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Deng Xiaoping's Legacy--Eclipsing Mao's Memory
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11293 |
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Section : |
CURRENT ISSUES
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| Issue
Date : |
5 / 1986 |
2,756 Words |
| Author
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Tamio Shimakura
Tamio Shimakura is the head of the trend analysis department
of the Institute of Developing Economies in Tokyo. |
After the Third Plenary Session of the 11th Party Central Committee held in December 178, it became clear that Deng Xiaoping would come to power. Since that time his administration might best be characterized by the slogan shi shi qiu shi, which translates roughly into "China must achieve, based on the facts, what it should do and facts must be the very basis of practice."
This slogan has its origins with Mao Tse-tung. During the period between the Great Cultural Revolution and the Third Plenary Session of the 11th Party Central Committee, the group that dominated China was an unproductive one, strongly tied to leftist ideals but little concerned with business development. They held a basic idea about modernizing the nation and thought of themselves as leaders of real ability.
After Mao's death, those who tried to sustain his philosophy and its heritage governed on the basis of ideological thought and formulated measures which were not founded on experience or gained inductively through facts and practice. Men of business thought the Maoists' way of running the country to be too unrealistic, but many people who were actively engaged in production modernization came to support shi shi qiu shi.
Although this slogan was originally Mao's, the Cultural Revolutionists adopted a policy quite contrary to it. Deng has turned it to his own advantage, making use of it as a shield against revolutionists. It was very natural to use Mao's words during the period when Mao's influence was still strong.
The practice of basing actions on facts has been embraced not only by those who promote China's modernization but also by socialists, even those of a materialistic bent. In light of this, Deng's strategy--using Mao's slogan to undermine the radical idealists who aimed at succeeding Mao--was quite adept maneuvering.
This method of developing reasonable policies based on practical business experience was not intended solely to circumvent the Cultural Revolutionists. Rather, the government wanted to experiment on a model for a start, and then, after critical study of the results, to fix what could most likely be applied in other situations; once settled confidence was gained, the results would be diffused over the rest of the country. This is a traditional working method of the Chinese Communist party.
The Third Plenary Session of December 1978
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