Xiang Shouzhi

Xiang Shouzhi (; 28 November 1917 – 2 September 2017) was a Chinese general and revolutionist. He was promoted to the rank of major general (shao jiang) in 1955 and general (Shang jiang) in 1988. He was a member of the 11th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party and the 12th CCP Central Committee.

Xiang began to take part in the revolution at the age of 15, and successively participated in the Second Sino-Japanese War, Chinese Civil War and Korean War. He was eventually purged during the Cultural Revolution but later reinstated. He is hailed as founding father of the Chinese ballistic missile forces. Later in his life, he served as commander of the Nanjing Military Region until his retirement in 1990.

Biography Xiang was born Xiang Shouzhi in Xuanhan County, Sichuan, with his ancestral home in Macheng, Hubei.

In 1933, he joined the Young Pioneers in the Shuanghechang area and served as its captain. In 1934 he enlisted in the Red Army and successively served as soldier, squad leader, and platoon sergeant. In 1935 he took part in the Communist Youth League. He participated in the counter-campaign against "encirclement and suppression" of the Sichuan-Shaanxi Soviet Area; after the war, the Red Army were defeated and he participated in the Long March, a forced expedition over in the 1930s. In 1936 he attended the Red Army Infantry School and that same year became a member of the Chinese Communist Party.

After the outbreak of the Second Sino-Japanese War, he assumed various posts in the 129th Infantry Division, including company commander, battalion commander, and regimental commander at the Anti-Japanese Taihang Citadel. He was present at the Battle of Linnan in 1943.

During the Chinese Civil War, he was deputy division leader of the First Squad of the Taihang Military Region. He took part in the Battle of Handan. Then he participated in many campaigns, such as the Battle of North Henan, Battle of East Henan, Battle of Zhengzhou, Crossing River Campaigns, and Southwest Campaign.

In the winter of 1951, he was chief of staff of the Fifteenth Army and participated in the fifth campaign of the Korean War to counter the fall of tactical combat; he suffered head injuries. After the war in 1955 he was awarded the military rank of major general (shao jiang) by Mao Zedong.

In 1958 he was accepted to the PLA National Defence University, where he graduated in 1960. After graduation in June, Prime Minister Zhou Enlai appointed him as president of Xi'an Artillery School (now PLA Rocket Force University of Engineering). During his term in office, the DF-1 missile was launched successfully.

Military awards Order of Bayi (Third Class; 1955) Order of Liberation (Second Class Medal; 1955) Order of Independence and Freedom (Second Class Medal; 1963) Order of the Red Star (First Class Medal; 1988)