Ho Ch’eng-hsiang

1910

Shanxi, China

Little is known of Party work in Manchuria at that time. The paucity of information seems to derive from the underground situation in which the Party worked, in addition to a number of policy conflicts that arose between the China-directed and the Korean or Manchurian-directed Party workers conflicts that were an embarrassment to latter-day CCP historians. Following the “Mukden Incident” of September 1931, after which the Japanese quickly won control of Manchuria, the CCP headquarters in Manchuria was transferred to Harbin. Ho also moved to Harbin at this time. The situation for the Party in Manchuria became extremely difficult after the Japanese takeover, and most of its energies were concentrated on building an “anti-Japanese” guerrilla force (see under Chou Pao- chung). Ho remained in Manchuria until mid-1934 when he went to Juichin, Kiangsi, then the major area of Communist activity in China and the place where Mao Tse-tung and Chu Te had their headquarters. Virtually nothing is known of Ho’s activities for the next 15 years. The one clue comes from his identification in late 1949 as a “former” deputy director of the First Office of the CCP’s United Front Work Department. At that time the First Office was responsible for managing the CCP’s relations with the various non-Communist political parties (e.g., the China Democratic League). In December 1949, shortly after the PRC Government was established, Ho was named to head the Staff Office of the Culture and Education Committee (CEC). The CEC, chaired by Kuo Mo-jo, was one of the four major committees under the Government Administration Council (the cabinet). Ho remained in this post until 1951, by which time he had been transferred to the task that was to occupy him for the next decade. He received his new assignment in January 1951 when he was appointed to head the newly created Religious Affairs Bureau. For administrative purposes the Bureau was subordinate to the government's CEC, but in fact it took orders directly from the Party’s Propaganda Department until 1952 and from the United Front Department thereafter. When Ho became head of the Religious Affairs Bureau one of the major tasks was the formation of China’s various religious groups into national organizations. Most of this work took place between 1952 and 1954 by which time all of the major religious denominations had set up national organizations such as the Chinese Buddhist Association. Though specific details are lacking, Ho’s assignment in the Bureau suggests that he played a major role in these endeavors. For example, he was frequently reported at important religious meetings, as in mid-1954 when he was present at the First National Christian Conference. Inferential evidence is also found in the fact that he was identified in June 1953 as deputy chief of the Religious Affairs Section of the CPPCC, and by the spring of the following year he had become the Section chief. Soon after the constitutional government was inaugurated at the First NPC session in September 1954, the Religious Affairs Bureau was placed directly under the State Council, with Ho continuing as the Bureau director. However, as already noted, the real authority over the Bureau rested with the Party’s United Front Work Department.

Ho Ch’eng-hsiang

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politician

Background

He was born about 1910 and is probably a native of Shansi.

Education

A former PRC official who heard Ho speak at a meeting in 1953 claims that he is obviously a well-educated person. He was already a CCP member in 1931 when he was working in the Communists’ Manchurian Provincial Committee (Man-chou sheng- wei), the headquarters of which were located in Mukden.

Career

Little is known of Party work in Manchuria at that time. The paucity of information seems to derive from the underground situation in which the Party worked, in addition to a number of policy conflicts that arose between the China-directed and the Korean or Manchurian-directed Party workers conflicts that were an embarrassment to latter-day CCP historians. Following the “Mukden Incident” of September 1931, after which the Japanese quickly won control of Manchuria, the CCP headquarters in Manchuria was transferred to Harbin. Ho also moved to Harbin at this time. The situation for the Party in Manchuria became extremely difficult after the Japanese takeover, and most of its energies were concentrated on building an “anti-Japanese” guerrilla force (see under Chou Pao- chung). Ho remained in Manchuria until mid-1934 when he went to Juichin, Kiangsi, then the major area of Communist activity in China and the place where Mao Tse-tung and Chu Te had their headquarters.

