1. Snow, Edgar, Red Star over China (New York: Grove Press, 1973), pp. 140–49Google Scholar; Terrill, Ross, Mao (New York: Harper & Row, 1980), pp. 4–17Google Scholar.

2. See Huang, Li, Xuedun shi huiyilu (Memoirs from an Ignorant Scholar's Studio) (Taipei: Biographic Press, 1973), pp. 105–106Google Scholar. Since Li Huang - whose memoirs are full of factual errors - casually mentioned that Deng was from a Hakka family, most Deng biographers have taken this for granted and stress its bearing on Deng's temperament and character. During my visit to Deng's home village, no villagers seemed to know of it. For further on Deng's Hakka background, see Erbaugh, Mary S., “The secret history of the Hakkas: the Chinese revolution as a Hakka enterprise,” The China Quarterly, No. 132 (12 1992), pp. 937–968CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

3. See “Deng Xiaoping's reactionary background exposed,” Red Guard pamphlet reprinted in Deng Xiaoping (Taipei: East Asian Institute of the National Cheng-chi University, 1978), p. 1; also see “Investigation of the criminal life of Deng Xiaoping,” Red Guard pamphlet reproduced in Yuasa, Makoto, To Sho Hei (Deng Xiaoping) (Tokyo: Japanese Literature Press, 1978), pp. 23–24Google Scholar.

4. Ibid. It is interesting to note that, according to some local people interviewed, Deng's father was not merely a rural landlord, but also an industrial entrepreneur who owned two mills that made silkware and foodstuffs.

5. The information on Deng's childhood and early education is primarily based on my own survey in Deng's home village in August 1984; also see Zemin, Jiang, “Reminiscences of diligent work and thrifty study in Belgium and France,” in Pufa qingong jianxue yundong shiliao (Historical Materials on the Movement of Diligent Work and Thrifty Study in France, hereafter PFSL) (Beijing: Beijing People's Press, 1981), Vol. 3, pp. 148–150Google Scholar.

6. Ibid.

7. These dates are based on the news reports of Xinwen bao, 11 September 1920, and Ou xinwen, 31 October 1920. Also see Wang, Nora, “Deng Xiaoping in France,” The China Quarterly, No. 92 (12 1982), p. 698. Wang mistakenly gives the date of Deng's arrival as 13 December 1920CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

8. See Yongxiang, Wang et al. , Zhongguo gongchandang Ou zhibu shihua (History of the European Branch of the Chinese Communist Party) (Beijing: Chinese Youth Press, 1985), pp. 62–73, 80–102Google Scholar; also see Franz, Uli (trans. Artin, Tom), Deng Xiaoping (New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1988), pp. 43–44. Franz's claim that the Chinese Communist organization in France originated in a small left-wing bookshop with Chen Duxiu's two sons is incorrectGoogle Scholar.

9. See Huang, Li, Memoirs, p. 106Google Scholar; Wang, , Deng Xiaoping in France, p. 698Google Scholar; Franz, , Deng Xiaoping, pp. 44–56Google Scholar.

10. There is no evidence to show that Deng took part in any of the Communist Youth League activities before 1924. He moved from Montargis to Paris in June 1923 and lived in the same building in La Garenne-Colombes where Red Light was formally published in February 1924. Logically, Deng joined the Youth League in late 1923 or, more probably, in early 1924.

11. Yongxiang, Wang, History of the European Branch of the CCP, p. 123Google Scholar.

12. See Hao, Wu, “No. 1 report of the Chinese Communist Youth League in Europe,” in PFSL, Vol. 2, Part 2, pp. 843–48. Wu Hao was the pen name of Zhou Enlai. This uniquely valuable document shows, among other things, that it was against Communist Youth League discipline for its members to join the Communist Party without specific permission. It is therefore unlikely that Deng joined the Communist Party in 1924, as commonly believedGoogle Scholar.

13. See Xian, Xi, “Look at the blatant lies of the reactionary Youth Party,” in PFSL, Vol. 3, pp. 271–72Google Scholar; also see Xian, Xi, “Look at the false news made up by Herald Weekly for the fourth time,” in PFSL, Vol. 3, pp. 273–74. Xixian was Deng's given name at the time. In my judgment, Deng did not take the given name of Xiaoping until some time in the summer of 1927Google Scholar.

