Chapter 12 Chapter Twelve Dealing with the Aftermath

1976-1981 The day after the arrest of the "Gang of Four", the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China announced that the Politburo had elected Hua Guofeng as Chairman of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and Chairman of the Central Military Commission of the Communist Party of China, thus further consolidating his position as Premier.However, news of the arrest of the "Gang of Four" was not disclosed to the outside world. The three planners Hua Guofeng, Ye Jianying, and Wang Dongxing hoped that this action would remain secret so as to disarm the remnants of the "Gang of Four" at the local level. Before being arrested, the "Gang of Four" had distributed heavy weapons to the militias in Shanghai and some other places. Wang Hongwen also set up a special command center in Zhongnanhai, ordering the militias in various places to be ready to take armed actions at any time.

As a result, Hua Guofeng, Ye Jianying, and Wang Dongxing in Beijing successfully resolved the problem in Shanghai.Someone once sent a secret phone call to the remnant party of the "Gang of Four" in Shanghai ("Mom is in the hospital"), implying that the "Gang of Four"'s action plan was bankrupt.However, they were cleverly transferred back to Beijing by Hua Guofeng and others, and were arrested one by one.In some other parts of the country, clashes between militias and regular forces continued for some time.It is less clear how many of these clashes were waged by pro-Gang of Four militias versus provincial leaders trying to hold onto their own turf.These disturbances spread widely, especially in the area south of the Yangtze River.It was not until the end of 1977 and the beginning of 1978 that the central government really took control of Tianjin, which is less than 100 kilometers away from Beijing.However, regular troops loyal to the "Gang of Four" did not control the capital or some other large local regime.

On October 21, that is, the fifteenth day after the incident, the official officially announced the arrest of the "Gang of Four".The news brought joy to thousands of people, who flooded the streets of cities across the country with excitement.For several days, the main streets of the capital were packed with parades.Almost all workers in factories and institutions stopped working.Different from the parade in spring, this time the parade was colorful and lively. People took to the streets in an organized manner holding slogans and beating drums and gongs.At night, the sound of firecrackers came and went, causing a Western reporter to misunderstand, and reported that supporters of the "Gang of Four" had been shot.A large number of people detained in the "cowshed" have regained their freedom.In Shanghai, ships moored at the port sounded their whistles to celebrate the victory.Those educated young people who went to the mountains and the countryside also bid farewell to the countryside and set off for home.

How much Deng Xiaoping knew about Ye Jianying's plans has never been known.Neither he nor others have disclosed.However, Deng Xiaoping knew exactly that Ye Jianying wanted to take action, and he also knew that preventing the "Gang of Four" from tracking down his whereabouts and arresting him was the greatest support for the success of Ye Jianying's plan. It is said that Ye Jianying called Deng Xiaoping as soon as the Politburo meeting after the arrest of the "Gang of Four" ended, so he learned the news very quickly. On October 10, he wrote to Hua Guofeng, expressing his "sincere" support for the Politburo's decision to appoint Hua Guofeng as the chairman of the CPC Central Committee and the Central Military Commission, and described the arrest of the "Gang of Four" as the victory of the proletariat over the bourgeoisie , The victory of socialism over capitalism ①.One thing is certain, at the end of October, Deng Xiaoping met with Hua Guofeng.They met in the hospital when they were visiting Deng Xiaoping's former comrade-in-arms Liu Bocheng.Deng Xiaoben told Hua Guofeng that he, a "capitalist roader", was very happy with what had happened and expressed his full support for Hua Guofeng.Hua Guofeng asked Deng Xiaoping to talk about his views. Deng Xiaoping said that although the development of heavy industry should not be ignored when formulating economic development plans, the development of agriculture and light industry should be given priority.He also said that in the process of improving "the lives of the people," "authoritarianism" was necessary.This is a contradiction in Deng Xiaoping himself that many people overseas have noticed.He was eager to carry out bold experiments in the economic field, but he held a conservative attitude in politics. Deng Xiaoping did not regard political liberalization as a prerequisite for economic liberalization, but regarded political liberalization as a contribution to society, Serious threat to political stability and economic development.

During the conversation, Liu Paicheng hoped that Deng Xiaoping would preside over his memorial meeting after his death (Liu Bocheng was eighty-two years old at the time, blind in both eyes).Deng Xiaoping said that there may be a problem with this, because he is a person who has made mistakes.At this time, Hua Guofeng, who was busy with official duties, was about to leave.Before leaving, he said that Deng Xiaoping had not lost his vitality at all.Deng Xiaoping's answer was very ingenious, or it could be said that there was something in his words. He said that his energy should be used by the Politburo.

In fact, Deng Xiaoping had made up his mind to fight for the realization of comprehensive political peace.He has many supporters, the most important of which are Chen Yun and Wang Zhen.Chen was "stepped aside" during the "Cultural Revolution", but he was not persecuted; Wang Zhen was an old general who personally interceded with Mao Zedong on his behalf in 1972; Big concern.Not to mention that it is a threat to oppose Deng Xiaoping's own authority, at least to change the official conclusion on the Tiananmen incident.And if there is no direct or indirect criticism of Mao Zedong, this conclusion cannot be changed.All the powers of Hua Guofeng were given by Mao Zedong.

