Wei Wenbo

Wei Wenbo (Chinese: 魏文伯; pinyin: Wèi Wénbó; 1905–1987) was a Chinese Communist revolutionary and politician who played an extensive role in the building of China's legal system. He was also one of East China's most senior leaders before being purged in the Cultural Revolution.^[1][2][3]

Wei was born into a peasant family in Xinzhou County (then part of Huanggang), Hubei, China on the 9th of March, 1905.^[3] In 1925, he joined Communist Youth League of China and organised a farmers' union in his hometown. He then joined the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in August of 1926. His activities as the Organisation Department head of his local party branch included leading the workers of Yangluo in demanding better working conditions and organising an armed workers' self-defence team.^[4][5]

In 1927, Wei gave up his opportunity to study in the Soviet Union following the failure of the July 15 Incident, transferred his self defence team and farmers' union's arms and resources to He Long's army and proceeded to join the Nanchang Uprising. After the uprising's failure, he returned to his native province and continued the underground struggle during the country's white terror in Yichang.^[5]

In 1929, Wei was admitted Beiping Yuwen University's political science school and subsequently involved himself in student revolutionary activities in Beiping (now Beijing), becoming the Secretary of the university's underground party branch. He then served as the Secretary-General of the CCP's Beiping Municipal Committee in 1930.^[4][5] During his time in Beiping, he was arrested three times by Kuomintang forces.^[3]

In the summer of 1933, Wei joined Feng Yuxiang's Counter-Japanese Army on the party's orders, serving as the Secretary of its Military Committee.^[4] In 1936, he covertly joined the Northeastern Army in Xi'an on the party's orders. He actively promoted Mao Zedong's anti-Japanese national united front policy as the propaganda member of the Northeast Army Party Working Committee, and supported the Communists in the Xi'an Incident.^[3][4][5]

In the outbreak of the Second Sino-Japanese War, Wei organised preparations for resistance efforts against the invading Japanese forces as the Party Committee Secretary for Yingshan County within his native province after returning from Shaanxi. He became the Chief of the United Front Section of the Jiangbei (江北) Command Post of the New Fourth Army in November of 1939.^[6]

In 1940, Liu Shaoqi founded Central China's first-ever Anti-Japanese Democratic Government (抗日民主政府), The Dingyuan Anti-Japanese Democratic Government. Liu immediately appointed Wei who concurrently served as the Magistrate of Communist-controlled Dingyuan County and the Director of the Dingyuan-Fengyang-Chuxian Joint Administrative Office, making him the first leader of a county-level Anti-Japanese Democratic Government in China.^[4][7][8] During this time, he was actively involved in mobilisation efforts, building the Communist government's legitimacy and preaching its pro-resistance positions.^[4]

In September 1941, Wei became both the Deputy Director and Party Group Secretary of the Office for Mutual Defence of the Areas West of the Tianjin–Pukou railway. He was simultaneously elected as the President of the Assembly of the Anti-Japanese Base Areas West of Tianjin-Pukou railway. In May 1942, the first and second sessions of the Assembly were held, during which 9 decrees and 17 resolutions were passed, including the 'Interim Measures for Preferential Treatment of Families of Anti-Japanese Soldiers', thus increasing the unity and fervour of the Chinese resistance movement.^[4][6]

In the summer of 1944, Wei went to Yan'an to study in the Central Party School as part of the Yan'an Rectification Movement, while working as a Propaganda Committee member of the Party Branch. After completing his studies, he went on to serve as Deputy Director and Party Secretary of the Wanjiang (Southern Anhui) Administrative Office.^[4][5]

Following the continuation of the Chinese Civil War in 1946, Wei served as the Leader of the Civil Affairs Department of the CCP Central Committee's East China Bureau.^[8]

