Faced with the problem of illegal emigration， Deng Xiaopingremarks "this is a problem of national policy， not something that the army can be expected to handle on their own"； Deng Xiaoping makes a list of ten or so cities which will "get rich before others"， of which the first is Shenzhen； the word "rich" hastens the development of socialism with Chinese characteristics； Xi Zhongxun， after sixteen years of exile and imprisonment， returns to take charge of Guangdong； Deng Xiaoping tells the province："the centre has no money， you'll have to find your own way to cut a bloody path out" . . .
19
Even the worst disasters must come to an end.
Once the Gang of Four was smashed， the Cultural Revolution came to an end. In December 1976， an urgent reassignment order transferred Xie Fei from Guangzhou (where he was vice-chief of the culture and education offce) to Beijing， in order to help resur-rect the magazine Red Flag after the state in which the Cultural Revolution had left it. He was appointed as one of Red Flag's three member senior editorial team， a position of importance roughly equivalent to the vice-chief of a national bureau. His task was to restore order to the universally-known Central Committee organ and undo the damage wrought by the Gang of Four. This promo-tion was a huge step up for Xie. At the provincial paper he'd never commanded much respect， but now his star was rising rapidly.
Late one night in the summer of 1978， he opened a copy of the Guangming Daily and his eye was caught by one title in particular：Practice is the Only Criterion for Determining Truth. Aha！ At last！ As if a heavy burden had been lifted from his shoulders， he let out a long sigh of relief.
In Guangdong in 1977， there had been a thousand and one urgent matters requiring the government's attention， including the problem of people fleeing to Hong Kong which was still proving a headache for cadres at all levels. From the 16th to the 21st of July， the 3rd Plenary Session of the 10th Central Committee was held in Beijing. A resolution was passed rehabilitating Deng Xiaoping and reinstating him to the Central Committee， the Politburo and the Politburo Standing Committee. He was also appointed Vice-Chair of the Central Committee， Vice-Chair of the Central Military Commission and Vice-Premier of the State Council. From then on he began to turn his ideas for Party reform into action， and the reforms didn't start in Beijing. He would later describe the process as "setting fires everywhere."
The first place to be lit up by his reforms was Guangzhou. Deng took a specially-chartered train down. Liang Cai， vice-chief of the security services in Guangzhou， would later recall how on the 11th of November he accompanied commander Xu Shiyou to the station to receive him. The second Deng got off the train he began chatting warmly and at length with Xu. When they got him to his hotel they were about to head back to receive Ye Jianying (travelling on another special train) but were told that representatives of the provincial Party committee had already left with him.
Immediately after Deng's return to the political scene， the atmo-sphere was tense in the corridors of power with many leaders preferring to keep their plans secret. The Guangdong Party Committee had no idea why Deng was coming to Guangzhou， but made sure to hold a long series of meetings in order to plan a provisional itinerary and discuss what on earth they should say were the slogans of the day. Eventually they settled on three："Respect Chairman Hua's[1] Party Central Committee！ Respect Vice-Chaiman Ye and Vice-Chairman Deng！ Long live the Chinese Communist Party！" and started rehearsing them， but the focus on slogans was later cancelled.
Documents later came to light revealing Deng's intentions. He'd come to Guangzhou in order to discuss Party reform with Ye and others. He said："What should be the guiding principle in drawing up documents？ What should guide us in our work？ These ques-tions deserve consideration. The current focus on criticising the Gang of Four is good， but a new direction will soon need to be decided； we need to decide to focus on improving the economy， not on class struggle." About his 1977 visit to Guangzhou Deng would later say："[at the time] if you had three ducks on your farm you were a socialist， if you had five you were a capitalist. It was bizarre！ The peasants had no room for manoeuvre； the situation couldn't be allowed to continue."
