China’s Last Female Long March Veteran Wang Quanying Dies at 105

Wang Quanying, China’s last surviving female Red Army veteran who participated in the historic Long March, passed away on July 22, 2026, at the age of 105. Her death marks the end of a living chapter of Chinese revolutionary history, closing the final link to the women who endured the military retreat that shaped modern China.

Born in June 1921 in Jinchuan County, Aba Prefecture, Sichuan Province, Wang was of Tibetan ethnicity and was born into extreme poverty. Her lifespan of 105 years paralleled the entire history of the Chinese Communist Party from its founding in 1921 to the present day, as The Paper reported.

From Slavery to the Red Army

Wang’s early life was marked by hardship. Both her parents died when she was a toddler, and at age five she was sent to work as a slave for a local chieftain. Her original name was “Guixiang” — she adopted the name “Wang Quanying” after the founding of the People’s Republic of China in 1949, a name her family says was chosen to honor all the martyrs who sacrificed their lives for the revolution.

In the spring of 1935, when the Red Army’s Long March passed through her hometown, a 14-year-old Wang joined the Red Fourth Front Army. “The Red Army are good people. They serve the poor,” she later recalled, according to Hongchuan.org.cn. Her duties included guiding troops, cooking, caring for wounded soldiers, carrying water, and gathering food supplies.

Separation and Survival

In early March 1936, Wang’s unit was surrounded by Nationalist forces in Danba County. During the fierce battle, she became separated from the main force. “My task was to care for the wounded. Bullets flew past my ears but didn’t hit me. The company commander said I was lucky to be alive,” she remembered.

Separated from her unit, Wang and several fellow soldiers crossed snow-covered mountains — Balang Mountain and Niutou Mountain — searching for the main Red Army force. During this harrowing journey, she lost one toe to severe frostbite. By May 1936, she arrived in Sanjiang Town, Wenchuan County, where she settled and lived incognito, as CNR Military reported.

Decades of Obscurity

For 48 years, Wang lived in obscurity. She married a local man, Liu Fuguang, and had five children, though only two daughters survived. Her neighbors knew nothing of her Red Army past. She worked the land, sold vegetables to support her daughters’ education, and never spoke of her wartime experiences.

It was not until 1984 that the Aba Prefecture government verified her identity and issued her a “Certificate of Scattered Red Army Soldier.” The term “scattered Red Army” refers to soldiers who, due to injury, illness, or battle separation, became detached from their units during the Long March and settled in remote villages.

In her later years, Wang received national recognition. She was awarded the “80th Anniversary of the Victory of the Chinese Workers’ and Peasants’ Red Army’s Long March” commemorative medal in 2016, and the “70th Anniversary of the Founding of the People’s Republic of China” medal in 2019, as The Cover reported.

A Legacy of Resilience

Professor Wang Youping, a CPC history expert at the Sichuan Provincial Party School, reflected on her significance: “Wang Quanying’s life witnessed the arduous journey of the Chinese revolution from twists and turns to today’s brilliance. She used her actions to interpret the heroic spirit of ‘the Red Army fears not the difficulties of the long expedition.’”

Wang’s eldest daughter, Liu Guihua, who cared for her mother in her final years at the Wenchuan Retired Cadres’ Home in Dujiangyan, attributed her mother’s longevity to a resilient mindset. “Besides Dujiangyan’s good mountains, good water, good air, and livability, my mother’s mindset is very good — firm faith and good attitude, insisting on being diligent.”

The End of an Era

Of the approximately 2,000 female soldiers who began the Long March, fewer than 400 survived to reach Yan’an. Wang Quanying was the last of them. Her passing, as CDSB reported, closes a remarkable chapter in Chinese history — one that saw a young Tibetan girl from a slave background become a soldier, survive one of the most grueling military retreats in modern history, and live to see the transformation of her country from poverty to global prominence.

At the time of her death, Wang was surrounded by her family. She is survived by her two daughters, both of whom received higher education — one became a university graduate and retired from the Wenchuan County People’s Congress, the other became a doctor.

Her story, spanning more than a century, remains a testament to resilience, sacrifice, and the enduring human spirit.