ABSTRACT

In 1985, China’s reform era leader Deng Xiaoping 鄧小平 (1904-97) initially proclaimed “Let some people get rich first.” After three decades of propaganda that business activities and making money are something to be legitimately reviled for, free enterprise officially regained the status of a prestigious venture.1 Though faultily translated by Western media as “to get rich is glorious,” Deng’s words became a catchphrase for the developments in China’s post-Mao era (Fan 2007). However, the thus ignited process of doing business was suddenly interrupted by the Tiananmen massacre in 1989. The reformfed hope of the protesting students for not only economic but also political liberalization was accompanied by the demand of entrepreneurs to stop governmental corruption. The violent suppression of the protests partially led to an economic state of shock. This societal side-effect was only eased by Deng’s southern excursion (nanxun 南巡) in 1992. Accompanied by huge media coverage, the journey significantly helped to promote further economic reform plans and restimulated the economic development (Fan 2007). In this context, Deng iterated the incitement he already made seven years before: letting some people get rich first through competition on a free market would motivate others to follow this path. It was therefore not by chance that Chinese posters and wall calendars of the 1990s heralded “The God of Wealth (cai shen 財神) has returned,” worshipping a long-existing deity in traditional Chinese belief that had, at least superficially, vanished during the Mao-regime (Berg 2000).