GAIGE KAIFANG ERSHI NIAN {TWENTY YEARS OF REFORM: THUNDER IN THE XUWU YEAR [1978]} {MANDARIN CHINESE} (TV)
Summary
The second of two programs on this tape. One in this series of programs that explore the history of reform in China from 1978 to 1998. Using interviews, historical documents, and archival footage, this installment explores historical events after the death of Mao Zedong and the collapse of the Gang of Four that eventually led to China's "Open-Door" policy of 1978. The program opens with a nationwide call for a change in China. It then shows historical documents and footage that explain why and how Deng Xiaoping returned to central leadership of China in 1977. This information is followed by interviews with politicians, scholars, and newspaper editors who look back on the political debate that year over the essences of Maoism, the criteria of truth, and the future direction of China after Mao; they recall Deng's insistence that "practice is the only criterion that can prove truth" and his decisions about the economic development of China. The program moves on to a Chinese Communist Party meeting in 1978 at which leaders like Chen Yun brought up significant issues that eventually changed the focus of the CCP from class struggle to clearing up problems from the Cultural Revolution and economic construction. The program shows footage of the CCP's Eleventh Convention, during which the party formally renounced the Cultural Revolution and reviewed Mao's successes and failures. This is followed by a scene in which Deng Xiaoping is seen speaking at a CCP work meeting in December 1978 at which he called for a "mind-liberation" movement for CCP members. The program ends with scenes from the Third Central Committee Meeting of the Eleventh CCP Convention, at which Deng Xiaoping was elected to serve at the center of the CCP's second generation of leaders. Viewers learn that at this meeting party consensus was achieved over the CCP's new mission of shifting the party's agenda from class struggle to economic construction, political reform, and the "Open-Door" policy.
(This program is in Mandarin Chinese.)
Cataloging of this program was made possible by Sun TV, 2002.
Details
- NETWORK: CCTV (China)
- DATE: November 30, 1997
- RUNNING TIME: 0:43:42
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: T:68912.002
- GENRE: Public affairs/Documentaries
- SUBJECT HEADING: China - History - 1978-; China - Politics and government; International Collection - China
- SERIES RUN: CCTV (China) - TV series, 1998
- COMMERCIALS: N/A
CREDITS
- Chen Yun
- Deng Xiaoping
- Mao Zedong (See also: Mao Tse-tung)