Close friend of Mao Zedong during his student days. Studied in France and helped convince Mao to become a Bolshevik. Organized revolutionary activities after returning to China. Arrested by British police in Hong Kong and turned over to Chinese authorities in Guangzhou, where he was executed by the Guomindang police.

Early Chinese Communist Party member. Participated in the Long March. Took Liu Shaoqi's anti-Maoist line against collective farms. Similarly opposed the ultra-leftist extremes of the Cultural Revolution. Persecuted during the Cultural Revolution but restored in 1972. Died of heart disease.

Politburo member who accompanied Mao during the Zunyi Conference. Later CCP vice-chairman in charge of economic issues, during which he was critical of the Great Leap Forward. Withdrew from political life sensing the possibility of his persecution during the Cultural Revolution. Later reinstated under Deng Xiaoping where he was comparatively apprehensive over the quick adoption of capitalist policies.