Qiu Huizuo

Qiu Huizuo
邱会作
Qiu Huizuo in 1955
Director of the PLA General Logistics Department
In office October 14, 1959 – September 24, 1971
Preceded by	Hong Xuezhi
Succeeded by	Zhang Zongxun
Personal details
Born	(1914-04-16)April 16, 1914 Xingguo, Jiangxi, China
Died	July 18, 2002(2002-07-18) (aged 88) Beijing, China
Military service
Allegiance	China
Service/branch	People's Liberation Army
Years of service	1929–71
Rank	Lieutenant General

Qiu Huizuo (Chinese: 邱会作; Wade–Giles: Ch'iu Hui-tso; April 16, 1914 – July 18, 2002) was a lieutenant general of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA), best known as one of the "four guardian warriors" of Vice Chairman Lin Biao during the Cultural Revolution. Qiu rose through the ranks of the PLA during the civil war between the Communists and the Kuomintang. He took charge as the PLA logistics chief in 1959, and was persecuted at the beginning of the Cultural Revolution. He was later rehabilitated owing to the blessing of Zhou Enlai and Lin Biao, and elevated to the Politburo in 1969. In return, he helped to persecute Lin's enemies and consolidate Lin's power in the PLA. After Lin's flight and death in 1971, Qiu was purged and sentenced to 16 years in prison.

Qiu was born in Xingguo County, Jiangxi Province on April 16, 1914. He was schooled in a local sishu (private school specializing in education in Chinese classics).

He joined the militia forces in his home county in 1929 at the age of fifteen. He joined the Communist Party of China in 1932. In 1934–35, he took part in the Long March. According to Qiu's autobiography, shortly before the Communists' forced exodus from their base in Jiangxi, he was almost executed by party intelligence officials who thought he possessed too much sensitive information regarding military logistics. However, on the way to his execution, he ran into Zhou Enlai, who spared his life and put him under the wing of then army supplies coordinator Ye Jizhuang (later Minister of International Trade, but was purged and died during the Cultural Revolution). By the time the Communist forces arrived in northern Shaanxi, Qiu was tasked with logistical work, ensuring that the army had sufficient supplies.