In March 1977, Hua Guofeng convened the Central Work Conference to deploy the work tasks for the year.Deng Xiaoping, a general party member, did not attend the meeting.But many of his supporters attended the meeting, where they demanded that Tiananmen be vindicated and Deng Xiaoping return to work.Hua Guofeng insisted that the "Gang of Four" was a representative of the "ultra-right" (Mao Zedong and they also used the same term to convict Lin Biao); criticism of Deng and his conclusions about the "Cultural Revolution" were correct; the Tiananmen incident was counter-revolutionary .He insisted on the principles Wang Dongxing suggested to him about Mao Zedong and Mao Zedong Thought: "We firmly support all the decisions made by Chairman Mao; we will unswervingly follow all the instructions of Chairman Mao." His only concession Admitting that Deng Xiaoping had nothing to do with the Tiananmen incident, it is reasonable for the masses to go to Tiananmen to mourn Premier Zhou on Ching Ming Festival, thinking that it is necessary to "let Comrade Deng Xiaoping come back to work at an appropriate time".

Still, it was enough for negotiations between them.It's unclear who initiated the two, or whether they ever spoke face-to-face.According to what is known so far, it was Deng Xiaoping who took the first action. On April 10, that is, the third week after the end of the Central Work Conference, Deng Xiaoping wrote a letter to Hua Guofeng.The letter stated that he supported Hua's speech at the work conference, and he also mentioned another letter to Hua written on October 10 of the previous year, expressing full support for Hua's leadership post after the smashing of the "Gang of Four".Deng proposed that his two letters be circulated throughout the party.Deng's suggestion was apparently accepted.Then, at the end of May, "two responsible comrades from the General Office of the Central Committee" went to visit Deng Xiaoping.It is certain that one of them was Wang Dongxing, who was the director of the General Office of the Central Committee at the time.Deng Xiaoping told them that Hua's "two whatevers" are not enough.Because according to the "two whatevers" it doesn't make sense to rehabilitate him (because his dismissal was an order from Mao), and it also doesn't make sense to affirm that the activities of the broad masses in Tiananmen Square in 1976 were "reasonable."A few days later, "two leading comrades from the Central Committee" visited Deng Xiaoping again, and Deng reiterated the above thoughts③.

This is bad news for Hua.Still, Hua thought he couldn't be as stubborn as Deng.At the Central Plenary Session held in July, Deng Xiaoping resumed all the party, government and military positions held before April 1976.Deng spoke ahead of a vote on his reinstatement on the final day of the conference.During the conversation, he refused to accept the "two whatevers", and advocated to have a "complete" understanding of Mao's thought, adhere to the party's mass line, and insist on "seeking truth from facts" in order to improve the party's conduct.Those present listening to Deng's speech could tell that he challenged Hua Guofeng on this fundamental issue.

Deng was almost seventy-three years old at this time.The same age as Mao when he launched the "Cultural Revolution".But he doesn't look much older than he did in his fifties, and is much healthier than his peers.His only serious ailment is deafness.He started using hearing aids a long time ago, and with the help of them, he can hear clearly and even keep track of the progress of large meetings.His voice was strong, powerful, but rather harsh.He can give a long speech without looking tired.He walks fast and has fully recovered from the leg he broke eighteen years ago. Deng Xiaoping's wife and stepmother survived the three years of exile without much physical damage.In fact, when Zhuo Lin returned to Beijing, she was healthier than before leaving Beijing.Stepmother Xia Bogen is also quite tough.She is the daughter of a boatman, and she devotes all her energy to taking care of Deng Xiaoping and his family, and she can also do some manual work. In 1992, she was still alive, at the age of eighty-nine.

Among Deng Xiaoping's children, only Deng Pufang was seriously injured in the "Cultural Revolution".This injury is very distressing. By the time he was admitted to a well-equipped hospital in Beijing in 1972, he was almost completely paralyzed. After he was discharged from hospital in 1976, he was arranged to work in a TV factory. When he moved back home in the spring of 1977, Deng Xiaoping renovated the house so that he could freely go to all the rooms in a wheelchair and take an elevator up and down. In 1980, Deng Xiaoping secretly sent him to Canada for treatment, where he underwent at least two surgeries, which allowed him to sit up straight again and move his arms and neck, but he was still unable to walk. After the 1980s, in order to take care of the millions of disabled people in China, Deng Pufang established the China Disabled Persons Welfare Foundation and served as the chairman himself, which made him a figure of public concern. Deng Xiaoping's eldest daughter, Deng Lin, was married and an artist (she wanted to be a musician, but in 1960 she fell ill and could no longer attend the high school attached to the Conservatory