1903–1975.3.2.
↓ Arrested 1955 · died in prison
The East China leader purged with Gao Gang in the “Gao–Rao anti-party alliance”, the People’s Republic’s first high-level purge
Ran East China with Chen Yi, then moved to Beijing in 1953 to head the Central Organisation Department. Purged with Gao Gang in 1954, stripped of party membership in 1955; died in custody in 1975, never rehabilitated.
From Jiangxi, he became political commissar of the New Fourth Army after the 1941 incident and, as secretary of the East China Bureau in the civil war, ran the region with Chen Yi. After 1949 he chaired the East China military-administrative committee and headed the Central Organisation Department. Accused in 1953–1954 of plotting with Gao Gang to displace Liu Shaoqi and Zhou Enlai, he was condemned as the “Gao–Rao anti-party alliance” and arrested in 1955. Held without trial, he died in prison in 1975 and, unlike Gao Gang, was never formally rehabilitated.
Also known as: Jao Shu-shih
Activities and affiliations
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1925–1955
Political and party leadership
- Secretary of the East China Bureau, Head of the Organisation Department1949–1954
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1941–1945
Chinese Communist revolutionary forces (before 1949)Political leadership in the New Fourth Army
Military command -
People’s Republic of China state institutionsChairman of the East China Military and Administrative CommitteeMain
Political and party leadership
Career Timeline
- 1925Joined the CCP
- 1941–1945Political leadership in the New Fourth Army
- 1949–1952Chairman of the East China Military and Administrative Committee
- 1953–1954Head of the Central Organisation Department
- 1953–1954Head, CCP Central Organization Department
- 1954Purged alongside Gao Gang
Related historical events
Leadership of the East China Bureau and the postwar party organization
In September 1945, the Chinese Communist Party Central Committee established the East China Bureau and placed the Central China Sub-bureau under it. The bureau was the highest party leadership body for the East China region, implementing central strategy locally and coordinating its work. In November the Central Committee appointed Rao Shushi as secretary; Chen Yi and Li Yu became deputy secretaries in December. When the Central Committee reorganized the bureau in October 1949, Rao became first secretary and Chen second secretary. These posts illustrate Rao’s leading organizational role in East China before and around the founding of the People’s Republic. The National Human Rights Museum’s account describes the bureau as directing the region’s party organizations and other work.