The question of people running away left a deep impression on Deng. The provincial offcials reported that the situation was out of control - 1977 was the worst year ever for large-scale escapes and the border police were unable to stem the tide. Deng remained silent for a while， then said a sentence with profound implications："This is a problem of national policy， not something that the army can be expected to handle on their own." Many people at the time didn't understand this sentence， and were completely ba？ed. He had launched a thorough investigation into the issue of people fleeing to Hong Kong after being rehabilitated； what he learnt was that national policies were at fault， and even with a hugely rein-forced border police it would be impossible to dissuade people from trying to escape.
In Guangzhou he spoke with key central and local military representatives， listening to suggestions. He and Marshal Ye were both staying in the Nanhu scenic area， and Ye would often visit him for private discussions.
After Deng lit the first spark of liberalisation with his visit， Guangdong was fixed firmly upon the path of Opening Up. One year later， Deng put a major proposal concerning China's devel-opment to famous economist Yu Guangyuan， a major break with the existing ideology of the Chinese socialist movement： the idea that whether in terms of people or of cities， some could "get rich before others". He had a list of around ten cities that he considered suited to getting rich before the rest of the country， and at the top of that list was Shenzhen. A central work meeting over a month in length was held in 1978， during which Deng put his proposal to the committee.
Deng had chosen Shenzhen not because he was unaware that at the time it was little more than a small border town some three square kilometres in size with a total economy of less that 100 million yuan， but because it was so close to Hong Kong that peasants were plowing areas on the other side of the border， and therefore the natural staging-post for people looking to go to the other side permanently. Another reason was that the State Plan-ning Committee and Guangdong Provincial Committee had submitted a joint plan to the Central Committee to set up export bases in Bao'an and Zhuhai to sell agricultural products to Hong Kong， perfectly in line with Deng's thinking.
Of course， Deng had no intention of turning Shenzhen into nothing more than Hong Kong's "back garden"； he was thinking on a much bigger scale， and he predicted， correctly， that if his idea were realised， Shenzhen would be the poster city for some places getting rich first. It's important to note that Deng always referred to the policy as "letting" some cities get rich before others， not as "encouraging" them to do so. Perhaps the key reason for this was that "rich" was still an unpopular word in some circles；"tradi-tional" socialism abhorred the idea that some people or areas could get rich first while others lagged behind.
In November 1978， before the long work meeting ended， econo-mist Yu Guangyuan was recruited by Deng to prepare his speech for the closing ceremony. Deng gave him a three-page on which were drafted possible outlines that he'd done himself. What he'd written so far focused mainly on liberated ideology， but he wanted Yu's help to include a section on something more impor-tant： his economic reforms.
Allowing a pilot tranche of cities to get rich before others was the beginning of Deng's economic vision. From it， it was expected that some people being able to get rich first would spur on wider prosperity. At the meeting he expounded his thoughts on the matter："In economic policy， I believe that allowing certain areas， enterprises， workers or peasants to earn higher wages by their own hard work will make them rich before others. If some people get rich before others， their examples will motivate others， allowing the People's economy to develop in one long， unbroken wave."
On the 13th of December 1978， Deng gave a speech at the closing ceremony entitled Liberating ideology， seeking truth from facts， uniting and looking to the future. It was the culmination of six months' research and discussion， and it adumbrated the later Third Plenum of the 11th Central Committee， at which the new course for Chinese socialism was plotted.
20
In April 1978， a tall old gentleman with snowy-white hair on his temples walked into the Guangdong Party Committee headquar-ters in Guangzhou， on the bank of the Pearl River. At the time， the headquarters consisted of a Soviet-style offce building from the Fifties and a few smaller Western-style buildings dating back to Chen Jitang's time in power， around which were dotted a few trees of white Yulan magnolia and red silk-cotton from around the same period， trees which along with the buildings had been at the centre of so many historic upheavals they could barely be listed. These two trees are emblematic of the south of China. The Yulan magnolia has long and broad leaves， with entrancingly pure white flowers as spring turns to summer； the red silk-cotton tree grows tall and upright， flowering in mid-spring， creating a sight as bright and fiery as clouds at sunset.
