| Zhang Lixiong | |
 | |
| Birth: | 21 November 1913 Tongxian Town, Shanghang County, Fujian Province, China |
| Age: | 108 years, 228 days |
| Country: |  CHN
|
| Centenarian | |
Zhang Lixiong [Chinese: 张力雄] (born 21 November 1913) is a Chinese centenarian and soldier.
Biography
Zhang Lixiong was born in Zhangyun Village, Tongxian Town, Shanghang County, Fujian Province, China (then Republic of China) on 21 November 1913 into a poor family.
He started participating in riots during the Chinese Civil War in 1929 at the age of 16 after meeting red army soldiers and around 1932 joined the Red Army. He participated in multiple battles from 1932 to 1934 and in 1934 was in the Red Army unit that started the Long March. He led 800 soldiers to battle and had multiple near-death experiences, for example once a notebook he carried blocked a bullet.
Later, he participated in the Huahai campaign (1948–1949) and the campaign to suppress bandits in southwestern China (1950–1953) and in 1961 was promoted to the rank of Major General.
He was one of the three people of the Jiangxi standing committee who voted against the execution of dissident Li Jiulian (1946–1977).
Around 2020 or 2021, he was hospitalised, but after a lengthy hospitalization, he recovered and was discharged.
As of April 2022, he is one of the last five founding Major Generals of the People's Liberation Army.
Gallery
References
- Li Jiulian Laogai Research Foundation
- 2021年，他109岁健在，是最年长的开国少将! Sohu, 25 January 2021
- 开国将军张力雄喜迎第108个生日 Sohu, 24 November 2021
- 至今仍健在的五位开国将军，最年长的已经109岁，最年轻的99岁了 Toutiao, 29 April 2022
