The death of Mao and the purge of the Gang of Four removed the most strident voices of Chinese radicalism. Hua Guofeng's pol itical decline, along with that of other beneficiaries of the Cultural Revolution, further undercut the predominance of ideological rhetoric in Ch inese politics. Deng Xiaoping's return to politics in 1977 marked a new stage in intraelite conflict and policy debate. Back in Beijing, Deng lost iinie time in launching an offensive to (a) assure a dominant place for himself in the policy-malcing process, (b) eliminate any residual opposition [0 the singleminded pursuit of the ~four modernizations," and (c) thoroughly and systematically repud iate the ultraleft radicalism that constituted the Maoist legacy to Ch inese politics.