Lin Biao

This article is about the Marshal of the People's Republic of China. For the politician of the Republic of China, see Lin Biao (born 1889).

In this Chinese name, the family name is Lin.

Marshal Lin Biao
林彪
Official portrait, 1955
Vice Chairman of the Chinese Communist Party
In office 25 May 1958 – 13 September 1971
Chairman	Mao Zedong
Vice Premier of China
In office 15 September 1954 – 13 September 1971
Premier	Zhou Enlai
2nd Minister of National Defense
In office 17 September 1959 – 13 September 1971
Premier	Zhou Enlai
Preceded by	Peng Dehuai
Succeeded by	Ye Jianying
Personal details
Born	Lin Yurong (1907-12-05)5 December 1907 Huanggang, Hubei, China
Died	13 September 1971(1971-09-13) (aged 63) Öndörkhaan, Mongolia
Party	Chinese Communist Party (1927–1971)
Spouse(s)	Zhang Mei (1937–42) Ye Qun (1942–71)
Children	Lin Xiaolin (daughter) Lin Liguo (son) Lin Liheng (daughter)
Education	Whampoa Military Academy
Nicknames	Chief Lin (林总; Lín zǒng) "The Eagle of the Red Army" (红军之鹰; Hóng jūn zhī yīng) 101 (military call sign)
Military service
Allegiance	Republic of China People's Republic of China
Branch/service	People's Liberation Army Ground Force Chinese Workers' and Peasants' Red Army National Revolutionary Army
Years of service	1925–1971
Rank	Marshal of the People's Republic of China Lieutenant general (NRA)
Commands	1st Corps 1st Red Army Corps, Chinese Red Army 115 Division, 8th Route Army People's Liberation Army
Battles/wars	Northern Expedition Chinese Civil War Encirclement campaigns Long March Liaoshen campaign Pingjin campaign Second Sino-Japanese War Battle of Taiyuan Battle of Pingxingguan
Awards	Order of Bayi (first class) Order of Independence and Freedom (first class) Order of Liberation (first class)

Lin Biao
"Lin Biao" in regular Chinese characters
Chinese	林彪
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Lín Biāo Wade–Giles Lin2 Piao1 IPA [lǐn pjáʊ] Yue: Cantonese Yale Romanization Làhm Bīu Jyutping Lam4 Biu1 IPA [lɐm˩ piw˥] Southern Min Hokkien POJ Lîm Piu

Lin Biao (Chinese: 林彪; 5 December 1907 – 13 September 1971) was a Chinese military commander and politician. Pivotal to the Communist victory in the Chinese Civil War, he commanded the Liaoshen and Pingjin campaigns at the head of the Manchurian Field Army, led the People's Liberation Army into Beijing, and swept the Kuomintang from the coastal provinces of Southeast China. He was ranked third among the Ten Marshals of the People's Republic of China, behind Zhu De and Peng Dehuai.

After 1949, Lin initially withdrew from active politics. He served as a Vice Premier from 1954 and as one of the Vice Chairmen of the Chinese Communist Party from 1958, before assuming the additional post of Minister of National Defense in 1959. In the early 1960s he played a key role in cultivating Mao Zedong's cult of personality, and was rewarded during the Cultural Revolution by being designated Mao's sole successor as the Party's only Vice Chairman, a position he held from 1966 until his death.

Lin died on 13 September 1971 when a Hawker Siddeley Trident crashed near Öndörkhaan, Mongolia, in circumstances that remain disputed. The official Chinese account of the "Lin Biao incident" holds that Lin and his family were fleeing after a failed coup attempt against Mao; others contend they fled fearing imminent purge. He was posthumously condemned as a traitor, and since the late 1970s has been officially grouped with Jiang Qing as one of the two principal "counter-revolutionary" forces held responsible for the worst excesses of the Cultural Revolution.