This site specializes in information on Chinese civilian & military orders, decorations, & medals from the Qing Dynasty, the Republic and the People's Republic periods.

 
Three Early Orders of the People's Republic of China

Paul L. T. Kua

        Very little has been written in the West about the awards of the People's Republic of China (PRC).  The most comprehensive early treatment appears to be from the Handbook on Uniforms and Insignia of Sino-Soviet Bloc Ground Forces, published in 1959.  The relevant portions of this Handbook was reprinted in the March 1967 issue of The Medal Collector, the official journal of the Orders and Medals Society of America (OMSA) [1]. The information about the various awards were rather brief, and not always 100% accurate.  Mr. E. H. O'Toole also attempted a similarly cursory review of the PRC awards in the Bulletin of the British Orders and Medals Research Society (OMRS), published in November, 1965.  

In the 1920’s, the warlords controlled the Chinese Republican government based in Peking.  The leader of the Nationalist Party (Kuomintang, KMT), Dr. Sun Yat-sen, while credited with founding the Chinese Republic in 1911 and enjoyed widespread support of many progressive Chinese, did not have the military wherewithal to fight the feuding warlords and truly unify the country.

Dr. Sun had some British and American sympathizers.  However, no western country was willing to actively back him in a revolution against the warlord government based in Peking—a government that was friendly with the West, and recognized by most countries.

Russia was the only foreign power that took exception to this.  Lenin saw the possibilities of a unified Chinese nation sympathetic to the international Communist movement.    Most western countries opted for a more or less neutral position towards the internal struggles among the various Chinese factions.  Soviet Union, on the other hand, began a policy of active support for revolution under the leadership of the Nationalists, and for the nurturing of Communist influence within this movement. 

It was, therefore, only natural that Dr. Sun, in his desperation and disillusionment with the West, turned to Russia for help.  Even when he died in 1925, he left instructions that the Nationalist Party should work closely with the Russians.[3]

The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) was founded in 1921. Communist influence in the Chinese military became significant during the 1920’s.  Lenin’s firm belief in the importance of helping China was reflected in the caliber of the military leaders sent to China in various capacities: Vasily K. Bluecher (General Galen), Victor Rogacheff, Georgi K. Zhukov, and I. Yegorov, etc.  Bleucher and Yegorov were brilliant military leaders who were among the first five marshals of the Red Army, when that honor was created in 1933.  Zhukov was, of course, the famous commander of the Red Army during World War II. All in all, upwards of one thousand Soviet military and political advisers were in China in the 1920’s.[4]   

Soviet advisers were prime movers behind the establishment in 1924 of the Whampoa Military Academy, headed by Chiang Kai-shek, a trusted friend of Dr. Sun.  The Russians also fostered a growing Chinese Communist Party, with future leaders like Zhou En-lai, Zhu De, and Mao Ze-dong, as well as a left-wing faction among the Nationalists.

For a long time, the Chinese Communists were far out-numbered by the Nationalists. However, as H. Owen Chapman, an observer in China in the 1920’s, rightly pointed out:[5]

[t]his is…more than compensated for by the spirit of the members…It might be said perhaps of a majority of these Communists that their faith burns with the zeal and even fanaticism of a religious fervour, a statement which could be made of only a very much smaller percentage of the members of the Nationalist Party.

This, together with Soviet assistance and tides of fortune in their favor, ensured that the Chinese Communists continued to survive, and eventually even won the day.

Chinese Communists conventionally divide pre-1949 history into three main periods, viz., the Agrarian Revolutionary War, the Japanese Resistance War, and the War of Liberation.  To help the readers better understand Communist awards from this time, background on the three periods are outlined below[6]:

1. The Agrarian Revolutionary War (1 August, 1927—July 6, 1937):

KMT forces led by Chiang Kai-shek launched the so-called Northern Expedition in 1926. Soon, China was split along the Yangtze River, with KMT forces controlling the South and the East, ready to go after the Warlords of the North.  However, KMT forces were divided into the right-wing pro-Chiang Kai-shek forces based in Nanjing, and the left-wing and communist forces based in Wuhan. 

On August 1^st, 1927, Zhou En-lai, Zhu De, He Long, etc. led a Communist uprising in Nanchang, marking the start of the independent existence of the Chinese Communist army.  August 1^st was later declared as the anniversary date for the formation of the Chinese Red Army.

In the ensuing decade, CCP forces struggled with KMT forces for control of various parts of China.  CCP forces tended to occupy the rural areas and lesser towns, and were often subjected to large-scale KMT offensives.  Constant Nationalist campaigns resulted in the Long March of 1934-36, during which, in their efforts to re-group and consolidate, Communist forces were forced to marched through vast areas of Central China to the remote north-western provinces of Ningxia, Gansu, and Shaanxi.

2. The Japanese Resistance War, July 7, 1937—September 2, 1945

After the Sino-Japanese War of 1894, the Japanese annexed Taiwan.  In early 1932, the Japanese Kwantung Army occupied the three Northeastern provinces of China.  It then helped set up the puppet government of Manchukuo, with the collaboration of Pu Yi, the last emperor of the Qing Dynasty.  Up to 1937, however, the Nationalist government did not formally declared war on Japan.  With military weakness and lack of unity among the Chinese, the Japanese got away with increasingly more aggressive moves inside China.   

