View source for Chairman of the Chinese Communist Party

{{Short description|Leader of the Chinese Communist Party between 1943 and 1982}}
{{see also|Leader of the Chinese Communist Party}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2023}}
{{Infobox official post
| post = Chairman of the Central Committee
| body = the Chinese Communist Party
| native_name = {{native name|zh-Hans|中国共产党中央委员会主席}}
| insignia = Danghui (pre-1996).svg
| insigniasize = 75
| insigniacaption = [[Emblem of the Chinese Communist Party|Emblem of the Chinese Communist Party (1942–1996)]]
| insigniaalt = 
| flag = Flag of the Chinese Communist Party (Pre-1996).svg
| flagsize = 
| flagalt = 
| flagborder = 
| flagcaption = [[Flag of the Chinese Communist Party|Flag of the Chinese Communist Party (1942–1996)]]
| image = Mao Tse Tung.jpg
| imagesize = 
| alt = 
| imagecaption = '''Longest serving'''<br />'''[[Mao Zedong]]'''<br />20 March 1943 – 9 September 1976
| department = [[Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party]]
| style = [[Chairman]] ({{lang|zh|主席}})<br />{{small|(informal)}}<br />[[Tongzhi (term)|Comrade]] ({{lang|zh|同志}})<br>{{small|(formal)}}
| type = [[Party leader]]
| status = 
| abbreviation = 
| member_of = [[Politburo Standing Committee of the Chinese Communist Party|Politburo Standing Committee]]
| reports_to = [[Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party|Central Committee]]
| residence = 
| seat = [[Zhongnanhai]], [[Beijing]], China
| nominator = Central Committee
| appointer = Central Committee
| appointer_qualified = 
| termlength = Five years,
| termlength_qualified = renewable
| constituting_instrument = [[Constitution of the Chinese Communist Party|Party Constitution]]
| precursor = [[General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party|General Secretary]] (1921–1943)
| formation = {{start date and age|df=yes|1943|3|20}}
| first = [[Mao Zedong]]
| last = [[Hu Yaobang]]
| abolished = {{start date and age|df=yes|1982|9|1}}
| superseded_by = [[General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party|General Secretary]]
| succession = 
| unofficial_names =
| deputy = [[Vice Chairman of the Chinese Communist Party|Vice Chairman]] (1956–1982)
| salary = 
| website = <!-- {{url|example.com}}-->
| footnotes = 
}}
{{Infobox Chinese
| order = st
| title = Chairman of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party
| s = {{linktext|中国共产党|中央委员会|主席}}
| t = 中國共產黨中央委員會主席
| p = Zhōngguó Gòngchǎndǎng Zhōngyāng Wěiyuánhuì Zhǔxí
| altname = Commonly abbreviated as
| c2 = {{linktext|lang=zh|中共|中央主席}}
| p2 = Zhōnggòng Zhōngyāng Zhǔxí
}}
The '''chairman of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party''' ({{lang-zh|s=中国共产党中央委员会主席|p=Zhōngguó Gòngchǎndǎng Zhōngyāng Wěiyuánhuì Zhǔxí}}) was the [[party leader|leader]] of the [[Chinese Communist Party]]. The position was established at the [[8th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party|8th National Congress]] in 1945 and abolished at the [[12th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party|12th National Congress]] in 1982, being replaced by the [[General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party|general secretary]]. Offices with the name Chairman of the Central Executive Committee and Chairman of the Central Committee existed in 1922–1923 and 1928–1931, respectively.<ref name="l872">{{cite book | title=第一代中央领导集体的形成 | publisher=群众出版社 | year=2001 | isbn=978-7-5014-2494-8 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pCtXAAAAIAAJ | language=zh | access-date=2025-02-17 | page=596}}</ref>

==History==
=== Background ===
Following the establishment of the CCP, its inaugural leader, [[Chen Duxiu]], held various positions including secretary of the Central Bureau, chairman of the Central Executive Committee ({{lang-zh|c=中央执行委员会委员长}}), and general secretary of the Central Committee.<ref name="d972">{{cite book |author= |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IAg4AQAAIAAJ |title=中国共产党 |publisher=中国人民大学书报资料社 |year=2008 |series=报刊资料选汇 |page=139 |language=zh |access-date=2025-02-17 |issue=nos. 1-6}}</ref> From January 11 to 22, 1925, the [[4th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party]] issued 11 resolutions, including modifications to the [[Constitution of the Chinese Communist Party|CCP constitution]], to succinctly encapsulate the revolutionary experiences acquired during the [[First United Front]]. The Chairman of the Central Executive Committee was reappointed as General Secretary, and Chen Duxiu was elected as General Secretary of the Central Committee and Director of the Central Organization Department.<ref name="n373">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gim4AAAAIAAJ |title=中国共产党建设大辞典 |publisher=四川人民出版社 |year=1991 |isbn=978-7-220-01279-2 |page=617 |language=zh |trans-title=The Great Dictionary of the Construction of the Chinese Communist Party |access-date=2025-02-17}}</ref>

