Hu Yaobang

Chinese politician (1915-1989), former General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party · China · Politicians · Died at 73

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The Chinese Communist Party leader whose death sparked the Tiananmen Square protests. Forced out in 1987 for tolerating "bourgeois liberalization," Hu Yaobang's funeral in April 1989 became the flashpoint for student demands that Beijing could not contain.

Politicians Politician Politics China Asia 20th Century

A life in dates

20256.5×The anniversary of their birth, on 20 November.20 November 2025What this moment rests on, 6.5 times the usual readers on 20 November 2025See the moment1989Died15 April 19891986“We should not blame foreigners for problems afflicting China. There are things in the West that should be considered acceptable to us, and things that are unacceptable.”In their words24 September 1986The Washington Post, 24 September 1986Read the whole statement

1985“We should prepare more knives and forks, buy more plates and sit around the table to eat Chinese food in the Western style, that is, each from his own plate.”In their words1 January 1985Chicago Tribune, 1 January 1985Read the whole statement

1980“If you make the mistake of capitalism, you should not be criticized. But we should have self-criticism.”In their wordsIn 1980, during his inspection tour in Tibet, as quoted in Southern Mongolia: Self-Determination Activist Tortured in Prison and Kept UnderRead the whole statement

1915Born20 November 1915

Also in Deutsch

Photos 8

Hu Yaobang (cropped)

1953 huyaobang (cropped)

1953 huyaobang

1964年6月，毛泽东在胡耀邦等陪同下接见出席共青团九大的代表。

Chairmen and General Secretaries of the Communist Party of China

Hu Yaobang 1953

Hu Yaobang and Nilde Iotti (7) (4to3)

Hu Yaobang and Nilde Iotti (7)

In their own words 4

Hu Yaobang

4 statements, newest first

We should not blame foreigners for problems afflicting China. There are things in the West that should be considered acceptable to us, and things that are unacceptable.
Sep 24, 1986, The Washington Post, 24 September 1986, Own words
We should prepare more knives and forks, buy more plates and sit around the table to eat Chinese food in the Western style, that is, each from his own plate.
Jan 1, 1985, Chicago Tribune, 1 January 1985, Own words
If you make the mistake of capitalism, you should not be criticized. But we should have self-criticism.
1980, In 1980, during his inspection tour in Tibet, as quoted in Southern Mongolia: Self-Determination Activist Tortured in Prison and Kept Under, Own words

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Family

Hu Yaobang

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About this person

Hu Yaobang joined the Chinese Communist Party in the 1930s and survived Mao Zedong's purges during the Cultural Revolution - thrown out, brought back, thrown out again. After Mao's death, he rose as Deng Xiaoping's close ally and became party Chairman in 1981, then General Secretary in 1982. He oversaw the rehabilitation of wrongful convictions and pushed economic and political reforms through the 1980s, making enemies among party elders opposed to free-market changes. When student protests swept China in late 1986, those elders blamed Hu's tolerance and convinced Deng to remove him in early 1987. He died 15 April 1989; a week later, 100,000 students marched on Tiananmen Square the day before his funeral, igniting the protests that ended in the June massacre. The government censored his life until 2005, when it marked his 90th birthday by lifting restrictions and commemorating him.

Country

China

Politicians from China 6

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