Da jiang
 |
| Dà jiàng 大將 | |
|---|---|
   Army, navy and air force* insignia *never conferred | |
| Country |  People's Republic of China |
| Service branch |  PLA Army PLA Navy PLA Air force |
| Rank group | General officer |
| Rank | Four-star rank |
| Formation | 1955 |
| Abolished | 1965 |
| Next higher rank | Yuan shuai |
| Next lower rank | Shàngjiàng |
Da jiang (simplified Chinese: 大将; traditional Chinese: 大將; pinyin: dà jiàng; lit. 'grand general') was a rank conferred in 1955 to ten veteran leaders of the People's Liberation Army. It was never conferred again and the rank was abolished in 1965 along with all other ranks in the PLA. It was considered equivalent to the Soviet rank of генера́л а́рмии (general armii, Army General) and may be considered a five-star rank, although the insignia itself had only four due to the fact that China does not have brigadier general as a rank.
When ranks were reintroduced in 1988, the equivalent rank was given a different name Yiji Shangjiang (Chinese: 一级上将; pinyin: yījí shàngjiàng; lit. 'first grade general'), perhaps so as to differentiate it from the ten original holders of the rank. Deng Xiaoping was offered the rank, which he, like he did with the rank of Marshal in 1955, declined, citing Chairman Mao's refusal to take the rank of Grand Marshal. Two of the original ten Da Jiang were still alive when ranks were reintroduced in 1988, Tan Zheng and Xiao Jingguang, but both had by then retired and therefore were not given the rank of Yiji Shangjiang. Thus ultimately, no one was ever named to the new rank and it was discontinued in 1994.
List of PLA Grand Generals (Dajiang)
In the official rank made in 1955:
- Su Yu (粟裕)
- Xu Haidong (徐海东)
- Huang Kecheng (黄克诚)
- Chen Geng (陈赓)
- Tan Zheng (谭政)
- Xiao Jinguang (萧劲光) (Navy)
- Zhang Yunyi (张云逸)
- Luo Ruiqing (罗瑞卿)
- Wang Shusheng (王树声)
- Xu Guangda (许光达)
