Hua Guofeng

Hua Guofeng
华国锋
Official portrait, 1972
Chairman of the Chinese Communist Party
In office 7 October 1976 – 28 June 1981
Deputy	Ye Jianying
Preceded by	Mao Zedong
Succeeded by	Hu Yaobang
Chairman of the Central Military Commission
In office 7 October 1976 – 28 June 1981
Preceded by	Mao Zedong
Succeeded by	Deng Xiaoping
2nd Premier of the People's Republic of China
In office 4 February 1976 – 10 September 1980
Vice Premier	Deng Xiaoping
Head of State	Soong Ching-ling Ye Jianying
Preceded by	Zhou Enlai
Succeeded by	Zhao Ziyang
First Vice Chairman of the Chinese Communist Party
In office 6 April 1976 – 6 October 1976
Chairman	Mao Zedong
Preceded by	Zhou Enlai
Succeeded by	Ye Jianying
Vice Chairman of the Chinese Communist Party
In office 28 June 1981 – 12 September 1982
Chairman	Hu Yaobang
Personal details
Born	Su Zhu (1921-02-16)16 February 1921 Jiaocheng County, Shanxi, Republic of China
Died	20 August 2008(2008-08-20) (aged 87) Beijing, People's Republic of China
Political party	Chinese Communist Party (joined in 1938)
Spouse	Han Zhijun ​ (m. 1949)​
Children	4
Signature
Chinese name
Simplified Chinese	华国锋
Traditional Chinese	華國鋒
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Huà Guófēng Wade–Giles Hua4 Kuo2-feng1 IPA [xwâ kwǒ.fə́ŋ] Yue: Cantonese Jyutping Waa6 Gwok3-fung1 IPA [waː˩ kʷɔːk̚˧.foŋ˥] Southern Min Hokkien POJ Hua Kok-hong
Su Zhu
Simplified Chinese	苏铸
Traditional Chinese	蘇鑄
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Sū 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, CCP 1977–1980: President, Central Party School 1976: First Vice Chairman, CCP 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 (/hwɑː/; born Su Zhu; 16 February 1921 – 20 August 2008)^[1] was a Chinese politician who served as Chairman of the Chinese Communist Party 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 retreated from the political limelight, though still remaining a member of the Central Committee until 2002.

Born and raised in Jiaocheng, Hua joined the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in 1938, seeing action in both the Second Sino–Japanese War and the Chinese Civil War as a guerrilla fighter.^[2] 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 province, becoming Party Secretary of Xiangtan city, 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 October 1973. Hua was appointed as Vice Premier in January 1975. After the death of Zhou Enlai, Mao elevated Hua to the position of Chinese Premier, overseeing government work, and of First Vice Chairman of the CCP, which made him Mao's designated successor.

In October 1976, a month after Mao's death, 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.^[2]

Hua reversed some of the Cultural Revolution-era policies, such as the constant ideological campaigns, but he was generally devoted to a command 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.^[2]