Abstract

When Hua arrived in Beijing in February 1971, he was virtually unknown within senior party circles after more than two decades of relative anonymity in Hunan. Yet just five-and-a-half years later he succeeded Mao as China’s paramount leader, catapulted over the heads of veteran revolutionaries, seasoned senior administrators and accomplished Marxist theoreticians. This chapter seeks to explain (to the extent it can be explained) how and why Hua achieved this remarkable feat. In so doing, we will examine some of the key positions that he held within the party leadership, assess the significance of the work that he carried out and analyse his relationship with, among others, Mao, Deng Xiaoping and the Gang of Four.