Global InformationHua Guofeng information
Hua Guofeng | |||||||||||||||||||||
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| 华国锋 | |||||||||||||||||||||
 Official portrait, 1972 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Chairman of the Chinese Communist Party | |||||||||||||||||||||
| In office 7 October 1976 – 28 June 1981 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Deputy | Ye Jianying | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | Mao Zedong | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Succeeded by | Hu Yaobang | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Chairman of the Central Military Commission | |||||||||||||||||||||
| In office 7 October 1976 – 28 June 1981 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | Mao Zedong | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Succeeded by | Deng Xiaoping | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 2nd Premier of the People's Republic of China | |||||||||||||||||||||
| In office 4 February 1976 – 10 September 1980 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Vice Premier | Deng Xiaoping | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Head of State | Soong Ching-ling Ye Jianying | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | Zhou Enlai | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Succeeded by | Zhao Ziyang | ||||||||||||||||||||
| First Vice Chairman of the Chinese Communist Party | |||||||||||||||||||||
| In office 6 April 1976 – 6 October 1976 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Chairman | Mao Zedong | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | Zhou Enlai | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Succeeded by | Ye Jianying | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Vice Chairman of the Chinese Communist Party | |||||||||||||||||||||
| In office 28 June 1981 – 12 September 1982 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Chairman | Hu Yaobang | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Personal details | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | Su Zhu 16 February 1921 Jiaocheng County, Shanxi, Republic of China | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Died | 20 August 2008 (aged 87) Beijing, People's Republic of China | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Political party | Chinese Communist Party (joined in 1938) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Spouse |
Han Zhijun (m. 1949) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Children | 4 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Signature |  | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Chinese name | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 华国锋 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Traditional Chinese | 華國鋒 | ||||||||||||||||||||
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| Su Zhu | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 苏铸 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Traditional Chinese | 蘇鑄 | ||||||||||||||||||||
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Central institution membership
Other offices held
Paramount Leader of the People's Republic of China
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Hua Guofeng (/hwɑː/; born Su Zhu; 16 February 1921 – 20 August 2008)[1] was a Chinese politician who served as Chairman of the Chinese Communist Party and Premier of the People's Republic of China. The designated successor of Mao Zedong, Hua held the top offices of the government, party, and the military after the deaths of Mao and Premier Zhou Enlai, but was gradually forced out of supreme power by a coalition of party leaders between December 1978 and June 1981, and subsequently retreated from the political limelight, though still remaining a member of the Central Committee until 2002.
Born and raised in Jiaocheng, Hua joined the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in 1938, seeing action in both the Second Sino–Japanese War and the Chinese Civil War as a guerrilla fighter.[2] In 1948, as the Communists gained the upper hand in the civil war, Hua was one among 50,000 party officials transferred from North to South China to take control of newly conquered territories and was assigned to Hunan province, becoming Party Secretary of Xiangtan city, which included Mao's birthplace of Shaoshan. A popular local administrator, Hua rose to become Party Secretary of Hunan during the Cultural Revolution, and was elevated to the national stage in the early 1970s, notably assuming control of the Ministry of Public Security in October 1973. Hua was appointed as Vice Premier in January 1975. After the death of Zhou Enlai, Mao elevated Hua to the position of Chinese Premier, overseeing government work, and of First Vice Chairman of the CCP, which made him Mao's designated successor.
In October 1976, a month after Mao's death, Hua removed the Gang of Four from political power by arranging for their arrests in Zhongnanhai, with the assistance of Mao's loyal security chief Wang Dongxing, who became one of Hua's strongest supporters, along with Vice Premier and chief economic planner Li Xiannian and Luo Qingchang, head of the intelligence services. Afterwards Hua took on the titles of Party Chairman and Chairman of the Central Military Commission, being thus far the only leader to have simultaneously held the offices of party leader, premier and CMC chairman.[2]
Hua reversed some of the Cultural Revolution-era policies, such as the constant ideological campaigns, but he was generally devoted to a command economy and the continuation of the Maoist line. Between December 1978 and June 1981, a group of party veterans led by Deng Xiaoping, forced Hua from his position of paramount leader but allowed him to retain some titles. Hua gradually faded into political obscurity, but continued to insist on the correctness of Maoist principles.[2]
- ^ Profile of Hua Guofeng
- ^ a b c Ye Yonglie, 邓小平改变中国 – 1978：中国命运大转折 (Deng Xiaoping Changed China-1978: China's Destiny Turned, pp. 108-141, Sichuan People's Publishing House, 2008