Generations of Chinese Leadership - Second Generation

Second Generation

The death of Mao, Zhou and Zhu in 1976, and soon afterwards the coup that resulted in the arrest of the Gang of Four, ushered in the era now identified as the "second generation" of leaders. The era began with Hua Guofeng as the (some say self-anointed) successor to Mao, but power soon shifted to Deng Xiaoping as the paramount leader, in which position he remained at least until 1992 when he resigned from his leadership positions.

Thus, in official discourse, the second generation of leadership lasted from 1976 to 1992. The official discourse of the Communist Party today identifies Deng Xiaoping as the "core" of this second generation, but Deng was never formally the leader of the party during this period. Instead, the formal party leaders during this time were, successively, Hua Guofeng, Hu Yaobang, Zhao Ziyang and Jiang Zemin. Other prominent leaders of this generation were Li Xiannian, Chen Yun, Ye Jianying and Peng Zhen. These leaders were also involved in the Chinese revolution, but with the exception of Deng Xiaoping, served in more junior roles, as they were all born from 1897 to 1921 (that is, some were born after the demise of the Qing Empire in the Xinhai Revolution). Like the first generation, many were educated overseas, particularly in France. Their young formative experiences were similar to the first generation. Most had some position of authority during the Cultural Revolution, although as a rule those that held power after the 1980s were purged during that decade. This generation turned the focus from class struggle and political movements to economic development, pioneering Chinese economic reform. The dominant political ideology of the era was Deng Xiaoping Theory.

The original members of the second generation of leadership included Hua Guofeng, the (some say self-anointed) successor to Mao, along with the more experienced Li Xiannian and Ye Jianying. However, Hua's position was soon eclipsed by the ascendancy of Deng Xiaoping. Hua lost his supremacy in 1978, and his leadership positions were gradually lost between then and 1982, and he remained sidelined, though a respected elder statesman, until his death in 2008.

Deng's political ideas were accepted by the party in 1978, and he served in various leadership positions, although his paramount power was not overtly reflected in his formal titles. (He never served after 1976 as head of the party, state or government.) Instead, the formal leaders of the party were a series of younger leaders promoted (and then demoted) by Deng and other influential elders. The most prominent of these were Hu Yaobang (leader from 1981, demoted 1987, died 1989), and Zhao Ziyang (leader from 1987, demoted and place under house arrest in 1989). They were replaced by Li Peng and Jiang Zemin, who would go on to become prominent members of the third generation of leaders.

Consistently influential behind the scenes during Deng's time as paramount leader were fellow elder statesmen Chen Yun and Li Xiannian (until his death in 1992). Other prominent elders were Ye Jianying (until his death in 1986), Deng Yingchao (Zhou Enlai's widow, until her death in 1992) and Peng Zhen (who retired in 1988). Yang Shangkun played a brief but important role in the period between 1989 and 1992, when as President he subverted the existing constitutional convention and turned the office of President from a symbolic role into an executive one.

The transition towards the third generation of leadership began with the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989. The purges that followed led to the promotion of what became the third generation of leadership. Soon afterwards, Deng resigned his last major party post, as chairman of the central military committee, although he remained influential behind the scenes until his death in 1997.