of Music).Deng Xiaoping's second daughter, Deng Nan, is also married.Deng Xiaoping's third daughter, Deng Rong (Maomao decoration), is a medical graduate and has been living at home.Among Deng Xiaoping's three daughters, Deng Rong looks the most like her father.She is lively, energetic, and outspoken.Like Deng Pufang, she is a party member, but Deng Lin is not.She spent the longest time with her parents in Jiangxi.Later, she published a long article in the People's Daily detailing her life in Jiangxi. Deng Xiaoping's youngest son, Deng Zhifang, joined the Red Guards at the age of fourteen. Like Deng Nan, he also went to Shanxi to join the ranks when his parents were under house arrest in 1967. In 1973, he became a student of the Department of Physics at Peking University and witnessed the mobilization of a student rally against his father in 1975.But he himself does not appear to have been persecuted. In 1980, he was sent to study at the University of Rochester in New York State (almost none of his advisors and classmates knew his true identity). In the early 1980s, he returned to China with his wife and newborn daughter, but he did not join the party. The "Cultural Revolution" brought great harm to Deng Xiaoping's family.His younger brother Deng Shuping, whose land in Sichuan was confiscated during the land reform, joined the party, was tortured by Red Guards in Wuhan for several weeks in March 1967, and finally committed suicide.The Red Guards criticized and tortured him because he had a close relationship with China's "No. 2 capitalist roader".Zhuo Lin's elder brother, the property he inherited from his father was confiscated in the 1950s, and then he was forced to work for eight years, and was arrested and imprisoned during the "Cultural Revolution". Reinstatement gave Deng Xiaoping the opportunity to re-observe Chinese politics.Thanks to his renewed access to official information, he has a more accurate grasp of the problems facing the party, army, and government, as well as the social and economic conditions of the time than before his exile. The social order at that time was chaotic.The phenomenon of crime and passive sabotage is very common, and car bandits and road tyrants are rampant along the railway line.The unemployment rate in the city is high, mainly because a large number of educated youths have returned to the city.In the countryside, many party cadres have become local bullies. Gone is the hard-working zeal that impressed many foreigners in the 1950s, replaced by corruption and pessimism. In March 1978, Deng said at the opening ceremony of the National Science Conference that the destruction of the four modernizations by the "Gang of Four" had brought the national economy to the brink of collapse.This is an exaggeration. Statistics released by China in the 1980s showed that the "Cultural Revolution" had caused great damage to the economy, but it had not yet caused an economic catastrophe. From 1967 to 1968, the Red Guards and rebels were most active, but even in these few years, the situation after the "Great Leap Forward" did not appear. Industrial output in 1969 was still higher than in 1962, with only steel, cement and fertilizer production continuing to decline. In 1975, output of many products, including cement and fertilizers, had nearly tripled. During the "Cultural Revolution" period, the proportion of investment in industry was quite high, especially heavy industry, which is also a feature of industrial development during the "Cultural Revolution" period.In fact, China completely copied the Soviet model during the first five-year plan period (1953-1957).This is perhaps the greatest paradox of Mao Zedong's campaign to wipe out the party and the country, a catastrophe-revisionist movement. In Mao Zedong's view, the Soviet Union was the leader of revisionism. In agriculture, production has increased rapidly.Like industry, 1968 was the year of the lowest agricultural output, largely because of a lack of fertilizers. After 1968, grain output continued to grow steadily. In 1975, the total grain output reached 285 million tons, an increase of 7 million tons over 1966.The problem is that the population growth rate was also very high during the same period. One of the serious consequences of the "Cultural Revolution" was the birth of a large number of newborns in rural areas.Twenty years later, the repercussions of that aftermath are still being felt. Things are pretty bad for the party, army and government.At that time, the party had about 25 million members, at least half of whom joined the party after 1966.Many are young.Many others were rebels.They don't like to be restrained by discipline, and they can't bear the monotonous life they face after switching from "revolution" to "production".There are many factions in the army, "swollen, scattered, arrogant, extravagant, and lazy" (Deng's terminology for criticizing the army). In December 1977, Deng Xiaoping condemned these phenomena at the plenary meeting of the Central Military Commission, and called for the removal of those "bad elements" who engaged in "beating, smashing, and looting" during the "Cultural Revolution" from important leadership positions. We must pay close attention to rectification ④.In the previous few months,.He pointed out more seriously, "Can the army