'Hu Yaobang' (
Chinese: 胡耀邦
Pinyin: Hú Yàobāng,
Wade-Giles: Hu Yao-pang;
November 20,
1915–
April 15,
1989) was a leader of the
People's Republic of China. A prominent reformer, his death in 1989 triggered a series of events which eventually led to the
Tiananmen Square protests of 1989.
Early years
Hu Yaobang joined the communist revolution in his early age as a young teenager and as a supporter of
Mao Zedong, he was persecuted many times by the communist cadres of the faction returning from former-
Soviet Union, who controlled the communist leadership and had the real power. Once
Mao Zedong was removed from power for good shortly before the beginning of the
Fourth Encirclement Campaign, his supporters were persecuted once again and this time Hu Yaobang's luck seemed to ran out: he was sentenced to death and just before the
Long March had begun, he and others were on their way to be beheaded. However, a powerful local communist commander named Tan Yubao (谭余保, 1899 - January 10, 1980) intervened at the last minute, thus saving Hu's life, but because of Hu's support of Mao, he was deemed as unreliable and ordered to join
Long March so that he could be put under surveillance all the time.
Despite distrust from top leadership, Hu remained loyal to the communist cause and and attempted to prove himself at every opporunty when fighting their nationalist (
KMT) enemy, and at the Campaign of Xiang River at which the Chinese Red Army was disastrously defeated, Hu Yaobang was seriously wounded. However, the communist field medic teams chose not to help Hu and left him on the side of the road to die in the battlefield. Luck was on Hu's side when a childhood friend of his, a Chinese Red Army commander happened to be passed by and Hu called out his friend's nickname to ask for help, and the friend took him and caught up with the retreating main force of the Chinese Red Army, and thus Hu was abled to get treatment of his wounds and had his life saved.
Hu Yaobang's luck seemed ran out after the
Long March when he was forced to march with the communist leader
Zhang Guotao's 21,800+ strong forces to cross the
Yellow River in a futile attempt to expand the communist base in
Shaanxi westward and to link up with former-
Soviet Union, or at least with Xinjiang under the reign of warlord
Sheng Shicai, who was still allied with communists and former-
Soviet Union.
Zhang Guotao's forces was sounded defeated by the local nationalist warlords, namely, the
Ma clique. Hu Yaobang, along with the future defense minister of the
PRC, and the future colonel general of
PLA, Qin Jiwei, became two of the thousands prisoner-of-war captured by
Ma clique's forces.
Compared with thousands Chinese Red Army prisoners-of-war captured by
Ma clique's forces which subsequently executed most of the prisoners-of-wars, luck proved to be once again on Hu Yaobang's side when he, along with Qin Jiwei, were among the lucky 1,500 prisoners-of-war whom
Ma Bufang decided not to execute, but instead, used as slave labors. As
Chiang Kai-shek pressured
Ma Bufang to contribute more of his troops to fight
Japanese invaders,
Ma Bufang decided that instead of using his own troops, he would sent the 1,500 Chinese Red Army prisoners-of-war as conscripts instead. Since the marching route had to pass the border of the communist base, Hu Yaobang and Qin Jiwei seized this opportunity to return to the communists and organized a planned to escape in secrecy. As they approached the border of the communist base in
Shaanxi, the escape took place as planned and was a success: out of the total 1,500, more than 1,300 had successfully returned to
Yan'an.
Mao Zedong personally welcomed these returning communists and Hu Yaobang was once again back in the communist camp, where he would remain for rest of his life, though the political persecution would continue, and nobody, including Hu Yaobang himself had expected that the political persecution would come from the very communist leader Hu Yaobang once firmly supported.
Reformer
As
Deng Xiaoping gradually regained control over the CPC, Deng's rival
Hua Guofeng was replaced by
Zhao Ziyang as
Premier of the State Council in 1980, and by Hu Yaobang as Party Chairman in 1981. Hu was also made
General Secretary of the Communist Party of China in 1980 but, until the mid-1990s, it was Deng who was calling the shots although his only official title was that of chairman of the Communist Party's
Central Military Commission.
