A customer flips through a copy of the Deng Xiaoping Biography in the Xinhua Bookstore in Wangfujing, Beijing, on August 23. Photo: CFP

The 110th birthday of Deng Xiaoping (1904-97) this month has ignited people's enthusiasm for memorializing and looking back at the life of this pioneer behind China's reform and opening-up policy. So far August has witnessed a legion of new screen works, exhibitions and publications about the former Chinese leader.

Among the various recent publications centering on his life which have occupied the heartland of many bookstores in Beijing, the CCCPC Party Literature Publishing House's recently published Deng Xiaoping Biography, the first biography for Deng from the central government, doesn't just act as an authoritative biography for Deng, but also ties together previously published official biographies of China's early generation of leaders including Mao Zedong, Zhou Enlai and Liu Shaoqi.

Historical authority

While various publications have delved into Deng's life from different perspectives, such as the two highly popular books by foreign authors, Deng Xiaoping and the Transformation of China by Ezra Feivel Vogel, and Deng Xiaoping and the Making of Modern China by former British ambassador to China Richard Evans, which examine Deng and China from an outsiders perspective, the official Deng Xiaoping Biography undoubtedly tries to stand out by providing plenty of historic materials that were once classified.

According to Yang Shengqun, the book's editor and former vice director of the CCCPC Party Literature Research Office, much of the material used to research the book, which includes recordings from various speeches, letters written by Deng, minutes of various high level meetings and interviews with people close to Deng, is being revealed to the public for the first time.

While the Deng Xiaoping Biography only covers the first 70 years of Deng's life from 1904-74, this time period not only marks the formative years of Deng's later career with the central government, but also the formative years of the nation itself. "The first 70 years of his life is like a long path leading to his prime time during his later years," said Yang. "Seventy years may be a little too long for a biography and rarely seen in the history of the world, but that's the legendary life of Deng," said Yang.

Ups and downs

Deng's political career wasn't all smooth sailing, sometimes seen as too radical a figure, he experienced several set-backs in his career, along with several political resurgences. With this new biography readers now not only have a chance to get a better understanding of Deng, but also some other historic figures by taking a look at their words and deeds during certain historic periods.

For example, the book reveals, in some cases for the first time, the contents of the many letters Deng wrote to Mao Zedong during the Cultural Revolution (1966-76), demonstrating to readers Deng's persistency during a low point in his career at that time, as well as the subtle relations between him and Mao during this chaotic period in China.

When the People's Daily published an article criticizing Deng for choosing the path of capitalism (accusations were also thrown at Liu Shaoqi) on April 1, 1967, a time when the "Gang of Four" were doing all they could to persecute some veteran leaders, Deng was shocked and felt that the criticism towards him had escalated to the point that there might be some very serious consequences.

Two days later, he wrote a letter to Mao expressing his urgent desire to meet with Mao in person and hear Mao's opinion on the subject. The letter, a signal that he was trying to establish closer relations with Mao, can be seen as a reversion of people's previous ideas about Deng's aloof attitude toward Mao and his philosophy, which according to the Deng Xiaoping Biography was one of the main reasons behind Mao's dissatisfaction with Deng for a time.

"Some things that Mao Zedong said (such as 'since 1959, he never came to me,' or 'he always sat far from me when we had meetings') reflected the estrangement between Mao and Deng. One of the reasons behind this estrangement was their disagreement on some important issues," the Deng Xiaoping Biography notes. "Especially when Mao mobilized the Cultural Revolution, Deng was very negative about it, even creating obstacles on several occasions."

Despite this distance between the two, starting from that letter Deng made it a habit to frequently write letters to Mao. This active communication, during which Mao would sometimes even write back, was most likely one of the reasons Mao later maintained a relatively lenient and even sometimes protective attitude toward Deng, which didn't just prevent him from suffering the same fate as Liu Shaoqi (who died while under house arrest in 1969), but also made it possible for Deng to re-emerge (for the 3rd time) later in his political life.

"Deng's experience of 'three downs and ups' also embodies the deep ideological struggle inside the Party," said Yang. "That's a difference separating the CPC and other political parties. Without such positive inner ideological struggles, the Party will lose its energy," he told the Xinhua News Agency.

Just the facts

Biographies about significant historical figures about Mao Zedong and Zhou Enlai have emerged not just in China but also abroad, such as the two above mentioned books by foreign authors, which have actually been very influential in the country.

Other books such as Mao: A Biography by US scholar Ross Terrill, as well as Zhou Enlai: A Biography by British writer Dick Wilson have all influenced foreign readers' ideas about these Chinese history-making figures.

However, while they offer very vivid and fresh perspectives by incorporating the writers' personal understanding and opinions, these books sometimes fail to paint a complete picture due to their lack of access to certain historical details.

This may be one of the reasons why the publication of official biographies of former leaders have increased in recent years. Though less entertaining than some opinionated biographies, these serious official biographies serve a more documentary function that helps contribute to piecing together a clearer and bigger picture of history that can stand alongside other nonofficial biographies.