ABSTRACT
In November 1975 Zhao Ziyanz was transferred to Sichuan Province, and one month later he was identified as first Party secretary. In January 1976 he assumed the additional post of first political commissar of the Chengdu Military District. First of all, Sichuan is China’s most populous province and is larger than many nations. At the time of Zhao’s arrival its population was in the range of 80–90 million, of which over ninety percent resided in rural areas. Zhao’s first appearance in Sichuan was on 19 December 1975 when he delivered a speech to work teams conducting propaganda in rural areas. The year 1976 began with the death of Premier Zhou Enlai on 9 January and the ensuing attacks on Deng Xiaoping which culminated in his second downfall following the Tian’anmen incident in April. In February and March wall posters criticizing Deng arose in Sichuan which paralleled those in Beijing in both tone and timing.
