Luo Ronghuan

Yuanshuai Luo Ronghuan
罗荣桓
Luo in 1955
Secretary of the Commission for Discipline Inspection of the Central Military Commission
In office 1961–1963
Preceded by	Post established
Succeeded by	Tan Zheng
In office 17 September 1955 – 1956
Preceded by	Tan Zheng
Succeeded by	Xiao Hua
Procurator-General of the Supreme People's Procuratorate
In office 1949–1954
Preceded by	Post established
Succeeded by	Zhang Dingcheng
Personal details
Born	(1902-11-26)26 November 1902 Hengshan County, Hunan Province, Qing dynasty
Died	16 December 1963(1963-12-16) (aged 61) Beijing, China
Occupation	General, politician, writer
Awards	Order of Bayi (First Class Medal) Order of Independence and Freedom (First Class Medal) Order of Liberation (China) (First Class Medal)
Nickname	102 (military call sign)
Military service
Allegiance	People's Republic of China
Branch/service	People's Liberation Army Ground Force
Years of service	1927-1963
Rank	Yuanshuai
Commands	Political Commissar of the Northeast Field Army, PLA
Battles/wars	Northern Expedition Chinese Civil War Long March Sino-Japanese War Hundred Regiments Offensive

In this Chinese name, the family name is Luó (罗/羅).

Luo Ronghuan (simplified Chinese: 罗荣桓; traditional Chinese: 羅榮桓; pinyin: Luó Rónghuán; Wade–Giles: Lo Jung-huan; November 26, 1902 – December 16, 1963) was a Chinese communist military leader. He served as a Vice Chair of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress.

Biography

Luo was born in a village in Hengshan County, Hunan Province. In 1919, at the age of 17, he enrolled in Xiejun Middle School in Changsha. Five years later, he began attending Shandong University (then Qingdao Private College), completing a preparatory course in Industry in Commerce in 1926. He joined the Chinese Communist Youth League in April 1927 and the Chinese Communist Party later that year. He was the only one of the later ten Marshals to have followed Mao in the Autumn Harvest Uprising. During the Long March he served as the security chief for the Chinese Red Army.

During the Second Sino-Japanese War he served as political commissar of the 115th Division of the Eighth Route Army. The Shaan-Gan-Ning Border Region anti-troskyites campaign extended to other base areas, including Shandong, leading to a frenzied campaign of mass execution of party cadres. This was put to a halt thanks to Luo's intervention in November 1939. This incident reached Yan'an in early 1940, which lead to a reexamination of the anti-trotskyite campaign in Shandong on a meeting convened by Chen Yun. Here, the campaign was criticized as too extremist, although it was maintained that it was correct, which was not enough to stop the deadly campaign, despite Luo's efforts, which saved more than 100 lives, the campaign did not fully ended until April 1942, after an inspection by Liu Shaoqi.

After Zhu Rui dismissal as political commissar of the Eighth Route Army in Shandong on 1942, he held unified leadership over the government, Party and military in the Shandong area during the war against Japan. He chaired the General Study Committee, where he tried to oppose the Rectification Campaign excesses in Shandong. During his leadership of Shandong the communist forces and territory grew, at the time of China's victory on the war against Japan the CCP controlled most of Shandong strongholds and communication lines, which were vital for communist victory during the Chinese civil war.

After World War II, Luo served as the political commissar of Lin Biao in Northeast China during the Chinese civil war.

After the formation of the People's Republic of China in 1949 he became Chief of Staff of the People's Liberation Army. He was made a marshal in 1955.

Luo was the member of the 7th CPC Central Committee and 8th CPC Politburo. When Luo died in 1963, both Mao and Lin Biao attended his funeral; his funeral was one of the only two funerals Marshal Lin Biao attended, the other being the funeral of his former chief of staff and commander-in-chief of the PLA air force General Liu Yalou.

See also

• List of generals of the People's Republic of China

External links

• (in Chinese) Biography of Luo Ronghuan, Xinhuanet