Deng Liqun
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Deng Liqun (November 27, 1915 – February 10, 2015) was a Chinese politician and theorist who was one of the leading figures of the
Chinese Communist Party The Chinese Communist Party (CCP), officially the Communist Party of China (CPC), is the founding and One-party state, sole ruling party of the China, People's Republic of China (PRC). Under the leadership of Mao Zedong, the CCP emerged victoriou ...
(CCP) during the 1980s, most well known for his involvement with the party's propaganda work. Deng was born in
Guidong County Guidong County () is a county in Hunan Province, China, bordering Jiangxi province to the east. It is under the administration of Chenzhou prefecture-level City. Located on the southeastern margin of the province, it is the easternmost county-le ...
,
Hunan Hunan (, ; ) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China, part of the South Central China region. Located in the middle reaches of the Yangtze watershed, it borders the province-level divisions of Hubei to the north, Jiangxi to ...
province, and joined the CCP in 1936. He came from an intellectual family and joined the party out of intellectual commitment. He was often referred to as "Little Deng", to be distinguished from
Deng Xiaoping Deng Xiaoping (22 August 1904 – 19 February 1997) was a Chinese revolutionary leader, military commander and statesman who served as the paramount leader of the People's Republic of China (PRC) from December 1978 to November 1989. After CC ...
(no relation), the "Old Deng". Purged during the
Cultural Revolution The Cultural Revolution, formally known as the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, was a sociopolitical movement in the People's Republic of China (PRC) launched by Mao Zedong in 1966, and lasting until his death in 1976. Its stated goal ...
, Deng emerged in the 1980s as one of the most vocal members of the hardline wing of the party in the lead-up of the
1989 Tiananmen Square protests and massacre The Tiananmen Square protests, known in Chinese as the June Fourth Incident (), were student-led demonstrations held in Tiananmen Square, Beijing during 1989. In what is known as the Tiananmen Square Massacre, or in Chinese the June Fourth ...
. He advocated for the orthodox Communist-style planned economy and spoke out against market-oriented economic reforms and political liberalization. He retreated from active politics in 1987, after failing to secure enough internal support to gain a seat on the CCP
Politburo A politburo () or political bureau is the executive committee for communist parties. It is present in most former and existing communist states. Names The term "politburo" in English comes from the Russian ''Politbyuro'' (), itself a contraction ...
, which was partly attributed to his hardline ideological stance, but continued to agitate for the hardline line.


Early life and education

Deng Liqun was born into a wealthy land-owning family in
Guidong County Guidong County () is a county in Hunan Province, China, bordering Jiangxi province to the east. It is under the administration of Chenzhou prefecture-level City. Located on the southeastern margin of the province, it is the easternmost county-le ...
, Hunan province, in 1915. His father passed the
imperial civil service examination The imperial examination (; lit. "subject recommendation") refers to a civil-service examination system in Imperial China, administered for the purpose of selecting candidates for the state bureaucracy. The concept of choosing bureaucrats by ...
, but never became an official, instead opening the first Western-style school in the county. Deng's elder brother became the chairman of the
Nationalist Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a group of people), Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: The ...
provincial government. Deng went to Beiping (today Beijing) in 1935, enrolling first at the Peking Academy, then entered
Peking University Peking University (PKU; ) is a public research university in Beijing, China. The university is funded by the Ministry of Education. Peking University was established as the Imperial University of Peking in 1898 when it received its royal charter ...
a year later, where he studied economics and became a devoted student activist. He took part in the
December 9th Movement The December 9th Movement () was a mass protest led by students in Beiping (present-day Beijing) on December 9, 1935 to demand that the Chinese government actively resist Japanese aggression. Background After the Japanese Imperial Force occupied ...
. He left college a year later for
Yan'an Yan'an (; ), alternatively spelled as Yenan is a prefecture-level city in the Shaanbei region of Shaanxi province, China, bordering Shanxi to the east and Gansu to the west. It administers several counties, including Zhidan (formerly Bao'an ...
,
Shaanxi Shaanxi (alternatively Shensi, see #Name, § Name) is a landlocked Provinces of China, province of China. Officially part of Northwest China, it borders the province-level divisions of Shanxi (NE, E), Henan (E), Hubei (SE), Chongqing (S), Sichu ...
, the wartime ''de facto'' center of the CCP, to join the party and follow Mao.


