Zeng Xianzhi
{{Short description|Chinese revolutionary and politician}}
{{Family name hatnote|Zeng|lang=Chinese}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| image = Zeng Xianzhi 1.jpg
| caption = Zeng Xianzhi as a youth.
| office1 = Member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference
| term1 = 6th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference
| term_start1 = June 1983
| term_end1 = April 1988
| predecessor1 =
| successor1 =
| 1blankname1 = Chairman
| 1namedata1 = Deng Yingchao
| term2 = 3rd National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference
| term_start2 = April 1959
| term_end2 = January 1965
| predecessor2 =
| successor2 =
| 1blankname2 = Chairman
| 1namedata2 = Zhou Enlai
| office3 = Member of the Standing Committee of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference
| term3 = 5th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference
| term_start3 = March 1978
| term_end3 = June 1983
| predecessor3 =
| successor3 =
| 1blankname3 = Chairman
| 1namedata3 = Zhou Enlai
| term_start4 = 4th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference
| term_end4 = January 1965
| predecessor4 = March 1978
| successor4 =
| 1blankname4 = Chairman
| 1namedata4 = Zhou Enlai
| office5 = Delegate to the 1st National People's Congress
| term_start5 = September 1954
| term_end5 = April 1959
| predecessor5 =
| successor5 =
| 1blankname5 = Chairman
| 1namedata5 = Liu Shaoqi
| name = Zeng Xianzhi
| native_name = 曾宪植
| native_name_lang = zh
| birth_name =
| birth_date = {{birth date|1910|01|23}}
| birth_place = Changsha, Hunan, Qing Empire
| death_date = {{death date and age|1989|10|11|1910|01|23}}
| death_place = Portuguese Macau
| party = Chinese Communist Party
| spouse = {{marriage|Ye Jianying|1928|1950}}
| children = Ye Xuanning
| parents =
| relations =
| religion =
| alma_mater = Wuhan Central Military and Political School
South China University
Yan'an Marxism-Leninism College
Central Party School of the Chinese Communist Party
| website =
| module = {{Infobox Chinese|child=yes|s=曾宪植|t=曾憲植|p=Zēng Xiànzhí|w=Tseng Hsien-chih}}
}}
Zeng Xianzhi ({{zh|s=曾宪植}}; 23 January 1910 – 11 October 1989) was a Chinese revolutionary and politician.{{cite news|url=http://hb.qq.com/zt2014/nvbing/zengxianzhi.htm |script-title=zh:巾帼女儿传：曾宪植 |newspaper=Tencent |date=2014-07-31 |language=zh}}
In the late 1920s and early 1930s, girls in schools was a new thing, but Zeng was a member of the girls' basketball team in school. She became a "student soldier" in a branch campus of Whampoa Military Academy. Zeng was one of the first female soldiers in China during the Chinese Communist Revolution. After the establishment of the Communist State, she spent over 40 years working in the All-China Women's Federation. She devoted her life to the Chinese women's rights movement.
Biography
=Early life and education=
Zeng was born on January 23, 1910, at Baishutang ({{zh|c=百恕堂|labels=no}}) in Changsha, Hunan, with her ancestral home in Xiangxiang (now Shuangfeng County). She was a descendant of Zeng Guoquan, a renowned general in the late Qing Empire and one of three brothers of Zeng Guofan.{{cite news|url=http://hunan.voc.com.cn/xhn/article/201604/201604140830121632.html |script-title=zh:解码曾国藩的传家秘籍:曾家子孙后代为何历八代而不衰？ |newspaper=Huan today |date=2016-04-14 |language=zh}} She had five siblings. Her siblings were, in order of birth: Zeng Xianpu ({{zh|t=曾憲樸|s=曾宪朴|labels=no}}; 1908-1966), Zeng Xiankai ({{zh|t=曾憲楷|s=曾宪楷|labels=no}}; 1908-1985), Zeng Xianzhen ({{zh|c=曾憲榛|labels=no}}; 1911-1997), Zeng Xianzhu ({{zh|t=曾憲柱|s=曾宪柱|labels=no}}; 1919-1986), and Zeng Xianju ({{zh|t=曾憲矩|s=曾宪矩|labels=no}}). In 1916 she attended Changsha Gudaotian Normal School ({{zh|t=長沙古稻田師範學校|s=长沙古稻田师范学校|labels=no}}). Under the influence of Xu Teli, she threw herself into China's revolution. In 1926, she was accepted to the Wuhan Central Military and Political Academy. Whilst still nominally at school she participated in the Northern Expedition.{{cite news|url=http://hunan.voc.com.cn/xhn/article/201605/201605040922142692.html |script-title=zh:开国大典举世瞩目 毛主席和周恩来中间为何站一大美人？ |newspaper= Hunan today|date=2016-05-04 |language=zh}}
