Deng Xiaoping: A Revolutionary Life 1st Edition

This is the biography to read about Deng, not the whitewash propagated by Vogel’s book as well as certain CPC apologists in these reviews. Totally based on available documentary sources not on wishful thinking

Well written, fair to Deng, exposing his good and bad deed's. A great part of what China is today is due to his character. Pantsov describes this in perfection. It took Mao and Deng to proceed to a total transformation of China 40 years !

The book makes sense of the development of private enterprise in a socialist economy. It sets out the magnitude of the task to achieve a revolution, fight a war and govern a billion people.

Decently written and fair to Deng in that it certainly does not make him to be more than he was but doesn't try to dwell on his shortcomings (as the book says, emphasis on short apparently). If you're wanting a deeper understanding of the architect of modern China I would recommend this.

The book is based on documents and therefore explained in great details in the periods with document availability. The book is credible in that sense but maybe too detail in certain places.

Managerial professors often speak of the difficulty of organizational change. Deng Xiaoping was a master at organizational change - not just of an ordinary-sized business, but of the world's most populous country. Deng led a U-turn in Chinese values and politics, from a populace that extolled beating and sometimes even killing small businessmen (there were no large private businesses at the time in China) to one that instead lauded individual initiative and accepted wide variations in income and wealth. In so doing, Deng first reversed his own beliefs, switching from ideological loyalty to Mao's policies to a firm focus on pragmatism instead (he became labeled a 'capitalist roader') - that transition led to his being twice exiled and once stripped all offices when he become China's #2. He then led China forward while violating most commonly-held economic-development precepts - beginning with the role of government in an economy, and also the supposed necessity for democracy if an economy was to prosper. He was both cautious, sometimes taking two steps back to avoid permanent reversals, and relentless - liberalizing rules and insistence on Chinese self-reliance, regardless of those who wanted continuation of the old ideology. Isolation from the rest of the world, little/no privatization, collective communes, and exporting Communism whenever and wherever possible - all reversed under Deng. The result - hundreds of millions of Chinese lifted out of poverty, and a nation's self-pride restored. En route, however, he both became Time's 'Man of the Year in 1979, and a decade later crushed the Tiananmen Square demonstration. Unfortunately, almost two-thirds of the book is taken up with Deng's life prior to leading China into the future.

Deng began life in a relatively well-off 1904 home - his father owned between 7 and 20 acres of land and hired many laborers. Many of his relatives held government positions - even at the provincial level. Three days after his birth efforts began to arrange a marital match for him. From his mother he inherited firmness, from his father a temper. After high school, Deng traveled to France to study. The main topic, French language, bored him and he soon took up factory work instead. That lasted only three weeks - he had a hard time getting by and was unable to fill his work quota. Then it was other menial jobs, and learning from French Communists. After some time he met Zhou en Lai - also an eventual top-level Chinese leader. Then they all traveled to Moscow to study Marxism.

In 1962 a number of leaders wanted to approve the 'household contract system' which allowed peasants to divide up commune land (possession, not ownership) came into growing favor among CCP leaders, including Deng. This rankled Mao, seeing it as a return to capitalism - eventually this, along with other 'slights' led to Deng and others being banished to a countryside tractor factory and removed from all posts.

Fast-forward to 1974. Deng was recalled to Beijing, after being banished to 're-education' in a tractor factory (exile), Mao's #2 (Zhou Enlai) is quite ill, and there's a raging battle for Mao's approval among those at the top - the 'Gang of Four (includes his wife and nephew, as well as others in the shadows - known as the 'leftists') and those wanting change - the 'revisionists.' The economy is suffering from the Cultural Revolution - coal-mining is down 9.4%, steel down 3.1%, and only about half the trains fun on time. Mao knows the leftists know nothing about the economy, etc. - just how to expose 'class enemies;' unfortunately, they're also in charge of the media. Deng, however, has a reputation for making things work, and Mao also sees him as rebalancing the leftists vs. revisionists contending for his approval, now that Chou Enlai is no longer able to function at full strength. Mao's retrieving Deng is enthusiastically endorsed by Zhou and top Army generals.

Deng quickly rises in power, becoming de facto #2 and leading day-to-day activities of the Central Committee. Early in 1976, however, he's again relieved of duties by Mao, thanks to non-stop slander and fear-mongering by the leftists. Mao appoints Hua to the #2 position - Hua isn't a member of either faction. However, soon after Mao's death, Hua has the Gang of Four, along with immediate supporters, arrested. The end of 1976, however, still sees Deng under house arrest.

Recently appointed Hua Guofeng publically committed to following Mao's directives. Deng objected on the ground this would undermine the logic for his having been 'rehabilitated.' The #2 deputy premier and top generals also protested. By 7/17/ 77, Deng is back into the Central Committee and other high level posts. He marked this occasion by reminding everyone of Mao's old slogan - "Seek truth from facts.' Soon he was #3, and part of the Politburo's Standing Committee - it was then split 2 for Hua, 2 for Deng, and 1 in the middle.
Hua defended the Cultural Revolution, and supposed more such would be needed. Deng pushed to have university entrance exams restored, and efforts made to develop science and technology skills. Meanwhile, the media was ardently criticizing the Gang of Four (actually guilty only of supporting the Cultural Revolution) - undercutting Hua. Deng and others meanwhile led an effort to restore the honorable names of those tens of millions damaged by Red Guard accusations during the Cultural Revolution. Deng continued attacking dogmatism - 'Practice is the Sole Criterion of Truth,' as well as supporting economic reform and expanded trade.

