Chen Yi
Chen Yi
(chŭn yē), 1901–72, Chinese Communist general and statesman. Chen was a political instructor (1925) in the KuomintangKuomintang[Chin.,=national people's party] (KMT), Chinese and Taiwanese political party. Sung Chiao-jen organized the party in 1912, under the nominal leadership of Sun Yat-sen, to succeed the Revolutionary Alliance.
..... Click the link for more information. Whampoa Military Academy. After the Kuomintang-Communist alliance collapsed (1927), he joined the Fourth Red Army (1928) and was an early supporter of Mao ZedongMao Zedong
or Mao Tse-tung
, 1893–1976, founder of the People's Republic of China. Mao was one of the most prominent Communist theoreticians and his ideas on revolutionary struggle and guerrilla warfare have been extremely influential, especially among Third
..... Click the link for more information. . One of the outstanding Communist military commanders, Chen became acting commander (1941) and then commander (1946) of the New Fourth Army. After 1949 he was mayor of Shanghai and a dominant figure in E China. He succeeded Zhou EnlaiZhou Enlai
or Chou En-lai
, 1898–1976, Chinese Communist leader. A member of a noted Mandarin family, he was educated at an American-supported school in China and a university in Japan. His involvement in radical movements led to several months imprisonment.
..... Click the link for more information. as foreign minister (1958), serving during a period of intense rivalry between China and Russia for influence among developing nations. Chen was severely criticized during the Cultural RevolutionCultural Revolution,
1966–76, mass mobilization of urban Chinese youth inaugurated by Mao Zedong in an attempt to prevent the development of a bureaucratized Soviet style of Communism.
..... Click the link for more information. despite attempts by Zhou to protect him. After 1967 his role was eclipsed by Zhou, who resumed the direction of foreign policy in his capacity as premier.