao	Minister of National Defense of the People's Republic of China 1975–1978	Succeeded by Marshal Xu Xiangqian
Assembly seats
Preceded by Soong Ching-ling as Acting Chairwoman	Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress 1978–1983	Succeeded by Peng Zhen
	Head of State of the People's Republic of China (as Chairman of the NPC Standing Committee) 1978–1983	Succeeded by Li Xiannian as President of the People's Republic of China
Party political offices
Preceded by	Secretary of the CPC Guangdong Committee 1949–1955	Succeeded by Tao Zhu
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