still fight when the enemy attacks?" "Although our army is large in number, its quality is relatively poor." Naturally, he has his reasons, but during the "Cultural Revolution", the army was used as a political tool, and Lin Biao brutally suppressed all veteran cadres in the army, which made the morale of the army low. This is also an undeniable fact.The situation in the government sector is not good either.Senior government departments are overstaffed, and many ministries and commissions are dominated by some interest groups.Many cadres only care about their own interests, and the bureaucratic style is serious.This is exactly the phenomenon that Deng Xiaoping severely condemned at the Eighth National Congress of the Communist Party of China twenty years ago. From the summer of 1977 to the end of 1978, Deng Xiaoping was directly in charge of education, science and technology, military and diplomatic work. Deng asked himself to be in charge of education and science and technology.He has always been interested in this. In 1961, he presided over the drafting of the "Provisional Work Regulations for Higher Education Institutions Directly under the Ministry of Education" (draft). During the drafting of the report, Deng Xiaoping realized that improving the level of general education is the condition for promoting scientific and technological progress, and scientific and technological progress is the key to rapid economic development. conditions of. The "Gang of Four" believes that in terms of education, it is unnecessary to attach importance to the cultivation of professional knowledge and skills.For this, Deng Xiaoping hated it deeply.Like Deng Xiaoping, the "Gang of Four" also discussed the relationship between education and technology, technology and modernization.But they believed that modernization was dangerous because it would undermine the education they advocated. Therefore, Deng Xiaoping called for the restoration and improvement of schools at all levels in order to cultivate various specialized talents.He severely refuted the fallacies of the "Gang of Four", saying: "The Gang of Four" nonsense that "the more knowledge, the more reactionary", advocated "prefer uneducated laborers", and praised the ignorant and reactionary clown who handed in a blank paper as "red". "Specialized" models, slandering good comrades who work tirelessly, study hard, and contribute to the science and technology of the motherland as "white professional" models.This reversal of the relationship between right and wrong, and the relationship between the enemy and the enemy once caused great confusion in people's thinking⑤. In the army, Deng Xiaoping, in his capacity as vice chairman of the Military Commission and chief of staff, set about rectifying the unhealthy phenomena he condemned, and worked hard to restore the morale and professional training of the army.In this regard, his task is quite difficult.As a military hero during the War of Resistance Against Japan and the War of Liberation, Deng Xiaoping had a high reputation in the army.But there were a few people around him who agreed to depose Deng in April 1976. Leaving aside political stances, they believed that when Deng accused the army of lax discipline, sectarianism, and low professional skills, he was actually criticizing them.Deng was therefore not sure whether they would cooperate with him in supporting his reorganization of the army and the removal of Lin Biao and the remnants of the "Gang of Four" from the army.It is difficult to judge how well they cooperated with Deng in the initial stage. Deng was also active in foreign affairs.There are also many places that need to be improved in foreign affairs work. In 1976, China had no foreign policy, only bitter xenophobia. In the autumn of 1976, after the death of Mao Zedong, the Soviet Union offered to improve relations with China, but was flatly rejected.As a result, China fell into the external pattern that Lin Biao admired, that is, to adopt the same hostile attitude towards the two superpowers of the United States and the Soviet Union.This attitude, in addition to possibly bringing about a huge military crisis to China, is also inconsistent with Deng's ambition to promote rapid economic development by importing foreign equipment and technology on a large scale. After Deng Xiaoping stepped down at the end of 1975, negotiations between China and the United States stopped.Now Deng Xiaoping wants to reopen the door and negotiate with the United States.Due to historical reasons, Deng Xiaoping could not express any compromise on the Taiwan issue, nor could he stop accusing the United States of not resisting the Soviet Union.Kissinger said that Mao Zedong and Zhou Enlai would not allow Americans to "enjoy both Moutai and vodka"⑥.Therefore, Deng Xiaoping held a tough attitude on both the Taiwan issue and the geopolitical balance issue.The timing was good for China.More and more people in Washington realized that recognizing the People's Republic of China as the sole legal government of China and realizing the normalization of Sino-US relations could contain the Soviet Union rather than provoke it.The Soviet Union was pursuing expansionism in Southeast Asia and Africa at this time.Deng Xiaoping made great contributions to the normalization of Sino-US relations.He facilitated