Deng Xiaoping: A man of wisdom and patience

SHIN BOK-RYONG
The author is an emeritus professor of history at Konkuk University.

Deng Xiaoping (1904-1997) was from Sichuan province in China and nine years younger than Mao Zedong. He was a subordinate rather than a comrade. He studied in France and Moscow, and along with Mao, participated in the Long March of the Red Army. During the Chinese Civil War, he successfully participated in the crossing of the Yangtze River. He was a Communist to the bone.

However, given that his name never appeared in Mao’s autobiography, Deng must have been unnoticeable. For a family or a country to thrive, succession has to be established properly. In that sense, Mao was blessed, and Deng was lucky. He was a man of wisdom and patience who endured and survived humiliation.

The fact that he did not have an official title when he ruled China shows his outstanding strategy. He had three political philosophies: keep people warm and full, prevent suffering from a war and teach them to live together.

One day, he interviewed candidates for high-ranking positions in the Communist Party. A very competent young man applied but did not make it. When asked why he was rejected, Deng said, “He will be hired when he learns more slyness.” He didn’t mean that the young man should become slier but should acquire the wisdom not to fall for sly people out there in the world.

What is wisdom? It is about not being defeated by the evil enemy, not living in poverty and creating values that will go down in history. Deng Xiaoping knew this. His lifelong dream was to visit Hong Kong after the handover to China, but his dream did not come true.

Instead, his ashes were scattered in waters off Hong Kong. Deng said the happiest moment in his old age was when he was writing at his desk and his grandchildren crept up under his feet. The hero was not so different from the ordinary people.