14. According to Nie, there were few Party members in Europe and once they came to Moscow, all the League members - presumably including Deng - were “transferred” to become Party members. Rongzhen, Nie, Nie Rongzhen huiyilu (Memoirs of Nie Rongzhen) (Beijing: People's Liberation Army Press, 1983–1985), Vol. 1, p. 29Google Scholar.

15. Hongda, Feng and Xinhua, Yu, “An affectionate reception,” Dangshi tongxun (Bulletin of Party History), Nos. 3 and 4 (1984Google Scholar), quoted in Yang, Bang and Xiaowei, Zhuo, “White cat or black cat: review of Han Shanbi's Deng biography,” in Tansuo (The Quest), New York (1986), pp. 54, 73Google Scholar.

16. See Xiuquan, Wu, “Memoirs of Comrade Wu Xiuquan,” in Zhonggong dangzhi ziliao (Materials of CCP History), No. 1 (1982), pp. 130–141Google Scholar; Zhongshi, Zhang, “Reminiscences of studying in Moscow in the 1920s,” in Dangshi yanjiu ziliao (Materials of Party History Studies) (Chengdu: Sichuan People's Press, 1982), Vol. 3, p. 331Google Scholar.

17. Sheridan, James, Chinese Warlord: The Career of Feng Yu-hsiang (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1966), pp. 200–210Google Scholar; Xingya, Gao, Feng Yuxiang jiangjun (Biography of General Fu Xuxiang) (Beijing: Beijing People's Press, 1982), pp. 84–106Google Scholar.

18. See the Institute of Historical Documentary Research of the CCP Central Committee, “Brief biography of Deng Xiaoping,” in Dangshi tongxun, No. 9 (1984Google Scholar); also Tongshun, Zhu, “Research on the timing of Deng Xiaoping's return from the Soviet Union during the period of the Great Revolution,” in Dangshi tongxun, No. 7 (1986)Google Scholar, quoted in Bang Yang and Zhuo Xiaowei, “White cat or black cat.”

19. See, for example, Hua, Lee Ching, Deng Xiaoping: The Marxist Road to the Forbidden City (Princeton: Kingston Press, 1985), p. 40. Lee claims mistakenly that Deng accompanied Feng, along with as many as 98 Russian advisers, back to China on 16 September 1926Google Scholar.

20. Ibid. p. 41.

21. Yuxiang, Feng, Feng Yuxiang riji (Diary of Feng Yuxiang) (Beijing: Nationalist History Press, 1932), Vol. 7, pp. 58–77, Vol. 8, pp. 1–60. There is no mention of Deng or the Zhongshan Military Academy in Feng's diary from September 1926 to July 1927, which includes all personal, official and institutional details of the North-western Army at the time. Even the existence of the Zhongshan Military Academy seems questionable, although the diary mentions “Political Department,” “Cadres School,” “Political School” and “Zhongshan Club.”Google Scholar

22. Rongzhen, Nie, Memoirs, Vol. 1, p. 57Google Scholar.

23. The PRC official version is that Deng became the General Secretary (mishuzhang) of the Party Centre in 1927. See Ping, Sheng, Zhonggong renmin da cidian (Dictionary of Chinese Communists) (Beijing: International Broadcast Press, 1991), p. 98Google Scholar; Zhongguo renmin da cidian (Dictionary of Famous Chinese) (Shanghai: Shanghai Dictionary Press, 1989), p. 45Google Scholar.

24. Weihan, Li, Huiyi yu yanjiu (Reminiscences and Studies) (Beijing: Party History Materials Press, 1986), p. 243Google Scholar. Li recalls that “Deng Xiaoping made notes at all the meetings.”

25. See “Announcement of the Guangdong Provincial Committee, 31 October 1929,” in Zuoyou Jiang geming genjudi ziliao xuanji (Selected Materials on the Zuoyoujiang Revolutionary Base, hereafter ZYJZL) (Beijing: People's Press, 1984), p. 127Google Scholar. Deng Xiaoping adopted the name of Deng Bin during the Guangxi Rebellion.

