1916.1.1.–2015.8.21.
↓ Left office 1980 · natural causes
Mao’s bodyguard chief whose Zhongnanhai Unit 8341 arrested the Gang of Four, then pushed aside for the “two whatevers”
"A loyal soldier of Chairman Mao to the end": he guarded Mao for decades and had Unit 8341 arrest the Gang of Four in 1976.
From Jiangxi, he guarded Mao after the Long March and from 1949 headed the Central Guard Bureau (Unit 8341), managing the leadership’s security and daily life. Director of the General Office during the Cultural Revolution and trusted by Mao, in October 1976 he used Unit 8341 with Ye Jianying and Hua Guofeng to arrest Jiang Qing and the Gang of Four. Made party vice-chairman in 1977, he backed Hua’s “two whatevers” against Deng Xiaoping, resigned the vice-chairmanship in 1980 and left politics. He died in 2015 at 99.
Also known as: Wang Tung-hsing
Activities and affiliations
-
1932–2015
Political and party leadership
- Vice-Chairman, CCP Central Committee1977–1980
- Director, CCP General Office1965–1978
-
1955–1958
People’s Republic of China state institutionsDeputy Minister of Public Security
Security, intelligence and policing -
1960–1970
People’s Republic of China state institutionsDeputy Minister of Public Security
Security, intelligence and policing -
People’s Republic of China state institutionsDirector of the Central Guard BureauMain
Security, intelligence and policing
Career Timeline
- 1932–2015CCP member
- 1933Joined the Chinese Red Army
- 1949–1977Director of the Central Guard Bureau (Unit 8341)
- 1955–1958Deputy Minister of Public Security
- 1965–1978Director, CCP General Office
- 1976Participated in the arrest of the Gang of Four
- 1977–1980Vice-Chairman of the Central Committee
- 1977–1980Vice-Chairman, CCP Central Committee
- 1980Stepped down as CCP vice-chairman
Related historical events
- 1949Establishment of the People’s Republic of ChinaMao’s security chief on the Moscow tripHe guarded Mao’s train journey in December 1949.
- 1966–1976The Cultural RevolutionExecuted the arrests with Unit 8341Directed the arrests at Zhongnanhai on 6 October 1976.
- 1976–1992Reform and opening: the Deng Xiaoping eraVice-chairman who backed the two whateversResigned the vice-chairmanship in 1980.
Building Mao's Security Apparatus, Demotion and Recall
Wang Dongxing's longest-running role was not a policy post but the construction and management of Mao Zedong's personal security apparatus at Zhongnanhai. With the founding of the People's Republic he became deputy director of the Party's General Office and, more importantly, director of the 9th Bureau of the Ministry of Public Security, which handled Mao's personal protection and also guarded Zhongnanhai, the seat of government power; the 8341 Special Regiment was part of that bureau. He and his men were the only people permitted to carry weapons inside Zhongnanhai, and Mao trusted him with vetting the background of everyone working there, not only bodyguards but waiters, cooks and secretaries.
The security portfolio carried both advancement and sudden reversal. In 1955 he became Deputy Minister of Public Security under Luo Ruiqing and was awarded the rank of Major General of the People's Liberation Army for his work in public security. In June 1958 Mao abruptly demoted him, sending him to Jiangxi as director of the provincial Land Reclamation Department; from February 1959 to August 1960 he sat on the Jiangxi Provincial Committee standing committee and served as vice president and Party secretary of the Jiangxi Communist Labor University. In August 1960 Mao recalled him to Beijing and reappointed him chief of his bodyguards and Deputy Minister of Public Security.
Through the upheaval of the Cultural Revolution he remained a loyal and effective associate of Mao, though he could not prevent Red Guards from attacking officers of the Ministry of Public Security. After Mao's death he became Party Vice Chairman and a member of the Politburo Standing Committee under Hua Guofeng.