Cao Yi'ou

Cao Yio, born in 1926, was a member of the Communist Party of China and a revolutionary worker. In 1927, she worked as a female worker at a cotton mill in the Shanghai Huxi District Committee of the Communist Party. Subsequently, in 1928, she served in document handling and internal communications for the Jiangsu Provincial Committee of the Communist Party. Between 1933 and 1937, she studied in Moscow, Soviet Union.

After returning to China in November 1937, Cao Yio held positions at the Central Party School of the CPC, including head of the Cadre Department and secretary of the general branch (1940–1943), head of the Cadre Education Department and the Propaganda Department's Cadre Education Section (1940–1943), Deputy Secretary of the Yan'an County Committee (1942–1943), member of the Yan'an Regional Committee, and Deputy Minister of the Propaganda Department (1943–1945). She participated in the 7th National Congress of the CPC from April to June 1945 as a delegate representing the central authorities and military delegates.

After the war, she served as Director of the Research Office for Cadre Materials at the CPC Central Organization Department (1946–1947), Director of the Cadre Office and Deputy Director of the Education Department at the Party School of the Jin-Cha-Ji Central Bureau (from 1947), Deputy Minister of the Organization Department and Vice Principal of the Party School of the Central Committee of the Shandong, Hebei, and Shanxi (Lu-Zhongnan) Regional Party Committee (July 1948 to March 1949), Head of the Organization Department of the Lu-Zhongnan Regional Party Committee (end of 1948 to March 1949), and Deputy Minister of the Organization Department of the Shandong Branch of the CPC Central Committee (April to September 1949). In 1950, she joined the Shandong Provincial People's Government as a member. Later, she served as Director of the Chinese Language Teaching and Research Office at the CPC Central Party School and as Director of Short-term Training Classes.

Starting from May 1961, Cao Yio was the Director of the Office of the Central Theory Group, and later became Director of Kang Sheng’s Office until the Cultural Revolution. In January 1975, she was appointed as a member of the Standing Committee of the 4th National People's Congress, and in March 1978, she was elected as a member of the 5th National People's Congress Standing Committee. In February 1981, the Beijing Municipal People's Congress Standing Committee held its 11th meeting to revoke her qualifications as a deputy of the 5th NPC; in March the following year, her position as a member of the 5th NPC Standing Committee was also rescinded.

During the Cultural Revolution, Cao Yio became a key figure at the Central Party School, closely associated with Kang Sheng, and was implicated in involvement in various political campaigns and persecutions. She, along with her husband, held substantial influence over the Central Party School for an extended period and participated in fabricating false cases. Under her and Kang Sheng’s leadership, numerous persecutions and accusations were carried out, causing severe damage to the Central Party School. Her political career gradually declined in the 1980s, leading to her withdrawal from public affairs, and she was ultimately stripped of her related political positions.