Political career


Mao era

During the 1950s, Deng assisted Wang Zhen in quelling resistance to CCP rule in
Xinjiang Xinjiang, SASM/GNC: ''Xinjang''; zh, c=, p=Xīnjiāng; formerly romanized as Sinkiang (, ), officially the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region (XUAR), is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China (PRC), located in the northwest ...
. Deng played a major role in the suppression of local rebellions and in enacting
land reforms Land reform is a form of agrarian reform involving the changing of laws, regulations, or customs regarding land ownership. Land reform may consist of a government-initiated or government-backed property redistribution, generally of agricultural ...
in the vast western region. However, officials of the CCP's Northwest Bureau became alarmed at the breakneck pace of the reforms and the extent to which violence and other means of coercion were used as a means to solidify the party's hold on power. Seeing the situation unfold, Mao removed both Wang Zhen and Deng Liqun from their positions in Xinjiang for fear that their tactics may alienate ethnic minorities, particularly Tibetan religious leaders, who were reluctant to embrace rule by the CCP. Later, Deng returned to Beijing to serve as secretary to
President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...
Liu Shaoqi Liu Shaoqi ( ; 24 November 189812 November 1969) was a Chinese revolutionary, politician, and theorist. He was Chairman of the NPC Standing Committee from 1954 to 1959, First Vice Chairman of the Chinese Communist Party from 1956 to 1966 and C ...
, and the deputy chief editor of the party's theory publication ''
Red Flag Red flag may refer to: * Red flag (idiom), a metaphor for something signalling a problem ** Red flag warning, a term used by meteorologists ** Red flag (battle ensign), maritime flag signaling an intention to give battle with no quarter (fight to ...
''. Deng was purged during the Cultural Revolution as a "
capitalist roader In anti-capitalist Mao Zedong thought, a capitalist roader (; also ) is a person or group who demonstrates a marked tendency to bow to pressure from bourgeois forces and subsequently attempts to pull the Revolution in a capitalist direction. If a ...
" because he was Liu Shaoqi's secretary. He went through interrogation in
Shijiazhuang Shijiazhuang (; ; Mandarin: ), formerly known as Shimen and romanized as Shihkiachwang, is the capital and most populous city of China’s North China's Hebei Province. Administratively a prefecture-level city, it is about southwest of Beijin ...
. He was politically rehabilitated in 1974, serving on the
State Council State Council may refer to: Government * State Council of the Republic of Korea, the national cabinet of South Korea, headed by the President * State Council of the People's Republic of China, the national cabinet and chief administrative auth ...
's political research office under Deng Xiaoping.


