Chen Geng

Chen Geng
陈赓
Chen Geng
Vice-Minister of National Defense
In office
16 September 1959 – 16 March 1961
MinisterLin Biao
Deputy Chief of the People's Liberation Army General Staff Department
In office
31 October 1954 – October 1959
ChiefSu YuHuang Kecheng
President of PLA Military Engineering Institute
In office
11 July 1952 – 16 March 1961
Preceded byPosition established
Succeeded byLiu Juying
Political Commissar of PLA Military Engineering Institute
In office
September 1953 – May 1958
Preceded byPosition established
Succeeded byXie Youfa
Chairman of Yunnan Government
In office
January 1950 – April 1955
Preceded byPosition established
Succeeded byGuo Yingqiu
Military Advisor to Democratic Republic of Vietnam
In office
1949–1955
Personal details
Born(1903-02-27)February 27, 1903
Xiangxiang, Hunan, Qing Empire
DiedMarch 16, 1961(1961-03-16) (aged 58)
Shanghai, People's Republic of China
Political partyChinese Communist Party
Spouse(s)Wang Genying
Fu Ya
Children5
Parent(s)Chen Daoliang
Peng Xuexian
Alma materWhampoa Military Academy
Counter-Japanese Military and Political University
Awards Order of Bayi (First Class Medal)
Order of Independence and Freedom (First Class Medal)
Order of Liberation (First Class Medal)
Military service
Allegiance People's Republic of China
Branch/service People's Liberation Army Ground Force
Years of service1923–1961
Rank Senior general
Battles/warsChinese Civil War
Second Sino-Japanese War
First Indochina War
Korean War
Chinese name
Traditional Chinese
Simplified Chinese
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu PinyinChén Gēng

Chen Geng (Chinese: 陈赓; 27 February 1903 - 16 March 1961) was a Chinese military officer who served as a senior general in the People's Liberation Army. Enlisting in a warlord's army at the age of 13, Chen Geng joined the Chinese Communist Party in 1922 and was accepted into Whampoa Military Academy in 1924. He approached Chiang Kai-shek and even saved his life by preventing him from committing suicide. He served as a Communist spy in the National Revolutionary Army for 6 years. After being discovered, he joined the Communist base in Jiangxi and participated in the Long March. He fought the Imperial Japanese Army during the Second Sino-Japanese War and then the Nationalists during the Chinese Civil War. Once victory was obtained, he went to Vietnam to help Hồ Chí Minh against the French during the First Indochina War and then participated in the Korean War with the People's Volunteer Army. He became a senior general in 1955. He then founded an academy of military technologies but died before finalizing the ballistic missile and nuclear weapons programs.