The National Day military parade of 1955: Ending the army’s history of an unranked military

Since the founding of New China, normalization had been placed on the PLA's agenda, and one important aspect of the construction involved the implementation of a ranking system. On January 9, 1953, Mao Zedong approved the Instructions on the Preparations for the Implementation of a System of Military Ranks drafted by the Central Military Commission. This marked the start of a series of preparations within all the armed forces for the implementation of a ranking system. On February 7, a special committee was established for the implementation of a ranking system by the Central Military Commission, and the Regulations on the Military Ranks of the Chinese People's Liberation Army were formulated. On January 23, 1955, the Central Military Commission released its Instructions on the Assessment of Military Ranks, and determined that the military ranks would be classified into "nineteen grades in six categories." The specific classification was as follows: a Marshal Category consisting of two grades, namely Grand Marshal of New China and Marshal of New China; a General Officer Category consisting of four grades, namely Grand General, General, Lieutenant General, and Major General; a Field Officer Category consisting of four grades, namely Senior Colonel, Colonel, Lieutenant Colonel and Major; a Junior Officer Category consisting of four grades, namely Senior Captain, Captain, First Lieutenant, and Second Lieutenant; a Non-commissioned Officer Category consisting of three grades, namely Sergeant First Class, Sergeant and Corporal; and an Enlisted Personnel Category consisting of two grades, namely Private First Class and Private. On August 11 of the same year, Minister of National Defense Peng Dehuai and Director of the General Political Department Luo Ronghuan issued the Instructions on the Assessment of Military Ranks in the Non-commissioned Officer and Enlisted Personnel Categories, which defined enlisted personnel ranking details, marking the formal start of military rank assessment. The military rank assessment had basically been completed by National Day. A military rank-awarding ceremony was held for the Marshal Category in Huairen Hall in Zhongnanhai on the afternoon of September 27, 1955 when Mao Zedong handed certificates of appointment to ten marshals including Zhu De. The State Council held a ceremony to award the PLA's General Category military ranks, during which Zhou Enlai awarded certificates of appointment for the military ranks Grand General, General, Lieutenant General, and Major General to senior officers stationed in Beijing, including Su Yu. On the following day, the Ministry of National Defense organized an award ceremony for the Field Officer Category military ranks, during which Peng Dehuai awarded military ranks to some field officers stationed in Beijing. Various armed services, military commands and armed forces held respective military rank-awarding ceremonies. Zhou Enlai said happily that the implementation of the ranking system had ended China’s history of an unranked military. The National Day military parade of 1955 demonstrated the new face of the PLA following the implementation of a ranking system. During the military review, all officers and soldiers, dressed unanimously in a new style of service uniform and wearing both military badges and collar insignias, marched briskly through Tiananmen Square with firm, resolute steps and in high spirits. All the Marshals and Grand Generals, to whom a military rank had just been awarded, also wore their military badges and collar insignias and stood on the reviewing stand to inspect the armed forces. After the military parade, these Marshals and Grand Generals took a group photo on Tiananmen Rostrum in high spirits, a happy smile on everyone's face. This National Day military parade declared an end to China's history of an unranked military, marking a step forward in the military's normalization construction.

The general situation of the National Day military parade of 1955 was similar to that of the previous year in that, accompanied by Parade Commander-in-Chief Yang Chengwu, Minister of National Defense Peng Dehuai reviewed the armed forces. The reviewed troops numbered 10,344 in total.

Translated by LOTO