After economic reforms

As the post-Mao CCP liberalized and embraced market-oriented economic reforms, Deng became one of its most outspoken critics. While Deng Liqun was not fond of Mao-era political fanaticism and rural collectivization policies and was a supporter of Deng Xiaoping in the latter days of the Cultural Revolution, he believed that the party under Deng Xiaoping had strayed too far from orthodox Marxist–Leninist ideals and attempted to tighten control over ideology. In 1975, Deng Liqun was assigned as a senior member of the Party Research Office, subsequently the Political Research Office (predecessor of the
Central Policy Research Office The Central Policy Research Office () is an institution of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party responsible for providing policy recommendations and insights to matters of governance, spanning political, social, and economic realms ...
) in the State Council, along with
Hu Qiaomu Hu Qiaomu (4 June 191228 September 1992) was a Chinese sociologist, Marxist philosopher and politician. Hu Qiaomu is a controversial figure for opposing the reform and opening up era of economic reform that followed the death of Mao Zedong. He w ...
, Yu Guangyuan, Wu Lengxi,
Hu Sheng Hu Sheng (11 January 1918 – 5 November 2000), was a Chinese Marxist theorist and historian. He was President of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences from 1985 to 1998, and also served as Vice-Chairman of the seventh and eighth National Commi ...
, Xiong Fu and Li Xin. "When Deng Xiaoping returned to power in 1977, Deng Liqun joined him and drafted some of Deng Xiaoping's speeches." Deng later took on a series of offices which solidified his role as a leading CCP theorist of the post-Mao era, including the head of the Policy Research Office of the Central Secretariat from 1979. Deng Liqun was vice-president of the
Chinese Academy of Social Sciences The Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS) is a Chinese research institute and think tank. The institution is the premier comprehensive national academic research organization in the People's Republic of China for the study in the fields of ...
between 1978 and 1980. In these roles, Deng "provided crucial resources for the founding of the Rural Development Group." Deng mobilized internal opposition to liberal reforms in the early 1980s through his position as chief of propaganda and ideology. Within the circle of Deng-era intelligentsia, Deng is known to the spokesperson of the conservative Left, in a fierce rivalry with the more liberal-minded Yu Guangyuan, who drafted Deng Xiaoping's Third Plenum Speech on reform and opening-up, and a prominent ally of
Hu Yaobang Hu Yaobang (; 20 November 1915 – 15 April 1989) was a high-ranking official of the People's Republic of China. He held the top office of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) from 1981 to 1987, first as Chairman from 1981 to 1982, then as Genera ...
. As a result of Deng Liqun's interventions, while market forces were being unleashed on the economy and the government began courting foreign investment, the ideological realm of the country continued to maintain a conservative tone, especially in its wariness to embrace western-style ideas. He was head of the
Propaganda Department of the Chinese Communist Party The Publicity Department of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, also known as the Propaganda Department or Central Propaganda Department, is an internal division of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in charge of spreading C ...
from 1982 to 1985. Deng has been described as "the conservatives' primary hatchet man" during the
Anti-Spiritual Pollution Campaign The Anti-Spiritual Pollution Campaign () was a political campaign spearheaded by conservative factions within the Chinese Communist Party that lasted from October 1983 to December 1983. In general, its advocates wanted to curb Western-inspired ...
of 1983, reportedly stemming from his antipathy to General Secretary Hu Yaobang, the party's leading reformist at the time. Conservative forces began taking hold of the party in the late 1980s, and following what was characterized as Hu Yaobang's mishandling of the student protests of 1986, Hu was forced to resign from his post of General Secretary. Deng Liqun was instrumental in the ouster of Hu in 1987. After Hu was ousted from power, Deng Liqun was touted as a potential successor to Hu for the office of General Secretary. Deng's candidacy was supported by conservative stalwarts such as
Chen Yun Chen Yun (, pronounced ; 13 June 1905 – 10 April 1995) was one of the most influential leaders of the People's Republic of China during the 1980s and 1990s and one of the major architects and important policy makers for the Reform and op ...
and
Li Xiannian Li Xiannian (pronounced ; 23 June 1909 – 21 June 1992) was a Chinese Communist military and political leader, President of the People's Republic of China (''de jure'' head of state) from 1983 to 1988 under Paramount Leader Deng Xiaoping and ...
, as well as his former patron Wang Zhen. However, Deng Xiaoping, who held 'paramount power' in China at the time, grew increasingly alarmed at Deng Liqun's unyielding stance on ideological issues. Deng Xiaoping's chief protégé
Zhao Ziyang Zhao Ziyang ( zh, 赵紫阳; pronounced , 17 October 1919 – 17 January 2005) was a Chinese politician. He was the third premier of the People's Republic of China from 1980 to 1987, vice chairman of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) from 198 ...
, then serving as Premier, vehemently opposed Deng Liqun's assuming the party's top office. Indeed, Zhao, who was initially reluctant to become General Secretary, later remarked that fear of an ideological hardliner like Deng Liqun assuming the post made him (Zhao) more determined to take on the office himself. However, in backroom deals, Deng Xiaoping conceded to Deng Liqun's conservative supporters by offering the younger Deng a seat on the Politburo as to "open a channel to allow him to air his views," so long as Deng Liqun relinquished control of the ideological realm. Deng Liqun's Secretariat Policy Research Office was consequently disbanded, and much of his propaganda duties transitioned to
Hu Qili Hu Qili (; born 6 October 1929) is a former high-ranking politician of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). He was a member of the CCP Politburo Standing Committee and a member of its Secretariat between 1987 and 1989. In 1989, he was purged becaus ...
and a newly formed Central Leading Group for Propaganda and Ideology. At the 13th Party Congress, Deng Liqun was tapped to replace another conservative, Hu Qiaomu, on the
Politburo A politburo () or political bureau is the executive committee for communist parties. It is present in most former and existing communist states. Names The term "politburo" in English comes from the Russian ''Politbyuro'' (), itself a contraction ...
. However, during elections for the 13th Central Committee, Deng reportedly received the lowest vote total of any candidate, and under new election procedures in which there were more candidates than positions, was not even elected to the 175-member
Central Committee Central committee is the common designation of a standing administrative body of Communist party, communist parties, analogous to a board of directors, of both ruling and nonruling parties of former and existing socialist states. In such party org ...
, making him ineligible for the Politburo position. According to Zhao Ziyang's memoirs, Chen Yun intervened to safeguard Deng's salary and other compensation following his loss in the election, benefits that continued until his death.


