61889 Regiment

During the Chinese Civil War, the core of the future 8341 Regiment was called the Chinese Peoples' Public Security Center Column (Chinese: 中国人民公安中央纵队), 2nd Division, 4th Regiment. After the establishment of the People's Republic of China it was attached to the Ministry of Public Security. In 1951, the force changed its name to Central Guard Division (or Central Corps of Guards). In 1953, it was renamed the Chinese Central Guard Regiment (Designation name is "Center 001", Chinese: 总字001). In the late 1950s, its designation changed again to Regiment 3747. Around 1964, it first used the name of "Regiment 8341".[1] In 1975, it changed once again to the "57001 Regiment" but soon reverted to the designation "8341 Special Regiment". In 1976, after the death of Mao Zedong, the regiment changed its designation once more to the "57003 Regiment". In October 2000, it underwent its latest name change, becoming the 61889 Regiment, the designation still used at present.[2]

The regimental code of "8341" has inspired a number of stories about why it was chosen. One such tale is that in 1948, when Mao Zedong and the other leaders of the Chinese Communist Party first moved to Beijing, Mao talked with a monk of Tayuan Temple, at Mount Wutai, Shanxi Province. The monk gave him this number, which meant that Mao Zedong would live to be 83 years old and would lead the CCP for 41 years (from Zunyi Conference to his death).[3] Besides, there are also some other explanations.[4] However, according to the first regimental commander Zhang Yaoci, this code was only arranged by the People's Liberation Army General Staff Department, and the other stories did not have any reasonable evidence.[2]