61889 Regiment

The People's Liberation Army Unit 61889, formerly named the 8341 Special Regiment, and also known as the Central Guard Regiment or the Central Bureau of Guards, is responsible for guarding and protecting the top leaders of the Communist Party of China and the People's Republic of China. This regiment was established in its current form on June 9, 1953. It reports to the Central Security Bureau (formerly the 9th Bureau of the Ministry of Public Security).

People's Liberation Army Unit 61889 Central Guard Regiment Central Bureau of Guards
People's Liberation Army
Active	June 9, 1953, to present
Country	People's Republic of China
Allegiance	Communist Party of China
Branch	People's Liberation Army Ground Force Joint Staff Department of the Central Military Commission
Type	Safeguard Regiment
Role	Guard for the top leaders of CPC and PRC
Part of	Central Security Bureau
Garrison/HQ	Beijing
Colors	Red and Green
Engagements	Huairen Hall Incident
Commanders
Notable commanders	Wang Dongxing

In 1976, Wang Dongxing, Chairman Mao Zedong's long-time security chief, brought the 8341 Special Regiment into the Huairen Hall and arrested the Gang of Four on the order of Mao's designated successor, Hua Guofeng, an action which significantly helped to end the Chinese Cultural Revolution.

History

During the Chinese Civil War, the core of the future 8341 Regiment was called the Chinese Peoples' Public Security Center Column (Chinese: 中国人民公安中央纵队), 2nd Division, 4th Regiment. After the establishment of the People's Republic of China it was attached to the Ministry of Public Security. In 1951, the force changed its name to Central Guard Division (or Central Corps of Guards). In 1953, it was renamed the Chinese Central Guard Regiment (Designation name is "Center 001", Chinese: 总字001). In the late 1950s, its designation changed again to Regiment 3747. Around 1964, it first used the name of "Regiment 8341".[1] In 1975, it changed once again to the "57001 Regiment" but soon reverted to the designation "8341 Special Regiment". In 1976, after the death of Mao Zedong, the regiment changed its designation once more to the "57003 Regiment". In October 2000, it underwent its latest name change, becoming the 61889 Regiment, the designation still used at present.[2]

Anecdote

The regimental code of "8341" has inspired a number of stories about why it was chosen. One such tale is that in 1948, when Mao Zedong and the other leaders of the Chinese Communist Party first moved to Beijing, Mao talked with a monk of Tayuan Temple, at Mount Wutai, Shanxi Province. The monk gave him this number, which meant that Mao Zedong would live to be 83 years old and would lead the CCP for 41 years (from Zunyi Conference to his death).[3] Besides, there are also some other explanations.[4] However, according to the first regimental commander Zhang Yaoci, this code was only arranged by the People's Liberation Army General Staff Department, and the other stories did not have any reasonable evidence.[2]

References

1. "毛泽东和他 的"8341"部队". NetEase. Archived from the original on 2010-10-08. Retrieved 2011-01-22.
2. 冯立忠. "我所知道的 8341部队". 原载于2005年第12期《党史纵横》. Archived from the original on 2011-06-16. Retrieved 2011-01-22.
3. 冷思 (2002). 十六大之後的中國 (in Chinese). Hong Kong: 有限出版社. p. 32. ISBN 978-962-86474-7-7.
4. 求得慧心五台归 Archived 2016-03-04 at the Wayback Machine