LIN BIAO

Wade-Giles romanization Lin Piao born Dec. 5, 1907, Huang-kang, Hupeh province, China died Sept. 13, 1971?, Mongolian People's Republic? Lin Biao, 1967 Chinese military leader who, as a field commander of the Red Army, contributed to the Communists' 22-year struggle for power and held many high government and party posts. He played a prominent role in the Cultural Revolution, but in 1971 he allegedly sought to remove Mao Zedong and seize power; his plot was discovered and he died under obscure circumstances. Additional reading The best account of Lin's life is a study by Thomas W. Robinson, A Politico-military Biography of Lin Piao (1971 ). Michael Y.M. Kau (ed.), The Lin Piao Affair: Power Politics and Military Coup (1975), discusses the circumstances of Lin's death and contains a compendium of documents including a translation of Lin's official biography as of 1969.