In June 1935, during the Red Army's [[Long March]], a debate emerged on the army's subsequent path of march after the {{ill|Red First Front Army|zh|中国工农红军第一方面军}} and the {{ill|Red Fourth Front Army|zh|中国工农红军第四方面军}} convened in Maogong. [[Mao Zedong]] directed a segment of the Red First Front Army northward to [[Shaanxi]], whereas [[Zhang Guotao]] commanded the Red Fourth Front Army southward to Sichuan.<ref name="d957">{{cite book |author= |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eh-3FBNdYvUC&pg=PA308 |title=長征, 長征: 从闽西北到陕北 |publisher=[[Fujian Education Press]] |year=2006 |isbn=978-7-5334-3221-8 |page=308 |language=zh |trans-title=Long March, Long March: From Northwest Fujian to Northern Shaanxi |access-date=2025-02-17}}</ref> On October 5, 1935, Zhang Guotao established a distinct "Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party" (historically referred to as the "Second Central Committee") in Zhuomudiao, [[Markang|Markang County]], [[Sichuan]]. Zhang Guotao was designated as the "Chairman of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party", marking the initial appearance of the title "Central Committee Chairman" within the CCP.<ref name="y598">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZYkdAQAAMAAJ |title=聚焦主席台: 问鼎天下 (1921-1949) |publisher=湖南人民出版社 |year=2004 |isbn=978-7-5438-3720-1 |page=283 |language=zh |trans-title=Focus on the Podium: Achieving World Domination (1921-1949) |access-date=2025-02-17 |issue=v. 1}}</ref> However, under the influence of the [[Communist International]] (Comintern) and the [[Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party|CCP's Central Committee]], Zhang Guotao was compelled to dissolve his "Second Central Committee".<ref name="v745">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5WCEAAAAIAAJ |title=大运筹: 共和国元帅重大决策 |publisher=中共中央党校出版社 |year=1999 |isbn=978-7-5035-1905-5 |page=262 |language=zh |trans-title=Grand Operations: Major Decisions of the Marshal of the Republic |access-date=2025-02-17}}</ref> On June 6, 1936, Zhang Guotao officially declared the dissolution of the "Second Central Committee" and his resignation as "Party Chairman", a position that was not formally acknowledged by the CCP.<ref name="g298">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yZdAAAAAMAAJ |title=马背上的共和国 |publisher=解放军出版社 |year=2005 |isbn=978-7-5065-4758-1 |page=380 |language=zh |trans-title=The Republic on Horseback |access-date=2025-02-17}}</ref> Mao Zedong was the inaugural Chairman of the Central Committee acknowledged by the CCP.<ref name="f667">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=z6U4EQAAQBAJ&pg=RA1-PT557 |title=马克思主义中国化研究文稿 |publisher=[[Social Sciences Academic Press]] |year=2018 |isbn=978-7-5201-1611-4 |series=中国社会科学院马克思主义中国化优势学科成果系列 |page=1-PT557 |language=zh |trans-title=Research Papers on the Sinicization of Marxism |access-date=2025-02-17}}</ref>

=== Establishment ===
{{See also|Yan'an Rectification Movement}}
To prevent further division within the CCP, the Politburo convened on March 20, 1943, and resolved that the Secretariat would consist of Mao Zedong, [[Liu Shaoqi]], and [[Ren Bishi]], with Mao Zedong serving as the chairman of both the Politburo and the Secretariat, in addition to leading the [[Central Party School]].<ref name="q542">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mprjAAAAMAAJ |title=民主革命时期中共历届中央领导集体述评 |publisher=[[Chinese Communist Party History Press]] |year=2007 |isbn=978-7-80199-529-2 |page=37 |language=zh |trans-title=A Review of the CCP Central Leadership Groups during the Democratic Revolution |access-date=2025-02-17 |issue=v. 2}}</ref> As his replacement, Mao Zedong, who had been the ''de facto'' leader of the party since the Long March, was named '''Chairman of the Politburo of the CCP Central Committee''' ({{lang-zh|c=中国共产党中央政治局主席}}). The [[7th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party|7th CCP National Congress]] introduced the post of '''Chairman of the Central Committee''' into the party constitution, and in 1956 the General Secretary was given the day-to-day management of the [[Secretariat of the Chinese Communist Party|Secretariat]].<ref name="t191">{{cite book |author= |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0BU4AQAAIAAJ |title=中共党史文摘年刊/1990年 |publisher=[[Chinese Communist Party History Press]] |year=1994 |isbn=978-7-80023-755-3 |page=76 |language=zh |trans-title=Chinese Communist Party History Digest Yearbook 1990 |access-date=2025-02-17}}</ref>