After the Founding of the People's Republic of China, he successively served as the Secretary-General of the CCP Central Committee's East China Bureau and Procurator-General of the East China branch of the People's Procurator-General's Office. In 1952, he founded and became the President of the East China University of Political Science and Law. He was made both the Vice-Minister of Justice (司法部副部长）and the Secretary of the Joint Party Group of the Supreme People's Court in 1953, making him China's first ever Vice-Minister of Justice.^[3]

Wei was transferred to the Shanghai Government in 1955. In the same year, Wei became as the Deputy Director of the CCP Central Committee Leading Group for Schistosomiasis Control before assuming the Leading Group Directorship later on. He acted as the chief spokesperson of the Chinese government's efforts to eradicating Schistosomiasis in rural China coordinated medical and research efforts and partook in many on-the-ground efforts over a period of ten years to contain the disease, playing an important role in the disease's eradication in China.^[5][9] Wei was known to have written his own poem pertaining to the disease's prevention methods to boost the awareness of its prevention among the Chinese populace. The poem is known as 《送瘟神三字经》in Chinese (Lit. 'The Three-Character Classic for Sending Away the Plague God').^[10][11]

Wei's tenure in the Shanghai Municipal Government was marked by his role as the Secretary of the CCP Shanghai Municipal Committee Secretariat and Vice Chairman of the Shanghai CPPCC.^[5][6]

In 1961, Wei's work was transferred to the East China Bureau again. He first served as its Alternate Secretary and then served as the Secretary of the East China Bureau under First Secretary Ke Qingshi. After Ke's death in 1965, Wei, alongside his comrades Chen Pixian and Cao Diqiu succeeded him as the Bureau's top leaders, effectively establishing themselves as the most influential people in the East China Administrative Region, with Wei at the head of the CCP Central Committee's East China Bureau.^{[citation needed]}

In 1967, Wei was ousted from power during the January Storm alongside the rest of the Municipal Committee by radical elements led by members of the Gang of Four. Wei was subject to public humiliation in the form of struggle sessions, and was branded as a 'traitor' by the Gang. He spent much of the Cultural Revolution under house arrest as a result.^[3]

In 1979, Wei was thoroughly rehabilitated by the party and resumed work by joining Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, serving as a Vice-Secretary (副书记) before being promoted to Secretary-General of the CCDI (中纪委秘书长) in 1979. He became the Minister of Justice in the same year.^[1] Wei's tenure as the Justice Minister was marked by the Trial of the Gang of Four and the restoration of China's damaged legal system.^[3] Following his rehabilitation, he was also a representative to the 12th National Congress of the CCP, and a member of the Central Political and Legal Affairs Commission (CPLC).^[12]

After retiring from his major posts in 1982, he was chosen to serve on the Central Advisory Commission (CAC) in October of 1983, and was invited to the 13th National Congress of the CCP.^[12]

Wei had suffered from strokes as early as 1980, as a result of overworking himself, feeling the need to make up for lost time after a decade of imprisonment.^[3] He initiated a proposal for his withdrawal from the CAC in 1985 at a party conference. He attended the 13th National Congress of the CCP as a special invitee despite his deteriorating health.^[12][5]

Wei Wenbo died in Shanghai due to illness on the 15th of November, 1987, aged 82. Wei's remains were transferred to Babaoshan Revolutionary Cemetery.^[5]

Wei was a widely respected Chinese calligrapher. Chinese calligraphy had been his hobby since childhood. He was chosen to serve twice as the Honorary Director of the Chinese Calligraphers Association. His works have been selected for major calligraphy exhibitions both in China and abroad (notably Japan) and have been published in newspapers and magazines many times. They are collected or engraved in many museums, memorial halls and scenic spots across China.^[13]

Wei was also an educator. Other than founding the ECUPL, he also served as the President of the Shanghai Institute of Socialism and taught political courses at Fudan University's Department of Law in 1958.^[6]

He was married to fellow Chinese Communist revolutionary Li Jingyi (李静一). They had five children together. Li was notably a relative of Qing Dynasty official Li Hongzhang.^[14]