Hsin Chi - The case of the gang of four : with first transl. of Teng Hsiaopings Three poisonous weeds.

THE CASE OF

THE GANG OF FOUR

- With First Translation of Teng Hsiao-ping's

"Three Poisonous Weeds"

by Chi Hsin

Jointly Publisl1ed By:

Cosmos Books Ltd.

Books New China, Inc.

COSMOS BOOKS LTD.

Hong Kong J 977

Copyright 1977 by

Cosmos Books Ltd.

30, Johnston Road, Basement

_Hong Kong

North American distributors:

Books New China, Inc.

53 E. Broadway

New York, NY 10002

PREFACE

The fall of the Gang of Four and Lhe appointment of Hua Kuo-feng as Chairman of the Chinese Communist Party are major events in both China and the world. This news came as a surprise to many people outside China and led to much uncertainty and concern about what is actual1y going on in China. How could these so-called "radicals"

suddenly become the "real capitalist-roaders within the Party"? How could the most outspoken denouncers of "bourgeois right" suddenly become the bourgeoisie themselves?

How should the Cultural Revolution be evaluated? What was the "Campaign to Criticize Teng Hsiao-pin" all about?

\Vhat sort of a leader is Hua Kuo-feng?

"The Case of the Gang of Four" is an attempt to answer these and many other related questions. These articles originally appeared in "The Seventies", a Chinese magazine published in Hong Kong which seeks to promote social concern and a better understanding of China and the world. It is widely read by people in Hong Kong and by readers of Chinese all over the world. These articles have been translated to help English-speaking readers understand the current situation in China and some of the questions concerning the Gang of Four, Teng Hsiao-ping and Hua Kuo-feng.

Note

Some Important Names

The Chinese names listed in this book are in the outdated Wade-Giles romanization, rather than the now-familiar Pinyin.

Heres a conversion for some (not all) the names youll encounter in this book.

(Wade-Giles/Pinyin)

Gang of Four

Chiang Ch'ing = Jiang Qing

Chang Ch'un-Ch'iao = Zhang Chunqiao

Yao Wen-Yan = Yao Wenyuan

Wang Hung-Wen = Wang Hongwen

Other Names

Mao Tse-Tung = Mao Zedong

Teng Hsiao-Ping = Deng Xiaoping

Chou En-Lai = Zhou Enlai

Hua Kuo-Feng = Hua Guofeng

Liu Shao-Ch'i = Liu Shaoqi

Teng Ying-Ch'ao = Deng Yingchao

Yeh Chien-Ying = Ye Jianying

Lin Piao = Lin Biao

Ch'en Po-Ta = Chen Boda

CONTENTS

Preface

I. The Rise and Fall of the Gang of Four 1

II. Theory and the Gang of Four

Ill. Seeing 1976 Off in Kwangchow

15

--Lively Discussion of Questions on People's Minds IV. China Ten Years After the Cultural Revolution 106

-An Interview with Hong Kong Residents from the Mainland

V. The Political Ups and Downs of Teng Hsiao-ping 143

--A Tentative Analysis of the Anti-Teng Campaign VI. Some Conjectures on the Future of Arts in China 184

Translators' Notes

Appendices:

The Three Documents Attacked by the Gang of Four (Editor's Note)

On the General Program of Work for the Whole Party and the Whole Nation

Some Problems in Accelerating Industrial Development 239

(Appendix: Talk Given by Teng Hsiao-ping on Industrial Development.)

On Some Problems in the Fields of Science and Technology

(Appendix: Comments by Teng Hsiao-ping on the Presentation of Hu Yao-bang's Report.)

I

The Rise and Fall of t:he Gang of Four*

Chi Hsi*

How Did the Gang of Four Get into Power?

Q. For more than a month, China's press has carried many articles on the crimes of the Gang of Four which brought disasters to China and her people. The disc1osure of these facts is shocking. but the question I am presently concerned with is this: if the Gang of Four were so wicked and so incompetent, then why were they permitted to climb to such high positions in the first p]ace?

A. The ten years since the Cu]tural Revolution have bcn a period of very complex and sharp strugg]es in China.

Understanding the rise and fa]] of the Gang of Four and the overall march of po]itical events isn't easy. We have tu look below the surface of things to analyze the

'leftist" and rightist lines and to distinguish correct from incorrect things. because. as we know, peop]e can "wave the red flag to oppose the red flag." Things can be "left" in form but right in essence. one tendency can cover or hide another,

* First published as a Books New China Pamphlet

** Pen-name