a trip to China by U.S. President Carter and National Security Adviser Brzezinski.Compared with Secretary of State Vance, Brzezinski is more supportive of the United States getting closer to China. When he visited China in May 1978, the Chinese press did not criticize him, whereas when Vance visited China a year earlier, he was heavily criticized. In December 1978, Sino-US relations were normalized.However, when China and the United States established diplomatic relations, the US government issued a statement, claiming that the United States reserves the right to sell arms to Taiwan.But the Chinese are more interested in action than indifference.The United States has refused to sell fighter jets to Taiwan at this time.China's attitude is becoming more and more clear. She has reduced the number of troops stationed across the Taiwan Strait for the first time in three decades; she hopes that Taiwan will take a sensible approach to reunification. It was a major diplomatic victory.At the same time, it opened a closer relationship between China and the United States, further improved Sino-Japanese relations (at this time Japan ratified the Sino-Japanese Treaty of Peace and Friendship, which included a clause that the two countries promised to jointly oppose "hegemonism"), and expelled many Chinese Outbound Vietnam to take a lesson. All of the above is but a small part of Deng's plan.He also has a bigger plan, which is to let the whole party get rid of the ideological and policy influence of the "Cultural Revolution", replace class struggle with development, take economic development as the highest goal of the whole party, and carry out bold economic reforms. test.Facts have shown that Mao Zedong and the "Gang of Four" were correct in their estimates. Deng Xiaoping wanted to eliminate the influence of the "Cultural Revolution" and at the same time prove that he was correct in saying that class antagonism no longer exists in 1956. Deng Xiaoping said on September 16, 1956, "The bourgeoisie as a class is already in the process of being eliminated." -Annotation At the beginning, Deng was very cautious. A few weeks after his reinstatement in July 1977, the Third Plenum of the Party's Eleventh Central Committee* was convened.At the meeting, he only emphasized that Mao Ze The Third Plenary Session of the Eleventh Central Committee was held in December 1978, and the Third Plenary Session of the Tenth Central Committee of the Communist Party of China was held in July 1977. The basic feature of Mao Zedong Thought was "seeking truth from facts" and avoided mentioning the "Cultural Revolution". He did not make it clear Attack the "two whatevers" and say Hua is a "wise leader".He also did not criticize Hua's ten-year plan formulated at the National People's Congress in February 1978, except in small private meetings with some people.In the spring and summer of that year, he continued to emphasize the importance of seeking truth from facts, which he said was the "basic principle" of Mao Zedong Thought. It was only in September 1978 that he criticized the "two whatevers" when he talked to people other than the leadership for the first time.At that time, the political climate of the country had changed considerably. certainly.Deng is responsible for this positive shift.Because everyone knows that he is actively looking forward to a new start in politics.We don't know exactly what he took the initiative to do in this process, but it is certain that he must have talked about this new beginning to his confidantes, and he must have complained about "two whatevers" to his close comrades in arms.In the Politburo and Standing Committee, he criticized Hua Guofeng and his supporters.He may be more proactive.Even so, most of the work was done by his supporters, including Hu Qiaomu and Hu Yaobang. In March 1978, Hu Qiaomu became the president of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, and immediately set about writing an article criticizing the economic policies since the 1950s.Hu Yaobang has worked closely with Deng Xiaoping since 1976 and is now head of the Organization Department of the CCP Central Committee. Like the "Gang of Four", Hu Qiaomu and Hu Yaobang also made full use of the news media. In early May, Hu Yaobang lined up a long article titled "Practice Is the Only Criteria for Testing Truth" on Guangming Daily, which is dedicated to intellectuals. "People's Daily" immediately published a commentator's article, emphasizing that theory should be tested by practice, and not the other way around.Hua Guofeng and Wang Dongxing soon realized that these articles posed a threat to their ideological status, that is, their legal status as leaders.However, they could not prevent the widespread dissemination of these articles, nor could they prevent these issues from being discussed at party and army meetings. In the late summer of 1978, this journalistic movement transformed into a political movement.Many big-character posters and leaflets called for various ideological and political reforms, including the removal of Wu De as mayor of Beijing.It was widely believed at the time that Wu De was against Deng Xiaoping and that he was responsible for suppressing the demonstrations in April 1976.Under such circumstances, Deng Xiaoping proposed to hold a central working conference