The old man felt that when the magnolia's subtle frangrance blew across on the wind， it was even more pleasant than the sight of the lofty red silk-cotton with its coppery bark and bright red flowers. "Ah， is this the red silk-cotton？" he asked， and those around told him that in spring the tree flowered before it grew leaves， and that it was commonly known as the hero-tree. He nodded slightly， and then sighed as if saddened by something. He was no stranger to the city； he'd been here before in the Fifties and Sixties， back when he was on the Central Committee and the State Council. The Tang poet Liu Yuxi once wrote of a similar return from exile. This man had suffered for so long in the North before finally coming down South to take on a role of supreme importance. Under the gaze of the unbending silk-cotton trees， he had to break through the economic ice and get things flowing.
This man was none other than Xi Zhongxun， the noble old revolutionary. After sixteen years of demotion， punishment and imprisonment， he's been rehabilitated last month and assigned to Guangdong. His first order of business was to sort out the transfer of Party fees to the Guangdong offce. The Central Committee was hoping for great things from Xi， who had previously worked as chief of the Central Publicity Department and vice-premier of the State Council for a decade. His assignment instantly attracted the attention of Chinese and foreign media， as well as putting a smile on the faces of the Cantonese. It was the talk of the city that with him in charge， development was on its way. Breaking through ice requires a sturdy ship， and a captain whose determination is matched only by his courage. History goes to show that in sending a leader who suffered undeserved persecu-tion by the extreme left and whose prestige amongst the masses was high， the centre made a brilliant strategic decision. It was undoubtedly an effort on Deng Xiaoping's part to make sure that Guangdong was fully prepared to be the first province to get rich once the policy was declared. Later， at Xi Zhongxun's request， the centre appointed the rehabilitated Yang Shangkun to the posts of second secretary of the Guangdong Provincial Party Committee and first secretary of the Guangzhou City Committee.
After sixteen years of maltreatment， as soon as he got the oppor-tunity to work again Xi Zhongxun showed he was a cadre of the old guard： an energetic spirit and the majesty of a tiger. He placed the highest importance on investigations at the grasroots level， and often visited Nanhai County where Liang Guangda was the Party secretary to feel out the situation on the ground. The two speeches he gave at county committee meetings left a profound impression on Liang Guangda： there was no trace of the clichés and nonsense of the Cultural Revolution in the words of this leader who had been in purgatory for sixteen years. His ideology was liberated， his words bespoke great personal courage， and he had great respect for the innovative power of the masses.[2]
Xi had been imprisoned three times during his life. The first was in the spring of 1928， when he was little more than a hand-some young student， when he'd attended a patriotic students' rally and been arrested and imprisoned by the Kuomintang. He had been convinced to join the Communist Party whilst in the cell of their enemies by a member who was in there with him， eventually becoming a staunch Marxist. After being broken out， still less that twenty， he had been sent by the Party's organisation committee to serve as a spy in the army of northwestern Kuomintang general Yang Hucheng. Then in 1933， on the lofty yellow loess slopes of northern Shaanxi Province， he was with Liu Zhidan， the revolu-tionary known affectionately by the locals as "Old Liu"， setting up a revolutionary base there. He was still only 21 at the time， yet was chosen as the chairman of North Shaanxi Soviet. He fought in a bloody struggle cheek by jowl with Old Liu， crushing repeated attempts by the Kuomintang to assault them. While they were holding the fort， misfortune struck： there was a leadership purge in the Soviet， and he， Old Liu and others were wrongly imprisoned by their own comrades. The Long March reached Shaanxi just as their lives were in the balance. The Central Committee under Mao Zedong recognised that the purgers had been at fault， and called a halt. Xi， Liu and the rest were rehabilitated， and thanks partly to the fact that the North Shaanxi Soviet had been one of the only holdouts remaining， became the stopping-point of the great Long March and a key base for the Party-led War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression.
