A little history on Deng Xiaoping

I was having tea with some colleagues last week when we discussed the many China engagements we had now. A little history was discussed and we could not agree on how and why Deng Xiaoping was purged and later returned to power.

As I just finished reading a book written by his daughter Deng Rong on Deng Xiaoping during the Cultural Revolution, I thought I might share some information I gathered from the book.

The Cultural Revolution was endorsed by Mao Zedong. Then premier Liu Shaoqi and 2nd man Deng could see the negativeness of its impact and hence instituted a few measures to try to mitigate and soften the impact largely by slowing down the process and interpreting it in a positive way.


For doing this, Liu and Deng were criticised, demoted and purged. Liu died before the Cultural Revolution ended. Deng was however spared although he was also purged and sent to Jiangxi to labour. It is possible that Mao understood that Deng was important for the economy of the country and did not want to destroy Deng.

Deng came back into the limelight when the economy turned bad and then Premier Zhou Enlai maneuvered to have Deng return.

On Zhou's death (he suffered from cancer), Deng was once against purged by the Gang of Four. He was reinstated only after Marshal Ye captured the Gang of Four (after Mao's death) with then Premier Hua Guofeng's endorsement.

After Mao's death, history books were rewritten and the Cultural Revolution became sort of a holocaust for the Chinese people. As for Mao, Deng labelled him 70% good and 30% bad. But that was of course after Mao's death.

The learning point for me is first the perseverance of Deng who bounced back time after time and served his country till old age, way past the official retirement age in Singapore. In fact, when he was first purged, he was already in his 60s.

Second, if anyone should think he is not moving fast enough in his career, he can take comfort in Deng.

Third, I believe Deng did not seek personal gratification nor power but instead for meaningful contribution to his country and country men. I think this was the reason how he was able to survive the tribulations in his life and not become cynical and defeated.