Meng Sufen

Meng Sufen
蒙素芬
Meng in Soviet Russia (1953)
Member of the Standing Committee of the 9th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference
In office January 1998 – January 2003
Vice Chairwoman of the Guizhou Provincial Political Consultative Conference
In office November 1977 – January 1998
Director and Party Secretary of the Guizhou Provincial Women's Federation
In office December 1973 – November 1977
Representative at the First, Second and Third National People's Congresses
In office 1954–1975
Personal details
Born	(1932-10-25)October 25, 1932[1] Zhenfeng County, Guizhou, China
Died	March 17, 2020(2020-03-17) (aged 87) Guiyang, Guizhou, China
Political party	Chinese Communist Party
Children	1 (daughter)

Meng Sufen (Chinese: 蒙素芬; pinyin: Mēng Sùfēn); (25 October 1932 – 17 March 2020) was a Chinese politician of Bouyei ethnicity. She served as a representative in the 1st, 2nd and 3rd National People's Congresses and held various leadership roles in the Guizhou Provincial Women's Federation and the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC)

Meng Sufen was born on 25 October 1932, into a Bouyei tenant farmer family in Zhema Village, Zhenfeng County in Guizhou Province.^[2] Growing up in poverty, she experienced the hardships of rural life, working in the fields from a young age to support her family after her father's death when she was 11.^[1][3]

Following the capture of Zhenfeng County by the People's Liberation Army in December 1949, Meng joined the Chinese Communist Party’s land reform efforts. Her ability to connect with Bouyei villagers, fluency in the local language and mobilizing communities led to her recruitment into the land reform work team in December 1950. She served as a member of the land reform team in Zhenfeng County, district cadre, director of the Zhenfeng County Women’s Federation, and staff member of the Guizhou Provincial Women’s Federation. During this period, she studied at the Guizhou Provincial Communist Party School and the district government's civilian cadre school, learning Mandarin and developing her leadership skills.^[1]

In February 1952, Meng joined a delegation of ethnic miniorities from southwest China to visit Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai, Hangzhou, Wuhan, and other cities. In Beijing, she was received by Chairman Mao Zedong and Premier Zhou Enlai. In July 1951, she was elected as a representative of Bouyei women to attend the People's Congress of Guizhou Province, where gave speech on grassroots work.^[2][1]

In 1953, she joined the Chinese Communist Party. In October of the same year, she was part of a Chinese women's delegation, led by Xu Guangping, to the Soviet Union to celebrate the 36th anniversary of the October Revolution.^[3] In Soviet Union, she spoke about the Chinese women's movement, earning admiration from Soviet attendees, including Lyubov Kosmodemyanskaya, mother of Soviet World War II war hero Zoya Kosmodemyanskaya. In 1955, she attended the 5th World Festival of Youth and Students in Warsaw, Poland, as part of a Chinese youth delegation.^[1][4]

In September 1954, Meng was elected as a delegate to the 1st National People's Congress in Beijing, where she voted for the adoption of the People's Republic of China’s first constitution.^[4] From September 1956 to November 1966, Meng served as deputy director of the Guizhou Provincial Women's Federation while pursuing further studies at the Guizhou Provincial Cadre Secondary Cultural School. In 1959, she briefly worked as a committee member in Changzhai District, Changshun County, and as a county-level minister in the Welfare Department. She was elected to the Ethnic Affairs Committee of the 2nd and 3rd National People's Congresses in 1959 and 1964, respectively.^[2] During the Cultural Revolution, she was assigned to labor work at the "May 7th" Cadre School. She later held positions such as head of the Mass Work Group in the Political Department of the Provincial Revolutionary Committee and head of the Preparatory Group of the Provincial Women’s Federation from November 1966 to December 1973.^[4]

From 1973 to 1977, Meng served as director and party secretary of the Guizhou Provincial Women’s Federation. From 1977 to 1983, she was vice chairperson of the Guizhou Provincial Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), concurrently serving as deputy director and deputy party secretary of the provincial women’s federation. She continued as vice chairperson and party group member of the CPPCC from 1983 to 1993, and from 1993 to 1998, she was director of the Nationalities, Religions, Workers, Women, and Youth Committee of the provincial CPPCC.^[3]

In 1993, Meng led a significant investigation into poverty in the Mashan region of Guizhou, covering Huishui, Changshun, Luodian, Wangmo, and Ziyun counties. Her team’s 280,000-word report and documentary, Mashan is Calling (Chinese: 麻山在呼唤; pinyin: Máshān zài hūhuàn), highlighted extreme poverty and spurred a province-wide donation campaign, raising over 1.6 million yuan for the region. This effort became a landmark in Guizhou’s poverty alleviation history.^[4] From 1998 to 2003, Meng served as a member of the Standing Committee of the 9th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, contributing to national policy through inspections, proposals, and grassroots engagement. She retired in December 2003.^[4][3][5]

Meng was known for her compassion and accessibility, earning the nickname "Mrs. Meng" among Bouyei communities. She supported initiatives like rural girls’ education, funding for disabled students and aided school renovations.^[4] During a rural visit to Guizhou in 1960, she met a mother whose infant was crying due to hunger, as the woman, lacking sufficient food, had no milk to nurse her child. While still breastfeeding her own newborn, Meng breastfed the stranger’s infant, addressing the immediate need of the infant.^[4]

Meng died on 17 March 2020, in Guiyang at age 87. Her obituary, published in Guizhou Daily, praised her as an outstanding Communist Party member who dedicated her life to socialism, women’s rights, and ethnic unity. General Secretary Xi Jinping and former General Secretary Hu Jintao expressed condolences on Meng's death.^[1]