Chao Shou-shan

1893 (age 72)

Sian, China

By the mid-1930’s Chao was in charge of the garrison command in Han-chung, southern Shensi. In 1936 his troops were transferred to an area north of Sian to fight against the Communists, who were gaining strength in the area following the arrival of the first of the Long Marchers a year earlier. On December 12, 1936, dissident KMT Generals Chang Hsueh-liang and Yang Hu-ch’eng kidnapped Chiang Kai-shek in Sian on the grounds that he was not offering sufficient resistance to continuing Japanese incursions into north China; the kidnapping has come to be known as the Sian Incident. At this juncture, Chao’s forces were transferred to Sian to take up garrison duties. In the Communist-written obituary, Chao is credited with having “played an active role” in this famous incident. After the release of Chiang Kai-shek (late December 1936), Yang Hu-ch’eng was arrested, whereupon Chao was appointed as commander of the Nationalist’s 38th Army, previously one of Yang’s units. Chao spent the remainder of the war in the Hopeh-Shansi-Honan area fighting Japanese forces. The Communist account of Chao’s political activities in the post-Sian incident days reads as follows: “He worked for the Party on his own initiative, protecting the Communist organizations and other anti-Japanese patriotic elements of the troops under his command.” Finally, “In 1942, Comrade Chao joined the CCP and, under the leadership of the Party, continued to serve in the KMT Army and engage in the revolutionary work.” Although this date for entering the CCP cannot be corroborated, it does not seem unlikely in view of the concerted efforts by the Communists to woo many of the sympathetic officers stationed in the North-west and in view of the fact that Chao was one of the earliest of the KMT officers to defect to the Communists after the war. Chao continued to serve in the Nationalist Army in Shensi for a brief time after the war. However, in 1947 he was recalled to Nanking, then the Nationalist capital, for his failure to prosecute the anti-Communist campaign. There he was named to a nominal post as a councillor to the Military Council and ordered to make an “inspection tour” abroad. Instead, Chao flew to Tientsin and then made his way into the Communist-held territories in the spring of 1947. Taking advantage of his intimate familiarity with the northwest, the Communists assigned him to the Northwest People’s Liberation Army (NW- PLA), where he became a deputy commander under P’eng Te-huai. (When the NWPLA was redesignated as the First Field Army in early 1949, Chao continued to hold this post.) Following the establishment of the central government in Peking in the early fall of 1949, Chao returned to the northwest. Now, however, the Communist armies had pushed beyond Sian where he had previously been posted. Therefore, he was sent to Tsinghai Province, where he became the first Communist governor; he was officially appointed in early December 1949, although the provincial government was not established until January 1, 1950. At the same time that he received this provincial appointment, he was also named to the regional government administration known as the Northwest Military and Administrative Committee (NW-MAC), responsible for the provinces of Shensi, Kansu, Ninghsia, Tsinghai, and Sinkiang. The NWMAC was formally inaugurated in January 1950, and when it was reorganized in January 1953 into the Northwest Administrative Committee, Chao was reappointed to membership. During his time in Tsinghai, he held at least two other positions; in July 1951 he was named to membership on the provincial Land Reform Committee and in May of 1952 he was identified as a member of the Northwest branch of the China Peace Committee, one of the more active of the “people’s” organizations, especially in the early 1950’s. Chao was named in November 1952 as the new Shensi governor, replacing Ma Ming-fang, one of the most important Party officials in the northwest in the early 1950’s. For about half of the nearly seven years that he served as the Shensi governor, Chao was rather active in the functions normally exercised by a provincial official of that rank-making inspections of industrial and agricultural projects, speaking before the sessions of the provincial government council, and attending rallies to mark one or another of the Communist holidays. Chao seems to have been particularly involved in water and soil conservation projects. For example, in October 1955 he was named as chairman of a special Shensi committee to “support the Sanmen Gorge project,” a multi-purpose scheme on the always troublesome Yellow River (see under Liu's Tzu-hou). Also, in June 1956 at a session of the NPC, Chao spoke on water and soil conservation in the Yellow River area, claiming that over 6,700 square kilometers of usable land had been added between 1955 and 1956. It was also in 1956 that Chao attended the Party’s Eighth National Congress as a deputy from Shensi. From October to December 1952 Chao was abroad for the first time, traveling to North Korea as a deputy leader of Ho Lung’s large delegation to inspect and “comfort” Chinese Communist troops there. Three years later (September 1955), the Chinese Communists awarded their military officers with orders covering the period from the birth of the Red Army in 1927 to the eve of the Korean War in 1950. Chao was among those receiving the awards, although the specific order he received was not published. (Presumably he received at least the “Order of Liberation,” covering the period of the civil war with the Nationalists in the late 1940’s.) Although Chao was not originally elected to the First NPC in 1954, he was named in 1956 to fill a vacancy, serving as a deputy from Shensi. He was elected again from Shensi to the Second NPC (1959-1964) as well as the Third NPC that opened in December 1964. After the latter part of 1956, Chao began to make only infrequent appearances in Shensi. In fact, Vice-governor Chao Po-p’ing, a politically more important man than Chao Shou-shan, served for most of the period from late 1956 to mid-1959 as the acting governor. Nonetheless, Chao was re-elected as the Shensi governor in August 1958. He was again appointed to membership on the NPC Standing Committee and the National Defense Council in January 1965, but in view of his inactivity in the last five years of his life, these appointments were probably pro forma. In any event, Chao died in Peking on June 20, 1965, at the age of 72.

