Liu Shiqi

Liu Shiqi (1902–1933), courtesy name Ruichu, also used the alias Yicai, was born in Huangsha Street Town, Yueyang County, Hunan Province. His birth year was 1902, and he died in 1933. Details of Liu Shiqi’s early education are not specified, but in 1921 he entered Hunan Commercial School to study, actively read revolutionary publications, and participated in revolutionary activities.

In 1923, the "June 1 Tragedy" occurred in Changsha, where Japanese troops shot and killed civilians. During this event, Liu Shiqi assisted Guo Liang, chairman of the Hunan Foreign Aid Society, in organizing a mass protest meeting attended by over 60,000 people, and afterwards participated in a funeral procession that involved carrying the bodies through the streets. The government suppressed the protest, detaining and assaulting participants. Shortly after, he became the director of the General Affairs Department of the Hunan Student Federation.

In 1924, Liu Shiqi joined the Chinese Communist Party. In August of that year, he was dispatched by the CCP Xiang District Committee to Zhuzhou to carry out party-building work. The following year, he established the Party branch and secret farmers' associations in Badi Township, Xiangtan District. In the spring of 1925, he served as secretary of the Zhuzhou branch of the Communist Youth League, and in August, was elected as an alternate member of the Anyuan District Committee of the Youth League. After returning to Zhuzhou at the end of the year, he was elected president of the Xiangtan branch of the Anti-Zhao Hengti Anti-Imperialist Committee, mobilizing the masses there to oppose Zhao Hengti. Soon afterward, he became a founding member of the first Executive Committee of the CCP Xiangtan local organization.

In September 1926, Liu Shiqi, acting as the special commissioner for peasant movements assigned by the Kuomintang Hunan Provincial Party Department, led peasant activities in Yueyang and served as an executive committee member of the Yueyang County Party Preparatory Committee. During this period, he developed contacts with underground members Long Qigeng, Sun Jia, Cao Ying, and others, and established the CCP Yueyang local executive committee (covering Yueyang, Linxiang, and Huarong), with the code name “Yuediwei,” serving as secretary and advancing the peasant movement. That year, he established multiple district agricultural associations and rural farmers' unions in Yueyang, Linxiang, and Huarong, amassing over 100,000 members, 3,400 union members, over 30 Party branches, and more than 800 Party members.

After the “May Thirtieth Incident” in 1927, Liu Shiqi traveled through Wuhan to Nanchang to support preparations for the Nanchang Uprising. In September, he was elected as a member of the Jiangxi Provincial Committee and director of the provincial work committee. Subsequently, he reorganized the county committee in Boyang, served as its secretary, and was transferred to become secretary of the Gansbei Special Committee, founding publications such as "Special Committee Communications" and "Political Communications," and establishing armed forces among workers and peasants. During this period, he also served as secretary-general of the Jiangxi Provincial Committee and later as a full member of its Standing Committee.

In May 1929, Liu Shiqi was appointed secretary of the Gansu-Xi Regional Special Committee, where he planned the Ji'an United Defense and Security Brigade Uprising and established the Workers and Peasants Red Army’s Fifth Independent Regiment. In January 1930, the Red Army of Western Gannan, under his leadership, merged with other units to form the Sixth Red Army, where he served as Party representative and military committee secretary. At the same time, Mao Zedong served as secretary of the Southwest Gannan Red Army General Front Committee; Liu Shiqi was a standing member. The Gannan Southwest Special Committee, under his chairmanship in 1930, convened the Party Congress to promote armed struggle in multiple regions. In July of that year, he organized the formation of the 20th Red Army and served as political commissar.

In July 1931, Liu Shiqi was appointed director of the Political Department of the Fourth Red Army in the E-Yu-An Soviet Area, simultaneously promoted to a leadership member of the Fourth Front Army. Working with XU Xiangqian, Zeng Zhongsheng, and others, he led the army to crush multiple encirclements by the Kuomintang in the region.

In October 1932, he established the 27th Red Army, serving as its commander, fighting in Yingshan, Taihu, and other areas, annihilating over 4,000 Kuomintang troops. In 1933, during the Party’s “Rectification Movement,” influenced by incorrect line errors, he was falsely accused of being a “Reorganization Faction” member and was murdered. In 1938, Mao Zedong publicly rehabilitated him at the Sixth Plenary Session of the Sixth Central Committee, recognizing his revolutionary contributions.