26. See “CCP Centre's letter to the Front Committee of the Seventh Army, 20 April 1930,” in ZYJZL, pp. 232–33.

27. Xiaoping, Deng, “Report on the Seventh Army, 29 April 1931,” in ZYJZL, pp. 409–415Google Scholar.

28. Ibid.; Renyuan, Yuan, “Reminiscences of the red storms at the right river of Guangxi,” in Renmin ribao (People's Daily), 9 12 1978Google Scholar; “Deng Xiaoping, the deserter,” pamphlet, Red Guard carried in Tanagi, Keizo, To Sho-hen Sho-ten (An Authentic Biography of Deng Xiaoping) (Tokyo: Elite Press, 1978), pp. 41–42Google Scholar. Despite their differences in approach and detail, these documents all confirm the basic fact that Deng left the troops at his own discretion, not on the order of the Party or army. Surprisingly, some of the most recent Deng biographies still believe that “Deng went secretly to Shanghai to talk to the Party Centre and receive orders regarding his own future” or that “once the Seventh Red Army reached Jiangxi, Deng left Zhang Yunyi in command and headed for Shanghai.” See respectively Bonavia, David, Deng (Hong Kong: Longman Group, 1989), p. 22Google Scholar; and Goodman, David, Deng Xiaoping (London: Sphere Books, 1992), p. 43Google Scholar.

29. Deng Xiaoping, “Report on the Seventh Army.”

30. See “The CCP Centre's letter to the Front Committee of the Seventh Army, 14 May 1931,” ZYJZL, p. 278.

31. See Shanbi, Han, Deng Xiaoping zhuanping (A Critical Biography of Deng Xiaoping) (Hong Kong, 1985), pp. 107–112Google Scholar. “A brief history of the Seventh Red Army” was compiled under the supervision of Chen Yi in Yan'an in 1942, and alleged that “it is really inappropriate for Deng Bin to have left the troops at that crucial juncture.”

32. Deng might have worked in the General Political Department upon his arrival in the Jiangxi soviet, though probably not in as high a position as its deputy director; see Ping, Sheng, Dictionary of Chinese Communists, p. 98Google Scholar. Some biographers mistake Deng Xiaoping for Deng Ping, the chief of staff in Peng Dehuai's Third Army Corps; see Klein, Donald and Clark, Anne, Biographic Dictionary of Chinese Communism (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1970), Vol. 2, p. 821Google Scholar.

33. Lo Pu, “The Luo Ming line in Jiangxi”; Mai, Luo, “Struggle for the Party's line,” in Liuda yilai (Since the Sixth Congress), Vol. 1, respectively pp. 351–55 and 362–68Google Scholar. Lo Pu is another name of Zhang Wentian, and Luo Mai is Li Weihan.

34. See Luo Mai, “Struggle for the Party's line.”

35. See Hua, Lee Ching, The Marxist Road, p. 67Google Scholar; Klein, Donald and Clark, Anne, Bio-graphic Dictionary, p 821Google Scholar.

36. Salisbury, Harrison, The Long March: The Untold Story (New York: Harper & Row, 1985), pp. 136–143Google Scholar.

37. Yang, Benjamin, From Revolution to Politics: Chinese Communists on the Long March (Boulder: Westview Press, 1990), pp. 107–110Google Scholar.

38. See Ibid.; Tanagi, Keizo, An Authentic Biography, pp. 51Google Scholar; and Goodman, David, Deng Xiaoping, p. 47Google Scholar.

39. See Snow, Edgar, Random Notes on Red China, 1936–1945 (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1957), p. 137. The actual position of Deng at the time may have been deputy director of the political department of the First Army Corps. As a foreign journalist, Snow might not be so careful about the difference between these two positionsCrossRefGoogle Scholar.

40. Dehuai, Peng, Peng Dehuai zishu (Autobiography of Peng Dehuai) (Beijing: People's Press, 1981), pp. 217–18Google Scholar.

41. See the Central Revolutionary Military Council, “An order for reorganizing the Red Army into the Eighth Route Army of the Nationalist Army, 25 August 1937,” in Mao Zedong ji (Works of Mao Zedong) (Tokuo: Soso Press, 1984), Supplementary Vol. 5, pp. 101–102. This order appointed Deng deputy director of the Political Department of the Eighth Route ArmyGoogle Scholar.

42. See Hua, Lee Ching, The Marxist Road, pp. 76–77. It is true that Mao did not quite trust Liu Bocheng either, but for different reasonsGoogle Scholar.

43. Yang, , From Revolution to Politics, pp. 207–212. Zhang Hao is better known under his real name, Lin Yuying, and was actually an uncle of Lin BiaoGoogle Scholar.