Chao Shou-shan

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politician

Background

He was born about 1893 in a poor peasant family in Hu-hsien, just a few miles southwest of Sian, the capital of Shensi.

Education

Nothing is known of his education aside from the fact that he attended a surveying school, after which he served in the forces under Yang Hu-ch’eng, a warlord and onetime governor of Shensi.

Career

By the mid-1930’s Chao was in charge of the garrison command in Han-chung, southern Shensi. In 1936 his troops were transferred to an area north of Sian to fight against the Communists, who were gaining strength in the area following the arrival of the first of the Long Marchers a year earlier. On December 12, 1936, dissident KMT Generals Chang Hsueh-liang and Yang Hu-ch’eng kidnapped Chiang Kai-shek in Sian on the grounds that he was not offering sufficient resistance to continuing Japanese incursions into north China; the kidnapping has come to be known as the Sian Incident. At this juncture, Chao’s forces were transferred to Sian to take up garrison duties. In the Communist-written obituary, Chao is credited with having “played an active role” in this famous incident.

After the release of Chiang Kai-shek (late December 1936), Yang Hu-ch’eng was arrested, whereupon Chao was appointed as commander of the Nationalist’s 38th Army, previously one of Yang’s units. Chao spent the remainder of the war in the Hopeh-Shansi-Honan area fighting Japanese forces. The Communist account of Chao’s political activities in the post-Sian incident days reads as follows: “He worked for the Party on his own initiative, protecting the Communist organizations and other anti-Japanese patriotic elements of the troops under his command.” Finally, “In 1942, Comrade Chao joined the CCP and, under the leadership of the Party, continued to serve in the KMT Army and engage in the revolutionary work.” Although this date for entering the CCP cannot be corroborated, it does not seem unlikely in view of the concerted efforts by the Communists to woo many of the sympathetic officers stationed in the North-west and in view of the fact that Chao was one of the earliest of the KMT officers to defect to the Communists after the war.

Chao continued to serve in the Nationalist Army in Shensi for a brief time after the war. However, in 1947 he was recalled to Nanking, then the Nationalist capital, for his failure to prosecute the anti-Communist campaign. There he was named to a nominal post as a councillor to the Military Council and ordered to make an “inspection tour” abroad. Instead, Chao flew to Tientsin and then made his way into the Communist-held territories in the spring of 1947. Taking advantage of his intimate familiarity with the northwest, the Communists assigned him to the Northwest People’s Liberation Army (NW- PLA), where he became a deputy commander under P’eng Te-huai. (When the NWPLA was redesignated as the First Field Army in early 1949, Chao continued to hold this post.)

Following the establishment of the central government in Peking in the early fall of 1949, Chao returned to the northwest. Now, however, the Communist armies had pushed beyond Sian where he had previously been posted. Therefore, he was sent to Tsinghai Province, where he became the first Communist governor; he was officially appointed in early December 1949, although the provincial government was not established until January 1, 1950. At the same time that he received this provincial appointment, he was also named to the regional government administration known as the Northwest Military and Administrative Committee (NW-MAC), responsible for the provinces of Shensi, Kansu, Ninghsia, Tsinghai, and Sinkiang. The NWMAC was formally inaugurated in January 1950, and when it was reorganized in January 1953 into the Northwest Administrative Committee, Chao was reappointed to membership. During his time in Tsinghai, he held at least two other positions; in July 1951 he was named to membership on the provincial Land Reform Committee and in May of 1952 he was identified as a member of the Northwest branch of the China Peace Committee, one of the more active of the “people’s” organizations, especially in the early 1950’s.