The chairman was elected by the Central Committee in a plenary session and had full powers over the Central Committee, the Politburo, and its [[Politburo Standing Committee of the Chinese Communist Party|Standing Committee]]. The 1956 Party Constitution introduced the multiple [[Vice Chairman of the Chinese Communist Party|vice chairman]] post; since 1945, actual vice chairmanship had been exercised by the Secretariat members. Liu Shaoqi was the highest-ranking vice-chairman from 1956 to 1966.<ref name="u176">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=USNYDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA61 |title=毛泽东的民主新路及现代性困境 |publisher=Global Publishing |year=2009 |isbn=978-981-320-557-4 |page=61 |language=zh |trans-title=Mao Zedong's New Path to Democracy and the Dilemma of Modernity |access-date=2025-02-17}}</ref>

The 1969 CCP Constitution (adopted by the [[9th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party|9th Congress]]) introduced the post of a single vice chairman, in order to give more authority to [[Lin Biao]] as Mao's successor. The 1973 Constitution (adopted by the 10th Congress) re-introduced the collective vice chairmanship. In 1976, [[Hua Guofeng]] was named the first vice chairman of the Central Committee, a post previously held unofficially by Liu Shaoqi from 1956 to 1966; [[Zhou Enlai]] from 1973 to 1975; and [[Deng Xiaoping]] in 1975 in the capacity of "Vice Chairman in charge of the day-to-day work of the Central Committee".<ref name="z860">{{cite book |author= |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1DU4AQAAIAAJ&pg=PA178 |title=中華人民共和國國務院公報 |publisher=[[General Office of the State Council]] |year=1997 |page=178 |language=zh |trans-title=Gazette of the State Council of the People's Republic of China |access-date=2025-02-17 |issue=nos. 1-40}}</ref>

The [[1975 Constitution of the People's Republic of China|1975 constitution]] reinforced the influence of the party on the state. The National Defense Council was abolished. Article 15 made the Chairman the [[commander-in-chief]] of the [[People's Liberation Army]] ("the Chairman of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party leads all the armed forces of the country").<ref name="o752">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aAtMAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA21 |title=中华人民共和国国家机构通览 |publisher=中国民主法制出版社 |year=1998 |isbn=978-7-80078-356-2 |page=21 |language=zh |trans-title=Overview of National Institutions of the People's Republic of China |access-date=2025-02-17}}</ref>

=== Abolishment ===
{{See also|Generations of Chinese leadership}}
Although Hua Guofeng succeeded Mao as party chairman, by 1978 he had lost power to vice chairman Deng Xiaoping, who at that point had become the [[paramount leader|''de facto'' leader of China]]. By the 1980s, the CCP leadership desired to prevent a single leader from rising above the party, as Mao had done.<ref name=":0" />

On September 1, 1982, the CCP convened [[12th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party|its Twelfth Congress]], during which it resolved to amend the CCP Constitution to eliminate the position of Chairman of the Central Committee, retaining only the role of General Secretary of the Central Committee.<ref name=":0">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=y0gjAQAAMAAJ |title=中华人民共和国政治制度 |publisher=[[Shanghai People's Press]] |year=2005 |isbn=978-7-208-05566-7 |page=548 |language=zh |trans-title=Political system of the People's Republic of China |access-date=2025-02-17}}</ref> It established that the responsibilities of the General Secretary would include convening meetings of the Politburo of the Central Committee and the Standing Committee of the Politburo, as well as presiding over the operations of the Central Committee Secretariat.<ref name="q411">{{cite book |author= |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IlzkAAAAMAAJ |title=中国共产党组织工作辞典 |publisher=党建读物出版社 |year=2001 |isbn=978-7-80098-415-0 |page=92 |language=zh |trans-title=Dictionary of Organizational Work of the Chinese Communist Party |access-date=2025-02-17}}</ref> The party's last chairman, [[Hu Yaobang]], transferred to the post of General Secretary.<ref name="v547">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JmVKAQAAIAAJ |title=中国共产党历次全国代表大会: 从一大到十七大 |publisher=[[Chinese Communist Party History Press]] |year=2008 |isbn=978-7-80199-854-5 |page=54 |language=zh |trans-title=The National Congresses of the Chinese Communist Party: From the First to the Seventeenth |access-date=2025-02-17}}</ref>

