Ranks of the People's Liberation Army Ground Force

ThePeople's Liberation Army(PLA) has not always used ranks or insignia. In common with the practice of theRed Armyat the time of its founding in 1927, neither were used until 1955 when a system of ranks was established. As a result of theCultural Revolution,ranks were abolished in May 1965 (this led to asimilar reforminAlbaniain the midst of the AlbanianCultural and Ideological Revolution). After theSino-Vietnamese Warof 1979, reforms in the PLA began to be made to professionalize the armed forces once more. The 1984 Military Service Law provided for the resumption of rank, but disagreements on what ranks were to be used and who would receive them caused the revival of rank to be delayed until 1988. The following ranks and their respective insignia shown are those used by thePeople's Liberation Army Ground Force.

Current ranking system

PLAGF officers

The current system of officer ranks and insignia, a revision of the ranks and insignia established in 1955, began usage in 1988. The 1955 to 1965 marshal officer ranks ofyuánshuài(5-starMarshal) anddà yuánshuài(6-stargrand marshal) were not revived. The general officer ranks (Gian g) were revised by the addition of semi-circular wreath at the bottom of the insignia and by a change in the name of the highest general officer rank fromda gian g(4-starGeneral) toyi ji shang gian g(4-star first class colonel general). This highest rank in the new system was never held and was abolished in 1994. The field officer (Xiao) and company officer (Wei) ranks were the same in title and insignia except that highest company-level officer rank ofDa Weiin the 1955 to 1965 system was not included in the revived ranks. The final difference between the two systems is that in 1955 to 1965 there existed awarrant officerrank,Zhun Wei,which was not incorporated in the revived rank system, while new system had a rank forofficer cadets,Xue Yuan.Despite being the rank belowShao Weiin both systems, the insignia have no similarities.

Officer rank names are usually not translated literally, but rather to a corresponding rank system. This can lead to different translations being used depending on the system chosen for the correspondences. The 1955–1965 system, with its greater number of officer ranks, is usually translated using the Soviet rank system of that era, while the modern officer ranks are usually given a NATO rank correspondence. For example, the non-literal translation used for the rank ofShang Jiang(literally "senior general" ) depends on whether one is comparing it to Soviet or Russian ranks (colonel general) or to British or U.S. ranks (general).

Title	Thượng tướng Shang gian g	Trung tướng Zhong gian g	Thiếu tướng Shao gian g	Đại tá Da xiao	Thượng giáo Shang xiao	Trung giáo Zhong xiao	Thiếu tá Shao xiao	Thượng úy Shang wei	Trung úy Zhong wei	Thiếu úy Shao wei	Học viên Xue yuan
Equivalent translation	General	Lieutenant general	Major general	Senior colonel	Colonel	Lieutenant colonel	Major	Captain	First lieutenant	Second lieutenant	Officer cadet
Shoulder insignia
Collar insignia

PLAGF other ranks personnel

The current system of other ranks and insignia dates from 2022.

UnlikeNATOcountries, new recruits of the People's Liberation Army have no military ranks before theboot campis completed, and they will be awarded the rank of Private/Seaman Apprentice/Airman (All collectively called "Private" or "Lie Bing" in theChinese language) after they have graduated from theboot camp.According to Article 16 of Chapter 3 of the "Regulations on the Service of Active Soldiers of the Chinese People's Liberation Army" (Chinese:Quân giải phóng nhân dân Trung Quốc thời hạn nghĩa vụ quân sự binh lính phục dịch điều lệ), "The lowest enlisted rank isPrivate".

On February 27, 2022, the National People's Congress approved a new regulation which changes the previous Master sergeant fourth class(Chinese: Tứ cấp giáo quan ) to Staff sergeant first class(Chinese: Một bậc thượng sĩ ).

Rank group	Cao cấp quân sĩ Gao ji jun shi			Trung cấp quân sĩ Zhong ji jun shi		Sơ cấp quân sĩ Chu ji jun shi		Nghĩa vụ binh Yi wu bing
Title	Một bậc giáo quan Yi ji jun shi zhang	Nhị cấp giáo quan Er ji jun shi zhang	Tam cấp giáo quan San ji jun shi zhang	Một bậc thượng sĩ Yī jí jūnshì	Nhị cấp thượng sĩ yi ji shang shi	Trung sĩ shang shi	Hạ sĩ Xia shi	Binh nhất Shang deng bing	Binh nhì Lie bing
Equivalent translation	Master sergeantfirst class	Master sergeantsecond class	Master sergeantthird class	Sergeant First Class	Sergeant Second Class	Sergeant	Corporal	Private first class	Private
Shoulder insignia
Collar insignia

Other military branches

Theranks of the People's Liberation Army Air Forcegenerally has the same names, position and ranks as thePeople's Liberation Army Ground Force,and their insignia correspond except Air Force ranks are on a light blue background instead of green.