On July 7, 1937, the Japanese Kwantung Army amassed near the Marco Polo (or Lou Gou) Bridge, ten kilometers from Beijing.  It claimed that a Japanese soldier had disappeared, and demanded to cross the bridge and enter Chinese territory to conduct a search for him.  The Chinese forces defending the bridge refused, and fighting broke out.  This was the famous “Incidence of July 7^th”, often considered as the “last straw” which firmed Chinese resolve to fight a full-scale resistance war.

After the Incidence, the Nationalist Government had no choice but to declare war on Japan.  Chiang, in his call to the nation to take up arms, offered the following sober observations[7]:

....Not only have we not organized our resources, but we are not even unified in thought and spirit…..Only a determination to sacrifice ourselves to the utmost can bring us ultimate victory

In the face of the national crisis, Chinese Communists agreed to form a united front against the Japanese invaders under the command of Chiang.  This started the Japanese Resistance War, which lasted 8 years, until Japan surrendered unconditionally in 1945.

During this period, the communist forces often engaged in protracted guerrilla warfare at the fringes of Japanese influence, rather than massive frontal attacks in key cities.  They adopted Mao’s rather effective strategy of dissipating Japanese military prowess and forcing the invaders to overextend themselves in the vast Chinese territories.

3. The War of Liberation, September 3, 1945—June 30, 1950

Almost as soon as Japan surrendered, KMT and CCP forces resumed their struggle for dominance in China.  In November 1945, President Truman sent General George C. Marshall to China to help bring about "unification of China by peaceful, democratic methods."[8]  And despite early hopes of a coalition government under Chiang with a military merger, the fragile truce broke down in early 1946, followed by four years of civil war.

In the beginning, the KMT forces numbered three million men, and the CCP forces only one million.  While the Nationalists fanned out to all major cities, and over-extended their defensive positions, the Communists maneuvered in the rural areas, recruiting as they go and avoided losses in battles. Many factors affected the balance of power between the two sides over time, a detailed analysis of which is clearly beyond the scope of this article.  Suffice it to say, by mid-1948, the Nationalists and the Communists forces were roughly equal in numbers.  By 1949, the Chinese Communists turned the situation around, and “liberated” most parts of China from the Nationalists. On October 1^st, 1949, Mao Zedong declared the founding of the new People’s Republic of China.[9]

In February 12, 1955, the National Congress of People's Representatives of the newly founded People's Republic of China approved a set of regulations entitled "The Granting of Orders and Merit Medals to Members of the People's Liberation Army Who Contributed to the People's Revolutionary War." [10].  This set of regulations contains 13 articles.  The key one is Article 2, which outlines the basic rules governing the three different orders:

Article 2:

(1) The Order of August 1st (Ba Yi Xun Zhang) and the August 1st Merit Medal (Ba Yi Jiang Zhang) will be granted to those who participated and performed meritorious acts in the Revolutionary War during the Red Army Period (August 1. 1927 to July 6, 1937)

(2) The Order of Independence and Freedom (Du Li Zhi Yu Xun Zhang) and the Independence and Freedom Merit Medal (Du Li Zhi Yu Jiang Zhang) will be granted to those who participated and performed meritorious acts in the Revolutionary War during the Japanese Resistance War Period (July 7, 1937 to September 2, 1945)

(3) The Order of Liberation (Jie Fang Xun Zhang) and the Liberation Merit Medal (Jie Fang Jiang Zhang) will be granted to those who participated and performed meritorious acts in the Revolutionary War during the War of Liberation Period (September 3, 1945 to June 30, 1950) 

The regulations further specify that the Orders of Augusts 1st, the Order of Independence and Freedom, and the Order of Liberation each come in three classes.  Each of these orders also has a related Merit Medal, which comes in one class only. They also provide for certificates to be granted along with the Orders and the Merit Medals to the award recipients.

Articles 3, 4, and 5 deal with the requirements for the award of the different classes of the Orders and the Merit Medals.  The Orders are reserved for higher-ranking officers, wile the Merit Medals are for junior officers and rank-and-file personnel.  Commanders and officers at different levels of the military organization during the three periods specified in the Regulations would qualify for different classes of the three Orders.

For example, Order of Liberation, 1st Class was reserved for commanders and senior officers at the army corp (Jun) level.  2nd Class was for officers at the division (shi) level, and 3rd class for officers at the Regiment/Battalion (Tuan/Ying) levels.

There are also specific provisions for exceptions, including, interesting enough, provisions for award of the various classes of the Order of Liberation to Nationalist military commanders who surrendered with troops under their command to the Communists, and thus contributed to the cause of the Revolutionary War.

The Regulations also indicated that the Orders would be awarded b the Chairman of the People's Republic, Mao Zedong.  The Merit Medals, on the other hand, would be approved by the State Department, and awarded by the Minister of Defense.  There appears to be no provision for a pension for any of the awards.

