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Seven Thousand Cadres Conference

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The Seven-Thousand Cadres Conference (Chinese: 七千人大会; pinyin: Qīqiān rén dàhuì; Wade–Giles: Ch'i1-ch'ien1 jen2 ta4-hui4) was one of the largest work conferences ever of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). It took place in Beijing, China, from 11 January to 7 February 1962.[1][2][3][4][5] The conference was attended by over 7,000 party officials nationwide, focusing on the issues of the Great Leap Forward which resulted in the deaths of tens of millions in the Great Chinese Famine.[1][2][5] CCP chairman Mao Zedong made self-criticism during the conference, after which he took a semi-retired role, leaving future responsibilities to Chinese President Liu Shaoqi and Vice Premier Deng Xiaoping.[2][4][6][7][8]

Conference

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Zhu De, Zhou Enlai, Liu Shaoqi, Deng Xiaoping and Mao Zedong (July 1962).

The Conference took place in Beijing, China, from 11 January to 7 February 1962.[5]

During the conference, Liu Shaoqi, the 2nd President of China and Vice Chairman of the Communist Party, delivered an important speech that formally attributed 30% of the famine to natural disasters and 70% to man-made mistakes, which were mainly the radical economic policies of the Great Leap Forward since 1958.[2][4][6]

The policies of Mao Zedong were criticized, and Mao also made self-criticism as the conference promoted "criticism and self-criticism".[2][4][9][10] CCP vice chairman Lin Biao, however, continued his praises of Mao at the conference.[4][5][10] The conference promoted "democratic centralism" within the Communist Party.[5][6]

Influence

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After the 7,000 Cadres Conference, Liu Shaoqi together with Deng Xiaoping, was in charge of most policies within the party and the government, while Mao took a semi-retired role.[6][7][10]

The conference corrected some of the far-left economic policies. Economic reforms such as sanzi yibao (三自一包) which allowed free market and household responsibility for agricultural production were carried out by Liu Shaoqi, Deng Zihui and others.[11][12] The reforms alleviated the economic difficulties after the Great Leap Forward to an extent.[5]

Aftermath

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President Liu Shaoqi and Chairman Mao Zedong (1964)

The conference revealed serious divisions within the party's top leadership between those who thoroughly endorsed the Three Red Banners and those who maintained doubts about them.[13]

The disagreement between Mao and Liu (and Deng) became more and more apparent, especially on Mao's call to "never forget class struggle".[7]

In August 1962, Mao emphasized during a meeting in Beidaihe that class struggle must be talked about "every year, every month and every day (年年讲, 月月讲, 日日讲)".[14] Mao reinforced his point of view in September 1962 during the 10th Plenary Session of the 8th Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party.[15]

Mao also criticized the economic reforms carried out by Liu Shaoqi and others, even describing the reforms to foreign leaders as "attempts to undermine socialist collectivism and destroy socialism" in February 1964.[16]

In 1963, Mao launched the nationwide Socialist Education Movement and in 1966, he launched the Cultural Revolution in order to return to the center of power, during which Liu was persecuted to death as a "traitor" as well as a "capitalist roader" and Deng was also purged (twice).[1]

Lin Biao, on the other hand, was formally selected by Mao as his successor in 1969.[7]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b c MacFarquhar, Roderick (1999). The Origins of the Cultural Revolution: Volume III, the Coming of the Cataclysm 1961--1966. Columbia University Press. ISBN 978-0-231-11083-9.
  2. ^ a b c d e "Chinese Foreign Policy Database - Timeline". Wilson Center. Archived from the original on 2020-06-22. Retrieved 2020-06-21.
  3. ^ Schoenhals, Michael; Stone, Brewer S. (1990). "More Edited Records: Liu Shaoqi on Peng Dehuai at the 7000 Cadres Conference" (PDF). CCP Research Newsletter. 5.
  4. ^ a b c d e He, Henry (2016-07-22). Dictionary of the Political Thought of the People's Republic of China. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-315-50043-0.
  5. ^ a b c d e f "七千人大会". Renmin Wang (in Chinese). Archived from the original on 2021-01-15. Retrieved 2020-06-21.
  6. ^ a b c d Sun, Zhonghua. "刘少奇"三分天灾，七分人祸"提法的由来". People's Net (in Chinese). Archived from the original on 2020-08-07. Retrieved 2020-06-21.
  7. ^ a b c d "Three Chinese Leaders: Mao Zedong, Zhou Enlai, and Deng Xiaoping". Columbia University. Archived from the original on 2023-05-17. Retrieved 2020-06-22.
  8. ^ "The Road to the Cultural Revolution". Chinese Law & Government. 29 (4): 61–71. July 1996. doi:10.2753/CLG0009-4609290461. ISSN 0009-4609.
  9. ^ Mao, Zedong. "Talk At Working Conference". Marxists Internet Archive. Retrieved 2020-06-21.
  10. ^ a b c Li, Yanchun. "七千人大会的现代启示录". Yanhuang Chunqiu (in Chinese). Archived from the original on 2020-11-09. Retrieved 2020-06-21.
  11. ^ Denhardt, Janet Vinzant; Denhardt, Robert B. (2007). The New Public Service: Serving, Not Steering. M.E. Sharpe. ISBN 978-0-7656-2181-8.
  12. ^ "Liu Shaoqi (1898-1969)". Chinese University of Hong Kong. Retrieved 2020-07-02.
  13. ^ Jisheng, Yang (2021-01-19). The World Turned Upside Down: A History of the Chinese Cultural Revolution. Farrar, Straus and Giroux. p. 26. ISBN 978-0-374-71691-2.
  14. ^ "1962年北戴河会议阶级斗争升温 走上文革之路". China Internet Information Center (in Chinese). 2014-09-23. Archived from the original on 2021-01-02. Retrieved 2020-07-02.
  15. ^ Mao, Zedong (24 September 1962). "Speech At The Tenth Plenum Of The Eighth Central Committee". Marxists Internet Archive. Retrieved 5 July 2020.
  16. ^ "重要会议：1949-1978（新中国成立——改革开放以前）". Renmin Wang (in Chinese). Archived from the original on 2021-01-02. Retrieved 2020-07-02.
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