Hu Yaobang
(1915–1989), Chinese Communist Party reformer in the 1980s. Born in Hunan Province into a peasant family in 1915, Hu Yaobang joined the Red Army and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and was included in the 1934–1935 Long March. His career was closely linked with that of Deng Xiaoping (1904–1997). Along with Deng, Hu was purged twice during the Cultural Revolution (1966–1976) and was sent into the countryside for "reeducation." He gained membership in the CCP Politburo in 1978 with Deng's support. Hu organized the rehabilitation of intellectuals disgraced during the Cultural Revolution and presided over a radical liberalization of the party structure between 1982 and 1986.
Hu supported combining economic liberalization with political liberalization. On 16 January 1987, he resigned as general secretary of the CCP after he was forced to accept responsibility for student demonstrations that occurred in December 1986. He went into seclusion, although he remained a member of the Politburo. On 15 April 1989, Hu died of a heart attack. His resignation and subsequent death dimmed the hopes of those who supported political reforms. His funeral sparked student demonstrations that ended with the Tiananmen incident in June 1989.
Further Reading
Pang Pang. (1995) Death of Hu Yaobang. Honolulu, HI: University of Hawaii Press.
Yang Zhongmei. (1988) Hu Yaobang: A Chinese Biography. Trans. by William A. Wycoff. Armonk, NY: M. E. Sharpe.
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