Yang Siyi

Yang Siyi (; January 1901 – December 13, 1957), originally named Yunting , was a Chinese politician who served as Vice Governor of Zhejiang and as a delegate to the 1st National People's Congress. He was also a member of the Standing Committee of the Chinese Communist Party Zhejiang Provincial Committee and formerly served as head of its Organization Department. During the Anti-Rightist Campaign in 1957, he was denounced as a "rightist" and expelled from the Chinese Communist Party. He died later that year and was posthumously rehabilitated in 1983.

Biography

Yang was born in January 1901 in Zhuji, Zhejiang, into a peasant family. He studied at the Third Provincial Normal School in Huzhou, where he was exposed to progressive literature and revolutionary ideas. After graduating in 1925, he returned to his hometown to work as a teacher.

While teaching, Yang continued to associate with progressive intellectuals and young activists and gradually embraced Marxism. He joined the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in 1930 and became active in organizing grassroots Party branches, recruiting new members, and promoting revolutionary ideas among students and local youth.

Following the destruction of local Party organizations by the Kuomintang, Yang lost contact with the CCP and moved to Shanghai, where he continued underground political activities among industrial workers. In 1932, the CCP Pudong District Committee restored his Party membership for the first time. Shortly afterward, he was arrested while attending a meeting of the Anti-Imperialist League and was imprisoned in the Suzhou Army Prison.

Yang remained imprisoned for approximately five years and refused to disclose Party secrets during his incarceration. Following the outbreak of the Second Sino-Japanese War in July 1937, he was released on bail. Returning to Shanghai, he sought to re-establish contact with the CCP while participating in anti-Japanese resistance activities.

After the Japanese occupation of Shanghai, Yang returned to Zhejiang and reconnected with local Party organizations. With their assistance, his Party membership was restored for a second time. He subsequently became active in eastern Zhejiang, helping rebuild underground Party organizations, train anti-Japanese cadres, and strengthen Communist base areas. Following the New Fourth Army incident in 1941, he organized the evacuation of exposed Communist cadres, protecting many Party members. He also participated in anti-Kuomintang self-defense campaigns in eastern Zhejiang and engaged in United Front work to broaden support for the anti-Japanese resistance.

During the Chinese Civil War, Yang remained in East China and participated in the Laiwu campaign, the campaigns in southern Shandong, and operations in the Yimeng Mountains. He was responsible for political and organizational work and accompanied frontline forces during several major campaigns. After the Yangtze River Crossing campaign, he moved south with Communist forces and remained in Zhejiang following the establishment of the People's Republic of China.

After 1949, Yang served as Deputy Secretary of the Hangzhou Municipal Committee of the Chinese Communist Party, head of the Organization Department of the Zhejiang Provincial Committee, a member of the Provincial Standing Committee, and Vice Governor of Zhejiang. He participated in implementing major political campaigns and administrative reforms, including Chinese land reform, the Three-anti Campaign, the Five-anti Campaign, and the socialist transformation of private industry and commerce.

During the Anti-Rightist Campaign in 1957, Yang was accused of being a member of an "anti-Party rightist group." On December 13, 1957, the Second Session of the Second Zhejiang Provincial Party Congress approved a resolution expelling Yang, together with Sha Wenhan, Peng Ruilin, and Sun Zhanglu, from the Chinese Communist Party. Already suffering from poor health and hypertension, Yang died later that day at the age of 56.

In 1983, the Chinese authorities posthumously overturned the political verdict against Yang, restored his Party membership, and fully rehabilitated his reputation.