Who was Liu Shaoqi? Everything You Need to Know

Quick Facts

Died At Age: 70

Family:

Spouse/Ex-: Wang Guangmeim (1948), He Baozhenm (1922–1934), Wang Qianm (1942–1947), Xie Feim (1935–1940)

children: Liu Aiqin, Liu Pingping, Liu Ting Ting, Liu Yuan, Liu Yunbin

Born Country: China

Political Leaders Chinese Men

Died on: November 12, 1969

place of death: Kaifeng, China

More Facts

education: Communist University of the Toilers of the East

Recommended For You

1

What role did Liu Shaoqi play in the Chinese Communist Party?

Liu Shaoqi was a prominent leader in the Chinese Communist Party and served as the President of the People's Republic of China from 1959 to 1968.
2

What was Liu Shaoqi's stance on economic policies?

Liu Shaoqi was known for his advocacy of moderate economic policies that aimed at promoting industrialization and agricultural development in China.
3

How did Liu Shaoqi's relationship with Mao Zedong evolve over time?

Liu Shaoqi initially had a close relationship with Mao Zedong, but their relationship deteriorated during the Cultural Revolution, leading to Liu's removal from power and persecution.
4

What was Liu Shaoqi's role during the Great Leap Forward?

Liu Shaoqi was critical of the extreme policies of the Great Leap Forward and tried to mitigate its negative impact on the Chinese economy and people.
5

What was Liu Shaoqi's fate during the Cultural Revolution?

During the Cultural Revolution, Liu Shaoqi was purged from the Communist Party, publicly humiliated, and died in prison in 1969.

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Chinese Political Leaders

Childhood & Early Life

Liu Shaoqi was born on 24 November 1898, in Ningxiang, Hunan, Qing Empire, in a family of two girls and four boys.

He studied at Ningxiang Zhusheng Middle School and later joined a Socialist youth corps in 1920. The following year, he enrolled at University of the Toilers of the East in Russia.

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Early Political Career

In 1921, Liu Shaoqi joined the recently created Communist Party of China. The following year, he joined the All-China Labor Syndicate as its secretary.

In 1925, he joined the All-China Federation of Labor Executive Committee. The next two years saw his participation in many political campaigns in Shanghai.

In 1925, Liu Shaoqi alongside another communist leader organized Communist activities in Shanghai. He then returned to Guangzhou to organize the Canton-Hong Kong strike that went for 16 months.

He was then nominated as a member of the party's Central Committee in the year 1927 and headed its labor department.

In 1929, he returned to Shanghai to work at the party’s headquarters and later became the secretary of the Manchurian Party Committee in Shenyang (then-Fengtian).

During the early 1930s, Liu Shaoqi joined the Central Executive Committee of the Chinese Soviet Republic. He soon left Shanghai and moved to the Jiangxi Soviet.

Role As a Senior Leader

In 1932, Liu Shaoqi became the party secretary of Fujian. Two years later, he participated in the Long March and later reorganized underground actions in northern China.

He then went on to become party secretary in North China and headed the anti-Japanese actions in that area.

From 1939 to 1941, he controlled the Central Plains Bureau as well as the Central China Bureau. His activities during the 1930s allegedly sparked the famous Marco Polo Bridge Incident of 1937 and gave Japan a reason to kick off the Second Sino-Japanese War.

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In 1937, Liu Shaoqi traveled to Yanan. Four years later, he served in the New Fourth Army as a political commissar.

In 1945, he was elected as a CPC secretary at the Seventh National Party Congress and ended up becoming the leader of every Communist force in northern China.

Liu Shaoqi then served as Central People's Government’s vice chairman in 1949. From 1954 to 1959, he was the chairman of the Congress's Standing Committee.

From 1956 until 1966, he served the Communist Party of China as its first vice chairman. During his tenure, he took up writing to elaborate his political beliefs. Some of his best known works of this time are ‘On the Party’ and ‘How to be a Good Communist’.

Presidency & Downfall

In 1958, Liu Shaoqi made headlines for his efficient speech at the Eighth CPC National Congress where he favored the Great Leap Forward. He succeeded Mao Zedong as People's Republic of China’s president on 27 April 1959. During this time, he started formulating economic reforms to correct the defects of the Great Leap Forward.

Although Liu Shaoqi was acknowledged as Mao's chosen successor, his disapproval of Mao’s policies made him lose his trust. After Mao restored his prestige during the early 1960s, he decided to evict all his enemies from the party, including Liu Shaoqi.

In 1966, the growing problems of bureaucratization and corruption among others led to the declaration of the Cultural Revolution.

Mao gained the power and purged the party of his enemies, denouncing them as "capitalist roaders". Shaoqi was labeled as “the biggest capitalist roader in the party” and was eventually replaced by Lin Biao as the party’s deputy chairman.

Vilification, Death & Rehabilitation

Liu Shaoqi was severely beaten after his arrest in 1967. During this time, he developed pneumonia and was reportedly denied medical treatment for the same. His condition continued to worsen over time and he died on November 12, 1969. However, the reports from his principal physician state that Shaoqi was closely monitored each day by the medical team and was given the best treatment to improve his condition.

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In 1980, under Deng Xiaoping’s government, the 11th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China made calls for Shaoqi’s rehabilitation and remove the label of a “traitor”. The government also declared the former leader as "a great Marxist and proletarian revolutionary."

On November 23, 2018, Xi Jinping, Chinese Communist Party's general secretary, delivered a speech in Beijing to commemorate the 120th birth anniversary of Liu Shaoqi.

Family & Personal Life

Liu Shaoqi married five times. His first wife was He Baozhen who was married to him from 1923 until her death in 1934.

From 1935 to 1940, he was married to Xie Fei. Following their divorce, Shaoqi married Wang Qian. The couple stayed together for just a year.

His fourth marriage was with Wang Jian. Liu’s fifth wife was Wang Guangmei, who was thrown into jail during the Cultural Revolution and was tortured for over a decade.

Liu Shaoqi had nine children: Liu Yunbin, Liu Aiqin, Liu Tao, Liu Yunruo, Liu Ding, Liu Yuan, Liu Pingping, Liu Xiaoxiao, and Liu Tingting.

Facts About Liu Shaoqi

Liu Shaoqi was known for his love of literature and was an avid reader of both classical Chinese texts and Western literature.

Despite his high-ranking political position, Liu Shaoqi was said to have a down-to-earth personality and often engaged in conversations with common people.

Liu Shaoqi was known for his dedication to physical fitness and would often take long walks or practice calligraphy as a way to relax and stay healthy.

Liu Shaoqi had a passion for traditional Chinese music and was known to play the guqin, a traditional Chinese string instrument, in his free time.

Liu Shaoqi was a skilled calligrapher and his elegant handwriting was admired by many during his time.

Liu Shaoqi Biography

You wanted to know

What role did Liu Shaoqi play in the Chinese Communist Party?

What was Liu Shaoqi's stance on economic policies?

How did Liu Shaoqi's relationship with Mao Zedong evolve over time?

What was Liu Shaoqi's role during the Great Leap Forward?

What was Liu Shaoqi's fate during the Cultural Revolution?