ABSTRACT
According to the Chinese lunar calendar, 1976 was the year of the dragon. More often than not, the dragon symbolized a year of natural disasters and human calamities. Although the Chinese are a people without religion, they have a lot of superstitions instead. Soon after the start of the new year, on January 8, 1976, Zhou died in Beijing Hospital. On February 25, 1976, Hua convened a Politburo conference, which passed a resolution criticizing Deng and his “rightist tendency of reversing the verdicts.” The resolution was later communicated within the party apparatus. Deng’s name was not yet exposed to the public, nor was he formally removed from his leadership positions. On April 7, two resolutions of the Politburo were announced in accordance with Mao’s instructions. The first mandated the removal of Deng from all his leadership positions inside and outside the party. The second appointed Hua as premier and vice chairman of the Party Center, actually Mao’s designated heir apparent.
