Xi Zhongxun
Ma Wenrui was born on November 4, 1912, into a well-off family in Zizhou County, Shaanxi Province. His mother died when he was only four. When he was 14, he began studying Marxism. He joined the Communist Youth League of China in 1926, and participated in various student movements. He then worked in revolutionary agitation in his home province. In 1935, at age 23, he was instrumental in the founding of two soviets in Shaanxi. During the Second Sino-Japanese War, he worked in northern Shaanxi near the Communist base in Yan'an, and studied military science at Counter-Japanese Military and Political University. He was one of the major leaders of the Northwest Bureau of the Communist Party, and an early follower of Xi Zhongxun.