Ranks of the People's Liberation Army Navyalso have corresponding insignia with a black background, but are only worn with the dress white uniforms, as only sleeve insignia are used in the dress blue uniform for officers, with other ranks retaining the shoulder board insignia.

Historic ranks

1955–65 rank system

The PLA adopted ranks in 1955.The insignia used by officers from 1955 to 1965 by the PLA Ground Force were modelled on those used by theSoviet Armyat the time and similar to the earlierImperial Japanese Armyon collar insignia, with the primary differences being the existence of an additional field officer rank, and the insignia of the highest general officer rank being four stars unlike the one large star used by the Soviet Armed Forces starting in 1963. The NCO insignia of that period showed Japanese influence with the use of stars on the collars with the specialty badge on the side. While general duties officers wore the shoulder board pattern shown below (gold and red), technical service officers sported white and red shoulder boards with their rank insignia. Ranks were abolished during the Cultural Revolution.

Timeline of change

Officer ranks

Rank group	General / flag officers										Senior officers						Junior officers								Officer cadet
PLA Ground Force (1955–1965)
	Đại nguyên soái Da yuan shuai	Nguyên soái Yuan shuai	Đại tướng Dà jiàng	Thượng tướng Shàngjiàng	Trung tướng Zhōngjiàng		Thiếu tướng Shàojiàng				Đại tá Dàxiào	Thượng giáo Shàngxiào	Trung giáo Zhōngxiào		Thiếu tá Shàoxiào		Đại uý Dàwèi	Thượng úy Shàngwèi	Trung úy Zhōngwèi			Thiếu úy Shàowèi			Chuẩn uý Zhǔnwèi
No ranks (1965–1985)
No ranks (1985–1988)
PLA Ground Force (1988–1994)
			Một bậc thượng tướng Yī jí shàng jiàng	Thượng tướng Shàngjiàng	Trung tướng Zhōngjiàng		Thiếu tướng Shàojiàng				Đại tá Dàxiào	Thượng giáo Shàngxiào	Trung giáo Zhōngxiào		Thiếu tá Shàoxiào		Thượng úy Shàngwèi		Trung úy Zhōngwèi			Thiếu úy Shàowèi			Chuẩn uý Zhǔnwèi

Other ranks

Rank group	Senior NCOs																						Junior NCOs						Enlisted
PLA Ground Force (1955–1965)
											Thượng sĩ Shàng shì						Trung sĩ Zhōng shì						Hạ sĩ Xià shì						Binh nhất Shàngděngbīng						Binh nhì Lièbīng
No ranks (1965–1985)
No ranks (1985–1988)
PLA Ground Force (1988–1994)
							Giáo quan Jūn shì zhǎng		Chuyên nghiệp quân sĩ Zhuān yè jūn shì		Thượng sĩ Shàng shì						Trung sĩ Zhōng shì						Hạ sĩ Xià shì						Binh nhất Shàngděngbīng						Binh nhì Lièbīng
PLA Ground Force (1995–1999)
	Tứ cấp giáo quan Sì jí jūn shì zhǎng		Tứ cấp chuyên nghiệp quân sĩ Sì jí zhuān yè jūn shì		Tam cấp giáo quan Sān jí jūn shì zhǎng	Tam cấp chuyên nghiệp quân sĩ Sān jí zhuān yè jūn shì	Nhị cấp giáo quan Èr jí jūn shì zhǎng	Nhị cấp chuyên nghiệp quân sĩ Èr jí zhuān yè jūn shì	Một bậc giáo quan Yī jí jūn shì zhǎng	Một bậc chuyên nghiệp quân sĩ Yī jí zhuān yè jūn shì	Thượng sĩ Shàng shì						Trung sĩ Zhōng shì						Hạ sĩ Xià shì						Binh nhất Shàngděngbīng						Binh nhì Lièbīng
PLA Ground Force (2000–2007)
	Lục cấp sĩ quan Liu ji shi guan						Ngũ cấp sĩ quan Wu ji shi guan		Tứ cấp sĩ quan Si ji shi guan		Tam cấp sĩ quan San ji shi guan						Nhị cấp sĩ quan Er ji shi guan						Một bậc sĩ quan Yi ji shi guan						Binh nhất Shàngděngbīng						Binh nhì Lièbīng

See also

• Republic of China Army rank insignia
• Ranks and insignia of space forces

External links

• PLA Uniforms and Insignia
• Military ranks of the People's Liberation Army, on pre-2007 uniforms