Hua traveled outside China (first time) to Yugoslavia. Several hundred high-ranking aides and deputy premiers followed - Mao had banned travel, thereby greatly limiting anyone's ability to see how backward China was. Meanwhile, security police were reporting that tens of thousands of Chinese were fleeing to Hong Kong and Macao. Hua decided to focus on modernization, and the need to attract foreign capital and Western technology, and management skills, as well as considering establishment of an export processing zone near Hong Kong. At a conference one week later it was decided (pushed by Marshal Ye) to make Deng de facto head by the end of 1978, and the Central Committee shifted form promoting class struggle and organizing political campaigns to economic construction. One-third of the delegates were those rehabilitated from the Cultural Revolution. Responding to the 250 million Chinese suffering from hunger was given first priority, light industry the second, and heavy industry was #3. (Hua wanted another Great Leap Forward, focusing on heavy industry.)

Previously Deng had encouraged democratic protests - when those protests supported directions he wanted. Now that he was in charge, he no longer had any use for protestors - the Democracy Wall was shut down and leading protestors arrested (eg. 15 year sentences). He encouraged all levels and areas to choose replacement leaders that supported modernization.
In Xiaogang Village, 18 households decided to divide up the land allotted to their production team, as well as to each decide what to grow and keep any excess beyond the state's claim. During the 1958-'62 Great Famine, 67 of the then 120 residents died from starvation, with the rest merely living on the edge of starvation. The local party secretary gave three-year approval to their initiative, knowing this was supported by Win Li, one of Deng's economic deputies. (Deng did not commit - told him he did so at his own risk.) The results - grain production there hit levels 6X those previous and farmer income hit 18X prior levels, while the national crop increased only 8%.

Meanwhile, a mid-level leader in Sichuan province succeeded in cutting the rate of population growth to 9.67% - also important to solving the hunger problem. Workers no longer needed in the fields then flooded cities, but found no work there either. Deng (1978-79) than allowed household enterprises - as long as they had no more than 7 workers - as a means of soaking up the newly unemployed. (Marx had condemned enterprises with 8 workers, so 7 should be allowable, per Deng.)
On 7/15/1979 the Central Committee and State Council both approved creating special economic zones along borders with Hong Kong and Macau, as well as in Shantou and Xiamen provinces. Production would be restricted to producing products for export, and operations would be per laws of the market. The first to take advantage was the branch of a Hong Kong company involved in ship recycling. Most of the capital that came into these SEZs came from Chinese who have left China, with Japan and 'foreign devils' also contributing. Deng understood that China's market advantage at that point consisted of low wages.

Deng then pushed out Hua's four main comrades from the Politburo. Almost 3 million Cultural Revolution victims by that time had their reputations rehabilitated. Top level blame for the Great Leap Forward and the Cultural Revolution shifted from the Gang of Four to the entire top CCP leadership - including Mao. Deng then established a committee to rewrite the history of those years and the leaders involved - especially Liu Shaoqi, who had died under harsh treatment during the Cultural Revolution after being labeled China's foremost 'capitalist-roader.' May of 1980, Deng publicly praised the family contract system - by the end of 1981, 98% of agricultural production brigades converted and from 1978 to 1982, overall peasant income doubled.

At the same time, Chinese intellectuals became attracted to the works of Russia's Nikolai Bukharin - he'd rejected Stalin's communes, pushed self-enrichment of the peasants, and combining market and socialists characteristics. Private individuals were allowed to own small enterprises, while the state controlled banks, foreign trade, and large industries. Bukharin also brought the substitution of a tax on farmers (payable in the form of agricultural products) in place of forced grain requisition. This was the form Deng experienced while in Moscow decades prior. (Stalin abolished these and other components of the New Economic Policy in 1928, and Bukharin was executed.)

Hua Guofeng resigned his premiership under pressure 9/1980. Deng opposed complete debunking of Mao, as Kruschev had done vs. Stalin. Deng was concerned this would undermine the credibility of Mao's former aides who had since changed, as well as needlessly provoke remaining Mao supporters. Decided to give Mao a rating of 70:30 - 70% good, 30% bad.

January 1981, implemented the one-child policy - intended to ensure avoidance to repeat mass-starvation. Foreign academics and businesspeople were invited to present their ideas. December 1982, peasants were allowed to hire helpers, buy equipment, engage in wholesale trade. In 1984 gradual concentration of land by 'skillful landowners' was encouraged. Dropped the limit of 7 employees for households. Between 1978 - 1985, township and village enterprises employees rose from 28 million to 70 million; they were considered collectives and not subject to any employee count limit. In 1984, added 14 more SEZs, all in port cities - taxes on profits were lowered to 15%, and the new SEZs didn't have carefully controlled borders as had the original four. Deng's economic expert (Zhao Ziyang - former leader of Sichuan SEZ effort, later Premier) proposed an economy planned at the macro level, and market-driven at the micro-level. The 1984 grain harvest was a record - 407 million tons, an increase of over 100 million tons vs. 1978.

Bourgeois liberalization (political) will plunge our society into turmoil' - Deng. Deng encouraged the retirement of veteran top leaders , and in 1985 131 did - abolishing the system of life tenure in leading posts. A goal was set tot reduce the role of planning from 60% of the economy to 30%. New reforms (eg. dual pricing, relaxed price controls) brought sharp price increases in 1988 - about 40% inflation. In April, Hu Yaobang (popular liberal regarding democratization) died, kicking off spontaneous demonstrations for greater political freedom.

A disappointingly conventional account of The Little Man that begins by attributing to Deng a massacre that never occurred (the Tiananmen Incident) and plods its way downward from there. There are nuggets of interesting information along the way, but Ezra Vogel's biography is vastly superior.