ABSTRACT
The first Chinese People’s Consultative Conference (CPPCC), convened by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in September 1949, constitutes a central element of the foundation myth of the People’s Republic of China. Based on previously neglected Chinese primary sources, this chapter critically examines how the CCP meticulously staged the conference preparations and vied for public support from China’s minor political groups. Already in the months preceding the proclamation of the People’s Republic, the CCP united left-leaning intellectuals under Mao Zedong’s slogan of “New Democracy” while isolating potential opposition forces. The CPPCC bridged the divide between popular ideas of legitimacy developed during the Republican Era (1912–1949) and Marxist notions of the leadership of the proletariat. One of the main functions of the first CPPCC was thus to project an image of a new government empowered by consensual decision making and popular support, which retains its relevancy today.
