Rao Shushi

Rao Shushi ( Chinese 饶漱石 ; * 1901 or November 23, 1903 in Linchuan , Jiangxi ; † March 2, 1975 ) was a Chinese labor leader and revolutionary. After the proclamation of the People's Republic of China , he was one of the most influential politicians until he and Gao Gang were deposed in the 1950s.

The from Jiangxi native Rao was also attended son of a teacher at the rural school No.1, the Rao himself. He joined the Socialist Youth League in 1924 and the Communist Party in 1925 . In the 1920s and 1930s he was a leader in the labor movement, especially in Shanghai . He was part of the May 30th Movement and, together with Chen Yun and Zhou Enlai, organized the workers' uprising that enabled Chiang Kai-shek to take Shanghai in the spring of 1927 . Between 1928 and 1930 he worked for the Jugendlia in Zhejiang and Manchuria . In 1935 he stayed in Moscow for a long time as envoy for the National General Workers' Union, and later he visited the United States to find allies there among the overseas Chinese. From 1936 he worked under Liu Shaoqi on the political mobilization for the Communist Party in northern China. From 1937 he worked in the communist base of Yan'an, in 1940 he became deputy party secretary of the party's southeast office, the following year deputy secretary of the office for central China and director of the propaganda department. When the New Fourth Army was founded, Rao became director of the political department, and after the army's heavy defeat by Kuomintang troops, he became its deputy political commissar. A year later, he was promoted to Political Commissar of the People's Liberation Army and Party Secretary of the Central China Office.

For his service in the fight against Japan , he was rewarded in 1945 with a membership in the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China . When a ceasefire was negotiated between the Kuomintang and the CP in 1946, the CP set up a liaison office in Beijing, in which Rao acted as political advisor to the CP envoy Ye Jianying . The ceasefire, however, only lasted for a short time, after which Rao took over tasks in Changchun , Yan'an and from January 1947 he was political commissar of the Eastern Military Region of the CP. In this capacity he was one of the first communists to enter the city after the People's Liberation Army conquered Shanghai. After the proclamation of the People's Republic of China on October 1, 1949, Rao held high positions in the party and military in Shanghai and eastern China alongside Lin Biao , Gao Gang , Peng Dehuai and Liu Bocheng and took part in 1952 with Liu Shaoqi on the XIX. CPSU party congress .

At the end of the same year Rao was transferred to Beijing - like all the chairmen of the regional party offices, as Mao wanted to prevent the emergence of local centers of power. He moved to the State Planning Commission under Gao Gang, and a year later he became director of the Communist Party's organization department. In this powerful position he oversaw the recruitment and appointment of all party cadres. He criticized his predecessor An Ziwen , who was now his deputy, so sharply at a national conference on organizational work that Mao felt compelled to expressly approve of Ans' work.

While Gao and Rao supported Mao Zedong on many political issues , Gao tried behind the scenes to counter the concentration of all power with Mao. At the same time, he attacked Liu Shaoqi's position. After the debate on Bo Yibo's tax concept in March 1953, the government reshuffle and the conference on economic and financial policy, Mao had made it clear that he did not plan to oust the moderates around Liu Shaoqi and Zhou Enlai. Even so, after that conference, Gao tried to ally with other senior party members such as Chen Yun , Lin Biao , Peng Dehuai , Huang Kecheng and Deng Xiaoping . Rao Shushi allied himself with Gao on the assumption that Gao would succeed Mao Zedong at the head of the party and state. At the same time, Gao Liu Shaoqi and Zhou Enlai spoke badly, Gao promised Rao the posts of Zhou Enlai after the intended government reshuffle and claimed those of Liu Shaoqi for himself. Mao ignored warnings from Mao, as Mao was privy to his frustration with the economic approaches the moderates exchanged with Gao. In a Politburo meeting on December 24, 1953, Mao attacked Gao and Rao sharply, accusing them of partisan activities. In February 1954, for example, a conference to strengthen the unity of the party took place in which Liu Gao and Rao attacked without naming them. Two commissions were set up, one of which was to investigate the Gao Gang affair and the other under Deng Xiaoping, Chen Yi and Tan Zhenlin to investigate the Rao Shushi affair. The commission revealed that Gao had formed an anti-party alliance with Gao and was fighting against leading comrades at party headquarters. Unlike Gao, Rao was not made moral accusations, he was known as an exemplary husband and family man.

