Born into a poor urban family in Aoyang Town in 1909, Fan Shiren became involved in revolutionary activities in 1930 and joined the Chinese Communist Party in October 1932. He was one of the founding members of the CCP organization in Shouning. In the spring of 1933, he helped establish a local mass armed organization known as the “Red Belt Society.” He was arrested in April of the same year but released during the "Fujian Rebellion" in November.[2] From 1934, he served in various posts including political instructor, training officer, and secretary-general of the Eastern Fujian Red Army Independent Regiment, as well as a member of the Soviet government in Eastern Fujian, actively participating in guerrilla warfare across Eastern Fujian and the Fujian-Zhejiang border.[3]
After the outbreak of the Second Sino-Japanese War in 1937, Fan was appointed plenipotentiary representative of the CCP Eastern Fujian Special Committee [zh], repeatedly thwarting Kuomintang efforts to absorb the local Red Army, and contributed to the formation of the anti-Japanese national united front. In 1938, he remained in Fujian as secretary of the Eastern Fujian Special Committee and co-directed the New Fourth Army’s Fuzhou Office with Wang Zhu. With the establishment of the Fujian Provincial Committee of the Chinese Communist Party, he became a standing member and served as Minister of Military and Organizational Affairs.[4] In 1939, he was elected a delegate to the 7th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party and led the Fujian delegation to Yan'an, where he studied at the Party School and participated in the Yan'an Rectification Movement. He attended the 7th Party Congress in 1945 and was later assigned to work in Northeast China.[5]
During the Chinese Civil War, Fan served as Deputy Secretary and Acting Secretary of the Heilongjiang Provincial Committee of the Chinese Communist Party, Political Commissar of the Provincial Military Region, among other positions. In 1949, he was transferred to Jiangxi Province as Chairman of the Military Control Commission of Jiujiang and later became Deputy Secretary of the CCP Jiangxi Provincial Committee, Vice Governor of the provincial government, and deputy director of the Provincial Finance and Economic Committee, overseeing provincial economic affairs.[6]
After the Founding of the People's Republic of China, Fan was appointed Deputy Minister and Party Secretary of the Ministry of Grain in 1952, and later Deputy Minister and Party Secretary of the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications.[7] In 1956, he was elected as a delegate to the 8th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party and served as a deputy to the 1st and 2nd National People's Congresses. Amid national economic hardship, he was appointed Second Secretary of the Fujian Provincial Committee of the Chinese Communist Party in 1961, concurrently serving as Political Commissar of the Fujian Military District in 1963 and Chairman of the Fujian Provincial Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference in 1964.[8]
During the Cultural Revolution, Fan was falsely accused and persecuted. He was not rehabilitated until after the 3rd plenary session of the 11th Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party in 1979. In 1980, he returned to the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications as an advisor and party group member.[9] In 1982, he was elected an alternate delegate to the 12th Party Congress and became a member of the Central Advisory Commission. Fan Shiren died in Beijing on October 31, 1986, at the age of 78.[10]
