Peng Dehuai
Chinese general and politician purged after opposing Mao.
Peng Dehuai (October 24, 1898 – November 29, 1974; also spelled as Peng Teh-Huai) was a Chinese general and politician who served as Minister of National Defense from 1954 to 1959. Born into a poor peasant family in Hunan, he rose from private second class to major in warlord armies before joining the Chinese Communist Party. He was a senior commander in the Long March, the Second Sino-Japanese War, and the Korean War, and is considered one of the most successful generals in CCP history.
- born
- October 24, 1898
- died
- November 29, 1974
- field
- Military and politics
- nationality
- Chinese
- known_for
- Minister of National Defense (1954–1959), Hundred Regiments Offensive, command of Chinese forces in Korean War, purge at Lushan Conference
Lore & Background
Peng Dehuai was born in Shixiang, Xiangtan County, Hunan, into a family of lower-middle peasant status. He received a few years of primary education before poverty forced him to withdraw at age ten. He worked as a manual laborer, including pushing coal carts in a mine, before joining the army at 17. Over ten years, he rose from private second class to major in Hunan-based warlord armies. In 1926, his forces joined the Kuomintang, and he was introduced to communism. After the Northern Expedition, he briefly served Chiang Kai-shek before joining the CCP, allying with Mao Zedong and Zhu De.
Reader's Guide
Peng Dehuai was one of the most senior generals defending the Jiangxi Soviet, rivaled only by Lin Biao. He supported Mao at the Zunyi Conference, critical for Mao's rise. During the Second Sino-Japanese War, he advocated a ceasefire with the Kuomintang to resist Japan, commanded two-thirds of the Eighth Route Army by 1938, and led the Hundred Regiments Offensive in 1940. After political disputes, he was recalled to Yan'an. In the Korean War, he commanded the Chinese People's Volunteer Army and later pushed for Soviet-model military professionalization, opposing Mao's personality cult and the Great Leap Forward. His open confrontation with Mao at the 1959 Lushan Conference led to his purge. During the Cultural Revolution, he was persecuted, sentenced to life imprisonment, and died in prison in 1974. He was posthumously rehabilitated in 1978 under Deng Xiaoping.
Did You Know?
- Peng Dehuai was born as 'Peng Dehua' and later changed his name.
- He participated in a failed mutiny over pay but was pardoned due to a shortage of soldiers.
- Peng saved Mao from being captured at least once during the Chinese Civil War.
- He was one of the first leaders posthumously rehabilitated after Mao's death, in 1978.
Notable Quotes (Wikiquote)
"When soldiers become conscious of what they are doing and are organized, they constitute a mighty force." — Peng Dehuai "History is always moving ahead in a wavelike fashion, and the people of today outpace those of yesterday in their continuous forward advance." — Peng Dehuai "China could only resist foreign aggression and develop its industry by instituting democracy and unifying the country." — Peng Dehuai "Don’t believe the good words of a man uttered in ordinary times; his action in an emergency will tell what sort of a man he is." — Peng Dehuai
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