From Whampoa instructor to marshal, the soldier who organised the arrest of the Gang of Four in 1976 and ended the Cultural Revolution
On 6 October 1976 he led the Party elders and generals who ordered the arrest of the Gang of Four, ending the Cultural Revolution.
A Hakka from Guangdong, he taught at the Whampoa Military Academy, joined the party in 1927 and took part in the Guangzhou Uprising. As chief of staff on the Long March he warned Mao of Zhang Guotao’s split, and he was chief of staff through the war with Japan and the civil war and took over Beiping in 1949. Made a marshal in 1955, he was criticised in the “February Countercurrent” of 1967 but survived to run the army after Lin Biao’s death. In October 1976, after Mao died, he decided and executed the arrest of the Gang of Four with Hua Guofeng and Wang Dongxing, and in 1978 backed Deng Xiaoping’s return. As chairman of the National People’s Congress Standing Committee (1978–1983) he acted as head of state.
Also known as: Yeh Chien-ying
Activities and affiliations
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1924–1927
Republic of China state institutionsWhampoa faculty deputy director; NRA commander
Military command -
–1927
Military command
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1927–1949
Chinese Communist revolutionary forces (before 1949)Red Army Chief of Staff; Eighth Route Army Chief of Staff
Military command -
1927–1986
Political and party leadership
- First Secretary of the CCP South China Sub-bureau1949–
- Politburo member (Standing Committee and Vice Chairman from 1973)1966–1985
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1949–
People’s Republic of China state institutionsChairman of Guangdong; Mayor of Guangzhou
Government and administration -
1958–
People’s Republic of China state institutionsFirst President of the Academy of Military Science
Military command -
1966–1985
People’s Republic of China state institutionsVice Chairman of the Central Military Commission
Military command -
1978–1983
People’s Republic of China state institutionsChairman of the NPC Standing Committee
Legislature and state representation -
People’s Republic of China state institutionsMinister of National DefenceMain
Military command
Career Timeline
- 1917–1920Graduated from the Yunnan Military Academy; joined Sun Yat-sen’s movement
- 1924–1927Deputy director of the Whampoa faculty; NRA officer in the Eastern Expeditions and Northern Expedition
- 1927Secretly joined the CCP; took part in the Guangzhou Uprising
- 1928–1930Military course at Sun Yat-sen University in Moscow
- 1931–1934Chief of the General Staff of the Soviet Republic’s Central Revolutionary Military Commission; president of the Red Army School
- 1937–1945Chief of Staff of the Eighth Route Army and liaison with the Nationalists; CMC chief of staff from 1941
- 1949Mayor of Beijing, then First Secretary of the South China Sub-bureau and Chairman of Guangdong
- 1955Marshal of the People’s Republic of China
- 1958First President of the Academy of Military Science
- 1966–1985CMC Vice Chairman; Politburo member (Standing Committee and party Vice Chairman from 1973)
- 1975–1978Minister of National Defence
- 1976.10Led the arrest of the Gang of Four with Hua Guofeng and Wang Dongxing
- 1978–1983Chairman of the NPC Standing Committee
Related historical events
- 1924–1927The first united front, the Northern Expedition and the catastrophe of 1927Chief of staff in the Northern ExpeditionIn July 1926 he joined the Northern Expedition as chief of staff of the First Army General Reserve Command.
- 1927–1936From Jinggangshan to Yan’an: the soviet bases and the Long MarchChief of staff who reported Zhang Guotao’s movePassed Zhang Guotao’s telegram to Mao in September 1935, enabling the march north.
- 1937–1945The war with Japan and the second united frontCommunist negotiator at Xi’anWith Zhou Enlai and Bo Gu he took part in the negotiations that settled the Xi’an incident peacefully.
- 1945–1949The Chinese Civil WarOfficer involved in taking over BeipingIn 1949, he took part in the takeover of Beiping during the Chinese Civil War.
- 1966–1976The Cultural RevolutionVeteran of the “February Countercurrent” and organiser of the arrest of the GangProtested against the Group in 1967 and decided the arrests of October 1976.
- 1976–1992Reform and opening: the Deng Xiaoping eraVeteran who backed Deng’s returnSupported Deng’s return in 1977 and the turn of 1978.
From soldier under Sun Yat-sen to the break with Chiang Kai-shek
Ye entered the Yunnan Military Academy in 1917, graduated in January 1920 and joined Sun Yat-sen's revolutionary movement. He took part in Sun's campaign against the Old Guangxi Clique that year and accompanied Sun on an inspection tour of Guangxi in October 1921. During Chen Jiongming's rebellion in June 1922, Ye, then a battalion commander in the Naval Landing Corps, led his troops in escorting Sun to safety before fighting Chen's forces. He went on to serve as chief of staff of the 8th Brigade in Fujian and returned to Guangdong to campaign against Chen; his role in the victory at Yanling Pass established his reputation as a capable officer.
In early 1924 Ye became chief of staff of the Second Division of the Guangdong Army and, at Liao Zhongkai's invitation, joined preparations for the Whampoa Military Academy, becoming deputy director of its Faculty Department on 5 May 1924 and teaching weapons science. At Whampoa he came into contact with Communist Party members and began to be influenced by Marxism-Leninism, and around 1925 he submitted his first application to join the party. The party sent Xiong Rui to meet him, but no decision was reached: some members argued that as a senior officer in Chiang Kai-shek's forces he should remain under observation, and the application was left unresolved.
In July 1926 he joined the Northern Expedition as chief of staff of the General Reserve Command of the First Army of the National Revolutionary Army and took part in the Nanchang Campaign. Chiang Kai-shek offered him command of the elite First Division, which he declined, citing ill health. When Chiang's purge of Communists and left-wing Kuomintang members in April 1927 brought White Terror to Jiangxi, with martial law in Ji'an and the suppression of trade unions, peasant associations, student organizations and newspapers, Ye declared his support for the Wuhan Nationalist Government and drafted a telegram openly opposing Chiang. He then led left-wing officers to Wuhan, where he became chief of staff of the Fourth Army; Chiang expelled him from the Kuomintang in response. In July 1927, through the introduction of Li Shi'an and with Zhou Enlai's approval, Ye secretly joined the Chinese Communist Party.
Shortly before the Nanchang Uprising he learned of a plan by Wang Jingwei to arrest or eliminate Ye Ting and He Long. He secretly met the two commanders aboard a small boat on Gantang Lake in Jiujiang, warning them of the danger and urging them to move their forces swiftly to Nanchang. After the uprising was defeated he persuaded Zhang Fakui not to pursue the retreating insurgents, helping facilitate their withdrawal.