1976-1978:Research On Hua Guofeng's Exploration Of Reform And Opening-up In The Historical Turning Period

As the successor to Mao Zedong's life,Hua Guofeng became chairman of the CPC Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission after the death of Mao Zedong.In addition,Hua Guofeng became the post of Premier of the State Council in April 1976.Therefore,Hua Guofeng became the highest leader in China after Mao Zedong.Although Hua Guofeng resigned as Premier at the Third Session of the Fifth National People's Congress in 1980 and resigned as Chairman of the CPC Central Committee and Chairman of the Central Military Commission at the Sixth Plenary Session of the Eleventh Central Committee in 1981,it is generally believed that from October 1976 to the Third Plenary Session of the Eleventh Central Committee in December 1978 was Hua Guofeng's actual administrative period,and this period is also what we called the transition period.Judging from the existing data and research results,as the top leader of this period,Hua has done a lot of work for this purpose,from rectifying the chaos to redressing common mistakes and wrong cases,and from developing the economy to foreign exchanges.Under the direct or indirect promotion of Hua Guofeng,although many work did not play a clear banner of reform and opening up,some of the work had a partial or even global significance for large-scale reform and opening up had gradually begun or brewed.Combining existing data and research results,the author believes that Hua Guofeng's exploration of reform and opening up during the transition period can be summarized from the following three aspects:Politically,the leaders smashed the "Gang of Four" and organized the campaign to "open and approve".They began to handle ordinary,false,and wrong cases,consciously set things right,and promoted the normalization of political life and political order in China,providing political support for the subsequent transition.;Economically,he attach great importance to the restoration and development of China's industrial and agricultural production.He have repeatedly stressed the need to"do everything possible to promote the economy",mobilized and organized large numbers of cadres and masses to actively participate in economic development,actively develop foreign trade,and introduce foreign advanced technologies on a large scale.This had made important contributions to restoring the national economy that collapsed due to the "Cultural Revolution" and provided necessary preparations and practical experience for the economic transition.In diplomacy,he reactivated the visit of the head of state to consolidate and repair the relations between China and the socialist countries in Eastern Europe,maintaining contact with the United States on the basis of the original,and ultimately promote formal establishment of diplomatic ties between China and the United States,and further develop contact with developed countries in Western Europe,and actively dispatched investigation group abroad to study and inspection.These measures have expanded China's international influence and have also laid a favorable international environment for reform and opening up.Of course,due to the specific era environment and the inertia of history,Hua Guofeng has its own limitations.This article takes the historical materialism and dialectical materialism as the guiding ideology,and discusses in accordance with the above-mentioned sections,discusses Hua Guofeng's work during this period and its influence on subsequent reforms and opening up.