# 1931 in China

Events in the year 1931 in China.

## Incumbents

* Chairman of the Nationalist government: Chiang Kai-shek until December 15, Lin Sen
* Premier: Chiang Kai-shek until December 15, Chen Mingshu
* Vice Premier: Soong Tse-ven until December 16, Chen Mingshu

## Events

* March 1 – Early June — Second encirclement campaign against the Honghu Soviet
* April 1 – May 31 — Second encirclement campaign against the Jiangxi Soviet
* April–July — Second encirclement campaign against the Eyuwan Soviet
* July – November — 1931 China floods, one of the deadliest floods in history
* July 1 – September 18 — Third Encirclement Campaign against Jiangxi Soviet
* September 18 — September 18th Incident
* November 4 — Resistance at Nenjiang Bridge
* November 4–18 — Jiangqiao Campaign
* November — Establishment of the Chinese Soviet Republic

## Births

* January 2 — Wei Jianxing, member of the 15th Politburo Standing Committee of the Chinese Communist Party (d. 2015)
* January 18 — Huang Jiguang, highly-decorated PLA soldier (d. 1952)
* January 22 — Sheng-yen, Taiwanese Buddhist monk, religious scholar and writer (d. 2009)
* February 7 — Liu Yuanfang, nuclear chemist
* February 17 — Wu Jinghua, 7th Secretary of the Tibet Autonomous Regional Committee of the Chinese Communist Party (d. 2007)
* February 25
** Li Zhensheng, geneticist
** Joseph Koo, Hong Kong composer (d. 2023)
* April 15 — Kwang-chih Chang, Chinese-American archaeologist and sinologist (d. 2001)
* April 29 — Zhang Taofang, sniper (d. 2007)
* May 8 — Qi Benyu, communist theorist (d. 2016)
* July 6 — Chang Yinfo, mineral deposit geologist (d. 2024)
* July 10 — Morris Chang, Chinese-American billionaire businessman and electric engineer
* July 28 — He Yousheng, hydrodynamicist and mechanical engineer (d. 2018)
* August 9 — Yang Shi'e, engineer (d. 2024)
* October 8 — Fan Ho, photographer, film director and actor (d. 2016)
* October 28 — Qi Kang, architect and artist
* November 2 — Xue Yuqun, hydrogeologist (d. 2021)
* November 3 — Michael Fu Tieshan, Catholic bishop (d. 2007)
* November 11
** Yan Mingfu, politician (d. 2023)
** Liu Shahe, writer and poet (d. 2019)
* December 11 — Yao Wenyuan, literary critic, politician and a member of the Gang of Four (d. 2005)

## Deaths

* February 3 — Sun Baoqi, 16th Premier of the Republic of China (b. 1867)
* February 7 — Five Martyrs of the League of the Left-Wing Writers
** Rou Shi, prominent left-wing writer and member of the May Fourth Movement (b. 1902)
** Hu Yepin, writer, poet and playwright (b. 1903)
** Feng Keng, poet and author (b. 1907)
* March 22 — Yuan Kewen, scholar and calligrapher (b. 1890)
* April 5
** Deng Enming, communist revolutionary (b. 1901)
** Gada Meiren, Mongol leader of an uprising against the sale of Khorchin grasslands to Han settlers (b. 1892)
* May 1 — Mary Elizabeth Wood, American librarian and missionary best known for promoting Western librarianship practices and programs in China (b. 1861)
* June 24 — Xiang Zhongfa, 2nd General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (b. 1880)
* July 23 — Ni Kwei-tseng, educator and philanthropist (b. 1869)
* August 4 — Cai Hesen, early leader of the Chinese Communist Party (b. 1895)
* August 5
** Ma Qi, Chinese Muslim general (b. 1869)
** Chiang Wei-shui, physician and activist (b. 1890)
* August 31 — Jiang Guangci, fiction writer (b. 1901)
* September 17 — Yang Du, politician (b. 1875)
* November 19 — Xu Zhimo, romantic poet and writer of Modern Chinese poetry (b. 1897)
* November 29 — Deng Yanda, military officer in the National Revolutionary Army (b. 1895)
* December 5 — Song Yuren, reformist philosopher (b. 1857)