During his time in office, Hu tried to rehabilitate the people who were persecuted during the
Cultural Revolution. Many Chinese people think that this was his most important achievement. He was also in favor of a pragmatic policy in Tibet, ordering the withdrawal of thousands of Chinese Han cadres from the Tibet Autonomous Region following a 1980 visit to the region, believing that Tibetans should be empowered to administer their own affairs.
Although Hu was a dedicated reformer and one of
Deng Xiaoping's most important associates, he was later forced to resign in 1987 from his post as the
General Secretary of the Communist Party of China; leaving officially on
January 16. He was accused of committing "mistakes in matters concerning important political principles". Deng forced Hu to resign on the heels of a series of student demonstrations in late 1986, believed by the hardliners as a consequence of Hu's tolerance of and perhaps his empathetic attitude towards China's liberal intelligentsia, who were pushing for more political freedom and reform. He was also accused of "making mistakes in Sino-Japanese relations".
Death and the Tiananmen protests
Hu Yaobang died due to a
heart attack two years later at a Party Political Bureau meeting on
April 15 1989. In his death announcement, he was described as: "Comrade Hu Yaobang was a long-tested and staunch communist warrior, a great proletarian revolutionist and statesman, an outstanding political leader for the Chinese army". Although he was a "retired" official who had made "mistakes", public pressure forced the
CPC to accord him a State Funeral attended by party leaders, and a eulogy which praised his work in restoring political norm and promoting economic development after the
Cultural Revolution.
However, many people were dissatisfied with the party's slow response and relatively subdued funerary arrangements. Public mourning began on the streets of
Beijing and elsewhere. In
Beijing this was centred on the
Monument to the People's Heroes in
Tiananmen Square. The mourning became a public conduit for anger against perceived
nepotism in the government, the unfair dismissal and early death of Hu, and the behind-the-scenes role of the "old men", officially retired leaders who nevertheless maintained quasi-legal power, such as
Deng Xiaoping. Protests eventually escalated into the
Tiananmen Square protests of 1989. Hu's ideas of
freedom of speech and
freedom of press in 1986 greatly influenced the students participating in the protests.
After Hu's funeral, his body was
cremated. There are reports that initially his widow wanted his ashes to be buried in his home town of Liuyang. However, the local leaders hesitated to accept such a controversial bequest, and he was eventually buried at
Gongqing Cheng (literally "Communist Youth City").
Possible rehabilitation
Despite the highly favorable official evaluation of Hu by the PRC government, the media was muted, and his name was not mentioned publicly after 1989. Printed media which commemorated the anniversary of his death in 1994 were withdrawn from publication.
Plans to rehabilitate Hu Yaobang were reported in the ''Washington Post''
September 9 2005. Based on Chinese sources, the article "China Plans To Honor A Reformer" reported planning for events on
November 20, the 90th anniversary of his birth. An official biography and a collection of his writings were slated for release. The
biography is a source of controversy as there is a three volume biography written by former aides to Hu Yaobang which remains unpublished and has been taken into the control of the government. A memorial was planned in Hunan where he was born. While viewed by some observers as a possible preliminary step to re-evaluation of the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989, such a move continues to be rejected.
On
November 18 2005, The Communist Party officially celebrated the 90th anniversary of Hu Yaobang's birth (date was changed to two days before), with activities at the People's Hall.
Although magazines publishing commemorative articles were initially stopped from being released, the ban was lifted and these magazines were publicly issued.
This was the first time since his death that Hu's name appeared publicly. It has been suggested that he will be "rehabilitated", giving hope that the
Tiananmen Square Protests might be re-evaluated by the CPC.
Memorials in recognition of the date of someone's birth or death are often signs of political trends within China, with some pointing to the prospect of further reform. This is countered however by other recent statements from the Party that it should learn from the ideologies of
Cuba and
North Korea.
Some political analysts have argued that the current administration under President
Hu Jintao wishes to associate itself with the popular Hu Yaobang. Both rose to power through the
Communist Youth League, and are described as part of the same "Youth League Clique". Hu Yaobang was also responsible for promoting Hu Jintao to the
CPC central office.
See also
★
Politics of the People's Republic of China
★
History of the People's Republic of China
★
Hu Deping, son of Hu Yaobang
★
Zhang Zhixin
External links
★
CNN.com-China to redeem late leader
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