Actual samples of the three early Orders as specified in the 1955 Regulations have been examined in several occasions.  All three classes of the three Orders consist of a breast star and a ribbon bar.  There is no sash, sash badge, or neck badge, commonly found in other Chinese orders from the early Republic or the Nationalist Republic eras. 

1. Order of August 1st

Order of August 1st, 3rd Class

While the Regulations do not specifically mention it, it is apparent that the Order of August 1st is meant to be the highest order of the PRC.  The first class badge of the Order is a ten-point gold star measuring 60 mm, with a center medallion containing a red enamel five-point star superimposed with the Chinese characters for August 1st (Ba Yi), August 1, 1927 being the official founding date of the Chinese Red Army.  The second class badge, measuring 56 mm has alternate gold and silver points for the outer ten-point star.  The third class star, measuring 53 mm, has all silver points, while the center medallion is still in gold.  All the stars come with a dark red ribbon bar, with one to three yellow stripes in the center, depending on class.  The first class ribbon bar has one bold yellow stripe, and so on.

Merit Badge, Order of August 1st

The Merit Medal of the Order of August 1st, measuring 34 mm, is simply a round medal similar in design to the center medallion of the star.  The ribbon is dark red with stripes of patterned yellow on both sides.

Visitors to this site who are familiar with Soviet awards would immediately see the heavy Soviet influence here.  The design and class structure are similar to Soviet awards such as the Orders of Suvorov, Kutuzov, and Khmelnitsky, etc. [11] The presence of a Merit Medal derived from the center medallion of the breast star parallels that of the Orders of Ushakov and Nakhimov.  Even the ribbons are done in the typical Russian style with metal backing.  And the use of one to three stripes to indicate class also is identical to the typical Soviet system at the time.  Both the stars and the medals are very well made silver and gold awards, compared to other medals issued by the Chinese communists in this period.  While the designs contain a number of Chinese elements and are probably done by the Chinese, it is possible that these orders and medals were actually manufactured in the USSR.

The reverse of the Stars and the Merit Medal shows the name of the Order, its class, and the qualifying time period for the award (on the Merit Medals only), the date and location of the awards ("1955, Beijing"), and the serial number.

The Orders come with a dark red cloth bound wooden case with the insignia of the PRC and the name and class of the Order embossed in gold on the cover.  The Merit Medal comes with a titled and numbered thick paper envelop. 

 2. Order of Independence and Freedom

Order of Independence and Freedom, 2n Class

The first class badge of the Order of Independence and Freedom is a eight-point star in gold, measuring 58 mm, with a center medallion containing the design of a landscape with a Chinese Pagoda and a small enamel red star on top.  The center is also surrounded by a cloud-like design, somewhat different from that of the Order of August 1st.  

The second class badge, measuring 54 mm, has silver points but gold cloud-like design and center medallion.  

The third class star measures 52 mm, and has only gold colored center medallion.  These Orders come with a ribbon bar with dark green background and one to three yellow stripes in the center, depending on class.  The Stars come with a dark green cloth bound wooden case.

Merit Badge, Order of Independence & Freedom

Again, the Merit Medal is a round medal similar in design to the center medallion of the Order.  It measures 33 mm, and has a dark green ribbon with patterned yellow stripes on both sides.  

3. Order of Liberation

Order of Liberation, 2nd Class

The first class badge of the Order of Liberation is a five-point gold star measuring 56 mm, with a center medallion showing a small red enamel star shining over the Tiananmen in Beijing, signifying the liberation of China and the founding of the PRC in 1949.  The center medallion is surrounded by a cloud-like design, again less elaborate than that for the Order of Independence and Freedom.  

The second class badge measures 51 mm, and has silver point but gold cloud-like designs and center medallion.  

The third class badge measures 48 mm, and has silver points as well as cloud-like designs.  These three orders come with a yellow ribbon bar with one to three stripes of red in the center, depending on class. The Stars of the Order come in orange red cloth bounded wooden cases.   

Merit Badge, Order of Liberation

The Merit Medal measures 32 mm, and is also a  round medal like the center medallion of the Order.  The ribbon is orange red with stripes of patterned yellow on both sides.   

4. Award Certificates & Recipients

Award certificates, while presumably issued to all award recipients, are not often seen.  They come in a small hard-cover booklet form, and are quite similar in design to both Soviet and early Chinese Communist award documents.

The above illustrates the award certificate issued to Zhu De, the famous Chinese communist marshal who was awarded the first class star of all the three Orders

It is quite interesting to observe that just about all Chinese communist leaders of any significance would be awarded various classes of these three orders.  In official portraits of the ten marshals as well as most other generals they would invariably wear one class or other of these three orders.  Often these three stars were the only Chinese decorations they would wear, although some of them would also spot one or two North Korean orders.

The breast stars of the three orders are worn on the right side, usually in a vertical line slanting from the right to the left, paralleling the slope of the coat's lapel.  The Order of August 1st should be on top, followed by the Order of Independence and Freedom, and  then the Order of Liberation.  The Merit Medals, on the other hand, are usually worn on top of the left breast pocket. 

Copyright 1995, Orders and Medals Society of America.  All rights reserved. Reproduced by Permission.

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Last modified: March 23, 2005