44. Shijia, Su, “A study of the timing of Deng Xiaoping's appointment as political commissar of the 129th Division of the Eighth Route Army,” in Dangshi tongxun, No. 34 (1987Google Scholar), quoted in Yang, Ban and Xiaowei, Zhuo, “White cat or black cat,” pp. 62–63, 74Google Scholar.

45. See Li, He et al. , Baituan dazhan shiliao (Historical Materials on the One Hundred Regiment Campaign) (Beijing: People's Press, 1982), pp. 10–50. Reading through the various documents contained in this book, one gets a sense that the military commanders were actively for the campaign whereas the political officers seemed less enthusiasticGoogle Scholar.

46. See Dehuai, Peng, Autobiography, pp. 234–243Google Scholar.

47. See Xiaoping, Deng, “A brief summary of the past five years' struggle with the enemy,” in Deng Xiaoping wenxuan, 1937–1965 (Selected Works of Deng Xiaoping, 1937–1965, hereafter DX) (Beijing: People's Press, 1989), p. 35Google Scholar.

48. See Harrison, James, The Long March to Power (New York: Praeger Publishers, 1972), p. 344Google Scholar.

49. As always, Deng treated the Party and army's policies from a practical point of view: “What does revolution mean? It means to fight against imperialism and feudalism with the latter as the foundation of the former. If we don't fight against feudalism and carry out land reform, we cannot sustain this protracted war, and we cannot succeed in making the revolution.” See Xiaoping, Deng, “Situations after successfully entering the Central Plain and strategic policies for the future, 25 April 1948,” in DX, p. 102Google Scholar.

50. Deng said, “For the last five years, we both lived and worked together. We shared the same feelings, and our working relations were also very good.” See Xiaoping, Deng, “Celebrate Comrade Liu Bocheng's 50th birthday,” in DX, p. 30Google Scholar.

51. See Jianying, Wang, Zhongguo Gongchandang zushi shiliao huibian (Historical Materials of the CCP Organization) (Beijing: Red Flag Press, 1980), pp. 576–590Google Scholar.

52. Zedong, Mao, “On the Chongqing negotiations,” in Mao Zedong xuanji (Selected Works of Mao Zedong)(Beijing: People's Press, 1969, combined volume), p. 1055Google Scholar.

53. See Xinzi, Li and Yuezong, Wang, Great Practices and Glorious Thought, pp. 61–62Google Scholar.

54. Ibid.

55. Hongyan, Zhou and Wei, Yuan, “Investigation on 12 questions about the Huai-Hai Campaign,” Dangshi tongxun, No. 4 (1985Google Scholar), in Yang, Ban and Xiaowei, Zhuo, “White cat or black cat,” pp. 70, 74Google Scholar.

56. See Zhongguo gongchandang shigao (A Draft History of the Chinese Communist Party) (Beijing: People's Press, 1985, compiled by the Central Party School), Vol. 4, pp. 144–48Google Scholar.

57. Xiaoping, Deng, “Outline operation of the Jing-Hu-Hang Campaign, 31 March 1949,” in DX, p. 120. Deng's plan was immediately approved by the Military Council on 3 April 1949, which shows that the peace negotiations sponsored by the CCP with the KMT in Beijing on 1–20 April 1949 were just for propaganda purposes. Deng seemed again to have an appropriate understanding of Mao Zedong's thought - its Machiavellian part more than its Marxian partGoogle Scholar.

58. See Bonavia, , Deng, pp. 39–60. Bonavia covers Deng's military experiences with a chapter title of “Strategist.” I would suggest that Deng's role was one of political control more than military command, either strategic or tacticalGoogle Scholar.

59. Guoqi, Zhang and Guoxiang, Li, Zhongguo renmin jiefangjun fazhan yange (Development of the Chinese People's Liberation Army), (Beijing: People's Liberation Army Press, 1984), pp. 167–69Google Scholar.

60. As for the close relations between Mao and Deng in wartime, see the numerous telegram exchanges between them cited in Xinzhi, Li and Yuezong, Wang, Great Practices and Glorious Thought, pp. 58–90Google Scholar, particularly in the years 1947–49. It should be pointed out that their relationship had always been a delicate mixture of subjective and objective factors, and the practical failures of the Great Leap Forward caused changes in Deng's attitude towards Mao.