# Fame.am profile — machine-readable export
# Canonical URL: https://fame.am/person/yang-shangkun
# Generated: 2026-09-07T18:19:16.403Z

schema: https://schema.org/Person
url: "https://fame.am/person/yang-shangkun"
name: "Yang Shangkun"
slug: "yang-shangkun"
description: "He held the presidency of China and commanded the military machine that cleared Tiananmen Square in 1989. A bureaucratic operator who survived Mao's purges and returned to orchestrate the crackdown that defined a generation's relationship with the state."
tagline: "4th President of the People's Republic of China (1907–1998)"
image: "https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:FilePath/Yang_Shangkun_2.jpg"
gender: "male"
country:
  name: "China"
  isoCode: "CN"
category:
  name: "Politicians"
  slug: "politicians"
profileType:
  name: "Politician"
  slug: "politician"
birthDate: "1907-07-05"
deathDate: "1998-09-14"
livingStatus: "DECEASED"
scores:
  popularity:           60.77
  momentum:             12.99838596352589
  historical:           24.68318933333333
  currentAttention:     51.77613941018767
  sourceConfidence:     60
  profileCompleteness:  70
  trendDirection:       "RISING"
ranks:
  global:   null
  country:  192
  category: null
tags:
  - name: "Politicians"
    slug: "politicians"
  - name: "Politician"
    slug: "politician"
  - name: "Politics"
    slug: "politics"
  - name: "China"
    slug: "china"
  - name: "Asia"
    slug: "asia"
  - name: "20th Century"
    slug: "20th-century"
sources:
  - url: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yang_Shangkun"
    title: "Wikipedia"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q377935"
    title: "Wikidata"
    type:  "WIKIDATA"
  - url: "https://pantheon.world/profile/person/Yang%20Shangkun"
    title: "Pantheon 2.0"
    type:  "DATABASE"
  - url: "https://ay.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yang_Shangkun"
    title: "Yang Shangkun"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://bn.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E0%A6%87%E0%A6%AF%E0%A6%BC%E0%A6%BE%E0%A6%82_%E0%A6%B6%E0%A6%BE%E0%A6%82%E0%A6%96%E0%A7%81%E0%A6%A8"
    title: "ইয়াং শাংখুন"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://bo.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E0%BD%A1%E0%BD%84%E0%BC%8B%E0%BD%A7%E0%BE%B2%E0%BD%84%E0%BC%8B%E0%BD%81%E0%BD%B4%E0%BD%93%E0%BC%8D"
    title: "ཡང་ཧྲང་ཁུན།"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://ca.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yang_Shangkun"
    title: "Yang Shangkun"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://cs.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jang_%C5%A0ang-kchun"
    title: "Jang Šang-kchun"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yang_Shangkun"
    title: "Yang Shangkun"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yang_Shangkun"
    title: "Yang Shangkun"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://eu.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yang_Shangkun"
    title: "Yang Shangkun"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://fa.wikipedia.org/wiki/%DB%8C%D8%A7%D9%86%DA%AF_%D8%B4%D8%A7%D9%86%DA%AF%DA%A9%D9%88%D9%86"
    title: "یانگ شانگکون"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://fi.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yang_Shangkun"
    title: "Yang Shangkun"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yang_Shangkun"
    title: "Yang Shangkun"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://he.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D7%99%D7%90%D7%A0%D7%92_%D7%A9%D7%90%D7%A0%D7%92-%D7%A7%D7%95%D7%9F"
    title: "יאנג שאנג-קון"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://hr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yang_Shangkun"
    title: "Yang Shangkun"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://id.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yang_Shangkun"
    title: "Yang Shangkun"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yang_Shangkun"
    title: "Yang Shangkun"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E6%A5%8A%E5%B0%9A%E6%98%86"
    title: "楊尚昆"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://ko.wikipedia.org/wiki/%EC%96%91%EC%83%81%EC%BF%A4"
    title: "양상쿤"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://lt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yang_Shangkun"
    title: "Yang Shangkun"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://lv.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jans_%C5%A0anku%C5%86s"
    title: "Jans Šankuņs"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://mn.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%AF%D0%BD_%D0%A8%D0%B0%D0%BD%D0%BA%D1%83%D0%BD%D1%8C"
    title: "Ян Шанкунь"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yang_Shangkun"
    title: "Yang Shangkun"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://no.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yang_Shangkun"
    title: "Yang Shangkun"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Yang_Shangkun"
    title: "Wikiquote"
    type:  "WEBSITE"
  - url: "https://eo.wikiquote.org/wiki/Yang_Shangkun"
    title: "Wikiquote"
    type:  "WEBSITE"
  - url: "https://ar.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D9%8A%D8%A7%D9%86%D8%AC_%D8%B4%D8%A7%D9%86%D8%AC_%D9%83%D9%88%D9%86"
    title: "يانج شانج كون"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://ast.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yang_Shangkun"
    title: "Yang Shangkun"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"

# bio (long form, separated for readability)
bio: |
  Born in 1907 to a land-owning family, Yang studied at Shanghai University and trained in Moscow as one of the 28 Bolsheviks. From 1945 to 1965 he ran the General Office and served as Secretary-General of the Central Military Commission, controlling document flow, records, and fund allocation — the machinery that made government move. The Cultural Revolution put him in prison for 12 years. He emerged in 1978 as Deng Xiaoping's ally, championing economic reform while citing Lenin's New Economic Policy, though he rejected political liberalization and defended Mao's record despite his own suffering. With his half-brother General Yang Baibing, he became one of the most powerful figures in the People's Liberation Army through the 1980s. After initial hesitation, he planned and supervised the operations that cleared Tiananmen Square in June 1989. He served as president from 1988 to 1993, but his attempt to undermine Jiang Zemin and retain control of the PLA failed; a coalition of Party elders, including Deng, forced him out.