He long was born (March 22, 1896) in a very poor rural family in Sangzhi, Hunan Province. At the age of 10, he studied tailoring with his father. At the age of 14, he began to drive horses and transport salt with the villagers. In 1914, he joined the Chinese Revolutionary Party led by sun Yat-sen. in 1916, in order to fight against the local taxes and extortion, he split the bamaoxi salt bureau with two kitchen knives and pulled up a military and civilian team. Soon He took part in the national guard against Yuan Shikai's restoration of the monarchy. In 1927, he took part in the Nanchang Uprising on August 1 and served as the General Commander of the uprising. In 1935, he took part in the long march of 25000 Li. After the founding of the people's Republic of China, he served successively as vice premier of the State Council and other posts, making great contributions to the modernization of the Chinese people's Liberation Army. During the cultural revolution, he long was persecuted by Lin Biao's "Gang of four" and suffered mental and physical setbacks. On June 9, 1969, Hanyuan died at the age of 74. On September 29, 1974, the CPC Central Committee restored his reputation to Helong.