Mao's Great Hope for China Passes

Hua Guofeng, Mao's anointed successor, died yesterday at the age of 87.

He was either a historical footnote or a pivotal figure, depending on your view of things.

Soon after he took power in 1976, Deng Xiaoping re-emerged on the political scene, sidelining Hua by 1978 and launching China on the reform and opening path that has taken it to where it is today. In the intervening years, Hua just advocated following whatever policies Mao had set down before his death (literally). He may have been instrumental in arresting the Gang of Four (the radical clique that had seized control of the country in Mao's declining years) and ending the Cultural Revolution. Or he may have simply been too ineffectual to prevent this from happening; the exact events are still unclear.

It will be interesting to see how the current Chinese government decides to commemorate Hua's passing. He was, after all, the leader of the country for a couple tumultuous years. He was never purged or banished; even after being consigned to irrelevance, he was allowed to remain a member of the Chinese Communist Party's Central Committee, the collection of 200-odd leaders that that chooses the top leadership and sets national policies for the Party, until 2002.

Still, his greatest contribution to China, and the world, was probably being so bad at his job. If he had held onto his position and prevented Deng's emergence, China might have stayed on a ruinous socialist path for decades more. His fall from power essentially marked the beginning of modern-day China.

The official reaction to his death will probably be a good example of the strange historical knots the Chinese leadership has to occasionally tie itself in. Mao's policies are recognized as having been pretty disastrous post-Civil War, especially in the Chairman's last decade. But he's still smirking over Tiananmen Square, peeking out from every wallet, and standing magisterially over many a public square in China. The CCP's image of itself and its legitimacy is so tied up with its historic role that it can't jettison the iconography, or much else from its past. Hence the odd willingness to keep Hua around for all those decades on the Central Committee, a strange relic from a past that most everyone was anxious to move past and forget.

The official China Daily has spoken relatively well of him:

Hua was "an outstanding CPC member, a long-tested and loyal Communist fighter and a proletarian revolutionary who once held important leading posts in the CPC and the government", the statement said.

No mention of the tumult surrounding his brief rule, or the decisive nature of his fall from grace. I wouldn't expect one to surface in the official press, but the Chinese Internet is a surprisingly vibrant place where Taiwan, Tibet, and Tiananmen aren't involved, and Hua's passing might spark some interesting reflection or commentary. The deaths of former leaders are occasionally used as opportunities to take shots at the current leadership in China; it will be interesting to see if any officials or scholars find a way to use Hua's passing to comment on current policies or leaders.