Tian Yiping

Tian Yiping (; January 1907 – January 30, 1993), courtesy names Tian Qi and Miao Tailai, was a politician of the People's Republic of China. A native of Yangbi, Dali, in Yunnan Province, he was an active participant in the Chinese Communist Party's united front work and held various political and advisory positions in Sichuan Province after 1949. He was also a member of the China Democratic League and served as a delegate to the National People's Congress and a member of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference.

Biography

Tian was admitted to the College of Agriculture at Shanghai Labor University, from which he graduated in 1931. After graduation, he served as a secretary in brigade headquarters of the 24th and 21st Armies of the National Revolutionary Army under the Nationalist government. During this period, he also held a section chief position in the secret military organization known as the "Wude Lijinhui", which was established under Liu Xiang to counter the influence of Chiang Kai-shek.

In January 1938, Tian joined the Chinese Communist Party and served as a branch secretary. Under the direct leadership of Zhang Shushi, he carried out underground work in Sichuan, using public identities such as staff officer and secretary in regional military administrations. He organized progressive officers, promoted anti-Japanese resistance, expanded Party organization, and actively engaged in united front work. In 1940, he was appointed manager of the West China Daily (Huaxi Ribao) and general manager of the West China Evening News (Huaxi Wanbao). Under the leadership of Zhou Enlai and Dong Biwu, he used the press to promote revolutionary ideas, mobilize public support, back student movements, and oppose authoritarian rule, making significant contributions to the anti-Japanese resistance and democratic movements in China's rear areas.

In September 1944, he joined the China Democratic League due to work requirements and served as a committee member and secretary-general of its Sichuan branch. In October 1945, he also joined the China Democratic Revolutionary League and served as secretary of its Chengdu local committee. From the winter of 1945 to the spring of 1947, with the approval of Zhou Enlai, he worked as an intelligence officer for the Soviet Embassy in China.

In June 1947, Tian was arrested by the Kuomintang authorities in Sichuan and imprisoned in Chengdu, later transferred to prisons in Chongqing, including Baigongguan and Zhazidong. In early 1949, amid peace negotiations, he was rescued through the efforts of Zhang Lan, chairman of the China Democratic League, and released along with other detained members. He then returned to Chengdu and, together with underground Party members such as Luo Tiaoyu and Hu Chunpu, helped establish a temporary working group to organize uprisings among forces led by Liu Wenhui, Deng Xihou, and Pan Wenhua, contributing to the Communist takeover of Sichuan.

After the founding of the People's Republic of China, Tian held numerous positions, including member and deputy secretary-general of the Cultural and Educational Committee of the Southwest Military and Administrative Commission, vice president of the Sichuan Socialist College, and vice chairman of the Sichuan Provincial Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (2nd to 5th terms). He also served as a standing committee member of the central committee of the China Democratic League and as deputy chairman of its Sichuan provincial committee.

Tian was a delegate to the 2nd, 3rd, and 6th National People's Congress, and a member of the 2nd and 5th National Committees of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference. During the Cultural Revolution, he was persecuted and imprisoned. Following the Third Plenary Session of the 11th Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party, he was politically rehabilitated.

Tian died in Chengdu on January 30, 1993, at the age of 86.