ABSTRACT
Deng Xiaoping’s father, named Deng Wenming, or “Deng the Civilized,” was born in 1886 to a farming and handicraft family. He grew up just as China entered a period of decline. In the wake of the humiliating Sino-Japanese War of 1895, the aborted “One-Hundred-Day Reform” of 1898, the desperate Boxer Movement of 1900, and terrifying “Eight-Country Joint Assault” in 1901, the Manchu Empire fell into an appalling state. Although Deng’s father certainly held high hopes for his son and heir apparent, it was perhaps too bold to be “Ahead of the Saint,” and therefore, “Aspiring for Sagehood” should be good enough. After young Deng graduated from the Xiexing primary school in the summer of 1915, his father wanted his eldest son to further his education. To the best of Deng Wenming’s knowledge, that would mean sending Deng Xiaoping to attend a secondary school in the county seat of Guang’an, despite the long distance and considerable expense that would be involved.
