Marshal Liu; He Marched With Mao
Liu Bocheng, one of the founders of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army and a senior member of the Communist leadership until the mid-1970s, died Tuesday at the age of 94.
State television in Peking quoted a joint party, state and military announcement Thursday, saying Marshal Liu, nicknamed “The One-Eyed Dragon” after he lost an eye early in his military career, was a “great proletarian revolutionary.”
He had been seriously ill for several years and blind since 1977. He gave up all his party, military and state posts, including membership of the ruling Politburo, in 1982.
Liu began as a member of a student detachment in the 1911 revolution that overthrew China’s last emperor.
He joined the Chinese Communist Party in 1926 and is credited with playing a major role in the abortive Nanchang Uprising of 1927.
After studying in Moscow, he returned to become one of Mao Tse-tung’s leaders during the Long March of the 1930s. It was during Mao’s march across China that Liu was believed to have lost his eye.
He commanded a division of the Communist forces in the war against Japan and jointly led the 2nd Field Army with China’s current leader, Deng Xiaoping, against the Nationalists.
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