==List of chairmen==
{{main|Leader of the Chinese Communist Party}}

===Chairman of the Central Politburo===
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! rowspan=2| Portrait
! rowspan=2| Name<br />{{small|(birth–death)}}
! colspan=3| Term of office
! rowspan=2| {{Abbr|Ref.|References}}
|-
! Took office
! Left office
! Time in office
|-
| [[File:Mao Zedong (1940).jpg|100x100px]]
| '''[[Mao Zedong]]'''<br />{{small|(1893–1976)}}
| 20 March 1943
| ''19 June 1945''
| {{ayd|20 March 1943|19 June 1945}}
| <ref name="r255">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AZN-EAAAQBAJ&pg=PA434 |title=战时国际关系 |publisher=[[Social Sciences Academic Press]] |year=2011 |isbn=978-7-5097-2216-9 |page=434 |language=zh |trans-title=International Relations during War |access-date=2025-02-17}}</ref>
|}

===Chairman of the Central Committee===
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! rowspan=2| Portrait
! rowspan=2| Name<br />{{small|(birth–death)}}
! colspan=3| Term of office
! rowspan=2| {{Abbr|Ref.|References}}
|-
! Took office
! Left office
! Time in office
|-
| [[File:Mao in 1945.jpg|102x102px]]
| '''[[Mao Zedong]]'''<br />{{small|(1893–1976)}}
| ''19 June 1945''
| [[Death and state funeral of Mao Zedong|9 September 1976 †]]
| {{ayd|19 June 1945|9 September 1976}}
| <ref name="f978">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_iQ1AAAAMAAJ |title=光輝的七十年 |publisher=中国人民大学出版社 |year=1991 |page=1248 |language=zh |trans-title=Seventy Glorious Years |access-date=2025-02-17 |issue=v. 2 |isbn=978-7-300-01075-5 }}</ref>
|-
| [[File:Hua_Guofeng.jpg|108x108px]]
| '''[[Hua Guofeng]]'''<br />{{small|(1921–2008)}}
| 7 October 1976
| 28 June 1981
| {{ayd|7 October 1976|28 June 1981}}
| <ref name="n253">{{cite book |author= |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qSRXAAAAIAAJ |title=中共十一屆三中全會以來中央首要講話及文件選編 |publisher=中共硏究雜誌社 |year=1983 |series=中共十一屆三中全會以來中央首要講話及文件 選編 |page=848 |language=zh |trans-title=A Selection of Important Speeches and Documents of the Central Committee since the Third Plenary Session of the 11th CCP Central Committee |access-date=2025-02-17}}</ref><ref name="s697">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=O8BNAAAAMAAJ |title=中国共产党六十年 |publisher=解放军出版社 |year=1984 |page=720 |language=zh |trans-title=Sixty Years of the Chinese Communist Party |access-date=2025-02-17 |issue=v. 2}}</ref>
|-
| [[File:Hu Yaobang (cropped).jpg|80px]]
| '''[[Hu Yaobang]]'''<br />{{small|(1915–1989)}}
| 29 June 1981
| 11 September 1982
| {{ayd|29 June 1981|11 September 1982}}
|<ref name="n298">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EeBNAAAAMAAJ |title=中国政治制度史 |publisher=浙江古籍出版社 |year=1986 |isbn=978-7-80518-000-7 |page=536 |language=zh |trans-title=History of China's Political System |access-date=2025-02-17}}</ref>
|}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{CCPHeads}}
{{7th Politburo of the Chinese Communist Party}}
{{8th Politburo of the Chinese Communist Party}}
{{9th Politburo of the Chinese Communist Party}}
{{10th Politburo of the Chinese Communist Party}}
{{11th Politburo of the Chinese Communist Party}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chairman of the Communist Party Of China}}
[[Category:General secretaries and Chairmen of the Chinese Communist Party| ]]
[[Category:Politics of China]]
[[Category:1922 establishments in China]]
[[Category:1925 disestablishments in China]]
[[Category:1943 establishments in China]]
[[Category:1982 disestablishments in China]]