49 Facts About Zhang Wentian

Zhang Wentian was a Chinese politician who was a high-ranking leader of the Chinese Communist Party.

Zhang Wentian later joined the CCP in 1925 and was sent to study at Sun Yat-sen University in Moscow, from 1926 to 1930.

Zhang Wentian was General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party from 1935 to 1943, when the post was abolished.

Zhang Wentian remained a member of the Politburo, but ranked 12th of 13 in the 7th Politburo and reduced to Alternate Member in the 8th Politburo.

Zhang Wentian was First Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs of the People's Republic of China from December 1954 to November 1960.

Zhang Wentian was a participant of the Long March, and later served as an ambassador to the Soviet Union from April 1951 to January 1955.

On 30 August 1900, Zhang Wentian was born in Deng San Village, Nanhui, Jiangsu Province.

At this point, Zhang Wentian became exposed to the Chen Duxiu's journal New Youth, and started to lean toward the idea of Bolshevik revolution.

In January 1921, Zhang Wentian returned to China, and became an editor for Zhonghua Book Company, working with colleagues Zuo Shunsheng, Tian Han, Li Da, He Shuheng.

On January 5,1922, Zhang Wentian published "China's Source of Chaos and Its Solution".

Zhang Wentian took several courses, but was not formally enrolled.

Zhang Wentian returned home in January 1924, continuing his work as an editor for to Zhonghua Book Company.

In October 1924, Zhang Wentian received an invitation from the Juvenile Chinese Society Chengdu branch and took up the job as an English teacher at the Second Chongqing Women's Normal School with colleagues Xiao Chu'nu and Yang Angong.

In May 1925, Zhang Wentian left Sichuan and returned to Shanghai with Xiao Chunu to propagate revolutionary ideas.

Zhang Wentian learned about Bukarin's theory of allowing private rural economy through supply and marketing cooperatives, and this would later deeply influence Zhang Wentian's own policy perspectives.

Zhang Wentian was much respected in the CCP circle for his thorough knowledge of Bukharin, in addition to Marxism and Leninism.

In February 1931, Zhang Wentian returned to Shanghai, and soon served as the Minister of Propaganda Department of the CCP Central Committee.

In January 1933, Zhang Wentian moved to the Central Soviet Area with the temporary central government, and served as the Minister of the Central Bureau of the Soviet Union, and as the chairman of Ruijin Workers and Peasants Democratic Government.

On 18 February 1933, Zhang Wentian published an article entitled "What is the opportunist line of Comrade Luo Ming" published in the Struggle, a bulletin for the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party.

Communist cadre including Zhang Wentian Dingcheng, Liu Xiao, Deng Xiaoping, Mao Zedong, Xie Weijun, and He Shushing were involved in this movement.

In January 1934, Zhang Wentian was elected member of the Central Political Bureau and secretary of the Central Committee of the Fifth Plenary Session of the Sixth CCP Central Committee.

Since then, Zhang Wentian began to communicate with Mao Zedong and became close to him.

In October 1934, Zhang Wentian participated in the Long March with Mao Zedong and Wang Jiaxiang.

Zhang Wentian replaced Bo Gu as the CCP Central Committee General Secretary.

In January 1937, Zhang Wentian secretly went to Xian to discuss matters with Zhou Enlai, Bo Gu and others.

Zhang Wentian presided over the meeting and made an analytic report on the political situation both at home and abroad.

Zhang Wentian put forward a proposal of ten major of resistance against Japan and rejected national defeatism.

In 1938, Zhang Wentian opposed the marriage of Mao Zedong and Jiang Qing.

In 1941, Zhang Wentian responded to Mao's call and went to rural areas in northern Shaanxi and northwestern Shanxi for more than a year for a rural survey and wrote "Return to the Start".

Zhang Wentian was sent down to Shanxi in order to investigate how to increase the production of agricultural output and improve peasant's livelihood.

Zhang Wentian proposed providing economic incentives to boost commerce and new capitalism, but his report was suppressed as it went directly against Mao Zedong's plan for organising collective farms and mutual aid teams.

When Zhang Wentian returned to Yan'an, he became a target for Yan'an Rectification Movement, and was forced to repeatedly criticise himself.

Zhang Wentian suggested that the CCP's strategic principle in northeast should be to disperse the armed forces and cadres into the vast rural areas and small to medium-sized cities as soon as possible, and establish a consolidated base instead of concentrating too much attention on big cities.

Zhang Wentian strongly objected to forceful collectivisation and proposed to the Party that the emphasis should be in encouraging rural production, rather than class struggle.

In May 1948, Zhang Wentian served as a minister of the Standing Committee and Organisation Department of the Northeast Bureau of the CCP Central Committee and deputy director of the Northeast Financial and Economic Committee.

Zhang Wentian clashed with Gao Gang when Zhang strongly criticised the idea of organising all peasants into mutual aid teams.

Zhang Wentian reluctantly accepted the post and repeatedly made pleas to return to his job in the economic sector, but they were ignored.

Zhang Wentian paid attention to studying international issues and actively submitted the analysis and policy proposals to the Central Government.

In 1953, during his conversation with Wu Lengxi of Xinhua news agency, Zhang Wentian talked about the weakness and failures of the Soviet collectivisation system and warned that China should not blindly copy the Soviet model.

In January 1955, Zhang Wentian returned to China and was appointed the first deputy minister of foreign affairs of the People's Republic of China to assist Zhou Enlai in diplomatic affairs.

Zhang Wentian advocated the promotion of democracy within the party and supported Peng Dehuai.

Zhang Wentian was classified by Mao Zedong as a "Right opportunist" element and a member of "Peng Dehuai Anti-Party Group".

Zhang Wentian was further criticized at the National Foreign Affairs Conference and was removed from the post of deputy minister of foreign affairs.

Zhang Wentian went to Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Shanghai, and Hunan to conduct a social survey.

From 17 May 1968, Zhang Wentian was under house arrest in his residence.

On 24 October 1969, Zhang Wentian was released to Zhaoqing, Guangdong with his family.

Since then, Zhang Wentian repeatedly asked to return to Beijing but was not approved.

On 1 July 1976, Zhang Wentian died in Wuxi, Jiangsu, due to a heart disease at the age of 75.

Zhang Wentian devoted his entire life studying the economic issues.