Yang Gui

Yang Gui (28 May 1928 – 10 April 2018) was a Chinese politician who served as Chinese Communist Party Committee Secretary of Lin County (now Linzhou City) in Henan Province. During his tenure he designed and oversaw the construction of the Red Flag Canal from 1960 to 1969, a major irrigation project considered by Premier Zhou Enlai as one of the two "miracles" of the People's Republic of China. He is called one of the three most beloved county secretaries in Henan, together with Jiao Yulu of Lankao and Zheng Yonghe of Huixian.

Early life and career Yang was born on 28 May 1928 in Ji County (now Weihui City), Henan province as Yang Haiyu. During the Second Sino-Japanese War, he joined the Communist guerrillas at the age of 14 and became a member of the Chinese Communist Party the next year. He fought in the Chinese Civil War and was wounded in battle in July 1947.

After the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949, Yang worked as a party official in Ji county and Tangyin county.

In the face of severe difficulties, Yang and the county party committee decided to bring water from the Zhang River across the Taihang Mountains. The irrigation project, originally called Yin Zhang Ru Lin ("引漳入林," or "divert the Zhang to Lin"), was launched in February 1960, and was officially named the Red Flag Canal the next month. Yang was the leader and chief designer of the project. It comprised a trunk canal, of water channels, of tunnels, and of aqueducts.

When the Cultural Revolution started in 1966, Yang was dismissed from his government positions and subjected to struggle sessions. He escaped to Beijing via Shanxi in 1967. Premier Zhou Enlai protected him and restored him to the government in April 1968, enabling him to supervise the project to completion in 1969.

Later career After the completion of the Red Flag Canal, Yang was promoted to deputy director of the Revolutionary Committee of Luoyang Prefecture in July 1969, Party Secretary of Anyang Prefecture in October 1972, and a member of the provincial party standing committee of Henan in February 1973. In August 1973, he was elected as an alternate member of the 10th Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party. In November 1973, he was transferred to the National Government in Beijing, where he held various positions in the Ministry of Public Security, the Fifth Ministry of Machine Building, and the Ministry of Agriculture.

Retirement and death Yang retired in June 1995, but was hired by the Shanxi Provincial Government as an advisor to the Yellow River diversion project in 1996. In 2006, the Chinese national government officially elevated him to the rank of vice-minister.

Yang died in the early morning of 10 April 2018, at the age of 89.