The Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution &

The Early Years of Reform (ca. 1960-82)

Launching the Cultural Revolution

The Three Hard Years (1960-62): the period in which mass starvation spread throughout China.

Deng Xiaoping (1904-1997): Chinese communist leader who would become best known for "opening" the People's Republic of China to the West in the late 1970s and for leading the country's reform program until his death in 1997.

Liu Shaoqi (1898-1969): chairman of the People's Republic of China (1959-68) and chief political theorist for the CCP, who was considered Mao Zedong's successor until he was purged during the Cultural Revolution.

Lin Biao (1907-71): military leader, who organized the Red Army into a modern fight force, the People’s Liberation Army (PLA). Lin became Mao's second-in-command during the Cultural Revolution, but he would later be accused of treason.

Mao’s "Little Red Book": a short anthology compiled and distributed to military personnel under Lin Biao's supervision that excerpted Mao’s speeches, newspaper articles, and other writing.

Jiang Qing: (ca. 1914-1991): Mao's third wife and the most powerful woman in the People's Republic of China until her downfall in 1976, after Mao's death. As a member of the Gang of Four (Jiang Qing, Yao Wenyuan, Zhang Chunqiao, and Wang Hongwen), she was convicted in 1981 of "counter-revolutionary crimes" and imprisoned.

China After Mao: the End of the Cultural Revolution

Hua Guofeng (b. 1921): loyal Maoist and the Chairman's supposed heir, who became entangled in a struggle between the Gang of Four and Deng Xiaoping's supporters.

"The Four Modernizations": Deng Xiaoping's earliest pragmatic reform program that called for the Modernizations of agriculture, industry, the sciences, and national defense. This program was closely linked to Deng's favorite maxim, "it doesn’t matter if the cat is black or white, as long as he catches mice, he's a good cat."

Wei Jingsheng (b. 1949): the young electrician, who helped launch The Democracy Wall Movement (1979-81) with public debates of China's future. Wei introduced to the suggestion that Deng include "The Fifth Modernization" namely, Democracy. For this suggestion, Wei was sentenced to fifteen years of hard labor and solitary confinement. Wei was released in 1990 to aid in Beijing’s bid for the 2000 Olympics. When China’s bid was defeated, Wei was thrown back into prison. Wei was finally freed in 1998, and immediately sent to the US for medical treatment. He now lives in New York.

Post-1978 Era:  Economic Change and Political Challenges

Zhao Ziyang (b. 1919): Chinese premier (1980-87) and architect of the post-1978 liberal reforms. Zhao had announced in 1987 that China was only in the "initial stage of socialism." He was missed from office in the wake of the 1989 demonstrations. Zhao's present political status is unclear.

Open Door Policy: Foreign companies were invited back, and joint-venture companies were enthusiastically set up. Special Economic Zones were established in coastal areas to present nearly tariff-free sectors for foreign investment and development. Such reforms did not follow a master plan. Instead, Deng himself noted that the policy followed was Mo shi or "(making one’s way) by feeling the stones (in a stream)."

Agricultural Responsibility System: Peasants were assigned land on a contractual basis, with surplus production being sold on the open market. Farmers could also now take out long-term "leases" on land, verging on outright ownership. Private businesses and "10,000 yuan households" were celebrated in the press. The slogan "to get rich is glorious" was attributed to Deng Xiaoping. Everyone sought to obtain the "Eight Bigs," i.e. a television, a refrigerator, a stereo, a camera, a motorcycle, a set of furniture, a washing machine, and an electric fan.

"Spiritual Pollution Campaign" (1983): "flies through the screen" of the Open Door Policy.

"Bourgeois Liberalism Campaign" (1987): followed in the wake of the student demonstrations in the winter of 1986.

Hu Yaobang (1915-1989): general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party from 1981 to January 1987, at which time Hu was dismissed from office for appearing to sympathize with the student demonstrations of 1986.