Nanchang Uprising

The Nanchang Uprising (Chinese: 南昌起义; 1 August 1927) was the first major Kuomintang–Communist engagement of the Chinese Civil War, begun by the Communists to counter the anti-communist purges by the Nationalist Party of China.

The Kuomintang (KMT, or Nationalist Party) established a "Revolutionary Committee" at Nanchang to plan the spark that was expected to ignite a widespread peasant uprising. Deng Yanda, Song Qingling (Soong Ching-ling, Madame Sun Yat-sen) and Zhang Fakui (who later crushed the uprising) were among the political leaders.

Military forces in Nanchang under the leadership of He Long and Zhou Enlai rebelled in an attempt to seize control of the city after the end of the first Kuomintang-Communist alliance. Other important leaders in this event were Zhu De, Ye Ting and Liu Bocheng.

Communist forces successfully occupied Nanchang and escaped from the siege of Kuomintang forces by August 5, withdrawing to the Jinggang Mountains of western Jiangxi. August 1 was later regarded as the anniversary of the founding of the People's Liberation Army and the first action fought against the Kuomintang.

Nanchang

Nanchang (Chinese: 南昌) is the capital of Jiangxi Province in southeastern China. As of 2010, a population of 5,042,565 live in the prefecture, in which 2,357,838 live in the built-up area made up of all five urban districts. Located in the north-central part of the province, it is bounded on the west by the Jiuling Mountains, and on the east by Poyang Lake. Because of its strategic location connecting the prosperous East and South China, it has become a major railway hub in Southern China in recent decades.

As the Nanchang Uprising in 1927 is distinctively recognized by the ruling Communist Party as "firing the first gunshot against the evil Nationalists", the current regime has therefore named the city since 1949 "the City of Heroes", "the place where the People's Liberation Army was born", and the most widely known "place where the military banner of the People's Liberation Army was first raised".

History

The territories encompassing modern-day Jiangxi Province—including Nanchang—was first incorporated into China during the Qin dynasty, when it was conquered from the Baiyue peoples and organized as Jiujiang Commandery (Chinese: 九江郡). In 201 BC, during the Han dynasty, the city was given the Chinese name Nanchang and became the administrative seat of Yuzhang Commandery (Chinese: 豫章郡), and was governed by Guan Ying (Chinese: 灌嬰), one of Emperor Gaozu of Han's generals. The name Nanchang means "southern flourishing", derived from a motto of developing what is now southern China that is traditionally attributed to Emperor Gaozu himself.

Liberation Army

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People's Liberation Army

The Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA; Chinese: 中国人民解放军) is the armed forces of the People's Republic of China and the Communist Party of China (CPC). 1 August is celebrated annually as the Army Day commemorating Nanchang Uprising on 1 August 1927. The PLA consists of five professional service branches: the Ground Force, the Navy, the Air Force, the Rocket Force and the Strategic Support Force. The PLA is the world's largest military force, with a strength of approximately 2,285,000 personnel, 0.18% of the country's population. In September 2015, President Xi Jinping announced that he would reduce the country's military personnel by 300,000. The PLA's insignia consists of a roundel with a red star bearing the Chinese characters for Eight One, referring to August 1.

The PLA is under the command of the Central Military Commission (CMC) of the CPC. Following the principle of civilian control of the military, the commander in chief is the Chairman of the Central Military Commission (usually the General Secretary of the Communist Party of China). The Ministry of National Defense, which operates under the State Council, does not exercise any authority over the PLA and is far less powerful than the CMC. A system of political officers embedded within the military assures party authority over the armed forces, so that the primary role of the Ministry of Defense is that of a liaison office with foreign militaries. The political and military leadership have made a concerted effort to create a professional military force restricted to national defence and to the provision of assistance in domestic economic construction and emergency relief. This conception of the role of the PLA requires the promotion of specialised officers who can understand modern weaponry and handle combined arms operations. Troops around the country are stationed in five military theaters and more than 20 military districts.

China

China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a sovereign state in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population of over 1.35 billion. The PRC is a one-party state governed by the Communist Party, with its seat of government in the capital city of Beijing. It exercises jurisdiction over 22 provinces; five autonomous regions; four direct-controlled municipalities (Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai and Chongqing); two mostly self-governing special administrative regions (Hong Kong and Macau); and claims sovereignty over Taiwan.

Covering approximately 9.6 million square kilometers, China is the world's second-largest country by land area, and either the third or fourth-largest by total area, depending on the method of measurement. China's landscape is vast and diverse, ranging from forest steppes and the Gobi and Taklamakan deserts in the arid north to subtropical forests in the wetter south. The Himalaya, Karakoram, Pamir and Tian Shan mountain ranges separate China from South and Central Asia. The Yangtze and Yellow Rivers, the third- and sixth-longest in the world, run from the Tibetan Plateau to the densely populated eastern seaboard. China's coastline along the Pacific Ocean is 14,500 kilometres (9,000 mi) long, and is bounded by the Bohai, Yellow, East and South China Seas.