Virtually nothing is known of Ho’s activities for the next 15 years. The one clue comes from his identification in late 1949 as a “former” deputy director of the First Office of the CCP’s United Front Work Department. At that time the First Office was responsible for managing the CCP’s relations with the various non-Communist political parties (e.g., the China Democratic League). In December 1949, shortly after the PRC Government was established, Ho was named to head the Staff Office of the Culture and Education Committee (CEC). The CEC, chaired by Kuo Mo-jo, was one of the four major committees under the Government Administration Council (the cabinet). Ho remained in this post until 1951, by which time he had been transferred to the task that was to occupy him for the next decade. He received his new assignment in January 1951 when he was appointed to head the newly created Religious Affairs Bureau. For administrative purposes the Bureau was subordinate to the government's CEC, but in fact it took orders directly from the Party’s Propaganda Department until 1952 and from the United Front Department thereafter.

When Ho became head of the Religious Affairs Bureau one of the major tasks was the formation of China’s various religious groups into national organizations. Most of this work took place between 1952 and 1954 by which time all of the major religious denominations had set up national organizations such as the Chinese Buddhist Association. Though specific details are lacking, Ho’s assignment in the Bureau suggests that he played a major role in these endeavors. For example, he was frequently reported at important religious meetings, as in mid-1954 when he was present at the First National Christian Conference. Inferential evidence is also found in the fact that he was identified in June 1953 as deputy chief of the Religious Affairs Section of the CPPCC, and by the spring of the following year he had become the Section chief. Soon after the constitutional government was inaugurated at the First NPC session in September 1954, the Religious Affairs Bureau was placed directly under the State Council, with Ho continuing as the Bureau director. However, as already noted, the real authority over the Bureau rested with the Party’s United Front Work Department.

Politics

Ho was most frequently reported in the national press during the mid-fifties, a period when the Chinese Communists made a concerted effort to cultivate friendly relations with non-Communist governments (e.g., Indonesia), many of which strongly supported their own religious groups. As a consequence, Ho was often in attendance when top PRC officials feted foreign religious officials visiting Peking. Foreshadowing these new ties, the Communists had established in May 1954 the Chinese People’s Association for Cultural Relations with Foreign Countries (CPACRFC). Ho was named a Board member of the Association, a position he may still hold. Paralleling this “mass” organization, the central government established the Commission for Cultural Relations with Foreign Countries under the State Council in early 1958. Ho became a Commission member in March of that year and still retains this post. Moreover, he belongs to three “friendship” associations subordinate to the CPACRFC; he was elected a vice-chairman of the China-Poland Friendship Association (FA) upon its formation in September 1958, he has been a Council member of the China-Nepal FA since mid-1959, and he was also named to Council membership in the China-Latin America FA when it was established in March 1960. Beginning in late May 1958, Ho spent two months abroad leading a religious affairs delegation on a tour of Hungary, Czechoslovakia, East Germany, and the Soviet Union.

After working more than a decade in the Religious Affairs Bureau, Ho was replaced in July 1961 by Hsiao Hsien-fa whose antecedents are unknown. His services in the Bureau spanned the years when China’s religious groups were permanently established along organizational lines by the Communists. Ho’s role seems to have been mainly that of an administrator; policy decisions almost certainly came from more important Communists men such as Chang Chih-i, a deputy director of the Party’s United Front Work Department. Within two months of Ho’s removal, he was identified as a vice-governor of Kansu, an assignment probably made because of the heavy concentration of Muslims (Hui) in that province. He continues to be involved in affairs at least indirectly related to religious groups, as in October 1963 when he went to Ninghsia (another strong-hold of Muslim peoples) to attend meetings celebrating the fifth anniversary of the establishment of the Ninghsia-Hui Autonomous Region, or in July 1964 when he spoke at a festival held to promote spare time culture among the minority peoples in Kansu.

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Ho Ch’eng-hsiang

Background

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1949

January, 1951

1953