Retirement

Following his failure to get elected to the Politburo, Deng retreated from active politics. Deng said the failure to get elected caused him great embarrassment. However, Deng continued to agitate for hardline causes through his writing and personal influence. Many of his former subordinates in the Policy Research Office were later promoted to ministerial-level positions across the party and government apparatus, increasing
conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization i ...
influence in the new generation of leadership under
Jiang Zemin Jiang Zemin (17 August 1926 – 30 November 2022) was a Chinese politician who served as general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) from 1989 to 2002, as chairman of the Central Military Commission from 1989 to 2004, and as pres ...
. Deng understood the
Tiananmen Square protests of 1989 The Tiananmen Square protests, known in Chinese as the June Fourth Incident (), were student-led demonstrations held in Tiananmen Square, Beijing during 1989. In what is known as the Tiananmen Square Massacre, or in Chinese the June Fourth ...
as a vindication of his beliefs – that the contradiction between economic liberalization on the one hand and rigid political control on the other caused an inevitable rupture of public sentiment, and that the solution was to roll back economic reforms. After Tiananmen, Deng maintained his hardline stance, and became increasingly critical of the reformist wing of the party, accusing them of pursuing an essentially capitalist line. He railed against trends towards "bourgeois liberalization" and advocated for "people's democratic dictatorship." During Deng Xiaoping's " southern tour of 1992", which called for increased economic liberalization, Deng Liqun hit back at the party establishment with a scathing article entitled "Uphold the
Dictatorship of the Proletariat In Marxist philosophy, the dictatorship of the proletariat is a condition in which the proletariat holds state power. The dictatorship of the proletariat is the intermediate stage between a capitalist economy and a communist economy, whereby the ...
." Deng was also one of the foremost critics of the "
Peaceful Evolution theory The Peaceful Evolution theory or Peaceful Evolution in international political thought refers to the alleged attempt to effect a political transformation of the Vietnamese and Chinese socialist system by peaceful means, primarily by the United Stat ...
," the idea that the spread of liberal democratic culture and ideas seen in Western countries will lead to the peaceful and gradual dismantling of the CCP power structure in China. Beginning in 1997, Deng Liqun became increasingly critical of the leadership of Jiang Zemin. In 2001, the 85-year-old Deng published an open letter denouncing the so-called "
Three Represents The Three Represents or the important thought of Three Represents is a guiding socio-political theory within China credited to then-general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), Jiang Zemin, which was ratified at the Sixteenth Party ...
", Jiang's theoretical contribution to CCP ideology which essentially allowed private businesspeople to join the CCP. In October 2005, Deng published an autobiographical work entitled ''Twelve Years (1975-1987)'' in limited circulation in Hong Kong, which recounted his role in the major political events during that period. In reviewing the book, dissident journalist
Gao Yu Gao Yu (高郁; died 929) was a chief strategist for the Chinese Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Chu state. He was said to be instrumental in the consolidation of power that allowed Chu's first ruler, Ma Yin, to find the Chu state, but was later ...
accused him of glorifying himself at the expense of Hu Yaobang and Zhao Ziyang. Despite their erstwhile political rivalry, Deng sent wreaths to mourn the death of both Hu Yaobang and Zhao Ziyang. In August 2014, Deng made a rare public statement in a letter to the Xinjiang Party Committee commemorating five
Uyghurs The Uyghurs; ; ; ; zh, s=, t=, p=Wéiwú'ěr, IPA: ( ), alternatively spelled Uighurs, Uygurs or Uigurs, are a Turkic ethnic group originating from and culturally affiliated with the general region of Central and East Asia. The Uyghur ...
who died in a plane crash in 1949 en route to Beijing.


