Zhang Zhen (general)

Zhang Zhen (Chinese: 张震; pinyin: Zhāng Zhèn; 5 October 1914 – 3 September 2015) was a general of the People's Liberation Army of China and a member of the Central Military Commission of the Chinese Communist Party.

In this Chinese name, the family name is Zhang.

Zhang Zhen
张震
Vice Chairman of the Central Military Commission of the Chinese Communist Party
In office 18 October 1992 – 18 September 1997 Serving with Liu Huaqing, Chi Haotian and Zhang Wannian
Chairman	Jiang Zemin
Head of the PLA General Logistics Department
In office February 1978 – January 1980
Preceded by	Zhang Zongxun
Succeeded by	Hong Xuezhi
Head of the PLA General Staff Operations Department
In office March 1952 – December 1954
Preceded by	Li Tao
Succeeded by	Wang Shangrong
Personal details
Born	(1914-10-05)5 October 1914 Pingjiang County, Hunan Province, Republic of China
Died	3 September 2015(2015-09-03) (aged 100) Beijing, China
Political party	Chinese Communist Party
Military service
Allegiance	People's Republic of China
Branch/service	Chinese Red Army New Fourth Army  People's Liberation Army Ground Force
Years of service	1930–1998
Rank	General
Battles/wars	Second Sino-Japanese War Chinese Civil War Korean War
Awards	August 1 Medal (2nd Class; 1955) Order of Independence and Freedom (1st Class; 1955) Order of Liberation (1st Class; 1955)
Chinese name
Simplified Chinese	张震
Traditional Chinese	張震
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Zhāng Zhèn

Biography

Zhang was born in Pingjiang County, Hunan Province, with Hakka ancestry from Pingyuan County, Guangdong Province.^[1] His original name was Zhang Jiansheng (Chinese: 张见生), also named as Zhang Zushou (Chinese: 张祖寿), Zhang Zhongtian (Chinese: 张中天). He joined the Communist Youth League in April 1930, and the Chinese Communist Party that summer.

From 1957–66, Zhang was vice president, and later president of PLA Nanjing Military Academy. Purged during the Cultural Revolution, he was rehabilitated in 1975 and appointed vice director, and later director of the PLA General Logistics Department, and a member of the CCP Central Military Commission. From 1980–85, he was the vice chief of staff in PLA General Staff Department. From 1985–90, he served as the president of National Defense University.

In 1990, Zhang became president, political commissar and CCP chief of the PLA National Defense University. He was an alternate member of the 11th CCP central committee, and a full member of the 12th CCP central committee. He celebrated his 100th birthday in October 2014 and died on September 3, 2015, just over a month before his 101st birthday.^[2]

Children

• Zhang Xiaoyang, major general, former Dean of PLA University of Foreign Language
• Zhang Lianyang, major general, former Director of Military Representative Office of People's Liberation Army General Staff Department
• Zhang Haiyang, general, former political commissar of the PLA Second Artillery Corps
• Zhang Ningyang, major general, former vice minister of Military Transportation Department of the PLA General Logistics Department