Liu Hulan (刘胡兰, 1932–1947) was a young female spy during the Chinese Civil War between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party. She was born in Yunzhouxi village, in the Wenshui County of the Shanxi province. She joined the Communist Party in 1946 and soon after joined an association of women working in support of the Liberation Army. She was actively involved in organizing the villagers of Yunzhouxi in support of the Communist Party of China. Her contributions involved a wide range of activities, such as supplying food to the Eighth Liberation Army, relaying secret messages, and mending boots and uniforms.
Biography
On October 8, 1932, Ms. Liu Hulan was born in a middle-class peasant family in Yunzhou West Village, Shanxi Province.
In January 1945, Liu Hulan participated in the movement of seizing gain by the Western Union and loaded grain with the revolutionaries.
In October 1945, Hulan carried her family to Guanjiabao village and participated in the training course of women's liberation. She was elected as a group leader and devoted herself to study. At the local anti-hegemony meeting, she took the stage to speak, denounced the crimes of the hegemonic landlords and the feudal customs. After graduation, she served as secretary of Village Women's Rescue Committee. She organized women to run winter schools, helped the martyrs to solve difficulties, supported the army. Together with party members, she fought against landlords, delivered public grain and made military shoes, mobilized young people to join the army.
In February 1946, Liu Hulan took part in the pre-support work of the Dongzhuang battle against Yan Xishan's recalcitrant army.
In 1946, 2000 of the cotton spinning task was handed down in the country, with a deadline of 20 days. Liu Hulan led women to finished the task two days ahead of schedule and won first place in the town. In May 1946, Liu Hulan was transferred to the Woman's Officer of the 15 District "Anti-Japanese League". She returned to the West Village of Yunzhou to lead the local land reform movement.
In October 1946, Liu Hulan and her remaining comrades conveyed the Communist Party's instructions to the village Communist Organizations and organized the masses to bury grain.
In December 1946, Liu Hulan cooperated with the members of the martial arts team to execute the reactionary village leader ShiPeihuai. Yan Xishan Bandit Army decided to retaliate with a large-scale attack on Wenshui area. In order to preserve strength, the 8 Communist Party committees decided to transfer most of the cadres from Pingchuan to Shanshan. Liu Hulan was familiar with the environment, so volunteered to stay, which the party accepted. Wang Being, the company commander of the 12 regiments was wounded. Liu Hulan hid Wang Being in a military family, and carefully nursed him until he recovered. In December, the enemy frequently attacked the Western village of Yunzhou and arrested underground workers such as Shi Sanhuai. Liu Hulan's family advised her to withdraw, but she insisted on waiting for her superiors.
On January 11, 1947, her superior informed her to transfer. On the next day, the Kuomintang army surrounded the western village of Yunzhou and forced the whole village to gather at Guanyin Temple. The Kuomintang arrested several communists including Shi Shihui, Chen Shurong, Liu Shushan and Zhang Nanchang. Liu Hulan was also arrested as a traitor. During her interrogation, the Kuomintang tried every possible method to induce Liu Hulan to betray her allies. Liu Hulan refused to obey and died "heroically", in the view presented to the Chinese public after the Communist takeover in 1949.
Anecdotes
Liu Hulan's had two engagements in her life, a love affair and a ghost marriage. At the beginning of 1946, the parents of the two sides took the initiative to engage Liu Hulan with Chen De, a young man from the neighboring village. However, both parties advocated free love, so they agreed to go home and persuade their parents to terminate their marriage. In June of the same year, someone came to ask for relatives. Liu Hulan refused because she did not know the real situation of the man because he was not often home when he was an apprentice in Taigu County. At that time, Liu Hulan had made up her mind to pursue independent love and marriage.