Huang Kegong Incident

The public trial of Huang Kegong for shooting Liu Qian in the High Court of Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia Border Region is a typical example of the CPC's practice of “equality before the law” in the anti-Japanese base areas. In October 1937, in Yan'an, the headquarters of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, a major case occurred that shocked the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia Border Region and had an impact on the whole of China. Huang Kegong, the then captain of the 6th team of the Third Red Army of the Counter-Japanese Military and Political University, shot and killed Liu Qian, a student of the Northern Shaanxi Public School, on the banks of the Yanhe River; Huang Kegong forced her to marriage and was refused, thus Huang Kegong had degenerated from a revolutionary hero to a murderer.

Huang Kegong, a native of Nankang County, Jiangxi Province, was 26 years old. As a teenager, he joined the Red Army and gained experience during the struggles in Jinggang Mountains and during the Long March. After the Red Army reached Northern Shaanxi, he became the captain of the 6th team of the Counter-Japanese Military and Political University. Liu Qian, a native of Dingxiang County, Shanxi Province, was 16 years old at the time. She was originally a pupil at Taiyuan Youren Middle School, with progressive ideas, and was the head of the civil pioneers.

After the July 7 Incident, she came to the revolutionary capital, Yan'an in August 1937 to study at the 15th team of the Counter-Japanese Military and Political University and later became a student at the Northern Shaanxi Public School because the 15th team of the Counter-Japanese Military and Political University was subordinated to the Northern Shaanxi Public School. During the resistance, Huang Kegong and Liu Qian get in contact, began to have a good impression of each other, and fall in love. Later, conflicts arose because of their backgrounds, experiences, and many differences in their lifestyles. When Liu Qian refused to get married, Huang Kegong made up his mind to kill Liu Qian. On the evening of October 5, 1937, Huang Kegong, armed with a pistol, came to the Northern Shaanxi Public School to ask Liu Qian to go for a walk along the Yanhe River. When Huang Kegong's marriage proposal was rejected, he shot Liu Qian.

This incident caused a great shock in the border region and beyond. In the National Unified Area, the Central Daily News, the mouthpiece of the KMT, made a big deal out of it as a "peach incident", attacking and slandering the government of the border region as “feudalistic and cutthroat”, “lawless” and “violating human rights”, confusing the public and arousing the suspicion and discontent of some people who did not know the truth about the border region.

Due to the large impact of the case, and Huang Kegong's letter of complaint to the Central Military Commission, the case was submitted to the border district government for review and forwarded to the Central Committee for approval. Mao Zedong personally chaired the discussion of the case by the CPC Central Committee and the Military Commission and approved the decision of the Border District High Court to impose capital punishment on Huang Kegong.

In a letter to Chief Judge Lei Jingtian, Mao Zedong said; “The Communist Party and the Red Army must impose stricter discipline on their members and soldiers than on ordinary civilians. At the time of a national crisis and a tense revolutionary situation. Huang Kegong could be malicious, contemptible, cruel, and selfish to such a degree; his execution was determined by his own acts... Apart from announcing the verdict of the court, you may read this letter from me before Hang Kegong and the masses present at the public trial.” The handling of the Huang Kegong incident has profound historical and practical significance in the history of the Communist Party of China and it shows that no one can violate the discipline of the Party and the law, otherwise they will certainly be severely punished.