Chao was named in November 1952 as the new Shensi governor, replacing Ma Ming-fang, one of the most important Party officials in the northwest in the early 1950’s. For about half of the nearly seven years that he served as the Shensi governor, Chao was rather active in the functions normally exercised by a provincial official of that rank-making inspections of industrial and agricultural projects, speaking before the sessions of the provincial government council, and attending rallies to mark one or another of the Communist holidays. Chao seems to have been particularly involved in water and soil conservation projects. For example, in October 1955 he was named as chairman of a special Shensi committee to “support the Sanmen Gorge project,” a multi-purpose scheme on the always troublesome Yellow River (see under Liu's Tzu-hou). Also, in June 1956 at a session of the NPC, Chao spoke on water and soil conservation in the Yellow River area, claiming that over 6,700 square kilometers of usable land had been added between 1955 and 1956. It was also in 1956 that Chao attended the Party’s Eighth National Congress as a deputy from Shensi.

From October to December 1952 Chao was abroad for the first time, traveling to North Korea as a deputy leader of Ho Lung’s large delegation to inspect and “comfort” Chinese Communist troops there. Three years later (September 1955), the Chinese Communists awarded their military officers with orders covering the period from the birth of the Red Army in 1927 to the eve of the Korean War in 1950. Chao was among those receiving the awards, although the specific order he received was not published. (Presumably he received at least the “Order of Liberation,” covering the period of the civil war with the Nationalists in the late 1940’s.)

Although Chao was not originally elected to the First NPC in 1954, he was named in 1956 to fill a vacancy, serving as a deputy from Shensi. He was elected again from Shensi to the Second NPC (1959-1964) as well as the Third NPC that opened in December 1964. After the latter part of 1956, Chao began to make only infrequent appearances in Shensi. In fact, Vice-governor Chao Po-p’ing, a politically more important man than Chao Shou-shan, served for most of the period from late 1956 to mid-1959 as the acting governor. Nonetheless, Chao was re-elected as the Shensi governor in August 1958.

He was again appointed to membership on the NPC Standing Committee and the National Defense Council in January 1965, but in view of his inactivity in the last five years of his life, these appointments were probably pro forma. In any event, Chao died in Peking on June 20, 1965, at the age of 72.

Politics

Although Chao’s entire career had been spent in military life, his service to the Communists after 1949 was almost exclusively devoted to civil administration. His first post with an essentially civilian orientation was given to him in May 1949 when the Communists captured Sian, Communist military leader Ho Lung was named as the chairman of the municipal Military Control Commission, with Chao and two other veteran Communist military men (Chia T’o-fu and Kan Szu-ch’i) serving as Ho’s deputies.

In September 1949 Chao was in Peking for the meetings of the CPPCC that formally brought the central government into existence. Chao attended as one of the representatives of the First Field Army and, in a brief speech, castigated Chiang Kai-shek’s “reactionary government.” He also served on the ad hoc committee charged with the task of selecting the PRC flag, the new capital city, and national day (October 1). At the close of the meetings he was named to membership on the First National Committee of the CPPCC, holding the post until the Second Committee was established in December 1954. Although the CPPCC has been only marginally important since 1954, it was an organ of considerable importance from 1949 to 1954; together four plenary sessions of the First National Committee were held between 1949 and 1954, with Chao returning from the northwest to attend each of these sessions.

Membership

In 1952, Chao was transferred to his native Shensi, relinquishing his gubernatorial post in Tsinghai to Chang Chung-liang, later to become an alternate member of the Party Central Committee.

He was named to membership on both the NPC Standing Committee and the military advisory organ known as the National Defense Council. Shortly thereafter (July 1959), Chao “requested his release from the duties of governorship because of his transfer to the central leadership.” The governorship of Shensi fell to Chao Po-p’ing, the man who had been serving as the acting governor.

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Chao Shou-shan

Background

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1936

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1956