Chen Pixian

Early Life and the New Fourth Army Years

Chen Pixian was born on 20 March 1916 in Shanghang county, Fujian province. He joined the Communist Youth League in 1929 and the Chinese Communist Party in 1931, working in the Fujian-Guangdong-Jiangxi base areas before the Long March. During the War of Resistance against Japan he served as a political commissar in the New Fourth Army, becoming, in his twenties, one of the youngest army-level political commissars in Communist-led forces, and survived the 1941 Southern Anhui Incident in which Nationalist troops attacked the New Fourth Army's headquarters column.

Leading Shanghai

After the death of Shanghai party boss Ke Qingshi in April 1965, Chen Pixian took over overall responsibility for the Shanghai Municipal Party Committee, and in September 1965 was formally appointed First Secretary. His administration was noted for economic stability and was praised at the time by leaders including Liu Shaoqi and Zhou Enlai.

Denunciation and Imprisonment during the January Storm

When the Cultural Revolution reached Shanghai, Chen Pixian became one of its principal targets. On 6 January 1967, the Workers' General Headquarters and allied rebel organizations convened a mass rally at People's Square titled "Thoroughly Overthrow the Shanghai Municipal Committee Headed by Chen Pixian and Cao Diqiu," at which Chen was subjected to a struggle session and the Municipal Committee and municipal government were declared no longer recognized as legitimate authorities. Chen was subsequently held in custody and investigated for eight years under harsh conditions, cut off from normal party life.

Rehabilitation and Later Career

In the summer of 1975, with Deng Xiaoping's support, Chen Pixian's party membership and organizational standing were restored after nearly nine years. He went on to serve as Party Secretary of Yunnan province (from February 1977), Deputy and then First Secretary of the Hubei Provincial Party Committee (1977–1982), and in June 1983 was elected Vice Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress. He published a memoir centered on his experience during the January Storm, and died in Beijing on 23 August 1995 at the age of 79.