Legacy

Deng has been called the "King of the Left" and the "master of the pen" by external observers, due to his writing abilities and unyielding support for 'puritan' Marxist–Leninist and
Maoist Maoism, officially called Mao Zedong Thought by the Chinese Communist Party, is a variety of Marxism–Leninism that Mao Zedong developed to realise a socialist revolution in the agricultural, pre-industrial society of the Republic of Ch ...
principles. His belief that "the post-Mao CCP had fundamentally departed from Communism" continues to be cited by leftist and Maoist groups well into the 21st century, experiencing a mild but officially-tolerated resurgence during the ideological tightening of the
Xi Jinping Xi Jinping ( ; ; ; born 15 June 1953) is a Chinese politician who has served as the general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and chairman of the Central Military Commission (CMC), and thus as the paramount leader of China, s ...
years. When he died, Deng was eulogized with the standard line of "long-tested and loyal fighter of the Communist cause, proletarian revolutionary" by the authorities, but was also unusually designated "an outstanding leader in the front lines of ideology, thought, and propaganda and a Marxist theoretician."


Personal life

Deng Liqun was known to be married twice; his second marriage was to Luo Liyun, with whom he had a son and a daughter. Deng's son, Deng Yingtao (), was a member of the Rural Development Group, a group of intellectuals who discussed Chinese rural development issues, in the early 1980s. Deng Liqun outlived his son, who died in March 2012 after an illness. Luo Liyun died in 2011. Deng also had two daughters from an earlier marriage which ended in divorce. After being bedridden due to illness for a few years, Deng Liqun died on February 10, 2015, in Beijing. During the
Yan'an Rectification Movement The Yan'an Rectification Movement (), also known as Zhengfeng or Cheng Feng, was the first ideological mass movement initiated by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), going from 1942 to 1945. The movement took place at the communist base at Yan'a ...
, party member Li Rui (later Mao's Secretary and a deputy head of the party's Organization Department) was detained to "rectify his mistakes". During Li's time in detention, Deng was said to be sexually involved with Li Rui's wife. As a consequence, Li Rui and his wife divorced after Li was proved innocent and released, despite the latter's confession of the mistake. Li recalled the event almost fifty years later in a letter to Zhao Ziyang in which Li accused Deng of "moral impropriety", during Deng's putative candidacy for the General Secretary office in 1987, in a plea against Deng's assuming higher office.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Deng, Liqun 1915 births 2015 deaths Chinese Communist Party politicians from Hunan People's Republic of China politicians from Hunan Politicians from Chenzhou Heads of the Publicity Department of the Chinese Communist Party National University of Peking alumni Members of the Secretariat of the Chinese Communist Party