Du Runsheng

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Du Runsheng
杜润生
Member of the Central Advisory Commission
In office
1987–1992
DirectorChen Yun
Director of Rural Development Research Center of the State Council
In office
1983–1989
Director of Rural Policy Research Office of Secretariat of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union
In office
1983–1989
Deputy Director of National Agricultural Commission of the People's Republic of China
In office
1979–1983
Personal details
Born
Du De (杜德)

(1913-07-18)July 18, 1913
Yangyi Village,
Hanyu Pinyin
Dù Rùnshēng

Du Runsheng (Chinese: 杜润生; pinyin: Dù Rùnshēng; July 18, 1913 – October 9, 2015) was a Chinese military officer, revolutionary leader, politician, and economist.[1] He has been hailed as "China's father of rural reform".[1] From 1982 to 1986, he drew up the annual "Document No.1 of the Central Government" about rural reform, which promoted the development of rural areas. Du's students included Wang Qishan, Justin Yifu Lin, Zhou Qiren, Wen Tiejun, Wang Xiaoqiang, Chen Xiwen, Zhang Musheng, Du Ying and Weng Yongxi.[2][3]

Du was a member of the 12th and 13th National People's Congress and a member of the Central Advisory Commission.[4]

Biography

Education and early career

Du was born Du De (杜德) on July 18, 1913 in Yangyi Village of

Taigu County, Shanxi province, during the dawn of the Republic of China. He was accepted to Taiyuan National Normal College in 1929 and he entered Beijing Normal University in 1934. In 1935 he was detained by the Beiyang government
for taking part in anti-government movement.

Military campaign in north China

He joined the

Huai-Hai Campaign during the Chinese Civil War. He served successively as secretary-general of Central Plains Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, secretary-general of Central China Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, and party boss of CPC Henan-Anhui-Jiangsu
Committee.

Land reform

Du was one of the Party's foremost rural experts and served an important role in China's land reform movement.[5]: 157  According to Du, settling accounts through the land reform movement focused on mobilizing peasants to:[5]: 157 

wage struggle through the use of reason with landlords face to face, to expose one by one the landlord's economic exploitation of the peasantry, their political oppression of the peasantry, the facts of how in terms of human dignity they had humiliated the peasantry, in order to force landlords to admit guilt, so that they cannot but offer up their land, while the peasantry is in legal and rightful position, and can feel proud and elated as they boldly and assuredly take possession of the land.

The subsequent study of the land reform movement overseen and edited by Du concludes that "[l]and reform was not only a profound economic transformation, but a profound political transformation as well, a prelude to the establishment and construction of a new China."[5]: 162  In Du's view, land reform was significant in constructing a China within the mold of the modern nation-state system and in China's peasants developing class consciousness.[6]: 11  Du recounted:[6]: 62–63 

[L]and reform was not a political favor bestowed [upon the peasants], but rather was designed to overthrow feudal ruling power and install a ruling force dominated by the villages' peasant masses so as to raise the self-consciousness of the peasants, instigate class struggle, and promote the self-liberation of the peasant masses so as to realize the goal of "land back to the family."

According to Du, this reorganization of the grassroots increased the organizational mobilizing capacity of the central government, enhancing its ability to unify the country and its political direction and "[w]ith regard to an agrarian nation that had previously been seen as a 'plate of loose sand,' the significance of all this was enormous."[6]: 53 

After the establishment of PRC

After the founding of the Communist State, Du became secretary-general of Central China Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and its deputy director of the Land Reform Commission. He led the local land reform movement. In 1953, he was transferred to Beijing and he joined the newly created Central Rural Work Department of the Communist Party of China, working as secretary-general of the Head Deng Zihui. He vigorously developed the private economy, but got criticized for "taking the capitalist road". Mao Zedong evaluated him as "a timid and conservative man".[7] He also served as deputy director of the Rural Office of the State Council. From 1956 towards, he served successively as deputy director of the Office of Scientific Planning Commission of the State Council, secretary-general and deputy party group secretary of Chinese Academy of Sciences.

Cultural Revolution

In 1966, Mao Zedong launched the

May Seventh Cadre Schools to work in Qianjiang, Hubei
.

Economic reforms

In December 1978, after the

.

He was deputy director of National Agricultural Commission of the People's Republic of China in 1979, and held that office until 1983, when he promoted to become director of Rural Policy Research Office of Secretariat of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union and director of Rural Development Research Center of the State Council, he remained in that positions until 1989, while these two agencies were canceled.[7] In 1980, he drafted the Several Problems about the Further Strengthening and Improving the System of Rural Production Responsibility (关于进一步加强和完善农村生产责任制的几个问题), which made the household responsibility system (包产到户/包干到户) first gained legal status.[7]

He served as honorary president of Chinese Association of Agricultural Science Societies, president of China Society of Cooperative Economics, director-general of Chinese Association of Agricultural Economics, and director-general of China Society of Territorial Economists in his old age.

Death

On October 9, 2015, he died in Beijing Hospital, Beijing.

Personal life

Du had a daughter, Du Xia (杜霞).[8]

References

  1. ^ a b Gao Yu (2012-09-04). "Du Runsheng: Enduring Symbol of Rural Reform". Caixin.
  2. ^ 资料:林毅夫曾是杜润生门生. 163.com (in Chinese). 2015-10-09.
  3. ^ 杜润生与他的门生. Ifeng (in Chinese). 2013.
  4. ^ “中国农村改革之父”杜润生逝世 享年102岁. 163.com (in Chinese). 2015-10-09.
  5. ^ .
  6. ^ .
  7. ^ a b c 杜润生:一个符号的伟大. Tencent (in Chinese). 2015-10-09. 1953年初,杜润生调任中共中央农村工作部秘书长、国务院农村办公室副主任,辅助时任中共中央农村工作部部长邓子恢,参与组织领导全国的农业合作化运动。由于在发展农业生产合作社的速度不赞成毛泽东的大干快上,力主在不同的发展阶段要控制建社的一定数量,稳步推进,且主张合作社的形式应更为多样化,多种经济并存,利用有益于生产力发展的私有经济,受到点名批评,邓子恢和杜润生一起被毛泽东称为"小脚女人"。
  8. ^ 杜润生女儿:老人的离开很突然. 163.com (in Chinese). 2015-10-09.

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