to prepare for the decision-making meeting of the Central Committee. When the Central Work Conference was held on November 10, Deng Xiaoping was abroad.He may have been absent on purpose.But in any case, the absence has served him well.If he attends the meeting, he will hear strong criticisms of other members of the Politburo and accusations of the central leadership group, because he is also a member of this group.He avoided it all, only showing up when the meeting needed a conclusion from a leader. Deng Xiaoping's speech on the last day of the meeting on December 13 fully demonstrated that he was a person who did not push or prevaricate.First of all, he expressed his satisfaction with the lively discussions at the meeting, and believed that this was the restoration of the party's "democratic tradition".Regarding the many "major issues related to the destiny of the party and the country" discussed and resolved at this meeting, Deng Xiaoping put forward four opinions.They are: all party members, especially senior leading cadres, must overcome dogmatism and bookishness; in political life within the party and among the people, democracy must be further promoted in the process of economic decision-making; Comrade, look forward, study new situations and solve new problems in a timely manner, especially pay attention to research and solve problems in management methods, management systems and economic policies.In connection with the emancipation of the mind, Deng Xiaoping once again mentioned seeking truth from facts, and mentioned (although only in passing) the discussion on the standard of truth⑦. Before the meeting ended, the Beijing Municipal Party Committee announced an important decision: to rehabilitate the April 1976 Tiananmen incident.Other important decisions are formally passed by the Central Committee held immediately.The most important of these is the negation of the "two whatevers" viewpoint, listing the four modernizations as "the focus of the work of the whole party", and abandoning the line of "taking class struggle as the key link".In Deng Xiaoping's official biography, the second and third decisions are summed up as "the most fundamental political line to set things right."This is a fair statement because it puts an end to the basic political line drawn up by Mao Zedong since 1957. Hua Guofeng still retained his previous position.But his most powerful supporter, Wang Dongxing, was removed from the position of director of the Central Office, and Hu Yaobang was restored as the secretary general of the Central Committee.Chen Yun was re-elected as a member of the Politburo, and Deng Yingchao, Hu Yaobang, and Wang Zhen, three of Deng Xiaoping's strongest supporters, were added to the Politburo.Politburo resolutions in 1975 and 1976 to blame Deng Xiaoping were also revoked.Immediately began the work of rehabilitating unjust, false and wrong cases: restoring the reputation of Peng Dehuai and Tao Zhu; liberating Peng Zhen and Bo Yibo. Like the Central Committee meeting held at the beginning of the "Cultural Revolution" in August 1966, this work meeting was held against the backdrop of a popular movement.The difference was that it was young workers and government officials, rather than university and high school students, who initiated the movement.Their activities are spontaneous.They demanded political reform, right not left, in Communist Party terms.Like the Red Guards, they also opposed the party's authority.But they made this request in the hope that individuals could gain more social and political freedom and achieve political pluralism, instead of fighting and making trouble like the Red Guards. The movement began in mid-November, initially as an open-air rally along a section of Xidan Street.Soon, this section of the wall was called the Democracy Wall, and it was covered with big-character posters from beginning to end, which was a way of expressing opinions allowed by the state at that time.These big-character posters criticized Mao, the "Gang of Four" and "a handful" of high-level cadres who were unwilling to rehabilitate the Tiananmen incident, while praising Zhou Enlai and Deng Xiaoping.Later, when people learned that Hua Guofeng and his allies were criticized at the Central Work Conference, and that the military and police did not intervene in the activities of the Democracy Wall, the authors of the big-character posters became bolder and gathered in front of the Democracy Wall. more and more people.By the end of November, discussions about democracy and human rights had become a major feature of the big-character posters, and some bold people began to distribute leaflets and newspapers.Three months later, the movement became more radical, with some even going on a sit-in and hunger strike in front of government agencies to demonstrate that the protest movement had spread to many other big cities and that the attitude towards Deng Xiaoping was becoming less and less friendly. In the beginning, Deng Xiaoping undoubtedly admired the sport.Because it inherited the Tiananmen incident, it promoted the Lang discussion on the question of the standard of truth. Deng Xiaoping believed that the Tiananmen incident was a revolutionary, not a counter-revolutionary event.The incident made him a hero and his political opponent a villain.Deng Xiaoping