Hu Qiaomu (4 June 191228 September 1992) was a Chinese sociologist, Marxist philosopher and

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking ...

. Hu Qiaomu is a controversial figure for opposing the

reform and opening up The Chinese economic reform or reform and opening-up (), known in the West as the opening of China, is the program of economic reforms termed "Socialism with Chinese characteristics" and " socialist market economy" in the People's Republic of C ...

era of economic reform that followed the death of

Mao Zedong Mao Zedong pronounced ; also romanised traditionally as Mao Tse-tung. (26 December 1893 – 9 September 1976), also known as Chairman Mao, was a Chinese communist revolutionary who was the founder of the People's Republic of China (PRC) ...

. He was a member of

Politburo of the Chinese Communist Party The Politburo of the Chinese Communist Party, formally known as the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and known as the Central Bureau before 1927, is the decision-making body of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). ...

, permanent member of

Central Advisory Commission The Central Advisory Commission () (CAC) was a body of the Chinese Communist Party that existed during the era of the paramount leadership of Deng Xiaoping. The body was supposed to provide "political assistance and consultation" to the Party' ...

, and the former president of

Xinhua News Agency Xinhua News Agency (English pronunciation: )J. C. Wells: Longman Pronunciation Dictionary, 3rd ed., for both British and American English, or New China News Agency, is the official state news agency of the People's Republic of China. Xinhua ...

. He was an academician of

Chinese Academy of Sciences The Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS); ), known by Academia Sinica in English until the 1980s, is the national academy of the People's Republic of China for natural sciences. It has historical origins in the Academia Sinica during the Republi ...

Early career

Born in

Yancheng Yancheng () is a prefecture-level city in northeastern Jiangsu province, People's Republic of China. As the city with the largest jurisdictional area in Jiangsu, Yancheng borders Lianyungang to the north, Huai'an to the west, Yangzhou and Taiz ...

, Jiangsu Province in 1912, Hu graduated from the Department of Foreign Literature, College of Arts and Sciences,

National Chekiang University Zhejiang University, abbreviated as ZJU or Zheda and formerly romanized as Chekiang University, is a national public research university based in Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China. It is a member of the prestigious C9 League and is selected into the n ...

in 1935. Before this, he also studied history in

Tsinghua University Tsinghua University (; abbr. THU) is a national public research university in Beijing, China. The university is funded by the Ministry of Education. The university is a member of the C9 League, Double First Class University Plan, Projec ...

(in

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

) during 1930-1932. Hu was an early member of the

Chinese Communist Party The Chinese Communist Party (CCP), officially the Communist Party of China (CPC), is the founding and sole ruling party of the People's Republic of China (PRC). Under the leadership of Mao Zedong, the CCP emerged victorious in the Chinese Civil ...

(CCP), joining the Communist Youth League of China in 1930 and the CCP in 1932. In the early part of his career, he was, in chronological order, the party secretary (Communist Youth League of China) in Xijiao District, Beiping City (now Beijing); the head of the Propaganda Department (Communist Youth League of China) in Xijiao District, Beiping City. He was a leader of anti-Japanese student and worker movement in Beiping. In 1936, he became the general secretary of Chinese Sociologist League (), the general secretary of Chinese Leftism Cultural League (), and a member of CCP Jiangsu Province Temporary Committee of Labours (). From February 1941 (some say 1942) to June 1966, he was

's main secretary. In the beginning, his secretarial work was mainly focused on culture, but later shifted to politics. His secretarial career was ended by the

Cultural Revolution The Cultural Revolution, formally known as the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, was a sociopolitical movement in the People's Republic of China (PRC) launched by Mao Zedong in 1966, and lasting until his death in 1976. Its stated goa ...

. From October 1, 1949 to October 19, 1949, he was the president of

. He also was the head of the News Office of the

People's Republic of China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

; the vice president of Propaganda Department of the Chinese Communist Party; the general secretary of the Central Government Culture and Education Committee; the vice general secretary of the

Central Government A central government is the government that is a controlling power over a unitary state. Another distinct but sovereign political entity is a federal government, which may have distinct powers at various levels of government, authorized or dele ...

. In 1954, he also participated in making the

Constitution of the People's Republic of China The Constitution of the People's Republic of China is the supreme law of the People's Republic of China. It was adopted by the 5th National People's Congress on December 4, 1982, with further revisions about every five years. It is the fou ...

. In 1956, Hu was elected to be a member of the Eighth Politburo of the CCP, and the alternative secretary of

Secretariat of the Chinese Communist Party The Central Secretariat of the Chinese Communist Party, officially the Secretariat of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, is a body serving the Politburo of the Chinese Communist Party and its Standing Committee. The secretariat is ...

. In 1977, he became the first president of Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and later on, advisor and the honorary president. In 1951 Hu wrote "Thirty Years of the Chinese Communist Party". The book emphasised the Mao Zedong's ideological importance, writing that only he was able to correctly interpret and apply

Marxism–Leninism Marxism–Leninism is a communist ideology which was the main communist movement throughout the 20th century. Developed by the Bolsheviks, it was the state ideology of the Soviet Union, its satellite states in the Eastern Bloc, and various c ...

to the Chinese situation. It also gave praise and recognition to orthodox Marxism,

Joseph Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Ioseb Besarionis dze Jughashvili; – 5 March 1953) was a Georgian revolutionary and Soviet political leader who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until his death in 1953. He held power as General Secretar ...

, the Comintern and the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

, acknowledging their role in the revolution and the formation of the Chinese Communist Party.

Subsequent career and intellectual contributions

Hu was persecuted during the

and rehabilitated in the 1970s. After his rehabilitation, Hu was involved in developing a new historiographical model for the CCP. Those contributions included an important role in party discussions on how to address the Cultural Revolution and a central role in preparing the 1981 "Resolution on Certain Questions in Our Party's History." Hu was instrumental in promoting the

Second Sino-Japanese War The Second Sino-Japanese War (1937–1945) or War of Resistance (Chinese term) was a military conflict that was primarily waged between the Republic of China and the Empire of Japan. The war made up the Chinese theater of the wider Pacific Th ...

as an academic subject. He successfully led a national-level campaign to open the War of Resistance Museum. In the 1980s, Hu advocated a view of history more accepting of incorporating the

Nationalists Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a group of people), Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: The ...

' contributions during the war. His history of dedication to the party and long-time focus on historiography gave further weight to this approach.

Early career

Subsequent career and intellectual contributions

References

Further reading