One who has seen the world doesn't content himself with small things. Having suffered their vitriol once， Xi became a diehard opponent of the ultra-Leftists， but in his work to implement the Party doctrine of the whole Chinese nation resisting the invader， he won the trust and support of the masses in the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia border area. Mao Zedong honoured him with the gift of an inion -"the Party's interests come first"- written by his own hand， as a commendation. During the Yan'an Rectification of Cadres and Rescue Movements， he refused to go along with the Leftist tendencies of the time and protected cadres and masses alike. At the Seventh Party Congress in June 1945 he was chosen as a reserve member of the Central Committee. During the War of Liberation he was appointed secretary of the Northwest China Bureau， a vice-commissar of the Northwest Field Army and other key roles. Along with Peng Dehuai and He Long he fought all across the Northwest， defeating the armies of the Kuomintang as well as those of the so-called "Kings of the Northwest"， Hu Zongnan and Ma Bufang， rendering tremendous service to the cause of Libera-tion and displaying outstanding talent.
After the founding of New China， Xi was briefly second secre-tary of the Northwest China Bureau and vice-chairman of the Northwest Military Commission， giving his all in support of the work of the Party， government and army. In September 1952， he was transferred to Beijing， working successively as head of the Central Publicity Department， secretary general of the Central Government Administration Council， secretary general of the State Council and a series of other important roles. In September 1956， he was chosen as a member of the Central Committee at the Eighth CCP National Congress. Then in April 1959 he became vice-premier and secretary general of the State Council， tasked with running the council's day-to-day business.
In the Sixties， after Xi put in tremendous hard work and sacri-fice trying to overcome the hardships that were affecting people all over the country， a crisis snuck up on him from behind. At the Tenth Plenum of the Eighth CCP Congress， Kang Sheng used Mao Zedong's comment that "people were using fiction to oppose the Party" to accuse Xi of doing exactly that in his biography of Liu Zhidan， leaving the vice-premier hovering between life and death. He was immediately stripped of his positions， and after being investigated for three years was imprisoned for what would become a total of sixteen years.
Having twice been purged and rehabilitated， Xi took up the post in Guangdong and immediately set about swiftly and decisively restoring administrative order， and clearing up lingering prob-lems left by the maladministration of the Cultural Revolution. At the epoch-marking 3rd Plenum of the 11th Party Congress， he was completely exonerated and appointed to the Central Committee.
The miscarriages of justice that had happened in Guangdong as one movement followed another were piled as high as a moun-tain. By setting straight to work on rehabilitating those who had wrongly suffered and died as a result of the Li Yizhe case， the tragic case of Peng Pai， or during Land Reform such as the "landlords"Fang Fang， Gu Dacun and Feng Baiju， the people of Guangdong began to know and respect their new anti-Leftist leader. There was much rejoicing： finally， a leader who had held nationally impor-tant positions and fought courageously in the revolution！ He was honest and upright， decisive and practical， universally praised by the people of Guangdong.
The first earth-shattering thing he did upon taking up his posi-tion was to cut through layer upon layer of obstacles to rehabilitate those involved in the Li Yizhe case. It was like a bolt from the blue， bringing forth all manner of petitions and requests for redress from the people. An author later identified as part of the group respon-sible， Yang Wanxiang， recalled that on the 10th of November 1974 during the Cultural Revolution， a young man used the pseud-onym Li Yizhe to put up posters in downtown Guangzhou's Beijing Road entitled Te Socialist Nation and Institutions - Submitted to Chairman Mao and the Fourth People's Congress. The posters were opposed to the Cultural Revolution， attacking the series of illegal and immoral crimes committed by Jiang Qing (Mao's fourth wife and one of the Cultural Revolution's leaders) against the socialist system， pointing out the serious structural problems in the makeup of the country. It scandalised Guangzhou， drawing people in from all over to see the writings of someone brave enough to "pluck flies from the tiger's mouth".
Jiang Qing herself heard about it and was furious， immedi-ately labeling it "the single most reactionary essay written since Liberation" and under intense pressure from the Gang of Four， the Guangdong Provincial Committee developed scathing critiques of Li Yizhe and attempted to "disinfect" the city of "his" influ-ence. After the Gang of Four's downfall， not only had the Li Yizhe case not been resolved， those who had opposed the Gang of Four were denounced as their collaborators， accused of causing chaos to the foundations of Guangdong society for the Gang of Four. The leaders of the group were thrown into jail， some ninety were placed under house arrest， and three hundred cadres and young workers were implicated. Yang was still young at the time， working in a small factory near his home. Despite having fewer than 100 employees， the factory assigned nine of its workers to isolate him from the others and watch him night and day for half a year before finally locking him up.
