Deng Zihui

Deng Zihui
邓子恢
Deng during 1940s
Member of Central Committee of the Communist Party of China
In office October 1954 – January 1965
Chairman	Mao Zedong
1st First Vice Premier of the People's Republic of China
In office 1954–1965
Premier	Zhou Enlai
Succeeded by	Lin Biao
Personal details
Born	(1896-08-17)17 August 1896 Xinluo District, Fujian
Died	10 December 1972(1972-12-10) (aged 76) Beijing
Political party	Communist Party of China
Spouse(s)	Chen Lan

Deng Zihui (simplified Chinese: 邓子恢; traditional Chinese: 鄧子恢; pinyin: Dèng Zǐhuī; 1896–1972) was one of the most influential leaders of the People's Republic of China during the 1940s and 1950s. He was one of the major military leaders of China both during the Chinese Civil War along with Mao Zedong, Zhou Enlai, Peng Dehuai and Lin Biao.

Deng was one of the initiators of the Central Rural Work Development that aimed on achieving agricultural growth. Deng Zihui also had a close relationship to Mao Zedong on issues related to agricultural reforms, but however was purged of all positions due to the Cultural Revolution in 1965.^[1]

Early life[]

Deng Zihui joined the CCP in 1926, and organised many guerrilla strikes in his home province, Fujian. After the outbreak of the Second Sino-Japanese War, he became the Deputy Political Director for the newly created Fourth Army. During the course of the wars Deng participated in, he became a close friend and trustee of Mao Zedong.^{[citation needed]}

He participated in the violent purges in the Jiangxi-Fujian Soviet which was responsible for killing around 700,000 Hakka peasants in Tingzhou and Ganzhou prefectures estimated by Jung Chang and Jon Halliday in their book Mao: The Unknown Story.^[2]

Agricultural reforms[]

Deng Zihui was an advocate for the idea of collective farms that was established in the Soviet Union well then in 1940s. However, he came into various conflicts with Chairman Mao Zedong over agricultural issues. He was also known as one of the leading founders of the agricultural system in China.

Purge and death[]

Deng was persecuted by Lin Biao and Jiang Qing during the Cultural Revolution in the mid-1960s. Facing political stress and health issues, Deng Zihui died on 10 December 1972 in Beijing.^{[citation needed]}

References[]