March 4 A calendar of Chinese history

Death of Ding Ling

Ding Ling, pen name of Jiang Bingzhi, born on 12 October 1904, dies on 4 March 1986. Known for her feminist and socialist realist literature and active in leftist literary circles connected to the Chinese Communist Party, she is imprisoned by the Kuomintang for her politics, later leads the literary community in the revolutionary base area of Yan'an and holds positions in the early government of the People's Republic of China.

Death of Song Ping

Song Ping, a Chinese Communist revolutionary and politician born on 24 April 1917 in Ju County, dies on 4 March 2026 in Beijing. A member of the Standing Committee of the 13th Politburo and counted among the second generation of Chinese leaders, he is at his death the oldest national leader in China.

Death of Li Lianying

Li Lianying, an imperial eunuch of the late Qing dynasty born on 12 November 1848, dies on 4 March 1911. He serves during the regency of Empress Dowager Cixi, the de facto ruler of China from 1861 to 1908 throughout the reigns of the Tongzhi and Guangxu emperors.

Death of Kin Yamei

Kin Yamei, born in China in 1864 and raised in the United States, dies on 4 March 1934. A physician, hospital administrator, educator and nutrition expert, she is credited with introducing tofu to the United States Department of Agriculture during the First World War.

Death of Gao Lingwei

Gao Lingwei, a Chinese politician born in Tianjin in 1870, dies on 4 March 1940. A protégé of Zhang Zhidong, governor of Hunan and later a minister in several warlord governments, he serves as acting president of the Republic of China from 13 June to 24 October 1923 while Cao Kun campaigns for the presidency.

Death of Xie Xide

Physicist Xie Xide, born on 19 March 1921, dies on 4 March 2000. President of Fudan University from 1983 to 1989, she founds its Institute of Modern Physics in 1977 and helps create its Center for American Studies; she sits on the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party from 1982 to 1992.

Death of Wu Ta-You

Physicist and writer Wu Ta-You, born on 27 September 1907, dies on 4 March 2000. He worked in the United States, Canada, China and Taiwan, and has been called the father of Chinese physics.

Death of Wu Tianming

Film director and producer Wu Tianming, born on 19 October 1939 in Shanxi, dies on 4 March 2014.

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Death of Zhou Xiaoyan

Zhou Xiaoyan, classical soprano and vocal pedagogue born on 17 August 1917, dies on 4 March 2016. Dubbed "China's First Lady of Opera" by The New York Times and nicknamed the "Chinese Nightingale" after her European concerts of 1946 and 1947, she is considered the first important instructor of Western opera in China and teaches at the Shanghai Conservatory of Music from 1949 for more than 65 years.