ABSTRACT
In July 1977, acceding to the wishes of leading military figures, Hua rehabilitated Deng Xiaoping. Understandably reluctant to reinstate the man whose place he had so obviously moved into the year before, Hua took this step only after Deng gave written guarantees of his support for Hua as Mao’s successor and admitted his own mistakes. Deng’s supporters retaliated, accusing Hua of attempting to create a cult of personality. Intellectually rigorous examinations were reintroduced as the major criterion for admission to universities with the requirement for political reliability quietly downgraded. The large number of changes from Maoist theory and practice, plus the rehabilitation of so many people, including Deng, who had suffered under him, inevitably raised the question of Mao’s legacy. The leadership continued to chart a course of economic reforms and political authoritarianism. The Deng leadership staked its legitimacy on an ambitious economic program.
