- Tao Zhu
Tao Zhu (Chinese: 陶铸;
Pinyin : Táo Zhù; 1908-1969) is a Former Member of the 8thCommunist Party of China Politburo Standing Committee.Biography
He was Secretary of the
Guangdong Provincial Committee and Commander of theGuangzhou Military Region.He later became First Secretary of the Central-South region, and in 1965 was moved to
Beijing to replaceLu Dingyi as Director of the Central Propaganda Department. He was a Vice Premier of the State Council and Secretary of the Central Secretariat of theCCP , as well as an advisor to the Central Cultural Revolution Group.In May 1966, Tao Zhu was promoted to No. 4 in the party, behind Mao Zedong, Zhou Enlai and Lin Biao. That allowed his protege,
Zhao Ziyang , to take over as head of Guangdong province. Tao and Zhao were among the most enthusiastic of the early pro-Red Guard CCP leaders, but quickly fell from power because they tried to control the excesses of the leftists. [Vogel, Ezra, "Canton Under Communism: Programs and Politics in a Provincial Capital, 1949-68", Harper & Row (New York), 1969 SBNN: 06-131629-6, , p. 326-327] Tao became a member of the Politburo Standing Committee at the Eleventh Plenum in August 1966, but was purged during theCultural Revolution in early 1967 and died underhouse arrest in 1969.He was
exonerated in 1978. He was remembered as a great man of integrity.Family in politics
* Tao Siliang, daughter. Secretary, China Association of Mayors
References
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
