Wan Shaofen is a retired Chinese politician who served as Party Secretary of Jiangxi from 1985 to 1988, the first female provincial-level party chief of the People's Republic of China.
14 Facts About Wan Shaofen
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Wan Shaofen's career was closely tied to that of Hu Yaobang.
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Wan Shaofen was persecuted during the Cultural Revolution because of her association with Hu, rose to prominence after he became General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party in 1982, and lost her position as party chief of Jiangxi after Hu's downfall in 1987.
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Wan Shaofen's parents were primary school teachers, and she is said to have descended from a Song dynasty defense minister.
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Wan Shaofen studied economics at National Chung Cheng University, where she participated in underground Communist activities in 1948.
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Wan Shaofen formally joined the Chinese Communist Party in 1952, after the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949, and became a local leader in the Communist Youth League of China and the official trade union.
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Wan Shaofen was denounced as a capitalist roader and a follower of the fallen leaders Liu Shaoqi, Deng Xiaoping, and Hu.
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Wan Shaofen was politically rehabilitated in 1974 and returned to work in Jiangxi.
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Wan Shaofen rose through the ranks in Jiangxi, working in labour and women's affairs.
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Wan Shaofen gained attention worldwide as the first woman to hold a top provincial leadership position in the PRC.
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Wan Shaofen did not complete her term as Party Chief of Jiangxi, mainly because Hu Yaobang was purged in January 1987.
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Wan Shaofen is the honorary president of China Charity Federation.
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Wan Shaofen is best known as the first female provincial party chief in China.
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Wan Shaofen implemented major policies to improve the life of women, set up schools to train female cadres, organized public lectures to raise women's awareness of their rights, and drafted regulations protecting women and children.