ABSTRACT
After Mao’s death in 1976, Deng Xiaoping came to the forefront among China’s leaders and began a series of reforms that touched almost every segment of society. The changes in agriculture, industry, education, and even in party leadership had many China watchers writing about a “second revolution,” one that would make China a serious competitor in the world economy and bring prosperity to greater numbers of Chinese than at any time since 1949. Moreover, Deng’s policies opened China to Western culture. Deng’s
“Four Modernizations”—in agriculture, industry, science and technology, and national defense-contrasted starkly with Mao’s plans, and many of the changes were dramatic reversals of Mao’s policies during the Cultural Revolution. Mao had stressed the need for ideological remolding, while Deng called for economic and technological change. Mao espoused class struggle, while Deng talked of unity among the classes. Mao demanded economic self-sufficiency, while Deng opened China to international trade, investment, and joint ventures-from capitalist and socialist nations alike. Mao taught that increased production, and therefore progress, could be achieved through ideological motivation. Deng used material incentives to get people to work harder. In 1978, the return to the “red” versus “expert” debate saw the experts at the helm once more. Even without his erstwhile colleague Liu Shaoqi, who died in prison in 1969, Deng’s reforms during the 1980s went far beyond what Liu Shaoqi had envisioned 20 years earlier. Liu had endorsed a model for development more similar to that used in the Soviet Union, while Deng, with his support of private enterprise, created a new model for China.
