on February 5, 1984, at the age of 77. According to his last wish, his body was cremated and scattered to places he had fought. Family Su Yu married Chu Qing (楚青) in February 1941. They had three children, all of whom joined the PLA. The eldest son Su Rongsheng (粟戎生) was born in 1942, followed by the second son Su Hansheng (粟寒生), and the youngest, a daughter Su Huining (粟惠宁), who married Chen Xiaolu (陈小鲁) in August 1975. Chen Xiaolu was the youngest son of Chen Yi who was Su Yu's direct superior during wartime. According to Su Rongsheng, Su Yu was an extremely strict father. When Su Rongsheng was only three years old, Su Yu forced him to learn how to swim by giving him only a piece of bamboo as a float, and pushed him into the water in front of his mother, and prohibited anyone from attempting to save Su Rongsheng. Su Yu's wife, Chu Qing was outraged and asked Su Yu angrily whether he was not worried about Su Rongsheng being drowned. But Su Yu answered that Su Rongsheng would have never learned how to swim any other way and besides, he was not being drowned. At age of 20, Su Rongsheng joined the PLA and remained in service for 45 years, rising from an ordinary soldier to a lieutenant general when he retired as the deputy commander-in-chief of Beijing Military District at age 65. See also List of officers of the People's Liberation Army References Bibliography Ch'en, Jerome, et al. The Nationalist Era in China, 1927-1949. United Kingdom, Cambridge University Press, 1991. External links General Su Yu 1907 births 1984 deaths Huitong People from Huaihua Chinese military personnel of World War II People's Liberation Army generals from Hunan People's Liberation Army Chiefs of General Staff Vice Chairpersons of the National People's Congress Kam people Deputy Ministers of National Defense of the People's Republic of China