Yang Shanglin

Yang Shanglin, courtesy name Hengshi, was born in 1891. His ancestral home was Shuangjiang Zhen, Tongnan County, Sichuan Province. His early education included entering the undergraduate department of Sichuan Railway School in the 32nd year of Emperor Guangxu’s reign (1906), but he did not complete his studies. Subsequently, in the 3rd year of the Xuantong Emperor’s reign (1911), he was admitted to Tangshan Mining and Railway School. During the Xinhai Revolution, due to school regulations requiring students to leave, Yang Hengshi joined the Jingjin Alliance in Tianjin and actively participated in revolutionary activities.

In the fifth year of the Republic of China (1916), Sichuan declared independence and opposed Yuan Shikai’s imperial ambitions. Yang Shanglin served as an official supervising the printing of funds at the Sichuan Finance Department. In the sixth year of the Republic (1917), he was sent to Beijing on official business, then went to study in Japan, attending Meiji University to study commerce. While studying in Tokyo, he read progressive publications such as "The Communist Manifesto" and "New Youth," which exposed him to advanced political ideas. During this period, Chinese students in Japan opposed Yuan Shikai’s signing of the Twenty-One Demands. Yang Shanglin participated in the reorganization of the China Student Federation in Japan to strengthen the organization among Chinese students abroad.

In 1918, Yang Hengshi returned to China and actively participated in the anti-dictatorship movement among Chinese students in Shanghai, also contributing to the publication of the "Save the Nation Daily." At the same time, he returned to Sichuan to serve as the director of the Qujiang County Taxation Bureau, later moving to Chengdu. He worked as a secretary under Lai Xinghui, commander-in-chief of Sichuan frontier troops, stationed in Luzhou. In the 1930s, he joined the Chinese Communist Party, assisting with military work and helping Lai Xinghui become commander of the National Revolutionary Army, serving as a party representative.

During the Anti-Japanese War, Yang Hengshi served as a military envoy in Hankou and became the representative of the Sichuan Provincial Party Committee in Wuhan. From 1928 onwards, his organizational activities were repeatedly disrupted, and he subsequently retreated to Chengdu to carry out underground revolutionary work in secret. While teaching at a private school in Shuangjiang Zhen, he collaborated with underground Communist Party members to restore the party organization and established the Tongnan Party Branch, with Yang Hengshi serving as secretary. The organization promoted armed struggle in Tongnan and established the Tongnan Red Guard.

In the 1930s, the Tongnan Party organization was attacked and destroyed multiple times, causing Yang Shanglin to seek refuge several times. After the victory of the Anti-Japanese War, he returned to his hometown to continue underground work. In early 1949, at the founding of the People's Republic of China, Yang Shanglin served as deputy director of the Tongnan County Liberation Committee, and later held positions such as member of the northern Sichuan administrative office, deputy director of the Sichuan Provincial Advisory Office, and member of the Sichuan Provincial People's Congress. He passed away in Chengdu on December 6, 1969, at the age of 78.