:Chen Geng

Born in Xiangxiang, Hunan, Chen Geng was the second child in a sibling group of 12.{{sfnb|Mu Xin|2010|p=1}}{{sfnb|Yin Jiamin|2015|p=5–8}} His grandfather Chen Yihuai ({{zh|s=陈益怀|l=|labels=no}}) was an officer in the Xiang Army led by Zeng Guofan, a statesman, military general, and Confucian scholar of the late Qing dynasty (1644–1911).{{sfnb|Mu Xin|2010|p=3–7}}{{sfnb|Yin Jiamin|2015|p=5–8}} After his retirement, Chen Yihuai bought agricultural land with the reward, and by the time Chen Geng was born, his family owned several hundred mu and became one of the wealthiest in the region.{{sfnb|Mu Xin|2010|p=3–7}}{{sfnb|Yin Jiamin|2015|p=5–8}} Chen's father was named Chen Daoliang and his mother named Peng Xuexian.{{sfnb|Mu Xin|2010|p=3–7}}{{sfnb|Yin Jiamin|2015|p=9}} But as his only older brother died young from illness, Chen became the eldest son of the family.{{sfnb|Mu Xin|2010|p=3–7}}{{sfnb|Yin Jiamin|2015|p=9–12}} At 13, his father arranged a marriage with a daughter two years older, but Chen refused the marriage and left his family to join the warlord's army.{{sfnb|Mu Xin|2010|p=8–9}}{{sfnb|Yin Jiamin|2015|p=13–15}} It was a disillusioned Chen who left the army at 18 and found a job at the Hunan Railway Bureau as a receptionist.{{sfnb|Mu Xin|2010|p=12–14}}{{sfnb|Yin Jiamin|2015|p=19–21}} During this period, he met Mao Zedong.{{sfnb|Mu Xin|2010|p=14–20}}{{sfnb|Yin Jiamin|2015|p=19–21}}

Chen joined the Chinese Communist Party in 1922 and studied at Whampoa Military Academy in 1924.{{sfnb|Mu Xin|2010|p=38}}{{sfnb|Yin Jiamin|2015|p=28–36}} Chen, {{ill|Jiang Xianyun|zh|蒋先云}}, and {{ill|He Zonghan|zh|贺衷寒}}, were considered the top three students of the academy at the time.{{sfnb|Mu Xin|2010|p=38–40}}{{sfnb|Yin Jiamin|2015|p=28–36}} Chen gained the confidence of Chiang Kai-shek and became commander of his garrison.{{sfnb|Mu Xin|2010|p=45–45}}{{sfnb|Yin Jiamin|2015|p=39–49}} In October 1925, during the second campaign against the local warlord Chen Jiongming, Chiang suffered a stunning defeat, Chiang was covered with shame but refused to flee, trying to kill himself.{{sfnb|Mu Xin|2010|p=48–60}}{{sfnb|Yin Jiamin|2015|p=39–49}} Chen Geng managed to take his pistol and piggy backed him for around 10km out of danger.{{sfnb|Mu Xin|2010|p=48–60}}{{sfnb|Yin Jiamin|2015|p=39–49}} He thus gained Chiang's confidence; however, when the Kuomintang broke ties with the Communists in 1927, Chen went underground as a Communist agent in Shanghai.{{sfnb|Mu Xin|2010|p=68–80}}{{sfnb|Yin Jiamin|2015|p=55–67}}

In March 1933, Chen was sent to Shanghai to treat his leg wounds, but Chen was captured in Shanghai by the Kuomintang.{{sfnb|Mu Xin|2010|p=87–89}}{{sfnb|Yin Jiamin|2015|p=68–72}} But since he once saved Chiang Kai-shek's life, his life was spared.{{sfnb|Mu Xin|2010|p=91–92}}{{sfnb|Yin Jiamin|2015|p=68–72}} Chiang ordered his transfer to house arrest and does not send him to prison.{{sfnb|Mu Xin|2010|p=93–94}} Chen escaped a month later with the help of Song Qingling and other Communists.{{sfnb|Mu Xin|2010|p=97–98}} He moved to the Central Soviet Area and was appointed president of Peng Pai Yang Yin Infantry School ({{zh|s=彭湃杨殷步兵学校|l=|labels=no}}).{{sfnb|Mu Xin|2010|p=102–104}} From October 1934 to December 1935, he fought against the Kuomintang army in Guizhou and then in Shanxi, Shaanxi and Gansu in 1936.{{sfnb|Mu Xin|2010|p=112–135}} In February 1937 he was accepted to Counter-Japanese Military and Political University.{{sfnb|Mu Xin|2010|p=142}}{{sfnb|Yin Jiamin|2015|p=112–158}}