firmly believed that the party should keep abreast of the demands of the masses. This is a correct principle.But as the movement deepened, he began to sense the danger.Continuing to tolerate the movement could be doing him a disservice politically.He mainly relies on a group of people who were persecuted during the "Cultural Revolution", such as Chen Yun and Peng Zhen.And these people have been skeptical of political movements outside the party leadership.In addition, this movement may destroy some social order, and Deng Xiaoping believed that a stable social order is the basis for modernization. Deng Xiaoping was in no rush to act.He took no action until he had formulated a complete modern political theory.After completing this set of theories, at this time, he published a speech, which was as important as the report he made at the "Eighth National Congress" in 1956, and could be regarded as his personal political statement.This report complements his speech at the Central Work Conference in December and proposes some guidelines that later became the guidelines of the Chinese Communist Party. These guidelines embody the essence of Deng Xiaoping's thinking and are therefore well worth exploring. Deng Xiaoping delivered this speech at the party's theoretical workers meeting at the end of March.He first reviewed the situation after the arrest of the "Gang of Four", and believed that the situation after the smashing of the "Gang of Four" was basically good, and then talked about the difficulties he faced.Due to these difficulties, the task of realizing the four modernizations is very arduous.Deng Xiaoping said that what he wanted to talk about was ideological and political issues.Then, he directly talked about his thoughts: the central government believes that if we want to realize the four modernizations in China, we must adhere to the four basic principles in ideology and politics, which is the fundamental prerequisite for the realization of the four modernizations.These four items are: first, we must uphold the socialist road; second, we must uphold the dictatorship of the proletariat; third, we must uphold the leadership of the Communist Party; fourth, we must uphold Marxism-Leninism and Mao Zedong Thought. Deng Xiaoping went on to say that the Four Cardinal Principles are what our party has "consistently adhered to for a long time," and we must resolutely fight against trends of thought that doubt the Four Cardinal Principles, whether it is "ultra-left" (such as Lin Biao and the "Gang of Four") ) or right: Now there are some people who spread the saying that socialism is inferior to capitalism.This statement must be completely refuted.First of all, only socialism can save China. This is an unshakable historical conclusion drawn by the Chinese people from their personal experience in the past 60 years from the May 4th Movement to the present.If China leaves socialism, it will inevitably return to semi-feudal and semi-colonial.The vast majority of Chinese people will never allow history to go backwards.Second, it is a fact that socialist China is now inferior to developed capitalist countries in terms of economy, technology, and culture.But this is not caused by the socialist system, fundamentally speaking, it is caused by the history before liberation, it is caused by imperialism and feudalism.The socialist revolution has greatly shortened the economic development gap between our country and the developed capitalist countries. Deng Xiaoping also explained why the dictatorship of the proletariat must be persisted in the socialist stage: We have made a lot of propaganda, explaining that the dictatorship of the proletariat is socialist democracy for the people, and it is shared by workers, peasants, intellectuals and other laborers. Democracy for enjoyment is the broadest democracy in history.But we must see that in socialist society, there are still counter-revolutionaries, enemy agents, various criminals and other bad elements who undermine the socialist order, and new exploiters who embezzle, steal, and speculate. It is impossible to completely eliminate it in the long run.The struggle against them is different from the class-to-class struggle in the past history (they could not form an open and complete class), but it is still a special form of class struggle, or the historical class struggle in the socialist Conditions for special forms of legacy.A dictatorship must still be exercised over all these anti-socialist elements.Without dictatorship over them, there can be no socialist democracy.This dictatorship is a domestic struggle, some of which are also international struggles, and the two are practically inseparable.Therefore, under the conditions of the existence of class struggle, under the conditions of the existence of imperialism and hegemonism, it is impossible to imagine the demise of the function of state dictatorship, the demise of the standing army, public security organs, courts, prisons, etc. It is impossible to imagine. With regard to party leadership, Deng emphasized that without party leadership there would be anarchy: without the Chinese Communist Party, who would organize the socialist economy, politics, military, and culture?In today's China, the spontaneity of the masses should never be celebrated apart from the leadership of