=Revolutionary career=
{{Unreferenced section|date=August 2024}}
In 1927, Zeng went to Guangzhou to help organize the Guangzhou Uprising. She joined the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in 1928. She was a member of the CCP underground in Shanghai under "legal" cover as a student of South China University. In May 1929 she was arrested by the Nationalist government for participating in anti-government protests. After her release she pursued advanced studies in Japan.{{cn|date=August 2024}}
Zeng returned to China in 1931. In 1937 she worked in Xinhua Daily in Wuhan, capital of Hubei province. Two years later, she was transferred to Guilin as traffic coordinator of the Eighth Route Army. In 1941 she entered the Yan'an Marxism–Leninism College and the Central Party School of the Chinese Communist Party; after graduation, she worked in the Dihou Gongzuo Department of the CCP Central Committee ({{zh|t=中共中央敵後工作部|s=中共中央敌后工作部|p=|labels=no}}). In the spring of 1946, she attended the Chongqing Negotiations with the Communist delegation. She successively served as secretary of Deng Yingchao and group leader of the Southern Bureau Women's Group ({{zh|t=南方局婦女組|s=南方局妇女组|labels=no}}). In March 1947, she transferred to the Shanxi-Chahaer-Hebei Border Region ({{zh|t=晉察冀邊區|s=晋察冀边区|labels=no}}) and attended the Land Reform Movement ({{zh|t=土地改革運動|s=土地改革运动|labels=no}}).{{cn|date=August 2024}}
=After the founding of the Communist State=
File:Soong Ching-ling at 1st CPPCC.jpg
At the beginning of 1949, Zeng was appointed deputy secretary-general of the First National Women's Congress. This was China's first national congress for women and 500 delegates heard Mao Zedong tell them to increase production and to demand their rights.[http://en.wsic.ac.cn/baike/1580.htm First National Congress of Chinese Women], WSIC, Retrieved 1 September 2016
After the congress Zeng worked in the All-China Women's Federation until the Cultural Revolution. During the Cultural Revolution, she was called a "big black umbrella" ({{zh|s=牛鬼蛇神的黑保护伞|t=牛鬼蛇神的黑保護傘|labels=no}}) and "alien-class element" ({{zh|s=混进革命阵营的阶级异己分子|t=混進革命陣營的異己分子|labels=no}}) by the Communist government, and she was sent to the May Seventh Cadre Schools in Hengshui County, Hebei to be re-educated and to do farm work. In 1974, after seeing his mother's unfair treatment, Ye Xuanning wrote a letter to Mao Zedong who approved Zeng's return to Beijing.
In September 1978, Zeng was elected vice-president of the All-China Women's Federation at the Fourth National Women's Congress. She was a delegate to the 1st National People's Congress, a member of the 3rd and 6th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, and a Standing Committee member of the 4th and 5th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference.{{cn|date=August 2024}}
On October 11, 1989, she died in Macau.{{cn|date=August 2024}}
Personal life
In 1928, Zeng married Ye Jianying, who later became one of the founding Ten Marshals of the People's Republic of China. They had a son, Ye Xuanning (1938-2016).{{cite news|url=https://mil.sohu.com/20160711/n458620962.shtml?t=1469405949906 |script-title=zh:叶剑英次子叶选宁少将去世 母亲为曾国藩后裔 |newspaper=sohu |date=2016-07-11 |language=zh}}
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- {{cite book |language=zh|author=Cheng Xiaojun |script-title=zh:曾国藩家族 |trans-title=Family of Zeng Guofan |date=2006-12-01 |publisher=Chongqing Publishing House |location=Chongqing |isbn=9787536681149 }}
- {{cite book |language=zh|script-title=zh:叶剑英传 |trans-title= Biography of Ye Jianying|date=2015-08-01 |publisher=Contemporary China Publishing House |location=Beijing |isbn=9787800922992 }}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Zeng, Xianzhi}}
Category:Politicians from Loudi
Category:Whampoa Military Academy alumni
Category:Chinese women in politics
Category:Central Party School of the Chinese Communist Party alumni
Category:People's Republic of China politicians from Hunan