When the Second Sino-Japanese War broke out, Chen was appointed commander-in-chief of the 386th Brigade, which he led in victories against the Imperial Japanese army, and his brigade was considered the best in China.{{sfnb|Mu Xin|2010|p=175–250}} In 1940, he led his brigade to Shanxi during Hundred Regiments Offensive.{{sfnb|Mu Xin|2010|p=263–289}} After the surrender of Japan in 1945, Chen's brigade became the 4th Column of the Shanxi-Henan-Hebei-Shandong Military District.{{sfnb|Mu Xin|2010|p=293}} He led his troops in important battles of the Chinese Civil War such as the Shangdang Campaign, the Datong-Puzhou Campaign, Linfen–Fushan Campaign and Lüliang Campaign, the Campaign of the eastern foothills of Funiu Mountain, and the Huaihai Campaign.{{sfnb|Mu Xin|2010|p=296–323}} The war ended and the 4th Column became the 4th Army Group, and Chen served as commander and political commissar. His troops entered Yunnan in 1949.{{sfnb|Mu Xin|2010|p=325}}{{sfnb|Yin Jiamin|2015|p=162–278}}

At the request of Chen's longtime friend Hồ Chí Minh, he entered French Indochina to help Võ Nguyên Giáp launch a series of attacks on isolated French bases along the Chinese border in 1950.{{sfnb|Mu Xin|2010|p=328}} Back from French Indochina, he left for the Korean War and served as commander and political commissioner of the 3rd Army of the People's Volunteer Army.{{sfnb|Mu Xin|2010|p=330–350}} When Commander Peng Dehuai returned to China, Chen temporarily took command. He was awarded the military rank of senior general in September 1955 by Chairman Mao Zedong. His brother-in-law, Tan Zheng, who was married to Chen's sister, Chen Qiuju, was strongly influenced by Chen to join the Communists and became a senior general at the same time.{{sfnb|Yin Jiamin|2015|p=3–5}}

Returning from the Korean War, Chen founded the PLA Military Engineering Institute in Harbin, engaging in the development of technological weapons.{{sfnb|Teng Xugun|2013|p=1–15}} The school became one of the most famous universities in China in a few years.{{sfnb|Teng Xugun|2013|p=1–15}} Because of his experience, Chen focused on China's ballistic missile and nuclear weapons program.{{sfnb|Teng Xugun|2013|p=1–15}} He died of a heart attack in Shanghai on March 16, 1961.

In 1927 Chen married Wang Genying ({{lang|zh|王根英}}), who was killed in the Second Sino-Japanese War. She was survived by their son:

• Chen Zhifei ({{zh|s=陈知非|l=|labels=no}}), engineer.

In February 1942, he married Fu Ya ({{lang|zh|傅涯}}), the couple had four children, one daughter and three sons, in order of birth:

• Chen Zhijian ({{zh|s=陈知建|l=|labels=no}}), military officer.
• Chen Zhijin ({{zh|s=陈知进|l=|labels=no}}), doctor and professor, only daughter.
• Chen Zhishu ({{zh|s=陈知庶|l=|labels=no}}), military officer.
• Chen Zhiya ({{zh|s=陈知涯|l=|labels=no}}), politician.

Chen Geng was well known as a joker and a prankster amongst comrades. He was a gifted performer and was well known for his gags and play acting. This proved instrumental in his underground work. He was jovial and well liked by both Communist comrades as well as former classmates in Whampoa who became Nationalist officers as well as Chiang Kai-shek himself. This, as well as having once saved Chiang's life a decade ago, proved critical for his release from Chiang's custody in 1933. He had a caring attitude towards comrades and was instrumental in arranging Peng Dehuai's marriage to Pu Anxiu. He was the only Communist Whampoa student to visit his rehabilitated former classmates that had come out of Gongde Lin prison.

{{Reflist}}

• {{cite book |language=zh|author=Mu Xin |script-title=zh:陈赓传|trans-title=Biography of Chen Geng |year=2010 |publisher=People's Publishing House |location=Beijing |isbn=9787010092614}}
• {{cite book |language=zh|author=Yin Jiamin |script-title=zh:传奇大将陈赓|trans-title=Legendary General Chen Geng |year=2015 |publisher=Contemporary China Publishing House |location=Beijing|isbn=9787515403977 }}
• {{cite book |language=zh|author=Teng Xugun |script-title=zh:陈赓大将与哈军工 |trans-title=Senior General Chen Geng and the Harbin Institute of Military Engineering |year=2013 |publisher=Contemporary China Publishing House |location=Beijing |isbn=9787515401478}}

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{{s-ttl|title= Chairman (Governor) of Yunnan Government|years= 1950–1955 }}

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{{s-ttl|title= President of PLA Military Engineering Institute|years= 1952–1961 }}

{{s-aft|after= Liu Juying }}

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{{s-ttl|title= Political Commissar of PLA Military Engineering Institute|years= 1953–1958 }}

{{s-aft|after= Xie Youfa }}

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Category:1903 births

Category:1961 deaths

Category:Whampoa Military Academy alumni

Category:Counter-Japanese Military and Political University alumni

Category:People from Xiangxiang

Category:People's Liberation Army generals from Hunan

Category:People's Republic of China politicians from Hunan

Category:Chinese Communist Party politicians from Hunan

Category:Deputy ministers of national defense of the People's Republic of China

Category:Alternates of the 7th Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party

Category:Members of the 8th Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party