Zhou Chiping

Zhou Chiping (1914–August 6, 1990, Chinese: 周赤萍), originally named Zou Di (Chinese: 邹迪), sometimes referred to as Zou Yujiao (Chinese: 邹域九), was a Chinese politician and general from Gaofuling Village in Yichun, Jiangxi Province.^[1][2]

Zhou Chiping

Biography

Having been raised in impoverished circumstances and receiving merely three years of private instruction, Zhou Chiping enlisted in the Chinese Workers' and Peasants' Red Army in 1931 and concurrently joined the Chinese Communist Party. Throughout his tenure in the Red Army, he held the positions of squad leader, platoon leader, and political educator at the company level. He engaged in multiple anti-encirclement battles in the Jiangxi Soviet and participated in the Long March. Upon arriving in northern Shaanxi, he assumed the role of political commissar for the 12th Regiment of the 4th Division of the First Front Army [zh].^[3]

During the Second Sino-Japanese War, Zhou held the position of Director of the Political Department of the 4th Detachment, Shandong Column of the Eighth Route Army, and then served as Political Commissar of the 1st Detachment, 1st Column. Wholeheartedly dedicated to the revolution, he assumed the name “Zhou Chiping” (representing his pledge to honor his humble beginnings).^[4]

Subsequent to Japan's defeat, he relocated with the forces to Northeast China. He held the position of Political Commissar for both the 7th and 10th Columns of the Northeast Democratic United Army and took part in the Liaoshen Campaign and other significant battles.^[5] In March 1949, he was designated political commissar of the 47th Army of the Fourth Field Army and subsequently took on the combined responsibilities of political commissar of the Xiangxi Military Region and Secretary of the CCP Xiangxi District Committee, overseeing counter-bandit operations.^[6]

During the initial years of the People's Republic, Zhou occupied various high-ranking positions, including Political Commissar of the Air Force in the Northeast Military Region, Party Secretary of Yunnan Province, Vice Minister of Metallurgical Industry, and Political Commissar of the Fuzhou Military Region [zh].^[7] In 1955, he was conferred the rank of Air Force Lieutenant General and won several first-class military honors. He was a member of the 10th Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party.^[8]

During the Cultural Revolution, he was charged with involvement in the Lin Biao conspiracy and subsequently convicted.^[9] In 1982, the PLA Military Procuratorate opted against prosecution, resulting in his dismissal from military service.^[10] Zhou Chiping died in August 6, 1990.^[11][12]