I. Transformation in the direction of running the country

• A> Building the leading doctrine of 'seeking truth from facts'

  • The Cultural Revolution caused great destruction to China.
  • After it ended, the Party's leadership was very concerned about how the country should be run.
  • The Party's Chairman at the time, Hua Guofeng, proposed what was known as the 'two whatevers' notion, which posed another hindrance to the process of bringing things back to order.
• A> Building the leading doctrine of 'seeking truth from facts'

  • Deng did not agree with the 'two whatevers' notion.
  • Instead, he called for breaking down the fixed notions of personality cult and dogmatism, and required the CPC leadership to 'seek truth from facts and unite as one in looking to the future'.
  • A new ideological line was therefore established.
• B> The Third Plenum of the Eleventh CPC Congress to rectify the direction of running the country

  • The Third Plenum of the Eleventh CPC Congress was convened in December 1978.
  • Hua was under heavy criticism for his 'two whatevers'.
  • Deng's 'Pragmatic Faction' gained the victory.
• B> The Third Plenum of the Eleventh CPC Congress to rectify the direction of running the country

  • Guided by Deng's principle of 'seeking truth from facts', the Congress decided to discard the slogan: 'Taking class struggles as the key link', and to concentrate instead on economic development and the construction of socialist modernization.
  • Also adopted at the Congress were the decisive policies of Reform and Opening-up.