Ranks of the People's Liberation Army Ground Force
The People's Liberation Army has not always used ranks or insignia. In common with the practice of the Red Army at the time of its founding in 1927, neither were used until 1955 when a system of ranks was established. As a result of the Cultural Revolution, ranks were abolished in May 1965. After the Sino-Vietnamese War of 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 the People'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 use in 1988. The 1955–1965 marshal officer ranks of Yuánshuài and Dà Yuánshuài were not revived. The general officer ranks 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 from Da Jiang to Yi Ji Shang Jiang. This highest rank in the new system was never held and was abolished in 1994. The field officer and company officer ranks were the same in title and insignia except that highest company-level officer rank of Da Wei in the 1955–1965 system was not included in the revived ranks. The final difference between the two systems is that in 1955–1965 there existed a warrant officer rank, Zhun Wei, which was not incorporated in the revived rank system, while new system had a rank for officer cadets, Xue Yuan. Despite being the rank below Shao Wei in 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 of Shang Jiang depends on whether one is comparing it to Soviet or Russian ranks or to British or U.S. ranks.
| Title | 学员 Xue yuan | 少尉 Shao wei | 中尉 Zhong wei | 上尉 Shang wei | 少校 Shao xiao | 中校 Zhong xiao | 上校 Shang xiao | 大校 Da xiao | 少将 Shao jiang | 中将 Zhong jiang | 上将 Shang jiang |
| Usual Translation | Officer cadet | 2nd Lieutenant | 1st Lieutenant | Captain | Major | Lieutenant colonel | Colonel | Senior Colonel | Major General | Lieutenant General | Colonel general or general |
| Shoulder Insignia | |||||||||||
| Collar Insignia |
PLAGF other ranks personnel
The current system of other ranks and insignia dates from 2009.| Title | 列兵 Lie bing | 上等兵 Shang deng bing | 下士 Xia shi | 中士 Zhong shi | 上士 Shang shi | 四级军士长 Si ji jun shi zhang | 三级军士长 San ji jun shi zhang | 二级军士长 Er ji jun shi zhang | 一级军士长 Yi ji jun shi zhang |
| Usual Translation | Private 2nd Class | Private 1st Class | Corporal | Sergeant | Staff Sergeant | Sergeant First Class | Master sergeant | First Sergeant | Sergeant major |
| Shoulder Insignia | |||||||||
| Collar Insignia |
Other Military Branches
The Ranks of the People's Liberation Army Air Force generally has the same names, position and ranks as the People's Liberation Army Ground Force, however, and their insignia correspond except Air Force ranks have light blue fimbriations instead of green.Ranks of the People's Liberation Army Navy also correspond, except with dark blue fimbriations, but now only worn with the dress white uniform as only sleeve insignia are used in the dress blue uniform only for officers with ratings retaining the shoulder board insignia.