Lin Biao

Marshal Lin Biao
林彪
Vice Chairman of the Chinese Communist Party
In office 25 May 1958 – 13 September 1971
Chairman	Mao Zedong
First Vice Chairman of the Chinese Communist Party
In office 1 August 1966 – 13 September 1971
Chairman	Mao Zedong
Preceded by	Liu Shaoqi
Succeeded by	Zhou Enlai (1973)
2nd First Vice Premier of the People's Republic of China
In office 21 December 1964 – 13 September 1971
Premier	Zhou Enlai
Preceded by	Chen Yun
Succeeded by	Deng Xiaoping
Vice Premier of the People's Republic of China
In office 15 September 1954 – 13 September 1971
Premier	Zhou Enlai
2nd Minister of National Defense
In office 17 September 1959 – 13 September 1971
Premier	Zhou Enlai
Preceded by	Peng Dehuai
Succeeded by	Ye Jianying
Personal details
Born	Lin Yurong (1907-12-05)5 December 1907 Huanggang, Hubei, Qing Empire
Died	13 September 1971(1971-09-13) (aged 63) Öndörkhaan, Mongolian People's Republic
Political party	Chinese Communist Party (1927–1971)
Spouse(s)	Zhang Mei [zh] (1937–42) Ye Qun (1942–71)
Children	Lin Xiaolin [zh] (daughter) Lin Liguo (son) Lin Liheng (daughter)
Alma mater	Whampoa Military Academy
Nicknames	Chief Lin (林总; Lín zǒng) "The Eagle of the Red Army" (红军之鹰; Hóng jūn zhī yīng) 101 (military call sign)
Military service
Allegiance	People's Republic of China
Branch/service	People's Liberation Army Ground Force Chinese Workers' and Peasants' Red Army National Revolutionary Army
Years of service	1925–1971
Rank	Marshal of the People's Republic of China Lieutenant general (NRA)
Commands	1st Corps 1st Red Army Corps, Chinese Red Army 115 Division, 8th Route Army People's Liberation Army
Awards	Order of Bayi (first class) Order of Independence and Freedom (first class) Order of Liberation (first class)

Lin Biao
"Lin Biao" in regular Chinese characters
Chinese	林彪
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Lín Biāo Wade–Giles Lin2 Piao1 IPA [lǐn pjáʊ] Yue: Cantonese Yale Romanization Làhm Bīu Jyutping Lam4 Biu1 IPA [lɐm˩ piːu˥] Southern Min Hokkien POJ Lîm Piu

Lin Biao (Chinese: 林彪; 5 December 1907 – 13 September 1971) was a Chinese politician and Marshal of the People's Republic of China who was pivotal in the Communist victory during the Chinese Civil War, especially in Northeast China from 1946 to 1949. Lin was the general who commanded the decisive Liaoshen and Pingjin campaigns, in which he co-led the Manchurian Field Army to victory and led the People's Liberation Army into Beijing. He crossed the Yangtze River in 1949, decisively defeated the Kuomintang and took control of the coastal provinces in Southeast China. He ranked third among the Ten Marshals. Zhu De and Peng Dehuai were considered senior to Lin, and Lin ranked directly ahead of He Long and Liu Bocheng.

Lin abstained from taking an active role in politics after the war ceased in 1949. He led a section of the government's civil bureaucracy as one of the co-serving Vice Premiers of the People's Republic of China from 1954 onwards, becoming First Vice Premier from 1964. Lin became more active in politics when named one of the co-serving Vice Chairmen of the Chinese Communist Party in 1958. He held the three responsibilities of Vice Premier, Vice Chairman and Minister of National Defense from 1959 onwards. To date, Lin is the longest serving Minister of National Defense of the People's Republic of China. Lin became instrumental in creating the foundations for Mao Zedong's cult of personality in the early 1960s, and was rewarded for his service in the Cultural Revolution by being named Mao's designated successor as the sole Vice Chairman of the Chinese Communist Party, from 1966 until his death.

Lin died on 13 September 1971, when a Hawker Siddeley Trident he was aboard crashed in Öndörkhaan in Mongolia. The exact events of this "Lin Biao incident" have been a source of speculation ever since. The Chinese government's official explanation is that Lin and his family attempted to flee following a botched coup against Mao. Others have argued that they fled out of fear they would be purged, as Lin's relationship with other Communist Party leaders had soured in the final few years of his life. Following Lin's death, he was officially condemned as a traitor by the Communist Party. Since the late 1970s, Lin and the wife of Mao, Jiang Qing, (along with the other members of the Gang of Four) have been labeled the two major "counter-revolutionary forces" of the Cultural Revolution, receiving official blame from the Chinese government for the worst excesses of that period.