the party.Of course, the leadership of the party is not without mistakes, and how the party can maintain close ties with the masses and implement correct and effective leadership is still a problem that must be seriously considered and worked hard to solve. reason.Our party has made many mistakes, but each time we corrected our own mistakes by relying on the party instead of leaving the party.Today's Party Central Committee insists on carrying forward the Party's democracy and the people's democracy, and resolutely corrects the mistakes made in the past.Under such circumstances, it is even more unacceptable for the broad masses to demand that the party's leadership be weakened or even abolished.This in fact can only lead to anarchism, to the disintegration and destruction of the socialist cause. 在谈论马克思列宁主义和毛泽东思想的那一段，邓小平划分了毛本人与他的思想，毛泽东本人的思想与毛泽东思想之间的差异：难道不是毛泽东思想才使约占全人类四分之一的中国人找到正确的革命道路，并在1949年获得全国解放，在1956年基本上完成社会主义改造吗？这一系列伟大的胜利不但根本改变了中国的命运，也改变了世界的形势。毛泽东同志同任何别人一样，也有他的缺点和错误。但是，在他的伟大的一生中的这些错误，怎么能够同他对人民的不朽贡献相比拟呢？在分析他的缺点和错误的时候，我们当然要承认个人的责任，但是更重要的是要分析历史的复杂背景。只有这样，我们才是公正地、科学地、也就是马克思主义地对待历史，对待历史人物。如果谁在对待这样严肃的问题上离开了马克思主义，那末，他就会受到党和群众的责难。毛泽东同志的事业和思想，都不只是他个人的事业和思想，同时是他的战友、是党、是人民的事业和思想，是半个多世纪中国人民革命斗争经验的结晶。 ⑧ 邓小平这篇讲话后不久，中国当局取消了西单民主墙。 1991年8月中国最新出顺的党史书指出，邓小平在1978年12月的中央全会上成为党的核心领导人。但是，1979年春的时候，邓小平本人以及他的支持者并未取得这祥的地位。 他当时之所以很快而准确地提出四项基本原则可能是因为他觉察到华国锋和他的支持者可能会借民主运动打击他。这不是说，他在那篇讲话中所表达的不是心里话，而是说他发表这篇讲话的时机与讲话的核心内容受到了当时党内斗争的影响。 无论这一说法是否准确，反正1979年秋天，华国锋和"凡是"派陷入了守势，其最主要的原因是华国锋提出的十年发展纲要在当时已被证明是空想。十年发展纲要规定，十年内石油产量要增加四倍，钢产量增加二陪。然而，当时许多油田并没有勘探出来，而要实现钢产量增加二倍，就必须进口大量炼钢设备，而当时的中国是负担不起这种进口的。由于增大投资规模，特别是对重工业的投资，导致了通货膨胀，增加了农村的压力，农村要向城市提供更多的粮食。当时担任财政经济委员会主任的陈云主持召开了为期三周的工作会议，决定放弃这一计划，实行"调整、改革、整顿、提高"的方针。历史因此再度重演。"大跃进"失败后，实行了"调整、巩固、充实、提高"的方针，华国锋的"大跃进"失败后，接着出现的也是几乎完全相同的补救策略，而且前后两次担任挽救任务的都是陈云。 邓小平把这次工作会议的大部分工作都交给了其他人。他自己则把全部注意力都放在了四个现代化上。同陈云一样，邓小平也坚决认为华国锋的发展计划只能带来反效应。但他当时的主要工作是利用政策而不是制定政策。通过协商和施加压力，在当年9月的中央全会和198O年3月的中央会议上，邓小平得到了他想要的结果。第二次会议结束后，华国锋在政治局的四名主要支持者，包括汪东兴和吴德落选了，胡耀邦当选为总书记，他所领导的书记处几乎全是邓小平信赖的人。 1980年，邓小平集中精力解决政府部门和华国锋本人的问题，他的策略是建议党内的老同志，包括他本人辞去所担任的职务，让较年轻的人来接替。华国锋对这一建议可能多少有所抵抗，但即使如此，也很快就被否决了。决定政府高层人事任免的是政治局，而华国锋此时已被孤立了。8月，他被迫辞去了总理的职务，从而失去了1976年所赢得的三项职务中的第一项。 名义上，直到1981年6月，华国锋仍一直担任着中共中央主席和中央军委主席，但仅仅是名义上的。在1980年11月和12月连续召开的九次政治局会议上他受到了多次批评。这些批评涉及原则。政策和公开行为等方面。最后，华国锋主动提出辞去党内职务。没有人对此提出异议。胡耀邦、邓小平暂时接替华国锋的职务，直到中央委员会正式接受华的辞职为止。不知为什么，中央全会七个月以后才召开。直到这个时候，大多数中国人（以及全世界的人）才知道毛泽东选定的接班人已经被罢免。但华国锋的政治生涯还有一小段结束曲，1982年9月以前，他一直任党的副主席。之后，他同三十七年前的王明、博古一样，只是一名普通的中央委员了。他从公众的眼前消逝了，报纸上再也见不到他的名字了。 邓小平为什么会对华国锋采取这种态度呢？那小平是不是像研究这一段中国历史的哈里·哈丁博士所说的是背叛了华国锋呢？⑨或者，邓小平这样对待华国锋是应该的？ 从表面上看，不赞成邓小平这样做的人认为，邓在1976年10月和1977年4月写给华国锋的信中都曾表示要全力主持华。这表明，他不会在华的领导下推行毛以前所批评的那些政策。而赞成邓小平的人则认为，在华国锋同意邓小平复出之前，他就已经明确表示。他无法、也不愿意接受"两个凡是"。然而，在政治上，表面的东西并不能说明一切。 哈丁还说，邓小平是个有使命感的人，⑩他要拯救党和国家，消除那些曾给党和国家带来巨大伤害的思想。当华国锋还是一个党的县级领导干部时，他就已经是党的总书记了。邓的同辈和同事大多数认为，他是党和国家需要的领导人。如果不过分挑剔的话，应该承认，同1957年斗争彭德怀以来党内所流行的斗争方式相比， （应为1959年，此处作者有误。--译注）邓小平所采取的方式是温和的。他没有鼓励新闻媒体对华个人进行攻击，而华国锋却在1976年允许在报纸上公开批评邓小平。邓小平获得胜利后也没有要求华国锋像毛泽东要求彭德怀、刘少奇等人那样作自我批判。 在纠正过去的历史方面，1980年和1981年有几件主要的事情：为刘少奇平反，审判"四人帮"，全面评价毛泽东和毛泽东思想，给"文革"定性。 在党内外，刘少奇一直都不是一位特别受爱戴的领导人。虽然，抗日战争时期他曾任新四军政委，但在60年代，很多党员认为他不够资格接替毛泽东任军委主席，有些人甚至怀疑他能否胜任党的主席。人们对他在"文化大革命"中的遭遇只是表示遗憾，而不像对待其他受害者那样感到痛心。同为其他人平反相比，诸如同彭德怀、彭真的冤案相比，他的案子很敏感。为二彭平反不用去否定"文化大革命"，也不必直接去谴责毛发动"文革"的做法。但是，刘少奇的地位很高，他是被当成"叛徒、内奸、工贼"开除出党的，因而为他平反就没那么容易了。 邓小平想为刘少奇平反是因为他想彻底否定"文化大革命"。他准备面对全面评价毛泽东的功与过所造成的后果，而且他也一定认识到，不为刘少奇平反，自己的复出与平反就不彻底。直到1980年2月底，他才促使中央委员会通过了为刘少奇平反的决议，撤销了对刘少奇的一切指控。同年5月为刘少奇举行了追悼会。被关押了十多年的刘少奇的妻子王光美又重新出现在公共场合。她是一位有知识、有魁力的女性，她的出现预示着一个新的时代的到来，那将是一个丰富多采、不再充满恐惧的时代。 对"四人帮"、陈伯达以及林彪的支持者的审训是中国共产党在政治实践上的一个创举。斯大林曾把他的政敌送上法庭，东欧的一些共产党领导人也曾跟着这样做过。但毛泽东从来没有打算让法庭来审判"反党"、"反革命"分子。这或许是因为在他的心目中，党的地位远远高于国家。或许是因为他觉得很难像对待谋杀、抢劫犯那样，为反革命分子定罪。邓小平没有这么多的顾虑。事实上，他要明确区分毛泽东所说的"犯错误"和"四人帮"、林彪所犯的"罪行"之间的差别。 对"四人帮"的审判是1980年11月底到1981年1月底在公安部以前的办公地举行的。事先就已经给十名罪犯定了罪，只是将最后的审判程序公开了。被告中只有江青试图为自己辩护，张春桥一言不发，其他八名罪犯或俯首认罪，或把过错推给同伙。江青主要说的是她只是按照毛的指示办事（她说"我是毛主席的狗"），现在审判她的人当中有许多人和她一样，也参与了对刘少奇的批斗，而且在"文革"期间，法律已失去了作用。她的表现引起法庭内外的阵阵骚动，许多观看电视的人不得不承认她有点精神。然而，各种文件和口头证词表明，"四人帮"的活动折磨死了成千上万的人。江青本人对于了解她过去历史的人，都毫不留情地进行了迫害。 江青和张春桥被判处死刑，缓期执行（两年后改判为无期徒刑）。其他罪犯也都被判了很长的徒刑。陈伯达和林彪的一些支持者在80年代被释放，不过此后就不曾在公共场合露过面。 历史决议完成得比较顺利，这个决议是由胡乔木主持的一个小组负责起草的，决议经过了多次修改。邓小平和胡乔木等人至少讨论了九次，主要是讨论毛泽东作为革命领导人的功与过应如何评价的问题。决议的最后定稿文字清晰易懂，用词极为谨慎。 决议的开头首先回顾了1921年至1979年中国革命的历史。中间部分论述了毛泽东的地位和毛泽东思想的特征：毛泽东同志是伟大的马克思主义者，是伟大的无产阶级革命家、战略家和理论家。他虽然在"文化大革命"中犯了严重错误，但是就他的一生来看，他对中国革命的功绩远远大干他的过失。他的功绩是第一位的，错误是第二位的。他为我们党和中国人民解放军的创立和发展，为中国各族人民解放事业的胜利，为中华人民共和国的缔造和我国社会主义事业的发展，建立了永远不可磨灭的功勋。他为世界被压迫民族的解放和人类进步事业作出了重大的贡献。毛泽东思想是马克思列宁主义在中国的运用和发展，是被实践证明了的关于中国革命的正确的理论原则和经验总结，是中国共产党集体智慧的结晶。我党许多卓越领导人对它的形成和发展都作出了重要贡献，毛泽东同志的科学著作是它的集中概括。 《决议》对"文化大革命"的评价非常明确："1966年5月至1976年10月的文化大革命，使党、国家和人民遭受了建国以来最严重的挫折和损失，"它没有否认毛泽东个人对"文化大革命"应负的责任，指出"这场文化大革命是毛泽东同志发动和领导的"，对于"文化大革命"这一全局性的、长时间的"左"倾严重错误，毛泽东同志负有主要责任。《决议》还分析了毛泽东犯错误的主要原因，以及林彪、江青反革命集团的罪行。《决议》把毛泽东塑造成一个悲剧人物，认为他是自己所犯错误的受害者，周恩来也是： 周恩来同志对党和人民无限忠诚，鞠躬尽瘁。他在"文化大革命"中处于非常困难的地位。他顾全大局，任劳任怨，为继续进行党和国家的正常工作，为尽量减少"文化大革命"所造成的损失，为保护大批的党内外干部，作了坚持不懈的努力，费尽了心血。他同林彪、江青反革命集团的破坏进行了各种形式的斗争。他的逝世引起了全党和全国各族人民的无限悲痛。⑾ 但是这一决议也暴露了一些问题，其中最主要的是为什么党的其他领导人未能阻止毛泽东发动"文化大革命"。而且它也没有提"大跃进"以后的饥荒。但是它至少取得了同1945年党的历史决议一样的成功。它结束了党内对过去一些问题的争论，正确解释了一些问题，为党今后的正常生活提供了依据。它没有令什么人感到不对劲，也没有什么人想要对它进行修改。 Notes: ①《问题与研究》，1983年第3期，第443页。 ②《剑桥史》第15卷，第372页。 ③《邓小平文选》第二卷，第38－39页。 ④《邓小平文选》第二卷，第75页。 ⑤同上书，第82页。 ⑥《剑桥史》第15卷，第430页。 ⑦《邓小平文选》第二卷，第140－153页。 ⑧同上书，第166－172页。 ⑨哈丁：《中国的第二次革命》，第66页。 ⑩同上书，第58页。 ⑾《关于建国以来党的若干历史问题的决议》。