Cultural Revolution

The Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution ({{zh-stpl|s=无产阶级文化大革命|t=無產階級文化大革命|p=wú chǎn jiē jí wén huà dà gé mìng|l=Proletarian Cultural Great Revolution}}; often abbreviated to 文化大革命 wén huà dà gé mìng, literally "Great Cultural Revolution", or simply 文革 wén gé, literally "Cultural Revolution") in the People's Republic of China was a revolutionary upsurge by Chinese students and workers against the bureaucrats of the Chinese Communist Party. It was launched by Communist Party Chairman Mao Zedong in 1966 to secure Maoism (known domestically as Marxism-Leninism-Mao Tse-tung Thought) in China as the state's dominant ideology and eliminate political opposition. Though Mao himself officially declared the Cultural Revolution to have ended in 1969, the term is today widely used to also include the period between

After the Revolution Even though Hua Guofeng publicly denounced and arrested, the Gang of Four in 1976, he continued to invoke Mao to justify his policies. Hua opened what was known as the Two Whatevers, saying "Whatever policy originated from Chairman Mao, we must continue to support," and "Whatever directions were given to us from Chairman Mao, we must continue to work on their basis." Like Deng, Hua's goal was to reverse the damage of the Cultural Revolution; but unlike Deng, who was not against new economic models for China, Hua intended to move the Chinese economic and political system to resemble Soviet-style planning of the early 1950's.

Soon afterwards, Hua found that without Deng Xiaoping, it was hard for him to continue on daily affairs of the state. On October 10th, Deng Xiaoping personally wrote a letter to Hua, asking to be transferred back to state and party affairs. Also, unconfirmed information allegedly stated that Politburo Standing Committee member Ye Jianying would resign, if Deng was not allowed back into the Central Government. With increasing pressure from all sides, Hua decided to bring Deng back into regular state affairs, first naming him Vice-Premier of the State Council, in July 1977, and to various other positions. In actuality, Deng had already become China's number two figure. In August, the Party's Eleventh Congress was held in Beijing, officially naming (in ranking order) Hua Guofeng, Deng Xiaoping, Ye Jianying, Li Xiannian, and Wang Dongxing as the latest members of the Politburo Standing Committee.

Related Topics:
October 10 - Ye Jianying - 1977 - Eleventh Congress - Li Xiannian

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In May, 1978, Deng seized an opportunity for protégé Hu Yaobang to be elevated into further power. Later, Hu published an article in the Bright Daily Newspaper to cleverly use Mao's quotations, while expanding Deng's power base. After reading this widely-publicized article, almost everyone supported Hu, and thus became Deng's supporters. On July 1st, Deng publicized Mao's self-criticism report of 1962, regarding the Great Leap Forward. With an expanding power base, in September 1978, Deng had already started to openly attack Hua Guofeng's "Two Whatevers."

Related Topics:
1978 - Hu Yaobang - Bright Daily Newspaper - July 1 - 1962

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On December 18th, 1978, the Third Plenum of the Eleventh CCP Congress was held. Deng stated that "a liberation of thoughts" and "an accurate view leads to accurate results" was needed within the party. Hua Guofeng gave self-criticisms, stating his own "Two Whatevers" was wrong. Wang Dongxing, formerly Mao's trusted supporter, was also criticised. At the Plenum, the Qingming Tiananmen Square incident was also politically rehabilitated. Liu Shaoqi was allowed a belated state funeral.

Related Topics:
December 18 - Rehabilitate

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In the Fifth Plenum of the Eleventh CCP Congress, held in 1980, Peng Zhen and many others, who had been purged during the Cultural Revolution, were politically rehabilitated. Hu Yaobang was named General-Secretary of the CCP, and Zhao Ziyang, another of Deng's protégés, was named into the Central governing apparatus. In September, Hua Guofeng resigned, with Zhao Ziyang being named the new Premier. Deng was the Chairman of the Central Military Commission. By this time, Deng was the foremost and paramount figure in Chinese politics.

Related Topics:
1980 - General-Secretary of the CCP - Zhao Ziyang - Central Military Commission - Chinese politics

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