Gao and Rao lost their posts, Rao was arrested on April 1, 1955, worked in agriculture until his death in 1975, and died of pneumonia in prison. Deng Xiaoping became the new head of the organization department.

Individual evidence

↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e Joseph KS Yick: Rao Shushi . In: Leung, Pak-Wah (Ed.): Political leaders of modern China: a biographical dictionary . 1st edition. Greenwood Press, Westport, Conn. 2002, ISBN 0-313-30216-2 , pp. 133-134 .
↑ 蔡洪堂: 饒漱石：被淹沒的中共黨史重要人物.人民网, January 13, 2012, accessed on May 27, 2019 (Chinese).
^ ^A ^b ^c Lawrence R. Sullivan: Historical dictionary of the Chinese Communist Party . Scarecrow Press, Lanham 2012, ISBN 978-0-8108-7470-1 , pp. 219 .
^ ^A ^b ^c Alexander V. Pantsov and Steven I. Levine: Deng Xiaoping, a revolutionary life . Oxford University Press, New York 2015, ISBN 978-0-19-062367-8 , pp. 158-161 .
↑ Alexander V. Pantsov and Steven I. Levine: Mao: The Real Story . Simon & Schuster, New York 2007, ISBN 978-1-4516-5447-9 , pp. 391-394 .
↑ Lawrence R. Sullivan: Historical dictionary of the Chinese Communist Party . Scarecrow Press, Lanham 2012, ISBN 978-0-8108-7470-1 , pp. 110-111 .
↑ Alexander V. Pantsov and Steven I. Levine: Deng Xiaoping, a revolutionary life . Oxford University Press, New York 2015, ISBN 978-0-19-062367-8 , pp. 163 .

personal data
SURNAME	Rao, Shushi
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	饶漱石 (Chinese)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	Chinese labor leader and revolutionary
DATE OF BIRTH	1901 or November 23, 1903
PLACE OF BIRTH	Linchuan , Jiangxi
DATE OF DEATH	March 2nd 1975

[Yick133–134-1] Joseph KS Yick: Rao Shushi . In: Leung, Pak-Wah (Ed.): Political leaders of modern China: a biographical dictionary . 1st edition. Greenwood Press, Westport, Conn. 2002, ISBN 0-313-30216-2 , pp. 133-134 .

[people.com.cn-2] 蔡洪堂: 饒漱石：被淹沒的中共黨史重要人物.人民网, January 13, 2012, accessed on May 27, 2019 (Chinese).

[Sullivan219-3] A ^b ^c Lawrence R. Sullivan: Historical dictionary of the Chinese Communist Party . Scarecrow Press, Lanham 2012, ISBN 978-0-8108-7470-1 , pp. 219 .

[pantsov158–161-4] A ^b ^c Alexander V. Pantsov and Steven I. Levine: Deng Xiaoping, a revolutionary life . Oxford University Press, New York 2015, ISBN 978-0-19-062367-8 , pp. 158-161 .

[Pantsov391–394-5] Alexander V. Pantsov and Steven I. Levine: Mao: The Real Story . Simon & Schuster, New York 2007, ISBN 978-1-4516-5447-9 , pp. 391-394 .

[Sullivan110–111-6] Lawrence R. Sullivan: Historical dictionary of the Chinese Communist Party . Scarecrow Press, Lanham 2012, ISBN 978-0-8108-7470-1 , pp. 110-111 .

[pantsov163-7] Alexander V. Pantsov and Steven I. Levine: Deng Xiaoping, a revolutionary life . Oxford University Press, New York 2015, ISBN 978-0-19-062367-8 , pp. 163 .