Zhang Youyu

Zhang Youyu (; January 10, 1899 – February 26, 1992), born Zhang Youyi () and Zhang Xiangding (), was a Chinese politician, jurist, journalist, and constitutional scholar. A member of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) from 1927, he played an important role in the Party's united front, journalism, and legal affairs before and after the establishment of the People's Republic of China. After 1978, he participated in drafting a number of major Chinese laws, including the 1982 Constitution.

Biography

Republic of China period

Zhang was born on January 10, 1899, in Lingshi County, Shanxi. In 1918, he entered Shanxi Provincial First Normal School. During the May Fourth Movement, he was elected president of the school's student union and served as an executive member of the Shanxi Provincial Students' Federation. He founded the magazine Gongming (Resonance) and contributed articles to numerous newspapers and journals, criticizing feudal ideology while promoting patriotism and social reform. After graduating in 1923, he enrolled at Beijing University of Law and Politics. During his university years, he worked as the Beijing correspondent or special contributor for several newspapers, including the Bingzhou Xinbao of Taiyuan, the Shijie Ribao in Beijing, the Shen Bao in Shanghai, and the Zhongshan Ribao in Hankou.

Initially, Zhang subscribed to Fabian socialism, believing that society could be transformed through gradual reform while minimizing sacrifice. The execution of Li Dazhao and other communists by the government of Zhang Zuolin in April 1927 profoundly influenced his political outlook. In June 1927, he joined the Chinese Communist Party upon the recommendation of Sheng Zhiquan, secretary of the Xicheng District Committee of the CCP Beijing Municipal Committee. Between 1930 and 1934, he traveled to Japan on three occasions under Party instructions for study and revolutionary work. Before and after these visits, he served as editor-in-chief of the Chinese-language Times Evening News in Tianjin and chief editorial writer of the Shijie Ribao in Beiping. He also taught constitutional law, labor law, journalism, and Japanese affairs at Yenching University, the Peking University (Republican-era institution), the China University, the Republic University, the Sino-French University, and the College of Law and Commerce of Beiping University. During this period, he carried out cultural united front work under CCP leadership and founded the magazines World Forum and Times Culture, the latter of which was later renamed Cultural Trends.

Following the outbreak of the Second Sino-Japanese War in 1937, Zhang left Beiping for Jinan and Kaifeng. He successively served as secretary of the CCP Shandong Liaison Bureau and secretary of the CCP Henan–Shandong Liaison Bureau, where he was responsible for united front work aimed at promoting cooperation against Japanese aggression.

In the spring of 1939, Zhang arrived in Chongqing, where he engaged in democratic constitutional advocacy as a left-wing intellectual. In 1943, he became secretary-general of the Cultural Work Committee of the CCP Southern Bureau, a member of the editorial committee of the Xinhua Daily, alternate member of the Chongqing Working Committee of the CCP and deputy director of its Policy Research Office. He also served as acting editor-in-chief of the Xinhua Daily and editor-in-chief of the Shenghuo Bookstore.

After the end of the Second Sino-Japanese War, Zhang served as an adviser to the CCP delegation during the negotiations between the CCP and the Kuomintang. In 1946, he became deputy secretary of the CCP Sichuan Provincial Committee, head of its Publicity Department, and president of the Xinhua Daily. The following year, he was appointed vice chairman and secretary-general of the Jin-Ji-Lu-Yu Border Region Government. In April 1948, he became secretary-general of the North China Bureau of the CCP Central Committee.

People's Republic of China period

Following the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949, Zhang successively served as deputy secretary of the CCP Beijing Municipal Committee, secretary of its Secretariat, executive vice mayor of the Beijing Municipal People's Government, deputy director of the Division of Philosophy and Social Sciences of the Chinese Academy of Sciences concurrently serving as director of its Institute of Law, vice president of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, vice chairman of the Legislative Affairs Commission of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, and vice chairman of the Law Committee of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress.

Zhang participated in drafting the 1954 Constitution of the People's Republic of China. After the Third Plenum of the 11th Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party in 1978, he took part in the formulation of many of China's major laws. In 1982, he served as deputy secretary-general of the Constitution Revision Committee and participated in drafting the 1982 Constitution, which became the country's current constitutional framework.

Zhang died in Beijing on February 26, 1992, at the age of 93.