Xie Zichang

Xie Zichang in 1935

Xie Zichang (1897 - February 21, 1935, Chinese: 谢子长), originally named Shiyuan and also known as Deyuan, Zichang, and Haoru, was a native of Anding County (now Zichang County), Shaanxi. He was a key founder of the Red Army and the Soviet regime in northern Shaanxi, China. He has a son Xie Shaoming.^[1]

Biography

Xie Zichang attended Xi'an First High School and Yulin High School in northern Shaanxi in 1919. He was admitted to the Taiyuan School Corps in 1922 to pursue a degree in military affairs. Upon his return to Anding County in 1924, he established a militia organisation and served as its general director. In the same year, he actively engaged in anti-imperialist activities in Beijing and Tianjin and became a member of the Progressive Youth Organisation, "Common Progress Society." He joined the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in 1925 and was elected to the local administrative committee and the Farmers' Association in Anding County by early 1927. In an endeavour to combat feudal landlords, Xie was lauded by the public as "Xie Qingtian."^[2]

Xie, who was the battalion commander and deputy commander of the Northwest Revolutionary Army's guerrilla detachment, organised and conducted the Qingjian Uprising with Tang Shu in October 1927. He was a member of the Military Committee of the Northwest Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army and served as the commander of its 3rd Brigade during the Weihua Uprising in May 1928.^[3] In 1930, Xie was the commander-in-chief of the military command department of the Shaanbei-North Action Committee, where he was responsible for the expansion of the revolution throughout Shaanxi, Ningxia, and Gansu.^[4]

The Nanliang Guerrillas and Shanbei Guerrilla Detachment were incorporated into the Northwest Anti-Imperialist Allied Army by Xie in October 1931. In February 1932, the army was reorganised as the Shanxi-Gansu Guerrilla Army of the Chinese Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, with Xie serving as its commander-in-chief. He commanded his forces in the establishment of revolutionary bases in Gansu and Shanxi. Xie assisted the 18th Division of the Chasui Anti-Japanese Allied Army by 1933 and subsequently resumed his role in northern Shaanxi later that year, re-establishing five Red Army guerrilla detachments.^[5]

In 1934, Xie became the political commissar of the 42nd Division of the Red 26th Army, the chairman of the Northwest Revolutionary Military Committee of the CCP, and the commander-in-chief of the Red Army Guerrillas in northern Shaanxi. He successfully commanded his troops in repelling Nationalist attacks on the Chinese Soviet areas in northern Shaanxi.^[6]

Statue of Xie Zichang in Xi'an's Revolutionary Park

Xie Zichang died in Dengjianwan, Anding County, Shaanxi Province, on February 21, 1935, as a result of complications from illness and battle wounds.^[7][8]

In September 2009, he was posthumously recognised as one of the 100 Heroes and Models who "made exceptional contributions to the establishment of New China", in recognition of his leadership and dedication.^[9]

References

1. 谢子长. 青年革命傳統教育系列丛書: 革命烈士卷 (in Chinese). 中国青年出版社. 1994. p. 311. ISBN 978-7-5006-1505-7. Retrieved 2024-09-12.
2. 陕甘宁边区农民政治参与（1937－1945）. 卓越文库: 马克思主义研究青年学者论丛 (in Chinese). Social Sciences Literature Press·社会政法分社. 2019. p. 34. ISBN 978-7-5201-4851-1. Retrieved 2024-09-12.
3. 中国革命史人物传略 (in Chinese). 湖北教育出版社. 1987. p. 79. ISBN 978-7-5351-0043-6. Retrieved 2024-09-12.
4. 革命先烈. 中华人物故事全书 : 美绘版: 近现代部分 (in Japanese). 中国少年儿童新闻出版总社. 2016. p. 56. ISBN 978-7-5148-3251-8. Retrieved 2024-09-12.
5. 挽救民族的危亡: 西北抗日救亡史 (in Chinese). 中共党史出版社. 2007. p. 21. ISBN 978-7-80199-515-5. Retrieved 2024-09-12.
6. 解放军烈士传编委会 (1988). 解放军烈士传 (in Chinese). 长征出版社. p. 425. Retrieved 2024-09-12.
7. 三十七孔窑洞与红色中国 (in Chinese). 解放军文艺出版社. 2006. ISBN 978-7-5033-1870-2. Retrieved 2024-09-12.
8. 红军史. 中国人民解放军历史丛书 (in Chinese). 青岛出版社. 2006. p. 19. ISBN 978-7-5436-3879-2. Retrieved 2024-09-12.
9. 谢子长. 100位为新中国成立作出突出贡献的英雄模范人物 (in Chinese). 吉林文史出版社. 2011. ISBN 978-7-5472-0576-1. Retrieved 2024-09-12.