As soon as he arrived in Guangdong， Xi Zhongxun discovered the matter was riven with complications. He led the investigation personally， making repeated enquiries. From autumn 1978， he convened multiple meetings concerning the Li Yizhe case， reporting back to the centre on his progress. The historic Third Plenum of the 11th CCP Central Congress closed on the 22nd of December 1978， and Xi returned to Guangzhou， immediately calling a meeting of the provincial standing committee to once more discuss Li Yizhe. He maintained that those responsible were not a counterrevolu-tionary clique， and that their poster was not reactionary.
On the 30th of December， the committee decided that Wu Nansheng and Wang Ning would visit principal members of the group in prison to interview them. They were all released very soon afterwards. Xi， Wu， Wang and the rest of Guangdong's leaders received them in the meeting room of Number 1 East building in the Party headquarters， patiently listening to their side of the story. When Xi learned that there were a host of others who had been implicated and who had been under government suspicion despite staying out of jail， he became deeply displeased. On the spot he offered to listen thoroughly to all of their accounts on behalf of the Party， with a view to large-scale rehabilitation.
Comrade Lu Di， then employed by the provincial Party committee， remembers that on the morning of the 1st of February 1979， after the Spring Festival was over， Xi Zhongxun again held a meeting with those involved in the Li Yizhe case. Magnani-mously he told them："At first you were judged to have written a reactionary poster， then to have been part of an anti-revolutionary clique. Whatever grievances you have， express them in whatever words you see fit， because it's the Party that was in the wrong. I'm not only responsible for the current committee； I'm also trying to take responsibility for the previous one. I had no part in the matter， as it all happened before I arrived， but on behalf of the Party I accept responsibility for your maltreatment." He also said that at the rehabilitation meeting， they could feel free to publicly denounce Lin Biao and the Gang of Four， the people who were at the root of their troubles.
In preparation for the rehabilitation meeting， Xi made sure to explain to them that："Firstly， everything I've said at our two meet-ings so far I will abide by； secondly， whilst the problem of your treatment was in the past， it is to be treated as an ongoing problem， in order to set an example for the future rather than wallow in the past； third， as the Party is trying to liberate ideology， you can speak more freely than had ever been the case before； fourth， it is vital that you use their speeches to thank the Central Committee for your freedom. It was only thanks to the Central Committee's work meetings and the recent spirit of reform ushered in by the Third Plenum that the matter could be resolved in your favour. You are also expected to use your speeches to denounce Lin Biao and the Gang of Four， as it was their fault that the Cultural Revolution had taken place.[3] "
"Another important aspect of your speeches is to be an account of your imprisonment and your current state of health. The fact that you were falsely imprisoned was an incorrect act by the Party which I too oppose. However， locking you up will have done you some good and you need to adopt a positive attitude. I've been in prison many a time， in the Party's own prisons twice， and for much longer than any of you！ I've been in fetters， I've picked apart ropes； it can be good for young people， it toughens them up and helps them grow stronger. The fourth thing you are to mention is how there was no democracy before， and that now that there is it is important that people exercise their democratic rights correctly. We must promote socialist democracy， proletarian democracy， not bourgeois democracy."
What Xi had not expected was that those due for rehabilita-tion would not appreciate his diffcult situation. The next day they wrote a letter addressed to the Party committee， Xi Zhongxun and Wu Nansheng with three requests： the first was for the meeting to be held in the Sun Yat-Sen memorial hall， the largest public space in Guangzhou， and not in the smaller Friendship Theatre as origi-nally planned； secondly they requested that Xi himself be present；thirdly， they insisted that the leaders meet with all those even remotely connected to the case.
