Deng Xiaoping's First Rehabilitation

Purge and Return

Deng Xiaoping had been one of China's most powerful administrators before the Cultural Revolution, serving as General Secretary of the Party. In 1966 he was labelled a "capitalist roader" — the second most senior after Liu Shaoqi — publicly humiliated, and sent to work at a tractor repair factory in Jiangxi. His son, Deng Pufang, was thrown from a building by Red Guards and permanently paralysed. In 1973, following the Lin Biao incident and the need for experienced administrators, Mao personally approved Deng's return to Beijing.

Rehabilitation and Second Purge

Deng was rehabilitated as Vice-Premier and proved himself a capable administrator during the 1973–1975 period, advocating the "Four Modernisations" of agriculture, industry, defence, and science. Premier Zhou Enlai's declining health gave Deng increasing responsibility. However, Mao grew concerned about Deng's pragmatic orientation; after the April Fifth Movement following Zhou Enlai's death, the Gang of Four pressured Mao to purge Deng a second time in April 1976.

Final Return

Deng survived the second purge because Mao refused to expel him from the Party, keeping him as a "living target." After Mao's death in September 1976 and the arrest of the Gang of Four in October, Deng was rehabilitated a third and final time in 1977. He would go on to serve as China's paramount leader from 1978 to 1989, engineering the reform and opening-up policies that transformed China's economy.