Hua Guofeng

Chairman of the Communist Party of China

Su Zhu 16 February 1921 Jiaocheng County, Shanxi, Republic of China

20 August 2008(2008-08-20) (87) Beijing, China

7 October 1976 – 28 June 1981

Former Chairman of the Chinese Communist Party In this Chinese name, the family name is Hua. This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Hua Guofeng" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (December 2020 ) (Learn how and when to remove this template message) Chairman Hua Guofeng华国锋 Chairman of the Communist Party of ChinaIn office 7 October 1976 – 28 June 1981DeputyYe JianyingPreceded by Mao ZedongSucceeded by Hu YaobangChairman of the Central Military CommissionIn office 7 October 1976 – 28 June 1981Preceded by Mao ZedongSucceeded by Deng XiaopingPremier of the People's Republic of ChinaIn office 4 February 1976 – 10 September 1980Presidentpost abolished Soong Ching-ling Ye Jianying (de jure head of state)Vice Premier Deng XiaopingPreceded by Zhou EnlaiSucceeded by Zhao ZiyangFirst Vice Chairman of the Communist Party of ChinaIn office 6 April 1976 – 6 October 1976ChairmanMao ZedongPreceded by Zhou EnlaiSucceeded by Ye JianyingVice Chairman of the Communist Party of ChinaIn office 28 June 1981 – 12 September 1982ChairmanHu Yaobang Personal detailsBornSu Zhu (1921-02-16 ) 16 February 1921 Jiaocheng County, Shanxi, Republic of ChinaDied20 August 2008(2008-08-20) (aged 87) Beijing, ChinaPolitical partyCommunist Party of China (1938–2002)Spouse(s)Han Zhijun ​(m. 1949)​Children4Chinese nameSimplified Chinese华国锋 Traditional Chinese華國鋒 TranscriptionsStandard MandarinHanyu PinyinHuà Guófēng Wade–GilesHua4 Kuo2-feng1 IPA Yue: CantoneseJyutpingWaa6 Gwok3-fung1 IPA Southern MinHokkien POJHua Kok-hong Su ZhuSimplified Chinese苏铸 Traditional Chinese蘇鑄 TranscriptionsStandard MandarinHanyu PinyinSū Zhù Central institution membership 1976–1982: Member, 10th, 11th Politburo 1969–2002: Member, 9th, 10th, 11th, 12th, 13th, 14th, 15th Central Committee Other offices held 1981–1982: Vice Chairman, CPC 1977–1980: President, Central Party School 1976: First Vice Chairman, CPC 1975–1977: Minister, Public Security 1970–1976: Secretary, Hunan Party Committee 1970–1976: Chairman, Hunan Revolutionary Committee Paramount Leader of the People's Republic of China ← Mao Zedong Deng Xiaoping → Hua Guofeng (/hw ɑː / ; born Su Zhu; 16 February 1921 – 20 August 2008), alternatively spelled as Hua Kuo-feng was a Chinese politician who served as Chairman of the Communist Party of China and Premier of the People's Republic of China. The designated successor of Mao Zedong, Hua held the top offices of the government, party, and the military after the deaths of Mao and Premier Zhou Enlai, but was gradually forced out of supreme power by a coalition of party leaders between December 1978 and June 1981, and subsequently he retreated from the political limelight, though still remaining a member of the Central Committee until 2002. Born and raised in Jiaocheng, Shanxi, Hua was educated at the Jiaocheng County Commercial School and joined the Communist Party of China in 1938, seeing action in both the Second Sino–Japanese War and the Chinese Civil War as a guerrilla fighter. In 1948, as the Communists gained the upper hand in the civil war, Hua was one among 50,000 party officials transferred from North to South China to take control of newly conquered territories and was assigned to Hunan, becoming Party Secretary of Xiangtan, which included Mao's birthplace of Shaoshan. A popular local administrator, Hua rose to become Party Secretary of Hunan during the Cultural Revolution, and was elevated to the national stage in the early 1970s, notably assuming control of the Ministry of Public Security in 1973. After the death of Zhou Enlai, Mao elevated Hua to the position of Premier of the State Council, overseeing government work, and of First Vice Chairman of the Communist Party, which made him Mao's designated successor. On 6 October 1976, shortly after the death of Mao on 9 September, Hua removed the Gang of Four from political power by arranging for their arrests in Zhongnanhai, with the assistance of Mao's loyal security chief Wang Dongxing, who became one of Hua's strongest supporters, along with Vice Premier and chief economic planner Li Xiannian and Luo Qingchang, head of the intelligence services. Afterwards Hua took on the titles of Party Chairman and Chairman of the Central Military Commission, being thus far the only leader to have simultaneously held the offices of party leader, premier and CMC chairman. Hua reversed some of the Cultural Revolution-era policies, such as the constant ideological campaigns, but he was fully devoted to a centrally-planned economy and the continuation of the Maoist line. Between December 1978 and June 1981, a group of party veterans led by Deng Xiaoping, forced Hua from his position of paramount leader but allowed him to retain some titles. Hua gradually faded into political obscurity, but continued to insist on the correctness of Maoist principles.